Apply to Doctoral programme in performing arts
Read the application instructions and admissions requirements for Theatre Academy's doctoral studies starting in 2027. The application period runs from 1 to 21 January 2027.
General information on applying for doctoral studies
The next application period for the Doctoral Programme in Performing Arts takes place in spring 2027, with studies starting in autumn 2027. The scope of the degree is 240 credits, which corresponds to four years of full-time studies.
Admission criteria
Eligibility
An applicant can be deemed eligible to apply after the application period if they have the required educational background, have provided the required proof of their language proficiency and have submitted the application with all the required appendices by the deadline. The eligible applications will be evaluated, and based on this review, some of the applicants will be invited to participate in the next stage of the admissions procedure (interview).
Applicants will be informed of the outcome of the eligibility assessment by email no later than week 6. Please also check your spam or junk mail folder.
A person can be granted the right to study for a doctoral degree at Uniarts Helsinki only on the basis of student admissions.
Educational background
An applicant can be admitted to doctoral studies when they have completed one of the following:
- a relevant master’s degree awarded by a university;
- a relevant master’s degree awarded by a university of applied sciences; or
- a relevant applicable study programme abroad which in the awarding country gives eligibility for the corresponding level of higher education.
An applicant can be admitted as a doctoral researcher also when the university deems that they have otherwise acquired sufficient knowledge and skills required for the studies. The university may require a student admitted to pursue a doctoral degree to complete the necessary supplementary studies in order to acquire the knowledge and skills needed for the programme (Universities Act 24.7.2009/558, section 37).
The foreign institution awarding the degree must be an officially recognised higher education institution in the country in question, recognised by the relevant national licensing authority and authorised to award degrees.
Eligibility for doctoral education will be determined on the basis of the documents provided as appendices to your application.
You must attach copies of the education documents related to the degree that serves as the basis for your eligibility for doctoral studies.
You must verify your language skills as required by Uniarts Helsinki (see the section on Language skill requirements).
If your certificates are not in Finnish, Swedish or English, please provide an official translation into one of these languages (either a translation by an authorised translator or an official certificate supplement issued by the higher education institution, such as a Diploma Supplement). Self-made or other unofficial translations are not accepted.
If you are a refugee or in a refugee-like situation and unable to verify your degree with a document, you may still be deemed eligible to apply. Read more detailed instructions on our website.
If the degree that qualifies you for doctoral education has not yet been completed, you must provide a statement by the administrative staff of your degree programme confirming that all studies included in the degree, including the thesis, will be successfully completed by the deadline of 31 July 2027. Applicants who receive a certificate for one of the above-mentioned degrees during the application spring are considered conditionally eligible at the application stage if their eligibility has not been established by other means.
Language skill requirements
Doctoral education requires sufficient proficiency in Finnish, Swedish, or English. To prove your language proficiency by the end of the application period, you must either have specific prior studies or a certificate of a successfully completed language test.
You must demonstrate your language proficiency in accordance with language skills requirement B. You can do so in one of the following ways:
Admission criteria
The university’s common admissions criteria (numbered below), supplemented by the Theatre Academy’s academy-specific elaborations:
1. The artistic and research quality and originality of the research plan
- Does the research project have a clear focus: what is being examined in the project?
- Are the applicant’s chosen methods and theories suitable for their research?
- Is the applicant’s artistic / pedagogical competence and experience a good fit for the premise of the research?
- Does the applicant demonstrate sufficient knowledge of previous research and its impact on their own plan?
- Does the research bring about new understanding of artistic practices and related research? Are the results promised in the research plan credible?
2. The suitability of the research plan for the artistic and research environment of the Theatre Academy
- Does the research plan correspond to the curriculum requirements of the doctoral programme?
3. The feasibility of the research plan within the normative timeframe for completing the degree and in the context of the Theatre Academy
- Is the research plan feasible in practice?
4. The significance of the research plan and its potential to strengthen art and research both within its own fields and as part of society
- Are the questions and ideas presented in the research plan linked with the research and expertise of the Theatre Academy?
5. The ethical, social and ecological sustainability of the research plan
6. The applicant’s artistic and research merits
- The standard of the research plan and portfolio in relation to the applicant’s previous education and experience (CV)
7. The applicant’s motivation, research competence and ability to work independently and complete a doctoral degree
- The ability to form original, relevant and interesting research questions
- Critical thinking, reflection on matters from various points of view
- Contextualisation of one’s position, work and thinking
- An easy-to-understand way of expressing things, ability to communicate ideas
- Following the application instructions
Application period and filling in the application form
The application period starts on 7 January 2027 at 8.00 (local Finnish time, UTC+2). The online application must be compiled according to the application instructions and submitted by the application deadline, which is 21 January 2027 at 23.59 (local Finnish time, UTC+2). The application is submitted online via the Studyinfo service. The application form will be published on January 7, 2027.
The application must include the online application form that is filled in on the Studyinfo portal, as well as appendices to the application in electronic format. All appendices must be submitted via the Studyinfo service by the application deadline.
The application can be written in Finnish, Swedish or English.
Applications and appendices can only be submitted via the Studyinfo service.
We only review materials that have been uploaded to Studyinfo. Applications or parts of an application that are sent by post, couriered, delivered in person or sent by email will not be taken into consideration.
Once you have submitted your application form, you will receive a confirmation email for your application.
Please remember to reserve enough time for the process and for uploading the application and the appendices, as the application deadline is definite. Uploading large files can take several hours.
Applications that do not comply with the instructions or are incomplete will not be considered.
If you have used artificial intelligence to produce your application, describe on the application form which tools you used and for what purpose. Read the Finnish Code of Conduct for Research Integrity and procedures for handling alleged violations issued by the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK as well as its recommendation on the responsible use of AI. Also read Uniarts Helsinki’s ethical guidelines concerning education and studies and keep them in mind when compiling your application.
Privacy notice for prospective students | Uniarts Helsinki)
Schedule
- Applicants can contact representatives of the supervisor pool between 15 October and 15 December 2026
- The application period starts on 7 January and ends on 21 January 2027 at 23:59
- Interviews will be held between 15 March and 2 April 2027. Invitations to interviews are sent at least two weeks before the interview.
- Admissions results are announced to applicants on 5 May 2027
- Possible requests for rectification must be submitted between 5 May and 19 May 2027
- The offer of admission must be accepted by 31 May 2027
- Applicants who receive a conditional offer of admission must submit the required certificates by 31 July 2027
Application attachments
Start uploading the application appendices and submit them in good time before the deadline. Reserve enough time for sending the appendices so that they are delivered on time before the deadline. It may take a long time to send the file if the file size is large, there are multiple files to send or if the internet connection is slow.
Name all your files in accordance with the following instructions before submission: lastname-firstname-nameofthefile (for example, applicant-anna-videorecording.mp4). When naming files, you can only use letters a-z, numbers 0-9 and the hyphen -.
The maximum size for files submitted to the Studyinfo service is 1 GB. See the more detailed instructions for preparing appendices below.
The studyinfo service accepts the following audio, video, document and image formats:
- Audio – the recommended format is mp3 (however, the following formats are also accepted: m4a, aiff, wma, wav, aac)
- Video – the recommended format is mp4 (however, the following formats are also accepted: mpeg, mpg, mov, avi, wmv, m4v, qt)
- Documents – all text files are submitted in PDF format.
- Images – jpeg, png, gif, jpg
The application must include the following attachments that are submitted electronically via the Studyinfo service:
Research plan
The maximum length of the research plan is 15,000 characters with spaces, excluding the list of publications. Answer the following questions:
- What are you researching? Justify the scope of your research.
- How do you intend to approach it? Explain and justify your chosen approach.
- What new knowledge or understanding will your artistic or pedagogical practice produce, and how?
- Which theories, sources of knowledge, artistic activities or research methodologies are you engaging with? Briefly describe their key contributions and explain why they are important for your research.
- How do you plan to carry out the research in practice: What kind of artistic or pedagogical work do you intend to undertake as part of the research.
- Proposed timetable and funding (funding received and funding to be applied for), as well as any other necessary or existing resources (for example, artistic collaborators).
- List of publications
- The research plan must include as comprehensive a description as possible of the research idea, its context and execution method.
- The research plan must comply with the code of conduct for research integrity. By attaching a research plan to the application, the applicant agrees to its examination using the Turnitin plagiarism detection system.
If you plan on carrying out artistic activities related to your research together with other artists, describe your own role in the project. Each applicant is assessed separately, and a joint artistic production cannot require the admission of some other applicant participating in the project.
Research plan abstract
The abstract must not exceed 2,000 characters, and it must be submitted as a single PDF file. The purpose of the research plan abstract is to provide the reader with a concise yet informative overview of the planned doctoral thesis. The abstract should describe the background, objectives, research questions, data and methods, as well as the expected research significance and impact of the doctoral thesis.
The abstract should justify the timeliness and relevance of the research in relation to existing research knowledge and highlight the key value of the upcoming research. It should also demonstrate that the research setting, data and methods form a well-founded and feasible whole in relation to the research questions.
The text should be clear, concise and academically grounded. It is recommended that the abstract be written in a way that enables researchers outside the specific field to gain an understanding of the research objectives, implementation and expected academic contribution.
Motivation letter
The motivation letter must not be longer than one (1) page, and it must be submitted as a single PDF file.
The purpose of the motivation letter is to describe the applicant’s motivation, preparedness and goals in relation to doctoral studies. The letter should explain why the applicant is seeking doctoral education, why the research topic is meaningful to them and how a doctoral degree supports their career plans.
The letter should briefly describe previous education, research experience or work experience, as well as the skills and experience that support the implementation of the research and the completion of doctoral studies. In addition, the applicant should demonstrate their commitment to long-term research work and outline their goals as a researcher, expert or developer in their field.
The motivation letter should be a personal, clear and well-reasoned statement that provides the evaluators with an understanding of the applicant’s suitability and motivation for doctoral studies.
CV
The curriculum vitae must comply with the template provided by the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK: https://tenk.fi/en/advice-and-materials/template-researchers-curriculum-vitae. The CV should present any previous activities that the applicant considers supportive of their prospective doctoral studies. The CV must not be longer than two (2) pages. The CV is submitted as a single PDF file.
Portofolio
A brief portfolio presenting the applicant’s key artistic activities and the related research perspectives. The portfolio may contain a total amount of material equivalent to a maximum of five (5) pages and/or five (5) minutes of audiovisual material.
Educational certificates
For detailed information, please see the section on Educational Background.
Language certificates
For detailed information, please see the section on Language skills requirements.
Official proof of identity
Please append a copy of a valid passport, EU identity card, or Finnish driving licence to your application. We use identity documents solely to verify the applicant’s identity during the admissions process, for example in connection with a possible interview.
Contacting a supervisor
A principal supervisor is normally assigned to a doctoral researcher at the same time as admission to the doctoral programme. If you wish, you may contact a prospective supervisor between 15 October 2026 and 15 December 2026, before the application period begins.
Suitable experts from a wide range of fields can be found in the University of the Arts Helsinki Supervisor Pool. Through the CRIS profile linked to each supervisor’s name, you can learn more about their artistic and research activities, publications, and areas of interest. The link to the Supervisor Pool will be published by 15 October 2026.
You may also apply for doctoral studies without identifying a preferred supervisor. The Admissions Committee will discuss supervisory arrangements during the admissions process. The aim is that every new doctoral researcher will have at least one supervisor when beginning their studies.
If you wish to contact a prospective supervisor, please follow these instructions
Write a concise description of your proposed doctoral research project. The maximum recommended length is 2000 characters. Include the following information in summary form:
- The core idea or research question of your project.
- How you intend to address the question.
- What outcomes you expect from the research.
- How the research relates to art and/or your artistic practice.
- Why you wish to pursue doctoral studies specifically at the University of the Arts Helsinki.
- What resources you expect to need and what resources (for example funding) you already have.
Write all content directly in the email message. Attachments will not be opened. Send your message between 15 October 2026 and 15 December 2026.
Do not contact every possible supervisor. Contacting one or two supervisors at a time is sufficient. If you approach more than one supervisor simultaneously, mention this in your message. Please be patient if a response is delayed. A supervisor may also encourage you to contact another supervisor instead. The supervisor may ask you follow-up questions and provide general guidance if needed, but they will not assist with preparing your application.
Please remember that a prospective supervisor’s preliminary willingness to supervise you does not mean that you have been admitted to the doctoral programme. Final decisions on supervisors are made after admissions decisions have been completed. Conversely, you may apply to the doctoral programme without prior support from a supervisor or without identifying a prospective supervisor.
The Dean selects new doctoral researchers based on a proposal from a broadly representative Admissions Committee. Decisions are made on the basis of factors including the quality and feasibility of the research plan in relation to the admissions criteria.
Admissions process and the announcement of the results
The selection of doctoral researchers is managed by an admissions board with broad representation from the artistic fields taught at the Theatre Academy.
The admissions process consists of two stages.
In the first stage, the admissions board selects applicants who will proceed to the next stage on the basis of their applications.
In the second stage, shortlisted applicants are invited to an interview, during which the admissions board has the opportunity to ask the applicant questions and the applicant may ask questions of the admissions board.
Following the second stage, the admissions board makes a proposal on the admission of new doctoral researchers, after which the dean of the Theatre Academy makes the final decision on student admissions.
Admission results
The admissions results will be announced on 5 May 2027 on the Studyinfo service and on the Uniarts Helsinki website as regards the applicants who have given their consent for publishing their names.
Decision letters will be sent by email to applicants selected as doctoral researchers and to any applicants placed on the waiting list. Please check that the message does not end up in your spam folder.
Request for rectification
Applicants can apply for rectification of the admission decision from Uniarts Helsinki under section 82 of the Universities Act (558/2009). The purpose of a written request for rectification is to give the applicant the possibility to appeal and request for rectification if there is a reason to believe that there has been an error in the decision-making process.
The rectification procedure is not intended as a means for receiving feedback or asking for further information about the admissions process. The deadline for rectification requests concerning doctoral education admissions is 19 May 2027.
How to request for rectification of the admission decision
Admissions information sessions
The University of the Arts Helsinki will organize doctoral programme application information sessions on Zoom towards the end of 2026. The sessions will provide an overview of the application process and admissions procedures for doctoral education, and applicants will have the opportunity to ask questions.
More detailed information about the dates and times of the information sessions will be published on this page by the end of October 2026.
Contact information and questions
If you can’t find the answer to your question from this application guide or the Doctoral programme in performing arts webpage, send an email to doc.admissions@uniarts.fi.