The Doctoral Programme of Communication, Media and Theatre trains specialists, experts and researchers in mass communication and journalism, music studies, speech communication, theatre and drama research as well as theatre work. The fields are connected by the research of reality and constructing performances of said reality, a social aspect, the public nature of the professions and a concrete dimension of skill.

The goal of the education is to link theoretical ambition and practice-based research with each other in new ways and to strive for creating dialogues between the different subjects at the School. The postgraduate education is implemented in interaction with basic research and research activities. After completing the doctoral studies, the students can act as an expert with the ability to reform practices in their own field both in the University and elsewhere in working life.

The goal of the scientific and artistic doctoral education offered by the School of Communication, Media and Theatre is that after completing their studies, the doctoral students have gained a broad-based understanding of the research approaches to communications, media and theatre, as well as their relationships with the different and changing practices of communication and performance.

During the doctoral studies, the students become thoroughly familiar with their field of research and its development, basic problems, research methods and importance to society. In addition, they gain the ability to apply the methods of scientific or artistic research independently and critically and create new information via scientific or artistic activity. An additional goal of artistic doctoral education is that the students gain the ability to develop new kinds of methods or operating models of artistic creation independently.

During studies that lead to the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences and Doctor of Philosophy, the doctoral students familiarise themselves in depth in their own field of research and its social significance, and learn to apply the methods of scientific research independently and critically and utilise their competence in research groups and networks. The students gain an understanding of the research of communications and media that enables them to act as experts in the field both in the University and outside it. They are capable of independent and creative thinking in their own field of research, are able to disseminate research information and have the skills to act in the international scientific community. In addition, the students have familiarised themselves with the methods of acquiring information and research ethics, the latest research in their own field of research, Finnish and international discussions, as well as the teaching and supervision practices in the field.

During the studies leading to a degree of Doctor of Arts (Theatre and Drama), the doctoral students gain an in-depth understanding of the artistic work of an actor carried out in different kinds of operating environments, an aspect of this work, or university level education in it. This understanding can be gained via methods arising from different kinds of artistic practices and artistic activity, as well as approaches with social, theoretical or philosophical emphasis that open them up.

During doctoral studies, the students become thoroughly familiar with their field of research, develop the methods of artistic research independently and critically and apply their competence in working groups. The students gain knowledge of the artistic work of an actor or its pedagogy that enables them to act as experts in the field, both in different professions in the theatre arts, educational institutions providing instruction in them, as well as more extensively in tasks in society. They are able to think independently and critically in their field of research, disseminate information born out of artistic research and act in the international communities in the field. In addition, the students will familiarise themselves with current methods for acquiring information, research ethics, the most recent studies in their chosen discipline, national and international phenomena involving the development in the discipline, and current teaching and supervision practices.

In the School of Communication, Media and Theatre, a total of 240 ECTS are required for a doctoral degree. A doctoral dissertation accounts for 180 ECTS, and other studies for 60 ECTS of the degree.

The other studies included in the degree of Doctor of Social Sciences and Philosophy consist of a research seminar (10 ECTS), theoretical and methodological studies (10 ECTS), studies promoting internationalisation and networking (10 ECTS) as well as studies promoting knowledge of the student's own discipline and research area (20 ECTS).

The total extent of the degree of Doctor of Arts (Theatre and Drama) is 240 ECTS, which consists of an artistic dissertation and other studies. The share of the artistic dissertation is 180 ECTS; the ratio between the artistic and practical sections and the reflective – written or multimedial – section can vary between 80–100 ECTS. The artistic and practical sections undergo a pre-examination while they are being realised.

The extent of the other studies is 60 ECTS. The other studies included in the degree of Doctor of Arts (Theatre and Drama) consist of a research seminar (10 ECTS), theoretical and methodological studies (10 ECTS), studies promoting internationalisation and networking (10 ECTS) as well as studies promoting knowledge of the student's own discipline and research area (30 ECTS).

The studies can consist of courses on artistic research arranged by the Doctoral School of the University of Tampere or the University of the Arts Helsinki, or courses or seminars arranged by the School’s own doctoral programme. Studies arranged by other doctoral programmes and other Finnish or foreign universities can also be included in them. The doctoral degree can also be organised in cooperation with a foreign university. In that case, an agreement is made between the University of Tampere and the foreign university, based on which the joint degree can be completed.

The licentiate’s degree consists of approximately 2.5 years/150 ECTS, of which the share of the licentiate thesis as a part of the dissertation is 90 ECTS.

A person who has completed a Master’s degree or a Finnish or foreign degree of the same level, and who has completed advanced studies in the major of the postgraduate degree being applied for or comparable studies, can be approved for the Doctoral Programme of Communication, Media and Theatre. The professor of the subject decides on the substitution of advanced studies in the subject or their corresponding other studies.

A person who has completed the degree of Master of Arts (Theatre and Drama) or another Master’s degree in a subject touching upon the field of theatre and education in it, and whom the degree programme finds to have the prerequisites for completing a postgraduate degree, can be admitted for artistic postgraduate studies in Theatre Arts.