Doctoral Programme in Music
Doctoral students can choose between three specialisation areas: Arts Study Programme, Research Study Programme and Applied Study Programme.
Why study here?
Our graduates are experts who are capable of high-level creative and critical work and who operate in demanding art, research, development and educational positions independently and in collaboration with others. Doctors of Music also act as social influencers for an ethically sustainable future.
About the studies
Doctorates can be completed in classical music, church music, global music, music history, music theory, composition, folk music, jazz, music technology, arts management, or music education.
Doctoral education takes place in two Doctoral Schools, DocMus (Department of Classical Music) and MuTri (Department of Music Education, Jazz and Folk Music).
Doctoral studies provide the competence for a wide variety of artistic careers, for teaching, research, and development tasks, as well as for various sectors of societal activity. Our doctoral alumni work, for example, in the following positions: research project leader, academy research fellow, researcher, artist, provincial artist, musician, conductor, opera coach/collaborative pianist, singer, composer, professor, university lecturer, lecturer, teacher, rector and expert.
Doctoral students can choose between three specialisation areas: Arts Study Programme, Research Study Programme and Applied Study Programme.
If you are interested in creative music performance, composition, music theory or church music and if your doctoral project relates stylistically to the tradition of Western art music ranging from ancient music to the latest contemporary music, we recommend that you complete your doctoral studies at the Sibelius Academy’s Doctoral School DocMus. If you are interested in global music, jazz, folk music, music education, music technology or arts management and entrepreneurship, you should complete your doctoral studies at the Sibelius Academy’s Doctoral School MuTri.
Arts Study Programme
The Arts Study Programme involves producing a thematically coherent, research-oriented artistic demonstration of proficiency
The specific goals of the Arts Study Programme are to provide students with:
- the capacity for excellent and insightful artistic expression
- the capacity for conceptual clarity in producing information
- the capacity for generating new information through artistic and research methods and theories
- the capacity to engage in constructive interaction in the arts community, in the academic community and in society at large.
The demonstration of proficiency to be completed in the Arts Study Programme must be a thematically consistent, research-oriented project consisting of artistic components, a written component (thesis) and a summary. You must define the goals, content, scope and interrelation of these components in your post-graduate study plan that must be included in your application. The post-graduate study plan will be updated as your doctoral studies progress.
- The artistic components of the demonstration of proficiency may be recitals, compositions, artistic productions, liturgies, recordings, online materials, videos, etc. These components must amount to at least two and at most four concert programmes or similar artistic entities for a doctorate (at most two for a Licentiate’s degree).
- The demonstration of proficiency also includes a written component, which may be a thesis in a form of a monograph, a comparable multimedia research text, or consist of at least one peer-reviewed research article. The written component must form a coherent research project when taken together with the other components of the demonstration of proficiency.
- The summary must be a concise report of the goals, framework and components of your demonstration of proficiency and of their interrelations, along with a review of the results and a discussion of the significance of those results. If the written component is a monograph-form thesis, then you include the summary in that. If the written component is an article, then you write the summary separately.
In addition, the Arts Study Programme includes artistic and research-oriented studies as well as other applicable/suitable university-level supporting studies of a minimum of 75 ECTS credits.
- Working as an artist
- In-depth musical education and necessary research skills
- Key career skills, such as communication and interaction skills, as well as self-knowledge and communality
Research Study Programme
The particular objectives of the Research Study Programme are to provide the student with
- the ability to produce high-quality information
- the ability to interact in academic communities and beyond
- the ability to integrate into the international research community, as well as
- the ability to strengthen the status of academic research
The demonstration of proficiency in the Research Study Programme is a dissertation. It is a coherent presentation based on the student’s own independent research with new academic information in the field of research represented at the Sibelius Academy. In addition, the doctoral studies in the Research Study Programme include university-level studies on knowledge and skills that support the training of researchers.
The scope of the doctoral dissertation is 165 ECTS credits and it can be either a monograph or an article dissertation. The licentiate degree’s demonstration of proficiency is a licentiate thesis comprising 75 ECTS credits. It can also be a monograph or consist of articles.
The article dissertation / licentiate thesis consisting of articles must include a summary that states the objectives, problem, method and results of the research. In addition to the summary, it must include 3–7 (dissertation) or 2–5 (licentiate thesis) articles that have been reviewed by referees and that deal with the same set of problems and that are published in a scientific publication series or have been approved for publishing. The researcher must be the primary author of each article and they must be able to prove their independent contribution to the topic. The number of articles depends on the nature of the research project and the amount of work required to produce the articles. The researcher must provide written evidence of their participation in joint publications when the research is submitted for preliminary examination.
In addition, the Research Study Programme includes research-oriented studies as well as other applicable university-level supporting studies comprising a minimum of 75 ECTS credits.
Students agree with their supervisor on which supporting studies, worth 75 ECTS credits, they will complete. The studies must cover the following topics:
- Studies on the topic of the student’s own work
- General research studies in the field
- Studies focusing on the researcher’s profession and readiness to enter the workforce
Applied Study Programme
The aim of the applied study programme is to develop music-related practices, approaches, methods, software, innovations, applications, tools, or other similar shareable outputs. The development will be carried out using scientific and/or artistic research methods, and the development target will be tested as part of a doctoral project. Development is generally based on the applicant’s own experience and interests and on the needs of changing musical environments. The studies can be either research-oriented or artistic.
The aim is for the student to achieve:
- a high-quality combination of scientific, methodological, pedagogical, artistic, or technical skills
- the ability to develop new high-quality methods, capabilities, materials, and tools,
- the ability to gather, critically evaluate, apply, and produce knowledge,
- the ability to work in cooperation with Finnish and international actors within their own field and in a multidisciplinary manner,
- the ability to communicate the results of their work to different audiences.
Content of the program
The core content of the qualification is a development target, consisting of new and tested materials, methods, applications, and practices. The development, testing and evaluation are described in a written section. The scope of the demonstration of proficiency is 165 ECTS credits. It includes:
a) The development target and the outcomes of the development, which may be for example:
- model or method, computer program, website, sheet music, teaching material, research article, critical edition, or transcription, etc. (artistic and research-based degree)
- concert(s), recording, lecture concert, etc. (artistic degree)
b) A written description of the theoretical background, context, and phases of the development work, as well as the testing and evaluation of the development target.
In addition, the degree includes at least 75 ECTS credits of research and other university-level support studies appropriate to the degree. Supporting studies for the applied study programme may be of an artistic or research nature. Once the studies have started, the student agrees with the responsible supervisor on a course plan of the supportive studies (75 ECTS credits) that covers the following content:
- Scientific or artistic knowledge
- Fundamentals of research and research methodology
- Research communication
- Working life skills
- Optional content, such as general content areas related to the application and development work
Teachers
Our teachers are some of the best experts in their respective fields. In addition to the permanent teaching staff, the programme welcomes international top professionals as guests on a regular basis.
Target degree and length of study
Doctor
You can apply to
Doctoral Programme in Music
Application period
Next possible time to apply is in January 2025. Studies begin in August 2025.
Application languages
English, Finnish, Swedish
Read more about our language skill requirements
Tuition fee
There are no tuition fees in the doctoral programme.
Supervising teacher
-
Tuuli Talvitie
Vice Dean, Sibelius Academy+358509118897tuuli.talvitie@uniarts.fi
Unit
Sibelius Academy
Ask about applying
siba.tutti@uniarts.fi
Why study here?
Our graduates are experts who are capable of high-level creative and critical work and who operate in demanding art, research, development and educational positions independently and in collaboration with others. Doctors of Music also act as social influencers for an ethically sustainable future.
About the studies
Doctorates can be completed in classical music, church music, global music, music history, music theory, composition, folk music, jazz, music technology, arts management, or music education.
Doctoral education takes place in two Doctoral Schools, DocMus (Department of Classical Music) and MuTri (Department of Music Education, Jazz and Folk Music).
Doctoral studies provide the competence for a wide variety of artistic careers, for teaching, research, and development tasks, as well as for various sectors of societal activity. Our doctoral alumni work, for example, in the following positions: research project leader, academy research fellow, researcher, artist, provincial artist, musician, conductor, opera coach/collaborative pianist, singer, composer, professor, university lecturer, lecturer, teacher, rector and expert.
Doctoral students can choose between three specialisation areas: Arts Study Programme, Research Study Programme and Applied Study Programme.
If you are interested in creative music performance, composition, music theory or church music and if your doctoral project relates stylistically to the tradition of Western art music ranging from ancient music to the latest contemporary music, we recommend that you complete your doctoral studies at the Sibelius Academy’s Doctoral School DocMus. If you are interested in global music, jazz, folk music, music education, music technology or arts management and entrepreneurship, you should complete your doctoral studies at the Sibelius Academy’s Doctoral School MuTri.
Arts Study Programme
The Arts Study Programme involves producing a thematically coherent, research-oriented artistic demonstration of proficiency
The specific goals of the Arts Study Programme are to provide students with:
- the capacity for excellent and insightful artistic expression
- the capacity for conceptual clarity in producing information
- the capacity for generating new information through artistic and research methods and theories
- the capacity to engage in constructive interaction in the arts community, in the academic community and in society at large.
The demonstration of proficiency to be completed in the Arts Study Programme must be a thematically consistent, research-oriented project consisting of artistic components, a written component (thesis) and a summary. You must define the goals, content, scope and interrelation of these components in your post-graduate study plan that must be included in your application. The post-graduate study plan will be updated as your doctoral studies progress.
- The artistic components of the demonstration of proficiency may be recitals, compositions, artistic productions, liturgies, recordings, online materials, videos, etc. These components must amount to at least two and at most four concert programmes or similar artistic entities for a doctorate (at most two for a Licentiate’s degree).
- The demonstration of proficiency also includes a written component, which may be a thesis in a form of a monograph, a comparable multimedia research text, or consist of at least one peer-reviewed research article. The written component must form a coherent research project when taken together with the other components of the demonstration of proficiency.
- The summary must be a concise report of the goals, framework and components of your demonstration of proficiency and of their interrelations, along with a review of the results and a discussion of the significance of those results. If the written component is a monograph-form thesis, then you include the summary in that. If the written component is an article, then you write the summary separately.
In addition, the Arts Study Programme includes artistic and research-oriented studies as well as other applicable/suitable university-level supporting studies of a minimum of 75 ECTS credits.
- Working as an artist
- In-depth musical education and necessary research skills
- Key career skills, such as communication and interaction skills, as well as self-knowledge and communality
Research Study Programme
The particular objectives of the Research Study Programme are to provide the student with
- the ability to produce high-quality information
- the ability to interact in academic communities and beyond
- the ability to integrate into the international research community, as well as
- the ability to strengthen the status of academic research
The demonstration of proficiency in the Research Study Programme is a dissertation. It is a coherent presentation based on the student’s own independent research with new academic information in the field of research represented at the Sibelius Academy. In addition, the doctoral studies in the Research Study Programme include university-level studies on knowledge and skills that support the training of researchers.
The scope of the doctoral dissertation is 165 ECTS credits and it can be either a monograph or an article dissertation. The licentiate degree’s demonstration of proficiency is a licentiate thesis comprising 75 ECTS credits. It can also be a monograph or consist of articles.
The article dissertation / licentiate thesis consisting of articles must include a summary that states the objectives, problem, method and results of the research. In addition to the summary, it must include 3–7 (dissertation) or 2–5 (licentiate thesis) articles that have been reviewed by referees and that deal with the same set of problems and that are published in a scientific publication series or have been approved for publishing. The researcher must be the primary author of each article and they must be able to prove their independent contribution to the topic. The number of articles depends on the nature of the research project and the amount of work required to produce the articles. The researcher must provide written evidence of their participation in joint publications when the research is submitted for preliminary examination.
In addition, the Research Study Programme includes research-oriented studies as well as other applicable university-level supporting studies comprising a minimum of 75 ECTS credits.
Students agree with their supervisor on which supporting studies, worth 75 ECTS credits, they will complete. The studies must cover the following topics:
- Studies on the topic of the student’s own work
- General research studies in the field
- Studies focusing on the researcher’s profession and readiness to enter the workforce
Applied Study Programme
The aim of the applied study programme is to develop music-related practices, approaches, methods, software, innovations, applications, tools, or other similar shareable outputs. The development will be carried out using scientific and/or artistic research methods, and the development target will be tested as part of a doctoral project. Development is generally based on the applicant’s own experience and interests and on the needs of changing musical environments. The studies can be either research-oriented or artistic.
The aim is for the student to achieve:
- a high-quality combination of scientific, methodological, pedagogical, artistic, or technical skills
- the ability to develop new high-quality methods, capabilities, materials, and tools,
- the ability to gather, critically evaluate, apply, and produce knowledge,
- the ability to work in cooperation with Finnish and international actors within their own field and in a multidisciplinary manner,
- the ability to communicate the results of their work to different audiences.
Content of the program
The core content of the qualification is a development target, consisting of new and tested materials, methods, applications, and practices. The development, testing and evaluation are described in a written section. The scope of the demonstration of proficiency is 165 ECTS credits. It includes:
a) The development target and the outcomes of the development, which may be for example:
- model or method, computer program, website, sheet music, teaching material, research article, critical edition, or transcription, etc. (artistic and research-based degree)
- concert(s), recording, lecture concert, etc. (artistic degree)
b) A written description of the theoretical background, context, and phases of the development work, as well as the testing and evaluation of the development target.
In addition, the degree includes at least 75 ECTS credits of research and other university-level support studies appropriate to the degree. Supporting studies for the applied study programme may be of an artistic or research nature. Once the studies have started, the student agrees with the responsible supervisor on a course plan of the supportive studies (75 ECTS credits) that covers the following content:
- Scientific or artistic knowledge
- Fundamentals of research and research methodology
- Research communication
- Working life skills
- Optional content, such as general content areas related to the application and development work
Teachers
Our teachers are some of the best experts in their respective fields. In addition to the permanent teaching staff, the programme welcomes international top professionals as guests on a regular basis.