Graduation - Doctoral studies

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Graduation - Doctoral studies

You may graduate after 

  • you have completed your studies
  • your public examination is over
  • your dissertation has been approved and assessed by the Academic Council and
  • you have applied for graduation in Sisu. The graduation application can be submitted only after your dissertation has been approved by the Academic Council.

Graduation applications are processed on an ongoing basis and the graduation date will be the date when you apply for graduation, or when the assessment of the dissertation has been registered in Sisu (LUT Doctoral School takes care of it).  As a general rule you may participate in the graduation ceremony in the month in which you graduate providing that you have submitted your graduation application no later than 10 days before the ceremony. You may check the dates of the graduation ceremony from the link below.

Please note that you have to be an attending student for the term you are going to graduate.

All graduates receive an electronic degree certificate, which will be provided within two weeks of the date of the graduation application, excluding December and July. You can pick up a diploma folder from Student Customer Service if you wish to keep a paper copy of your diploma in the folder. Participants in the graduation ceremony will also have the opportunity to receive a folder in the hall. You can also order a verified copy of your degree certificate and attachments for example for work applications abroad. Verified copies of the degree certificate are issued for specific needs. See links below for more information.

Once you have completed your doctorate and received your degree certificate, you can apply for a Dissertation grant from the Research Foundation of LUT University. 

Conferment Ceremony

Approximately every five years the university arranges a conferment ceremony at which doctors are awarded the right to use the insignia, i.e. the doctoral hat and the sword (the latter only for those with a doctorate in business administration, social sciences or philosophy). All doctors who have graduated after the previous ceremony are invited. 

The eighth Ceremonial Conferment of Doctoral Degrees at LUT will be held on 22 and 23 May 2026. Those who obtain their doctorate no later than in December 2025 may take part. More information is available on the LUT conferment ceremony website. 

Please note! The right to use the insignia (a hat, a sword) can be acquired only by participating the conferment ceremony. LUT gives specific instructions on acquiring a doctoral hat and a sword after the date for the next conferment ceremony is published. Graduates must not acquire them before that.

Career Planning

LUT Career Services for Students

Aarresaari - career services network for Finnish universities. Aarresaari web pages offer information on doctoral degree career monitoring and also offers advice on job search.

Researcher's curriculum vitae - a template for the researcher’s CV be used in Finnish research organisations