Doctoral Programme in Fine Arts: Curriculum 1.8.2024

Published 28.12.2023 | Updated 24.9.2024

Academy of Fine Arts, Doctor of Fine Arts degree, enters into force on 1.8.2024.
Approved by the Board on 27.2.2024.

All doctoral candidates that have started their studies in 2023 or later follow this curriculum. Doctoral candidates that have started their studies before 2023 can also switch over to complete their degree according to this curriculum.

The purpose and goals of the Doctoral Programme

Doctoral studies pursued at the Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki provide the means and opportunity to engage in the independent and creative activity of artistic research. Artistic research is multidisciplinary research grounded in the artists and their art. The doctoral programme at KuvA produces artist-researchers specialised in fine arts.

Artist-researchers develop and renew the arts and their practice, research, and instruction. They engage in pluralistic and critical dialogue with the various actors in society. As specialists in their respective fields they practice art and produce knowledge, skills, and comprehension based on art practise that can be utilised and applied in both the arts and other areas of society. Doctoral studies at the University of the Arts develop the artist-researchers’ ability to apply the proficiency they have obtained as an artist, researcher, pedagogue, and specialist.

Structure of the target degree

The target degree of the Doctoral Programme in Fine Arts at Uniarts Helsinki, Academy of Fine Arts is Doctor of Fine Arts (DFA). It comprises of 240 ECTS, which corresponds with four years of full-time studies. The degree can be completed in Finnish, Swedish, or English. The evaluation scale for all studies is pass – fail. The degree of Doctor in Fine Arts consists of the doctoral thesis and doctoral studies.

Doctoral thesis and public defence 180 ECTS

A doctoral thesis in fine arts must demonstrate profound understanding of the field and show the student’s ability to analyse, articulate, and contextualise research questions critically. It consists of a maximum of three artistic components and a written component. The relative scopes of the components can vary case by case, but they will comprise of 180 credits in total. Based on an accepted research plan, the doctoral thesis may also consist of solely written research.

The artistic components may include art exhibitions, exhibition curations, individual artworks, or experimental arrangements and their articulation, conceptualisation, and theorisation. The artistic components of a doctoral thesis must be pre-examined and publicly displayed.

The written component relates to the artistic components and justifies the research approach and aims in relation to other research and practices within the field. The recommended scope of the written component is 50–250 pages (page = 2000 characters with spaces). The written component can be a monograph or article-based, in which case it must consist of 2–4 peer reviewed journal articles and a summary of 15–30 pages. The form of the written component can be a web publication or other multimedia entity.

The doctoral thesis may include co-authored publications or projects. If so, the thesis must have a concluding summary written by the doctoral candidate, explaining their own view and contribution to each such component.

The thesis can be published in Finnish, Swedish, or English. When submitted for pre-examination, the language of the doctoral thesis must be the same as that of the final, publicly examined thesis. As a rule, the chosen language will also be the language of the public examination event.

The doctoral thesis is an electronically archivable publication that clearly identifies all components of the thesis. The doctoral thesis can also be published as a printed version.

Doctoral studies in fine arts 60 ECTS

The doctoral studies are described here at the level of modules and categories that define the required study credit numbers for the degree. The teaching programme and detailed course descriptions can be found in Peppi and the study guide.

General research skills 15–25 ECTS

Contents: The study module consists of courses focusing on professional skills essential for an artist-researcher. They are intended to be completed mostly during the early phase of studies. The flexibility in the scope of study credits enables the strengthening of one’s own individual competences. Within the frame of the doctoral student’s personal study plan, studies completed at another university can also be included in the study module.

Learning outcomes: The doctoral student acquires the basic skills to search and analyse information and work in multidisciplinary research communities. They practice artistic research and the development of artistic research methods in interaction with national and international actors in their field. The doctoral student knows how to conduct expert discussions on professional forums and how to prepare publishable research presentations in various public contexts of artistic research. They know how to reflect on the effects and ethical and ecological preconditions of research activities.

• Ethics 2 ECTS
  • It is compulsory for all doctoral students to complete 2 credits worth of ethics studies.
• Method studies 4–8 ECTS
  • It is compulsory to complete a minimum of 4 credits of method studies, but possible to complete more than this.
• Writing 2–8 ECTS
  • It is compulsory to complete a minimum of 4 credits of writing studies, but possible to complete more than this.
• General transferable skills 2–8 ECTS
  • The only compulsory course under this category is Orientation (1 cr) for new doctoral students, but it is compulsory to complete a minimum of 2 credits of courses from this category.

Field specific studies in fine arts 35–45 ECTS

Contents: The study module includes courses that introduce artistic and research activities in the context of fine arts. As a rule, they are intended to support the advancement and deepening of the doctoral student’s own research, and they can be completed in an individual schedule according to one’s own personal study plan. The flexibility of the scope in study credits enables individual thematic choices. Within the frame of the doctoral student’s personal study plan, studies completed at another university can also be included in the study module.

Learning outcomes: The doctoral student acquires skills to deepen their own expertise in interaction with the stakeholders of their own research and the research community in the field of fine arts. They know how to implement high-level visual art projects and relate them to the field’s research contexts in an expert manner. They know how to develop research methods in the visual arts field and get the skills to deepen and structure experiential knowledge in their artistic work. They know how to reflect on their own work at the interface between fine arts and related research.

• Research seminars 4–8 ECTS
  • The doctoral programme organises a research seminar every academic year. It is compulsory to complete a minimum of 4 credits of research seminar studies.
• Theme seminars 0–16 ECTS
  • Theme seminars are not a compulsory element in the degree but considering the required minimum of 35 credits worth of field specific studies, they are an essential option to obtain the required number of credits.
• Reading circles 0–6 ECTS
  • Reading circles are not a compulsory element in the degree but considering the required minimum of 35 credits worth of field specific studies, they are an essential option to obtain the required number of credits.
• Thesis circles 2–4 ECTS
  • It is compulsory to complete a minimum of 2 credits worth of thesis circle studies. More than 4 credits of thesis circles will not be registered for doctoral students (does not limit previously obtained credits).
• Waypoint seminars 0–4 ECTS
  • Waypoint seminar (2 cr) is organised once per academic year. It is optional and can be completed a maximum of two times.
• Conferences 0–5 ECTS
  • Conferences are optional. A maximum of 2 credits can be obtained from a single conference (credits for attendance are included in the 2 credits for a presentation).
  • 1 cr for attendance
  • 2 cr for a presentation
• Organising a symposium 0–5 ECTS
  • Organising a symposium is optional and worth 5 credits.
• Publishing 0–6 ECTS
  • Publications are optional. Credits cannot be obtained from publications that will be included in the doctoral thesis.
  • 3-5 cr for a peer-reviewed publication (by decision of responsible supervisor)
  • 1-3 cr for a non-peer-reviewed publication (by decision of responsible supervisor)

Learning outcomes of the degree

A person who has completed a Doctor of Fine Arts degree is an expert in their field of study. They:

• have the skills and knowledge to engage in independent artistic research
• can carry out an artistic research project based on a motivated and well-argued research proposal
• can critically evaluate the stages of the artistic research process and their outcomes, and to take part in the social and research-based public discourse in their field of specialisation in an expert role
• know how to document the different processes of artistic research and to communicate the contents of their research in various contexts
• can identify important and topical phenomena related to their field and to engage in their critical evaluation
• know how to put their acquired knowledge to practice and to work methodically, professionally, and creatively in the arts and artistic research
• can work in collaboration with experts both from their own field and from other fields
• understand the ethical dimensions of their practice in the context of arts and research and work in a fair and responsible manner

Transition rule

Transition rule regarding the Doctoral Programme in Fine Arts curriculum entering into force on 1.8.2024:

Those doctoral students who have started their studies before 1.8.2024 will have an option to graduate according to the old curricula until 31.7.2026. After this, the Doctoral Programme in Fine Arts curricula that have entered into force on 1.8.2018 and 1.8.2022 will no longer be in force nor will degrees following the old curricula structures be accepted as of 1.8.2026.

All doctoral students can, if they so wish, switch over to pursue their degrees in accordance with the new curriculum as soon as it enters into force on 1.8.2024. On 1.8.2026 by latest, all doctoral students of the doctoral programme must switch over to follow the curriculum entering into force on 1.8.2024 or a possible newer curriculum and their personal study plans will be updated accordingly.

The following has been written in the transition rule of the curriculum that entered into force on 1.8.2022:

If the student has completed all other studies except the doctoral thesis (the student has completed Doctoral studies in Fine Arts (70 cr) in entirety) by 1.8.2022, the student can graduate according to old curricula as long as the completed studies remain valid. Updating outdated studies back into force can be agreed upon with the responsible supervisor. The responsible teacher of the study area related to the outdated studies can update the studies. When doing this, it must be confirmed that the student’s skills are still up to date.

According to the University of the Arts Helsinki education regulations 50§, completed studies remain valid to be included into a degree for a maximum of ten years.

The changes in the new curriculum entering into force on 1.8.2024 are focused on the curriculum’s structure, changes in the scope of study credits in both doctoral studies and the doctoral thesis, as well as increasing possibilities for individual choices in the doctoral studies. Fundamental changes compared to previous curricula are the following:

• The doctoral thesis in fine arts will be 180 ECTS whereas previously the scope was 170 ECTS. All doctoral students who start their studies after 1.8.2024 can include a maximum of three artistic components in their doctoral thesis.
• The doctoral studies will comprise of 60 ECTS instead of the previous 70 ECTS.
• The structural change of the doctoral studies into two study modules: General research skills and Field specific studies in fine arts. Under these, the optionality when choosing course choices has been increased, resulting in more individually formed degrees.

The new curriculum does not bring forth any new compulsory courses nor does it create a need to replace previously completed courses with new ones. The structural changes merely require student specific updates to the personal study plans, with arrangements of previously completed studies to fit the new degree structure. As it stands, all studies completed according to the previous curricula (entered into force on 1.8.2018 and 1.8.2022) will be applicable, with the precondition of their validity limit of ten years, to be included in degrees following the new curriculum as well. Doctoral students can include all valid studies completed before 1.8.2024 in their degree: despite that the new required number of credits for doctoral studies is 60, there is no maximum limit that would prevent a higher number of e.g. 70 credits to be included in the degree. Therefore, it is possible for all doctoral students to switch over to the new curriculum by 1.8.2026 at the latest without any disadvantage caused by the change.

For all doctoral students that start their studies after 1.8.2024, the doctoral thesis can include a maximum of three artistic components. Doctoral students that have started their studies before this can still include the number of artistic components that they have planned according to a valid research plan. Any changes or the validity of an old research plan must be discussed with the responsible supervisor.