General information about doctoral study

Doctoral degrees available at the Sibelius Academy are the Licentiate of Music and/or Doctor of Music degrees. The Licentiate of Music degree requires 150 ECTS credits in total  and the Doctor of Music degree requires 240 ECTS credits. In accordance with the Universities Decree (Decree on University Degrees 794/2004), the degrees are either science or arts degrees. The Licentiate of Music and/or Doctor of Music degrees can be taken in

a) the Art Study Programme,
b) the Research Programme or
c) the Development Study Programme.

In the Art Study  Programme, the emphasis is on artistic dissertations (concerts, recordings, compositions for composition students). They constitute 75 ECTS credits in the Licentiate degree and 165 ECTS credits in the Doctoral degree. In addition, the degree includes a written work and courses that support artistic work. Such courses should include studies in philosophy of science and arts.

Research students carry out a licentiate thesis (75 ECTS credits) and/or a doctoral dissertation (165 ECTS credits). The degree includes courses that support scientific work worth 75 ECTS credits. Such courses should include studies in philosophy of science and arts worth 15 ECTS credits.

In the Development Study Programme, students complete a theoretical or performance specialisation in a particular area of music. The degree has either an artistic or scientific focus. The purpose is for students to acquire new skills that they can apply in their musical careers. Doctoral students develop into experts of their chosen field, producing new and tested methods, applications and practices. An integral part of the degree is the development study project, which can include concerts, recordings, compositions, notation publications, teaching demonstrations, learning material, equipment, software etc. The extent of the applied study project is 75 ECTS credits in the Licentiate degree, and 165 ECTS credits in the Doctoral degree. In addition, the degree includes theoretical and performance studies worth 75 ECTS credits. Of these supplementary studies, 15 ECTS credits should be from studies in philosophy of science and arts.

If you are planning doctoral studies, you must first enrol as an external student to prepare your doctoral study plan. External students are required to have a sufficient command of Finnish, Swedish or English. A language proficiency test is organised if necessary.