Master's Degree Programme in Photonics

The application period for 2025 is closed and the next application period opens on 7.1.2026 and closes on 21.1.2026 at 15.00 (EET). Students will be selected into the programme on the basis of their application documents.

Eligibility

Degree certificate

A previous Bachelor's degree* corresponding to at least 3 year's of full time academic studies (equivalent of 180 ECTS credit units in the Finnish university system) from an institution for higher education is required from all Master's programme applicants. The degree must be awarded by an internationally recognized university. The degree should entitle the applicant to apply to master's studies in the country where the degree has been awarded.

*Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in physics, optics, photonics, physical and engineering sciences with an extensive physics basic education, or another discipline related to the program, entailing proficiency in physics and mathematics.

Admission is conditional if applicant applies to the programme 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 31.7.2025.

The applicants should follow the guidelines given for the temporary (provisional) degree certificate and for official translations and country-specific requirements here.

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 regarding the language proficiency requirements are given.

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

• A language test is not required if the applicant has completed their secondary education in English language in EU/EEA -countries, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand or in Switzerland.
   
• A language test is not required if the applicant has completed a Bachelor’s, Master’s or higher degree in English language in EU/EEA -countries, or in one of the following countries:
  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 Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South-Africa, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, the United Kingdom, the United States, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The degree/programme must be taught and assessed entirely in English. If you verify your language skills with your education degree, the language of instruction must be clearly indicated on the educational documents. 

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
• National Certificate of Language Proficiency YKI-test: level 5 in all different subtests (reading comprehension, writing and speaking). It is possible to combine different examinations. 

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 8 January 2023 onwards.

The language test results must be verifiable from the online verification service of the organiser. 

More information about submitting the language test reports is available here. 

The applicant needs to apply through national Studyinfo portal at studyinfo.fi. Application form is available at studyinfo.fi only when the call for applications is open (7.1.2026-21.1.2026). Once you have filled out the online application, required enclosures must be uploaded electronically to the application form (recommended file types pdf and jpeg, max. file size 1.0 GB) by 29.1.2025 at 15.00 (EET). Please make sure that you upload each enclosure to the right place in the application form.  More information about how to submit documents is available here.

At the application state we require only scanned enclosures attached (uploaded) to the application form. Paper copies are not required during the application period.

UEF does not process application documents that have arrived after the deadline.

Instructions in a nutshell

• Make sure you know the admission requirements (content above). Sign up for a language test, if required and/or necessary.
• When the application period begins, fill out the online application form with care, upload all the required documents in electronic format and then submit the online application.
• Required enclosures (content below) must be uploaded electronically to the application. Please see more information on How to submit documents.
  • We accept high quality scans of the original degree certificates and transcripts, along with translations when required.
  • Please scan original documents carefully, always in color, and include all pages. Blurry, discolored, or flawed scans will not be accepted. PDF format is recommended to ensure compatibility across all operating systems.
  • Recommended file types: PDF or JPEG; max. file size: 1.0 GB.
  • The University of Eastern Finland also accepts electronic transcripts submitted through a few recognized sources. Please see Electronic Transcripts for details.
• Make sure your application enclosures are uploaded by the given deadline at 3 pm (EET). Also the language test results must reach the University of Eastern Finland by the deadline.
• Should you have any questions about completing your application and uploading the documents to UEF application form, please contact our admissions office, admissions@uef.fi. 

Each application must include the following documents:

The required enclosures need to be uploaded electronically to the application by 29.1.2025 at 3 pm (EET) at the latest. UEF does not process application documents that have arrived after the deadline.

• Application form filled in Studyinfo.fi
• Bachelor’s Degree Certificate (and an official English translation of it if needed)
• An official Transcript of Records (and an official English translation of it if needed). The transcript should include the course units, their completion time, grades, and credits awarded, and information on the grading scale used at the institution.
• English language certificate
• Copy of passport
• Merits of the applicant form: link to the form (Word). Download the document, fill in the information, save the document as pdf and attach the form (pdf) into your application in Studyinfo.fi (if you don’t have Word on use, copy the questions into another word processing program, write your answers, save the file as a pdf, and attach it to your application).
• A motivation video* of the applicant in English. Max. duration of the video is 1,5 minutes (90 seconds). In the video, describe the reasons why you are interested in photonics and why you are applying to the Master's degree program in Photonics at UEF, and your future educational and/or career plans in the field of photonics. 

*The video format must be one of the following: x-m4v, x-matroska, x-msvideo, mpeg, ogg, webm, 3gpp, 3gpp2, mp4, MP2T, quicktime, x-ms-wmv, x-ms-vob. Maximum size of the video file is 1 GB.

All enclosures are compulsory for the selection process.

The documents can also be submitted electronically through a few recognized sources. To see whether the service possibly used by your institution is accepted please check Electronic Transcripts for details.

Description of admissions criteria 

The admission processes in the Master's Degree Programme in Photonics 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 below (total points). The best 20 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: 

1. Suitability and the content of the previous studies to the area of Photonics (transcript & Merits of the applicant form): (0-25 points);
2. Applicant's success in the previous studies in general (transcript): (0-5 points);
3. Applicant's success in the previous studies of the suitable field of science (mathematics, photonics/physics & programming + ICT): (0-15 points);
4. Prestige and level of the home university (based on international university rankings): (0-10 points);
5. Applicant's motivation to apply for studies (Motivation video): (0-15 points);

Maximum total points are 70. 

Selection results

Results for studies starting in September 2025 will be published on 28.5.2025 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 10.7.2025 at 15:00 (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.

Additional information 

Conditional acceptance 

Your admission is conditional if you apply 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 31.7.2025.  

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 when the documents need to be at the university is 30.5.2025. In case the applicants do not deliver the documents by the given deadline, their study right will be cancelled. For information on documents which are required after you have been accepted and how they are verified, please see the verification website.

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. 

Orientation program for the new international students and the photonics courses start on the first week of September.
 

Tuition fees, waivers and scholarships

The annual tuition fee for non-EU/EEA students is 10,000 EUR. There are no tuition fees for students who are citizens of EU/EEA countries or Switzerland. Applicants subject to tuition fees can apply for tuition waivers and scholarships during the university application process by completing the relevant section on the application form. 

The best 70 % of admitted applicants (as ranked by the reviewers of the applications) will receive a tuition waiver covering 50 % of the tuition fee. In addition, the highest ranked applicant will be completely exempted from paying the tuition fee (UEF Scholarship). For more details: Tuition fees, waivers and scholarships

Payment Details: 

• The annual tuition fee must be paid by August 31 in one or two instalments. UEF processes tuition fee payments through the Flywire payment system. 
• Early Bird Discount: A one-time deduction of €500 for the autumn 2025 semester is available to students who accept their study place and pay the tuition fee via Flywire by June 11, 2025.