Master's Degree Programme in Forestry

Basic admission requirements

Basic admission requirements include:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in forest sciences or related sciences
• Good command of English language.

The on-line application form must be filled in and the required enclosures need to be attached  (in pdf format) with the on-line application.  At the application state we require only scanned enclosures attached (uploaded) to the application form. Paper copies are not required during the application period. Please see further instructions and how to submit your application documents HERE. The recommendation letters can be attached with the online application form OR they can be sent by email directly to the programme coordinator, Ms. Marjoriitta Möttönen (marjoriitta.mottonen(at)uef.fi) by the referee. The required enclosures are:

a. The scanned copy of the original degree certificate (in the original language) and an English, Finnish or Swedish translation of the degree certificate, see admission requirements below

b. The scanned copy of the original transcript of records (in the original language) and an English, Finnish or Swedish translation of the transcript of records, see admission requirements below

c. English language certificate, see admission requirements below

d. Two recommendation letters, use the template provided below:

Reference form (doc, pdf)

e. A copy of passport (not required from Finnish applicants)

f. Curriculum vitae

g. Possible document giving you an exemption from paying tuition fee

In addition, as a part of the admission requirements, in the application form you will be requested to write a motivation letter (max. 1000 characters) and include information about your work experience (max. 500 characters) and international experience (max. 500 characters).

Admission requirements

1. Degree requirements

A previous Bachelor's degree in forestry or in related field corresponding to at least 3 year's of full time academic studies from an institution for higher education is required from all Master's degree applicants. The degree must be awarded by an internationally recognized university. Applicants who have a previous Bachelor’s degree in forestry or in related field from a recognized university of applied sciences or polytechnic are also eligible.

Admission is conditional if applicant applies to UEF with a degree that is not finished during the application period. It is required that the applicants deliver officially certified copies of the final degree certificate and the transcript of records to the programme coordinator by 9 August 2024.

Temporary (provisional) degree certificate

A temporary (provisional) degree certificate is a document issued by an institution to a student who has successfully completed all studies included in the degree. The student has graduated. The temporary degree certificate is issued as a replacement for the actual degree certificate e.g. in case the actual degree certificate cannot be given to the student immediately after the studies have been completed due to technical or administrative reasons. The temporary degree certificate should include the name of the institution awarding the degree, the date of issue, and the name of the person to whom the degree certificate has been issued and which title/degree the person has been awarded. A temporary (provisional) degree certificate is accepted if it was awarded no more than five years earlier. The five-year validity period begins from the date on which the degree was conferred and must not expire prior to the application deadline. In other words, a temporary degree certificate is not accepted if it was awarded more than five years ago. In such cases, the applicant must present his or her final degree certificate.

Statement issued by the university

In case, the applicant has not yet received a BSc Degree certificate by the admission deadline, a statement issued by the applicant's university is also accepted as a replacement of the actual degree certificate. This statement should include the name of the institution which is going to award the degree, the expected date of issue (graduation), and the name of the person to whom the degree certificate will be awarded. The final deadline to submit the actual degree certificate to the programme coordinator at the University of Eastern Finland is 9.8.2024 (students who will be admitted in 2024).

Requirements for the educational documents and their translations

2. Language requirements

Applicants must either (1) meet the language proficiency criteria (see below), or (2) reach the minimum required language test results to be considered eligible to the University of Eastern Finland. No exceptions will be made and no waivers to the language proficiency requirements are given.

(1) Applicants who hold one of the following do not have to take an English language test 

• Previous higher education has been completed in English in EU/EEA -countries, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand or in Switzerland.

Online studies or studies completed on offshore campuses outside the accepted countries/area cannot be used to indicate language skills, even if the degree-awarding institution is in one of the accepted countries.

(2) All other applicants have to take one of the following language tests

• TOEFL iBT, overall score 92, min. 22 in writing 

• IELTS (academic) overall score 6.5, min. 6.0 in writing

• PTE (academic), overall score 62, min 54 in writing

• C1 Advanced overall score C or 180, with min. 162 in writing 

• C2 Proficiency overall score level C1 or 180, with min. 162 in writing

No other degrees or statements of language proficiency will be accepted.

TOEFL, IELTS and PTE certificates are valid for two years from the day they are issued, i.e. the language test need to be in effect during the application period, from 3 January 2022 onwards.

More information about submitting the language test reports: http://www.uef.fi/en/web/admissions/language-requirements

You will begin the application process on the national Studyinfo portal. Application form is available at studyinfo.fi only when the call for applications is open (3 January 2024 - 17 January 2024 at 15:00 (GMT +2)). Go to Studyinfo portal and begin the application.

You must fill in the online application and submit it with the required scanned enclosures. We will not process application documents that have arrived after the deadline.

For more information about how to apply.

Application instructions in a nutshell

• When the application period begins, fill in the online application form and make sure you have attached the required application enclosures (in pdf format). At the application state we require only scanned enclosures attached (uploaded) to the application form. Paper copies are not required during the application period.

• The recommendation letters can be attached with the online application form OR they can be sent by email directly to the programme coordinator, MS. Marjoriitta Möttönen (marjoriitta.mottonen(at)uef.fi) by the referee.

Should you have any questions about completing your application, please contact our Admissions Office, admissions[at]uef.fi, tel. +358 29 445 8990. In case you have questions concerning the application requirements, please contact Ms Marjoriitta Möttönen, email. marjoriitta.mottonen(at)uef.fi, tel. +358 (0) 50 442 3031.

Application documents will not be returned to the applicant.

Further information on application procedure at the University of Eastern Finland.

Selection criteria

Student selection procedure

The admission processes in the Master’s Degree Programme in Forestry aims at fair selection of high-quality applicants. Student selection is based on the application documents and evaluation how the applicant’s skills and competences gained by the previous academic studies correspond to the Master's studies applied for. Meeting the minimum application requirements does not guarantee acceptance to the programme.

Applicants will be ranked according to the selection criteria. The best 10 applicants are accepted to the program and the rest of the applicants are rejected. The programme may accept more applicants by discretion to fulfill the available study places in the programme. Applicants are not placed on the waiting list.

The applications will be graded using the following criteria:

All eligible applications will be evaluated according to five selection criteria:

1. Academic excellence (0-20 points) (0=poor, 20=excellent)
2. Prestige and level of the home university (0-5 points) (0=poor, 5=excellent)
3. Relevant studies and other background (e.g. work experience, international experience and other projects) (0-15 points) (0=poor, 15=excellent)
4. Recommendation letters (0-5 points) (0=poor, 5=excellent)
5. Motivation (0-10 points) (0=poor, 10=excellent)

The ranking list is made according to the total score. Whenever two or more applicants have the same total points, the one who has higher score in academic excellence will be placed first.

Selection results

Results for studies starting in autumn 2024 will be published on 12 April 2024 at the latest. When the selection decision has been made, the results will be posted immediately to applicants by e-mail.

Admitted students shall inform whether they accept their study place by latest on 11 July 2024 at 3 pm (EEST) electronically via Studyinfo portal or by submitting the confirmation form to hakijapalvelut@uef.fi.

According to One study place per term provision, a student may accept only one study place leading to a higher education degree in Finland during one academic term. This rule applies to all higher education.

Studies will begin with the orientation programme at the beginning of September.

Verification of original documents

We require that all admitted applicants submit their original degree certificates for verification upon arrival in Finland.

All accepted students will be conditionally accepted until

• they have provided officially certified copies of their educational documents, if they cannot authenticate their degree/transcript electronically when applying. The students will be conditionally accepted until they have provided the certified copies of the educational document (degree certificate and transcript of records). Country specific requirements are in use in the situations when the applicant cannot provide the documents electronically. The last date to send the documents is 9 August 2024. In case the applicants do not deliver the documents by the given deadline, their study right will be cancelled.

NB! There are country-specific document requirements in place for academic qualifications awarded in certain countries. If your degree is completed in a country that has country-specific requirements, you must submit your educational documents following the relevant country-specific instructions.

In addition,

• non-EU/EEA students who are required to pay tuition fees will be conditionally accepted until they have paid the required tuition fees and signed the Student Agreement.
• students to whom a Finland scholarship has been proposed, need also to sign Finland scholarship agreement.

Tuition fees

The Master's Degree Programme in Forestry does not charge tuition fees from citizens of EU/EEA countries*. However, following a decision by the Finnish Government, tuition fees will be charged from citizens of non-EU/EEA countries from autumn 2017 onwards. For non-EU/EEA students required to pay tuition, the University of Eastern Finland offers a generous and attractive scholarship scheme, which can cover their tuition fee  partially. Please see the tuition fees page for further information.

In MSc Forestry the tuition fee is 8 000 euros per academic year for non-EU/ETA students.

We also encourage you to visit our website for new students, which has been designed to answer many of the questions you may have.

* EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Northern Ireland and Gibraltar.

EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Switzerland (non EU/EEA).

Tuition fee waivers at UEF

For the studies beginning in autumn 2024, all selected students who are required to pay a tuition fee, will get a partial tuition fee waiver. This waiver will cover 50 % of the tuition fee.  This tuition fee waiver will not be paid to the student and does not cover any travel or accommodation costs.

The university grants a tuition fee waiver for the maximum period of two academic years.

For more information about tuition fees and tuition fee waivers, please see also the web pages for the new students at UEF.

Services provided by UEF

UEF offers all students - irrespective of whether they are required to pay tuition or not - a range of services that take off some of the financial burden on the student. The cost of living in Finland is relatively high and students are expected to cover these independently and have access to sufficient funds (this will be checked at the time of applying for/renewing your residence permit).

For example, students have free access to the collections of the University Library, there are computers and a free WiFi on campus available to students, as well as a number of other supporting services designed to facilitate the everyday life of our students. And last but definitely not least, membership in the Student Union comes with a variety of leisure time activities organised for free by, for example, your field's subject association. Membership in the Student Union is mandatory for all degree-seeking students. For further information and annual updates about the exact amount of the student union fee, please see the website of the Student Union.

Founded in 1982, the School of Forest Sciences at the University of Eastern Finland is an international research and education centre, providing the highest level of expertise in forestry and related sciences. The School of Forest Sciences is an internationally renowned research and education centre which produces highly competent and responsible professionals with excellent management skills for forestry and other environmental management fields for Finland and the rest of the world. The School's situation in the City of Joensuu places it at the core of a dynamically developing national centre of expertise in the forest, wood, and environmental sciences as well as education.

The School of Forest Sciences has over 300 undergraduates and approximately 80 post-graduate students. Each autumn about 70 new forestry students begin their studies.

Studies

MSc Forestry students major in European forestry and they can specialize in A. Management and ecology of forest ecosystems or B. Forest technology and economics.

Research priorities

The research priorities in our school are:

• Effects of climate change on forests
• Forest ecology and biodiversity
• Multi-objective and participatory forest planning
• Wood science
• Wood procurement
• Forest resource inventory and GIS
• Economic evaluation of forest benefits
• Forest economy and marketing
• Forest energy and its procurement