Steps to start your doctoral studies

Congratulations on your admission to the University of Lapland!

To secure your place, you must accept your study offer by the deadline stated in your acceptance letter. You can do this via the secure link in your email or by logging in to Studyinfo.fi.

Please note that you may only accept one study place per academic term leading to a higher education degree in Finland (Universities Act 558/2009). If you decide not to take your place, please reject the offer in Studyinfo.fi so your spot can be offered to someone else.

2. a) Register for the academic year as an attending student
You can do the registration in the My Studyinfo -service at the same time you accept the study place.

If you face problems with online registration, please be in contact with the Applicant and student services by email at opinto(at)ulapland.fi.

Your study right officially begins either on 1.1. or 1.8., depending on the Admission round you have been accepted.

If you are not able to start your studies
Please note, that as a new doctoral researcher in the doctoral education you can register for non attending student only by contacting the Applicant and student services by email at opinto(at)ulapland.fi.

2. b) Possibility to join the student union (LYY)

Doctoral students can choose whether they wish to join the student union. The benefits are more limited than they are for undergraduate students.

The student union membership fee for the academic year 2025-2026 is 39 € (separately: autumn term 30 €, spring term 31 €).

Please note that doctoral students are not entitled to health services provided by the FSHS (in Finnish: YTHS).

Read more information on the doctoral student membership at LYY’s pages.

If you wish to join the student union, you should do so within the registration period. You can join the SU at other times only if you have very firm reasons and justifications for it. You can pay the membership fee electronically as you are carrying out your student registration. More information: www.lyy.fi.

If you don’t have a Finnish personal identity code PIC

You will get a personal ULapland user account, and you can start using it on 1.1. / 1.8. (not earlier). Please activate your personal user account by following the instructions you will receive in a separate email later in the summer, before August. If you have trouble with activating your user account after receiving the instructions, please contact helpdesk@ulapland.fi.

If you have a Finnish Finnish personal identity code PIC

You will get a personal ULapland user account if you don’t yet have one, and you can activate and start using it on 1.1. / 1.8. Please activate your personal user account via https://iam.luc.fi/. If you encounter problems or do not have the means to log into the activation service, please contact hakijapalvelut@ulapland.fi.

You can start your doctoral studies already before you have arranged funding. Please find information on funding opportunities at www.ulapland.fi/doctoral/funding.

The orientation day for the new doctoral researchers is organised twice a year, in January and in August.

You will receive detailed information about the orientation day by email. If you have any questions, you can be in contact with the Doctoral school (tutkijakoulu(at)ulapland.fi).

Your study right begins either on 1.1. or 1.8., depending on the admission round you have been accepted to the doctoral studies. You can find the detailed information in the acceptance email and also by login in to the My Studyinfo -service.

The Student Union of the University of Lapland LYY aims to advise and protect the interests of our 4000 members who study in the University of Lapland. We offer our members several kinds of events, services and guidance for the challenges of everyday life and studying.

Read more about LYY and take a look on the member services.

How to join LYY?

As a Doctoral researcher, you can join the LYY, if you wish. The membership is voluntary to doctoral researchers and exchange students. Read more about the membership fee on LYY pages.

To join the LYY student union, please contact the Service and administration advisor hallinto@lyy.fi. If you wish to join the student union, you should do so within the registration period.

Benefits for the Doctoral researchers 

The benefits are more limited than they are for BA and MA students. By buying the membership fee, doctoral researchers will get many student discounts in Finland (such as tickets, restaurant services etc), but are not eligible for the Student Health Care Services at YTHS.

Doctoral researchers will also get discounts on train and bus tickets with the valid student card.

The University of Lapland campus restaurants Felli and Petronella offer a discount for lunch prices with the valid student card. Please check the price at the restaurant and remember to have your student card available when having your lunch.

Read more on the student card and student benefits on the LYY pages.

Doctoral education and courses at ULapland are organised both on campus and online and it’s not necessary to move to Rovaniemi permanenly. You should consider your own life situation, goals and needs and make the desicion on moving based on these.