Admission to Doctoral Studies

At the Faculty of Science and Technology all applicants must submit the motivation letter with their online application in DreamApply system. Applicants are evaluated based on the motivation letter and entrance interview (except for the speciality of science education, where a doctoral thesis must be submitted instead of a motivation letter).

Applications must be submitted for the announced projects.

• Motivation letter
• Interview

In the first stage of assessment, the motivation letter project will be assessed. In the second stage of assessment, there is an interview.

Both the doctoral thesis project and admission interview are assessed on a scale of 0 to 50 points, the minimum positive score is 35 points. Each components gives 50% of your overall score with a maximum overall score of 100 points. If you score at least 35 points out of 50 for the thesis proposal, you will be invited to attend an entrance interview.

Speciality admission requirements

The requirements for the doctoral thesis project and the evaluation criteria can differ depending on the speciality. Below you will find specific conditions and requirements for every speciality, as well as contact information in case you have further questions.

Requirements for the content and form of the motivation letter. Here you will also find who to contact with questions.

Motivation letter - Please write a brief motivation letter (in English, maximum of 6000 characters with spaces) based on the following points.

• Why are you interested in this PhD project, explain your choice.
• What are your previous experience in this field, explain how your educational and professional background relates to the project you are applying to.
• What are the analytical/scientific metods you are practised. Describe briefly the methods and main results of your MSc thesis.
• Decribe your earlier research activities, including research publications and conference presentations, if available.

Criteria for the evaluation of the motivation letter:

• motivation and argumentation of skills and the choice of the project,
• relevant study and work experience,
• other relevant activities (publications, project management etc.) as presented in a motivation letter.

Interview - the applicant must describe his/her motivation to admit the PhD studies with particular project, the wider scientific background of the doctoral project and possible applicability of the results during the up to 25-minute entrance interview conducted by the committee.

Criteria for the evaluation the interview:

Interview (only for these, who got at least 70 % for the motivation letter, at least 35 points (max 50 p)): knowledge of the wider scientific background of the project and possible application of the expected results, applicant’s motivation to pursue doctoral studies in the relevant field of science and to work in this field; wider analytical and generalisation skills regarding the research and study topics. Admission requirements are met by a student candidate who scores at least 70 percent of the possible score on  both admission requirements.

Speciality admission requirements in Science Education :

• the Doctoral project
• admission interview

In the first stage of assessment, the doctoral thesis project will be assessed. In the second stage of assessment, there is an interview.

Both the doctoral thesis project and admission interview are assessed on a scale of 0 to 50 points, the minimum positive score is 35 points. Each components gives 50% of your overall score with a maximum overall score of 100 points. If you score at least 35 points out of 50 for the thesis proposal, you will be invited to attend an entrance interview.

Requirements for the content and form of the doctoral thesis. Here you will also find who to contact with questions.

The lenght of the doctoral thesis project is up to five A4 pages (without bibliography).

The project presents

• the research challenge,
• explains its innovativeness and importance, based on the scientific literature,
• the research methodology proposed and the resources needed to address it,
• describes how to expected results are relevant in practice and on the international scientific community.

The candidate is provided with information on the basis of which the candidate can get an overview of the candidate's research potential:

• information on previous scientific activities (incl. working in positions containing research tasks),
• a list of published scientific publications and presentations at conferences.

Doctoral thesis project assessment criteria (at least 35 points are required to fulfill the acceptance condition):

1. innovativeness and importance of the doctoral thesis (up to 10 p);

2. justification of the research problem (up to 10 p);

3. adequacy of research methodology (up to 10 p);

4. feasibility of the design (up to 5 p);

5. candidate's research potential for a design-based doctoral thesis (up to 15 credits).

During the admission interview, the candidate will interpret his/her doctoral thesis in English for 5 minutes, followed by an interview with the committee for up to 25 minutes.

Criteria for the evaluation the interview (at least 35 points are required to meet the admission requirement):

1. ability to dechipher the plan of the doctoral thesis (incl. research problem, related scientific literature, methodology) (up to 15 p);

2. motivation to study for a doctorate in education and to work in the field (up to 5 credits);

3. wider analytical and generalization skills in pedagogical topics (up to 10 p);

4. orientation in the problems of Estonian and world educational life (up to 10 p);

5. self-expression skills (all candidates have the ability to express themselves in English, candidates who speak Estonian as their mother tongue also have the ability to express themselves in Estonian) (up to 10 p).

Speciality representative: Miia Rannikmäe, miia.rannikmae@ut.ee.

Doctoral programmes at the Science and Technology