Eligibility criteria
These admission criteria are valid for student selections made in 2025–2028. However, the faculty reserves the right to make changes to the criteria, if necessary, between admissions rounds. The number of study seats is decided on an annual basis and will be published on Studyinfo.fi before each application round.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for the master’s degree programme, you must have a suitable higher education degree and demonstrate adequate English proficiency in one of the methods described below.
1. A higher education degree that fulfils the following requirements:
The degree must give eligibility for master’s-level degree studies in the awarding country. If your degree qualifies you for doctoral-level studies, you should primarily seek admission to a doctoral programme instead.
Suitable fields for the degree include (but are not limited to):
- musicology
- music education
- arts and culture
- health and well-being
- humanities
- information technology
- psychology
Separate higher education studies that are not part of a degree may be considered when evaluating the compatibility of your previous field/calculating your admissions score.
The higher education institution awarding the degree must be officially recognised in the national education system, i.e., listed as a degree-granting higher education institution by the country where it is located or by a relevant international organisation (such as UNESCO).
If the degree used to prove eligibility is incomplete at the time of application, you may be admitted on a conditional basis. In this case, you must graduate and submit officially certified copies of the final educational documents so that they are received by the University by the specified deadline. The deadline will be posted on the University’s website before the application period starts.
If you currently hold a study right in this same master’s programme at the Ģֱ, you cannot be admitted.
2. English proficiency demonstrated in any of the following ways:
o An upper secondary education completed in English in an EU/EEA country, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the United States, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand.
o A higher education degree completed in English in an EU/EEA country or one of the following: Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Cameroon, Canada, Dominica, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
o A Finnish-medium or Swedish-medium higher education degree completed in a Finnish higher education institution, with a command of a foreign language in English per the Government Decree on University Degrees (794/2004) or the Government Decree on Universities of Applied Sciences (1129/2014). If the degree is still incomplete at the time of application, it must be the same as the one used as the basis for eligibility.
o A higher education degree completed or being completed in Finland, with the English language as a major or specialisation.
o An international English language proficiency test. The approved language tests and minimum results are as follows:
- IELTS Academic, IELTS for UKVI Academic, IELTS Indicator, or IELTS Online: 6.5 (overall score)
- TOEFL iBT, TOEFL iBT Home Edition, or TOEFL iBT Paper Edition: 92 (MyBest score)
- PTE Academic, PTE Academic UKVI, or PTE Academic Online: 62 (overall score)
- Cambridge C2 Proficiency: A, B, C, or C1
- Cambridge C1 Advanced: A, B, or C
IELTS, PTE and TOEFL results must be valid until the end of the application period. Only Cambridge tests completed in 2005 and thereafter are accepted. If the language test result is released after the application has ended, the test report form must be released by and valid on the deadline date for submitting attachments.
o National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) in English: The applicant must have received a grade 5 or higher at the advanced level in all components (speaking, writing, listening comprehension, and reading comprehension). The applicant may combine test results from multiple dates. Only YKI tests completed in 2002 and thereafter are accepted.
The University does not grant waivers for language requirements. If you fail to demonstrate your English skills by one of the above methods, your application will be rejected as ineligible. The University does not consider test report forms received after the specified deadline.
Admissions procedure
Online application, required attachments and interview
The admissions process is divided into two steps: 1) submitting the application and all required attachments, and 2) participating in a non-synchronous video interview.
NB: If you use generative artificial intelligence (AI) to aid your application, you must indicate which model (e.g., ChatGPT, Bing Chat). If AI is used in the research plan, the language model must be included in the reference list. However, citations are not necessary if you use AI solely for ideation, proofreading, stylisation or similar purposes.
Claiming AI-generated content as your own without acknowledging it is considered plagiarism. If we detect that a supporting document or assignment has been generated by AI, either wholly or in part, without proper acknowledgement, it will be given zero points.
Phase 1: Application and required attachments
First, you must submit the online application on Studyinfo.fi and the required attachments by the given deadlines.
Phase 2: Non-synchronous interview video
You are required to record and save this video interview in the RecRight system, which is separate from the Studyinfo application portal. You will be invited to take part in the interview in the RecRight system by email. The invitation email including further instructions will be sent to you right after the application period ends, 22 January 2025. Please remember to check your email (also trash mail folder) regularly at that time. The deadline by which the video must be recorded and saved in RecRight is 29 January 2025 at 3.00 p.m. (UTC+2/ EET).
In the RecRight video interview, please articulate your reasons for applying for this programme clearly by answering the following questions:
- Describe your previous studies, activities, and commitment in relation to the contents of the master’s programme. (Maximum length 5 minutes)
- What is it about this bilingual program that interests you? Why are you motivated to study with us? (Maximum length 5 minutes)
- What are your future professional plans? What skills and knowledge do you expect to gain from this programme for your career after graduation? (Maximum length 5 minutes)
The video interview is in English.
The applicant is responsible for providing themselves with the space, time, and equipment to enable participation in the non-synchronous online interview. More detailed instructions will be sent with the interview invitation on 22 January 2025. Please check your spam folder if you do not see the email in your regular inbox.
Eligible applications that include all the compulsory attachments are evaluated according to the criteria explained below. Ineligible applications will not be processed further after they have been found not to meet the eligibility criteria/documentary requirements.
Application evaluation criteria
| Category | Points |
|---|
| Previous degree(s) | 0–5 |
| Preliminary research plan | 0–10 |
| Motivation to enter programme | 0–15 |
| Total maximum points | 30 |
The evaluation of previous degree(s) considers overall study performance (0-2 points) and the relevance of the degree(s) (0-3 points) to the Master’s Degree Programme in Music and Science.
The evaluation of the preliminary research plan (0-10 points) is based on the guidelines provided in section 8 of “Required attachments”. Emphasis should be placed on creating a clear, well-structured plan that demonstrates a solid understanding of the field and the research methodology relevant to the chosen topic.
Motivation to study in the programme should be evident through a strong interest in the programme's content (0-5 points), a desire to study in a multinational and bilingual setting, including a commitment to residing in Finland during the programme (0-5 points), and the alignment of future professional goals with the programme's focus (0-5 points).
The Coordination Committee of the Master’s Degree Programme will assess the applications as described above. There is a minimum score limit for each of the evaluation categories.
The application must receive at least the minimum required score from each of the assessment categories (previous higher education degree, preliminary research plan and motivation) to be admitted for the programme. If the application does not meet the required score limit in any of the assessment categories, the subsequent categories will not be scored. The minimum score limits are as follows:
| Category | Minimum required points |
|---|
| Previous degree(s) | 4 |
| Preliminary research plan | 7 |
| Motivation to enter programme | 8 |
Final selection
Applicants will be ranked according to their admission scores, and the highest-scoring applicants, in accordance with the number of available study seats, will be admitted. If two or more applicants are tied for the last study place, all of them will be accepted. The faculty may also, at their discretion, admit more applicants than there are study places to ensure there will be enough students to start their studies in the programme. There are no arrangements for clearing, i.e., unaccepted study seats will not be reallocated.
All applicants will be notified of the results by email by the date given on the University’s website. Unsuccessful applicants will be informed of the policy and deadline for appealing against the admission decision.
