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General instructions for Sibelius Academy doctoral students

Find basic information on the planning, supervision and progress of doctoral studies.

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Overall course of studies

Doctoral studies follow the university’s general academic year schedule and their target schedule is 4 years.  

At the beginning of your studies, remember

Take care of the following each year

  • Registration for the academic year 
  • Course enrolment and selection of supporting studies with the supervisor-in-charge (opintojen vastuullinen ohjaaja, or OVO, in Finnish). 
  • Doctoral seminar (1-4 years) 
  • Artistic components 
  • Reporting 

When you graduate, remember

  • Preliminary examination of the thesis or dissertation 
  • Review of supporting studies with the supervisor-in-charge 
  • Examination or public examination of a doctoral dissertation 
  • Applying for a diploma 
  • Graduation and conferment ceremony 

Study planning, supervision and supporting studies

At the beginning of your studies, the doctoral school will assign you a supervisor-in-charge (OVO). The supervisor-in-charge is a Sibelius Academy professor or teacher who has completed a doctoral degree. You must make a written com­mit­ment to su­per­vi­sion of doc­toral stud­ies with the supervisor (see link), which defines the tasks of supervisors, pre-examiners and students, among other things.  

The coordinating teacher of each study unit is responsible for reporting the completed courses to Peppi and, in exceptional cases, to the doctoral programme Tutti team, from which they are transferred to the study register You can monitor your completed courses and register for courses in Student’s Peppi.   

Studies and cooperation in other universities

You can also include compatible studies completed at other universities in your doctoral degree. These studies can be included in the degree if they have been agreed upon with the supervisor-in-charge in advance.  

We encourage you to participate in international events and conferences as well as forums in the field, such as by making presentations, posters or writing articles. You can also earn credits for participation in conferences and writing articles.  

Read more about the Finnish Doctoral Network for Music Research (MuToVe). 

Reporting

Doctoral students must report any publications and artistic activities related to their doctoral degree each year in the UniartsCRIS system. The reporting deadline for the previous year is usually in January of the following year. Reporting reminders are sent by email lists. If you have any questions about reporting, email cris@uniarts.fi 

Communication channels

Information on education is sent by e-mail, and we only use the uniarts.fi addresses for official communications. Follow Student’s Uniarts regularly and read the internal Uniarts Helsinki newsletters.   

See Artsi for tips on how to communicate about your research  

Facilities and IT services

The general instructions for using and booking Uniarts Helsinki’s facilities and IT services and systems also apply to doctoral students. 

Learn about Student IT services, facilities and systems  

Financing studies

When you apply for grants, financial assistance and work funding, for example, from private foundations, you may request recommendations and statements from your supervisor, teacher or other experts Request the recommendation at least a few weeks before the application deadline and submit the research plan enclosed with the application to the person submitting the statement.  

Carefully read the instructions given by the party granting the financial assistance and provide the person providing a statement with the relevant information (e.g. a link to the statement provider’s online service or an address to which the statement will be sent). 

Jobs for doctoral students 

Each year, doctoral schools make a few jobs with a monthly salary available to doctoral students. Students who have made good progress in their studies can be hired for these jobs. Information on job vacancies is provided on the university’s official email lists.