In this year’s Ceremonial Conferment of Doctoral Degrees of the University of Turku, 190 doctors and 10 honorary doctors are conferred their degrees. The celebrations start on 15 May with the Sword Sharpening Ceremony and continue on 16 May with the Conferment Ceremony.
The Ceremonial Conferment of Doctoral Degrees is the most traditional and prestigious of all the Finnish academic ceremonies. In the Ceremonial Conferment, doctors and honorary doctors are conferred their degrees as well as the symbols of the degree – the doctoral hat, sword and diploma.
At the University of Turku, the Ceremonial Conferment is celebrated every 2–3 years and, in this year’s ceremony, 190 doctors from all the faculties and 10 honorary doctors are conferred their degrees.
The Ceremonial Conferment traditions arrived to Turku in the 17th century from Uppsala, Sweden. The traditions themselves date back 800 years and originated in France.
The celebrations begin with the Sword Sharpening Ceremony, where the doctoral swords are ceremoniously whetted with grindstones.
Next day, the Conferment Ceremony begins with a procession and includes speeches and music as well as the Conferment itself, which takes place partly in Latin. The conferrers place the doctoral hats on the doctors’ heads and hand them the sword and the diploma.
After the ceremony, the conferred doctors and honorary doctors form the academic procession that heads from the city centre to the service held in Turku Cathedral, followed by the Ceremonial Conferment Banquet and Ball later in the evening.
Come and watch the academic procession
The academic procession starts at the Market Square at around 15.30 on Friday, 16 May, and proceeds along Kauppiaskatu, Kirjastosilta (Library Bridge) and Itäinen Rantakatu towards the Cathedral. You can come and watch the Academic Procession on any point of its route.
If it rains, the procession will not be organised. The cancellation of the procession will be announced on the University's social media channels.
>> More information on the Ceremonial Conferment of Doctoral Degrees
A news article will be published on the Ceremonial Conferment of Doctoral Degrees 2025 on Monday, 19 May. Below, you can view photos from previous celebrations.
