Master's Degree Programme for Research Chemists

In 2022, a maximum of 24 students will be accepted to the Master’s Degree Programme for Research Chemists. The application period opens on December 1, 2021 and closes on January 19, 2022 at 15:00 (GMT+2). Incomplete or delayed applications will not be considered. The applicants will begin the application process on the national studyinfo.fi portal.

The accepted students will be notified of their acceptance no later than on March 31, 2022. Students will be selected on the basis of their application documents. Meeting the minimum application requirements does not guarantee acceptance to the programme.

Application requirements

All applicants must hold at least a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in chemistry or chemical engineering corresponding to at least 3 years' of full-time academic studies (equivalent of 180 ECTS credit units in the Finnish university system) obtained at an internationally recognized and accredited university or higher education institution.

A temporary (provisional) degree certificate is accepted if it was awarded no more than five years earlier. The country-specific regulations are described in University of Eastern Finland web-page.

In case, the applicant has not yet received the Degree certificate by the admission deadline, he/she is required to submit an officially certified copy of his/her latest transcript of records during the application period. The country-specific regulations and general instructions are described in University of Eastern Finland web-page. If the applicant receives the degree certificate and the final transcript of records during the application period it is recommended to submit them as soon as possible.  If the degree is not completed by the end of application period the admission is conditional. In this case, the actual degree certificate shall be submitted to the programme coordinator by August 10, 2022 at 15:00 (GMT+2) at the latest, otherwise, the study place will be cancelled.

Official translations

All application documents should be submitted in Finnish, Swedish or English. Also the scanned copies of the original documents have to be submitted. Translations of educational documents must be 1) issued by the awarding institution or 2) officially certified copy of a translation issued by the awarding institution or 3) translated by an official translator or 4) officially certified copy of a translation made by an official translator. Each page of an official translation must bear the translator’s stamp and/or signature. Official translations must be exact translations of the original documents. Translations done by the applicant him- or herself are not accepted. The country-specific requirements and general instructions are described in here.

Language requirements

Applicants for the Master’s degree programmes are required to have sufficient English language proficiency.

The following standardized language tests passed with the minimum grade or score specified below will be considered proof of sufficient English skills:

• TOEFL-iBT test: 92 and 22 in writing
• IELTS (Academic): 6.5 and 5.5 in writing
• PTE (Academic): 62 and 54 in writing
• C1 Advanced: 180, min. 162 in writing
• C2 Proficiency: 180, min. 162 in writing
• National Certificate of Language Proficiency (YKI) -test: level 5 in the reading comprehension, writing and speaking subtests; website https://www.oph.fi/en/national-certificates-language-proficiency-yki.

The English language test is not required from applicants who have:

• a university degree (Bachelor’s, Master’s or Doctoral degree, or polytechnic/university of applied sciences) completed in English language, or
• completed the upper-secondary education in English in Great Britain, Ireland, United States, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand or in a Nordic Country,
• a degree at a Finnish university or a university of applied sciences with English as the major subject,
• exchange studies (min. 20 ECTS) at the University of Eastern Finland.

If the applicant has completed his/her studies in English, he/she must include the official statement of his/her educational institution that the medium of the instruction has been English.

Furthermore, applicants’ language skills will be deemed sufficient also if applicant has taken the matriculation examination in English language in Finland with a minimum grade of M. Other requirements of international examinations (International Baccalaureate (IB), European Baccalaureate (EB) or Reifeprüfung Diploma are described in the webpages of UEF admissions.

In addition, a certificate or proof of adequate language skills is accepted from applicants who apply from universities with which University of Eastern Finland has academic or educational co-operation agreement or who have recommendations from professor/s of department of chemistry in UEF.

If the applicant is applying with one degree and indicating the language skills with another, he/she is required to submit educational documents regarding both degrees. He/she can only indicate the language skills with an incomplete degree if he/she is applying for the studies with the same degree.

The language test certificates are valid for two years from the day they are issued and they have to be valid during the application period.

If the result of the language test is below the required minimum, the application will not be considered for the admission.

Download your attachments to the application form in pdf/jpg/png -format. If you cannot upload your attachments online please contact the admissions office for further instructions, admissions@uef.fi. The attachments must be submitted no later than January 27, 2021 at 15:00 pm (GMT+2) at the latest. All admitted applicants are required to bring their original degree certificates and transcripts of records for verification upon arrival in Finland.

• Completed application form (online)
• The original degree certificate (in the original language) and an English, Finnish or Swedish translation of the degree certificate (scanned document)
• The original transcript of records (in the original language) and an English, Finnish or Swedish translation of the transcript of records. The transcript should include the course units, their completion time, grades and credits awarded, and information on the grading scale used at the institution (scanned document)
• Scanned copy of the identification page of your passport (not required from Finnish applicants)
• Certificate or proof of English language skills. (See admission requirements) 
• Motivational letter describing your educational goals at the University of Eastern Finland. In the motivational letter the applicant should describe the reasons for applying to the programme, which specialization he/she is interested in (inorganic, organic, materials, physical chemistry), any relevant previous experience and future career or educational plans, for example plans to continue on to Ph.D. research
• At least two letters of recommendation from your previous academic instructors. Link to the reference letter (pdf)
• Curriculum Vitae

The application period for 2022 intake will begin on 1 December 2021 and it lasts until 19 January 2022. There is one intake per year and the studies start the following September.  Starting with admissions for studies applicants will begin the application process on the national Studyinfo portal.

After you submit your application you receive a confirmation email. This email includes a link or making changes to your application. Changes can be made until 19 January 2022, but it is possible to upload documents after the application deadline until 26th January (supplementary time). 

At the application state we require only scanned enclosures attached (uploaded) to the application form. Paper copies are not required during the application period.  Once you have filled out the online application, required enclosures must be uploaded electronically to the application (recommended file types pdf and jpeg, max. file size 1.0 GB) until 26 January 2022 at 3 pm (GMT+2).  Please make sure that you upload each enclosure to the right place in the application form.  Your application documents have to arrive by the given deadline. UEF does not process application documents that have arrived after the deadline.

All eligible applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria (max. 50 points)

1. Relevance and depth of chemistry studies in degree (max 15 points) 
2. Grading of studies in general (max. 5 points)
3. Grading of chemistry studies (max. 15 points)
4. Quality of the motivation letter (max. 10 points)
5. Recommendation letters (max. 5 points)

Admission results will be published no later than on March 31st, 2022. All applicants will be informed about the selection results by email. All accepted students will receive a package including a notification of admission, a confirmation form, and other relevant documents. All accepted students should inform whether they accept their study place by latest on July 15th, 2022. Studies start in the beginning of September.

The annual tuition fee for non-EU/EEA citizens is 8 000 euros. The tuition fee will be paid in two separate instalments.

All new non- EU/EEA students who have applied for scholarship in the application form will receive a scholarship (tuition waiver) which is 70% of the annual tuition fee. The scholarship is granted for two years if student fulfils the requirements of the student agreement. EU/EEA students are exempt from tuition fees.

The early bird deduction (500 euros) of tuition fee is available for students who will pay the first instalment of tuition fee no later than April 21st 2022.

Scholarships for living costs are not available.

Finland scholarship

UEF will grant a Finland Scholarship (Suomi-stipendi) of € 5 000 for the two best applicants in each Master's Degree programme. The Finland Scholarship is granted for the first year of Master’s studies and the students who receive it must be non-EU/EEA citizens who are liable to pay tuition fees. The total value of the Finland Scholarship is € 13 000. The Finland Scholarship includes:

• 100 % tuition waiver for the first year's tuition fee (value € 8 000)
• € 5 000 relocation grant 

The scholarship is a one-year scholarship for first-year Master’s students. For the second year of study, students need to secure sufficient funds themselves. The programme's general tuition waivers will be offered for the second-year studies.  

More general information about Finland Scholarship can be found form here: https://www.uef.fi/en/tuition-fees-waivers-and-scholarships