Instructions for Bachelor of Fine Arts artistic work and written thesis
These are the guidelines for completing the artistic work and the written thesis for bachelor’s degree.
Thesis project guideline is being updated
The bachelor thesis project guideline is being updated in the fall semester 2024. If you are completing your thesis project based on the old curriculum, please find the old thesis project guidelines behind the link below.
General
The compulsory studies for the BA in Fine Arts include Bachelor of Fine Arts artistic work and its public presentation (9 ECTS) and Bachelor of Fine Arts written thesis (6 ECTS), whose completion is supported in the Bachelor of Fine Arts thesis seminar (2 ECTS). A plan for the artistic work and written thesis will also be prepared at the thesis seminar. The artistic work is presented at an oral examination event held in connection with the BFA graduates’ degree exhibition, which is part of the thesis seminar. The examiners appointed by the subject areas review the written thesis.
Guidance on the artistic work and written thesis is provided by the teacher of the subject area (the supervising teacher in these instructions). The Bachelor’s thesis seminar and exhibition are the responsibility of the teacher in the Joint Studies subject area (in this instruction, the teacher in charge of the course unit).
The artistic work, its public presentation and the written thesis must adhere to good research and artistic practices.
Schedule and thesis seminar
In the Bachelor’s thesis seminar, students prepare for completing an artistic work and presenting it in a BFA graduates’ degree exhibition or other agreed manner as well as writing a written thesis.
The BFA graduates’ degree exhibition is held at the turn of September-October and a joint examination event for artistic works is held in connection with it (see section Guidance, examination and approval for artistic work and its public presentation). The written thesis is completed and submitted for review approximately three weeks after the examination event. After submitting the written thesis, a maturity essay is written (see section Maturity essay). The maturity essay must be completed before approval of the thesis.
Plan for the artistic work, its public presentation and written thesis
At the beginning of the Bachelor’s thesis seminar, the student prepares a plan for the artistic work of the Bachelor of Arts, its public presentation and a written thesis. The plan is a free-form text 1-3 pages in length. In the plan, the student outlines the topic, implementation and presentation of the artistic work. The student also briefly outlines the themes and bases of a written thesis. The supervising teacher supports the student in drawing up the plan during, for example, studio visits.
If you wish to complete a written thesis in a language that differs from the language of your degree, you must apply for the right to do so in the plan. In this case, the student must justify in their plan why they wish to complete a written thesis in a language other than their own degree language. The justification must be written in the language in which the student wishes to write their thesis. Example: If the student’s degree language is Finnish and they wish to write a written thesis in English, they must write their justification in English.
The plan is returned to the supervising teacher, who approves the plan. More detailed information on the schedule for submitting a plan can be obtained at the beginning of the Bachelor’s thesis seminar.
Bachelor of Fine Arts artistic work and its public presentation
Bachelor of Fine Arts studies include the planning and creation of an artwork and its public presentation, which takes place in connection with the BFA graduates’ degree exhibition or in some other separately agreed manner. This study unit provides students with experiences in planning, creating and exhibiting a work of art. Documentation of the work is presented in the BFA written thesis.
Exhibition practices (2 ECTS) is completed in connection with putting together the BFA graduates’ degree exhibition. In the study unit, students gain practice in presenting work and learn about the practices and technical skills related to putting on an exhibition. Students participate in the teaching even if they present their work outside the joint exhibition. If the student presents their artistic work outside the BFA graduates’ degree exhibition, the manner of presentation is agreed upon with the supervising teacher.
Guidance, examination and approval for artistic work and its public presentation
Guidance for artistic work and its public presentation is mainly provided by the supervising teacher from the student’s subject area. Guidance for artistic work is provided at the subject area seminars on artistic work, in the Bachelor’s thesis seminar, in other teaching related to the BFA graduates’ degree exhibition, and during studio visits. Bachelor’s degree studies in exhibition practices provide support for the public presentation of artistic work. The student works in cooperation with the supervising teacher, and they may not present an artistic work that the supervising teacher has not approved as part of the plan. The student ensures that the supervising teacher has up-to-date knowledge of the artistic work and its presentation as the student’s work progresses.
The student presents their artistic work in an examination event related to the thesis seminar. During the examination event, the student presents their artistic work orally and also participates actively in other discussions. The examiners comment on the work, after which time is reserved for discussion. If the student does not participate in the Academy of Fine Arts BFA graduates’ degree exhibition, but instead presents their thesis elsewhere, they must ensure that the examiners have access to the work in connection with its presentation. In this case, a visual documentation of the artistic work and its presentation is presented at the joint examination event. After the examination event, the supervising teacher grades the artistic work and its public presentation study unit. The supervising teacher enters the credits in the study register.
Bachelor of Fine Arts written thesis
The written thesis of a Bachelor of Fine Arts consists of visual and written documentation of the artistic work and its public presentation. In the written thesis, the student can discuss the starting points of their artistic work; its contents, techniques, form and material solutions and the relevance the thesis project has to the contexts of contemporary art. The student can, furthermore, describe the work process, the making and exhibiting of the work and discuss the relationship of the artistic work and the audience, the exhibition venue and societal questions.
The scope of a written thesis is 5-10 pages without images (approx. 1,800 characters per page without spaces, totalling 9,000-18,000 characters). The written thesis of the Bachelor of Fine Arts contains verbal and visual documentation of the Bachelor of Fine Arts and how the work has been presented. The documented image materials must be comprehensive. Artistic work is documented in a manner that is suitable for the work, such as still images from a video piece.
Guidance for the written thesis
Support for writing a written thesis is provided at the Bachelor’s thesis seminar, during the Bachelor’s textual skills study unit and during studio visits. Guidance for the written thesis is mainly provided by the supervising teacher from the student’s subject area. The supervising teacher agrees on the thesis examiners with the teacher in charge of the Bachelor’s thesis seminar. The supervising teacher also pre-examines the written thesis before the student turns in the final version for review.
Form, language and references of the written thesis
The title page of the written thesis must indicate:
- student name,
- school (Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki) and its logo,
- that it is a Bachelor of Fine Arts Written thesis,
- and the date of submission of the written thesis.
The first pages of the written thesis must clearly indicate:
- All the work and exhibition data relevant to the artistic work, including the year of completion of the works, the materials and techniques used, their sizes and, in temporal works, their running time. The times and places of exhibition of the works are also given.
- Supervisor and examiners of the written thesis.
- If the artistic work has been completed in a cooperative effort, the first pages of the written thesis must indicate the distribution of the work between the participants in the process.
References are used in a written thesis when citing other people’s ideas. A list of sources and literature is appended to the end of the written thesis.
All images used in the written thesis must be accompanied by the image details and source. It is important to include the image details, even if the student has created the works shown in the images or taken the photographs themselves. Students shall ensure that they use images in accordance with copyrights. Although there is greater latitude for using images in an academic thesis than in commercial publications, check the ImagOA guide for detailed instructions. If a student uses an image, they must be sure that they are entitled to publish it.
Exceptions can be made to have the written thesis submitted in the form of verbal, recorded presentation rather than that of a written text. Justification for this solution is included in the plan for the artistic work and written thesis. If the student suffers from dyslexia or has other special needs affecting their learning and self-expression, they can acquire a certificate of their condition from an expert and discuss the situation with their teacher. This way, the matter can be taken into consideration when a thesis plan is approved and the thesis is examined, and the student can also be provided with the guidance they need, if necessary.
Students must complete the thesis in the language used for their degrees (section 35 of the Education Regulations of Uniarts Helsinki). The right to complete a written thesis in a language other than that used for the degree can be applied for in the plan for artistic work and written thesis (see section Plan for the artistic work, its public presentation and written thesis). The right to use a language other than that used for the degree is determined by the dean.
Submitting a written thesis and checking the originality
The written thesis is submitted to the supervising teacher for a preliminary examination no later than two weeks before the final date for submitting the thesis. Instructions for the preliminary examination schedule are provided in connection with the Bachelor’s thesis seminar.
The final version of the thesis is returned in a single PDF/A file to Study services (maximum file size: 10 MB). More detailed instructions on the submission method are provided at the Bachelor’s thesis seminar. The file must contain the written thesis in its entirety (cover page, text and images as well as source and reference information). If the thesis is submitted in a verbally recorded presentation other than written text, its file format and submission must be agreed upon with Study services.
In connection with the final submission of the completed thesis, its originality is checked (i.e. identifying plagiarism). Checking the originality of a thesis involves detecting similarities with previous student work, material available on the internet and material that has been previously published. Students will receive a link from the supervising teacher to the Moodle area, which is intended for checking the originality of the written thesis. The supervising teacher is responsible for checking the originality and interpreting the results.
Examination of the written thesis
Once the student has submitted the written thesis, the thesis examiners assess it. The examination is based on the curricula and these instructions for the Bachelor of Fine Arts written thesis.
The examiner may write their examiner’s statement in either Finnish, Swedish or English. The student’s language skills must be taken into account in choosing a language, as they are entitled to receive a statement in a language that they can understand. In the early stages of the work, the language selection is agreed upon when the examiner agrees to serving in that role. The Academy of Fine Arts does not translate thesis or examiner statements. When making their assessment, examiners must take into account any information provided to them in a medical certificate concerning dyslexia or other learning difficulties.
Examiners write a short free-form assessment of the written thesis (the desired length is from a few sentences to half a page) and give their grade proposal (pass/fail). For example, in their statement, the examiner may discuss and assess the relationship of a written thesis with contemporary art contexts or the student’s ability to perceive and verbalise the bases of their artistic work. If the examiner proposes that the written thesis be given a failing grade or feels that the documentation and written thesis require additional information, they must give the reasons in writing. In addition to the proposed grade and the actual examiner’s statement, the student’s name, the thesis to be assessed (Bachelor of Fine Arts written thesis), the name of the examiner and the date of the examiner’s statement are recorded in the examiner’s statement.
The examiner submits their statement to Study services in writing. The statement must be submitted within two weeks after the examiner has received the written thesis for review.
Maturity essay
Before approval of the Bachelor of Arts written thesis, the student must write a maturity essay in the language of their school education. The maturity essay schedules are announced in the Study Guide and the thesis seminar. In the maturity essay, students demonstrate that they are familiar with the subject matter of their thesis and possess proficiency in Finnish or Swedish. The maturity essay question is prepared by the supervising teacher, who also checks the contents of the submitted answer. With regard to language, the maturity essay is checked by a language teacher.
If the student has received their education abroad or in a language other than Finnish or Swedish, they may write the maturity essay in English. In this case, the maturity essay will only be checked in terms of content (Section 44 of the Uniarts Helsinki Education Regulations).
Written thesis approval, publicity, archiving and registration
Once the examiners have submitted their statements containing the grade proposal to Study services, the written thesis and its statements are submitted to the professor of the student’s subject area for approval. The supervising teacher supports/does not support the approval of the written thesis, and the professor in the subject area decides on approval of the thesis (grade: Pass/Fail).
Study services notifies the student of the grade for the written thesis and provides them with the statements received from the examiners after the thesis has been approved.
If one or both examiners issue a failing grade, the student has the opportunity to:
- request that the written thesis assessment be discontinued and ask for further instructions from the teacher supervising the thesis, or
- continue the process and provide a response to the thesis approver. If the grades proposed by the examiners deviate from one another, the decision-maker requests a third assessment from an external examiner.
If the assessment of the written thesis is discontinued, the student makes corrections to their thesis following the instructions of the supervising teacher and then submits the revised thesis The new assessment will not begin until the supervising teacher has given their permission to do so.
A student dissatisfied with the grading of their thesis project may apply for a rectification of the grading in writing from the decision-maker within 14 days of receiving notification of the decision. A student dissatisfied with the decision regarding the request for rectification may appeal the matter to the Academic Appeals Board of Uniarts Helsinki within 14 days of receiving notification of the decision.
The written theses are stored by the Academy of Fine Arts Study services for the duration of the valid rules on storage periods, after which they will be archived by Uniarts Helsinki. The written theses are public documents, which is why they cannot include material that cannot be published due to copyright reasons.
More information on copyrights is available on the Students’ Uniarts and in the student agreement that each student signs at the beginning of studies.
Completion of the written thesis is entered into the study information system after it has been approved. As stipulated in Uniarts Helsinki’s Education Regulations, completed studies are valid no longer than 10 years, during which time they can be included in a degree.