Helsinki University of the Arts

University of the Arts Helsinki offers an inspiring and cross-disciplinary study environment and a stepping stone for future artists. We provide high-quality education that considers students’ individual needs, encouraging the student to hone their craft, think independently and to push boundaries.

University of the Arts Helsinki’s joint studies and extensive artistic activity provide students with tools to work as art professionals in the future. In addition, students gain new perspectives on cross-disciplinary artistic work. Furthermore, through global collaborations, visiting professors and student exchange programmes you’ll have unique learning opportunities in an international context.

University of the Arts Helsinki's main campuses are located in central Helsinki. The Finnish capital is a vibrant seaside city with a special mix of functional and exotic. Helsinki has all the services of a modern city and easy access to nature. The blooming food and urban culture scenes offer unique experiences, attracting locals and tourists alike.

• Academy of Fine Arts

  Integral to the studies at The Academy of Fine Arts are the students’ personal aspirations, the relationships developed between the teachers and the students, and individual guidance. The main focus lies on various workshops and practical artistic work, which are complemented by first-class theoretical training. Awareness of the traditions, combined with the versatility of the field is central to the tuition at the Academy. The teaching staff is composed of distinguished artist-teachers and guest-lecturers.

  Research at the Academy of Fine Arts is closely linked to the academy's disciplines and related theories, methodologies, and teaching, as well as to the development of tools, materials, and means of expression. As such, research is considered the starting point for contemporary art. Interactions between different forms of art and the relationship between art and society are the domains for ongoing experimental research. In addition to contemporary art's dialogical relationship to its audience, performance practices and spatiality are linked to research, both methodologically and pedagogically.

  The artistic activities of the Academy of Fine Arts are one of the methods of instruction and provide the students a link to the society, the field of art and the art audience. The exhibition activities enable the students to experience their first taste of the working life waiting after graduation.

  The Academy of Fine Arts operates in Helsinki's Vallila neighbourhood. The Academy's building has teaching facilities, student studios and staff offices and working facilities. The Library of the Academy of Fine Arts is open for all users interested in the contemporary arts. The Academy of Fine Arts is easy to reach, as a number of bus and tram routes run via the nearby Mäkelänkatu street.

• Sibelius Academy

  Sibelius Academy, the cornerstone of Finnish music, has long traditions. Established in 1882, the cradle of classical music education has added other genres to its palette: Jazz and Folk Music have been taught since the early 1980s and Music Technology since the early 1990s. The driving force for everyone at the Academy is the unquestionable love they have for music, and for the work that they do.

  Today Sibelius Academy is a creative community of 1,500 students and more than 1,000 staff. It is one of the biggest music academies in Europe and internationally renowned and recognised.

  The mission of the Sibelius Academy is to foster and renew musical culture. The mission is accomplished through three modes of activity: teaching, research, and art.

  In addition to the Bachelor’s and Master’s of Music degrees, you can complete a Licentiate degree and a Doctoral degree at the Academy. The Academy also has a youth department (Junior Academy) and a department for adult education and training.

  Public concerts are a display of art at the Academy. The 600 annual events form the majority of concerts in the Helsinki Metropolitan Region.

  In addition to Helsinki, Sibelius Academy has departments in Kuopio and Seinäjoki. The Sibelius Academy Library, a specialist music library, is located in the Helsinki Music Centre and welcomes all visitors.

  At the Sibelius Academy, you will evolve into a musician with a distinct creative identity. You will become more proficient on your instrument, enhance your artistic and theoretical skills and knowledge, and learn to apply them as a professional musician.

  You will be able to tailor your studies to a considerable extent. You can become a specialist on a specific field or an all-round expert. At the beginning of your studies, you will write an individual study plan, which is a tool to help you plan and focus your studies. The compulsory requirements for a degree at the Sibelius Academy are defined by the degree curriculum, but all students can choose from various options according to their interests and based on their existing skill levels.

  In several major subjects, individual instruction is the core of the programme. Practical training outside the Academy is included in some programmes.

• Theatre Academy

  The Theatre Academy provides the highest education in the performing arts in Finland. The results of the studies are performed on the stages of the Academy’s training theatre. The Academy also works within research in the fields of theatre, dance and performance. At the Theatre Academy, art, performance, training, and research are in constant interaction. Everything starts from training in the practical craft of acting, with the objective is of educating students who are willing to develop in the arts. Our purpose is to provide an extensive general knowledge in the field and to encourage students to pursue analytical, investigative and reflective thinking.

  In the Theatre Academy’s doctoral programme, you will undertake research into the performing arts that is multidisciplinary, artistic, artist-based, and rooted in art pedagogy. The Theatre Academy’s doctoral graduates are practitioners and researchers committed to the development and renewal of arts and practice, research and teaching. As experts in their fields, they create information and insights based on art-related practices that can also be applied outside of the arts.

The University of the Arts Helsinki launched on 1 January 2013 when the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Sibelius Academy, and Theatre Academy Helsinki merged.

The need for an arts university had been under discussion for a long time. As early as the 1980s, the Pasila Project included a plan to build a new complex in Pasila, Helsinki, for Sibelius Academy, the University of Art and Design Helsinki, and Theatre Academy Helsinki. The merger of the arts universities was topical all through the 2000s.

In 2010, the ministry of culture and education published a report on how to enhance the role of the arts universities in strengthening the quality, impact, and international competitiveness of Finnish arts and culture. In November 2011, the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, Sibelius Academy, and Theatre Academy Helsinki’s boards approved the merger. 

The three academies of the University of the Arts Helsinki have roots deep within the Finnish art education and art history.

The earliest predecessor of the Academy of Fine Arts was the drawing school of the Art Society of Finland, which opened in 1848, Europe’s year of change. The first nationally and internationally renowned Finnish artists—such as Albert Edelfelt, Axel Gallén, Helene Schjerfbeck, and Ellen Thesleff—all studied at the Art Society’s Drawing School.

Since 1939, the academy operated under the Finnish Art Academy as the Finnish Art Academy School. The school became state-owned in 1985, and its name was changed to the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1993, the Academy of Fine Arts became an institution of higher education, and it became a university in 1998.

Sibelius Academy was established as the Helsinki Music Institute in 1882 through a private initiative. One of its students was Jean Sibelius, who later became the institute’s figurehead.

In 1924, the institute’s name was changed to the Helsinki Conservatory of Music as its operations expanded. In 1939, the name Sibelius Academy was introduced. Sibelius Academy became a state organisation in 1980 and a university in 1998.

The roots of the Theatre Academy can be found in the first theatre academy of Finland, which was active from 1866 to 1868, and which worked with the Swedish theatre Nya Teatern. The Swedish theatre school Svenska Teaterskolan was established in 1908 and worked with Svenska Teatern. Finnish-language actors were trained from 1904–1940 at the Student School of the Finnish National Theatre and the private Finnish Stage School. In 1943, the Finnish Theatre School began training students.

Theatre Academy Helsinki was founded in 1979 when the Finnish and Swedish theatre academies merged into a single national, bilingual theatre academy.

The application period for studies starting in the autumn of 2018 ended 24 January 2018 at 3 p.m. Finnish time. The application period for the master studies at the Academy of Fine Arts is in August 2018. The application period for studies starting in the autumn of 2019 is in the beginning of year 2019.

With us, you can complete a bachelor’s or master’s degree or a doctorate. We offer more than 30 degree programmes in music, fine arts, theatre, and dance. We welcome all international applicants to the programmes taught in English.

Admissions will be based on applicable basic-level education as well as artistic talent and aptitude for an arts profession, which applicants demonstrate in an audition or entrance exam.

University of the Arts Helsinki offers the highest education in the arts in Finland. Both studies within the university’s academies  and joint studies provide students with tools and capabilities to work as art professionals. Alumni from the University of the Arts Helsinki place in varied positions as artists, educators and experts, both in the art field and other sectors of society.

Our quality management aims at

1. fulfilling Uniarts Helsinki’s strategy and vision - in accordance with the agreed-upon values. This means that our university is taking determined steps towards shared goals. The objectives and results of the quality management work are described in the university’s quality system, which entails a set of different kinds of practical tools and a mindset that encourages ongoing development and self-correction.

2. ensuring that the core operations of Uniarts Helsinki, i.e. learning, teaching, artistic activities and research, are of high quality. This means that the purpose of the quality system is to help students, teachers and researchers succeed and grow in their work, all the while taking the special characteristics of each artistic field into consideration. We strive to create a culture where everybody finds it natural to experiment, evaluate their work with a bold attitude, and learn new things.

3. making Uniarts Helsinki’s services clearly-defined and functional. This means that everybody knows what the university’s organisation is like as a whole, how the university is managed, and who is in charge of each task, service and decision.

• Uniarts Scholarship