Master's Degree Programme in Nordic Cultural and Social Resilience

General NOCURE studies 40-45

NOCU0001 Introduction to Cultural and Social Resilience, 5
NOCU0002 Transferable Skills, 5
NOCU0003 Project Management, 5
NOCU0004 Theory & Methodology, 5-10
NOCU0005 Risk Analysis & Solution Lab, 5-10

KIFF0003 Suomen intensiivinen alkeiskurssi I, 5
KIEN2024 English: Academic Writing Skills, 2-3
KIEN3021 English Language Support for Thesis Writing, 2

Elective NOCURE studies, 20-25

NOCU0006 Nordic Societies, Global Cultures 5
NOCU0007 Global Risks and Regional Security, 5
NOCU0007 Cultural Memory and Heritage, 5
NOCU0009 Anthropogenic change and sustainable governance, 5
NOCU0010 Cultures of Stability, Trust and Reconciliation, 5
NOCU0011 Science and Technology in Society and Culture, 5

Optional NOCURE studies, 10-15

Master’s thesis and seminar, 50

NOCU0012 Nocure Thesis, 40
NOCU0013 Thesis Seminar, 10

The interdisciplinary Master’s Degree Programme in Nordic Cultural and Social Resilience NOCURE provides you with advanced training in cultural and social resilience and in building capacity to manage major global changes, including climate change. The NOCURE targets Finnish and international students with a variety of academic backgrounds and career plans.

Our curriculum is a combination of modules focusing on cultural, environmental, and societal themes related to sustainability and resilience, as well as on the interplay between the local, regional and global scales. The cultural angle includes topics such as cultural heritage and memory, cultural history, identity, digital heritage, and curation and cultural diplomacy. The environmental angle touches upon issues related to green growth, environmental politics and governance, and science and technology studies particularly in the context of the Baltic Sea and Arctic regions. The social angle, in turn, focuses on global justice, democracy, security, and the experience of the Nordic welfare state. The NOCURE programme is based on the best practices of the Finnish education system and our international teaching and research networks in the Nordic and Baltic regions in particular.

In the Master’s thesis, the students must prove their ability to do scientific work and manage research methods, knowledge of the research field, and skill of scientific writing.

Examples of thesis topics are:

• The impacts of the EU strategy on the circular economy in Finland
• Improving resilience and adaptation strategies of livelihoods on coastal areas
• Social integration of Syrian male refugees in Finland

The NOCURE master’s degree programme will provide you with high-quality and extensive expertise on issues related to resilience, sustainability and social change. In the programme, you learn:

• to analyse issues related to resilience from various viewpoints
• to apply interdisciplinary conceptualisations and research approaches
• to formulate relevant research problems
• to generate new knowledge and work for sustainability and resilience in society
• skills and expertise needed to understand and manage complex phenomena related to social change

You acquire the following practical skills:

• collecting and using various kinds of research data
• presenting your analysis textually and orally in a scientific way
• justifying your analytical choices
• analytical thinking and problem solving skills
• written and oral communication skills
• collaborative work skills and organisational skills

Graduates of the Master’s Degree Programme in Nordic Cultural and Social Resilience find employment in public, private and third sector jobs, such as national and international organisations and companies, where knowledge on resilience, sustainability and change is demanded. Graduates’ expertise prepares them for government and jurisprudence positions as well as for a research career.

This Programme is a great option especially for students who wish to pursue a career in

• national and international research
• national and international politics
• sustainability policies
• institutions and organisations in private and public sectors as well as non-governmental organisations and civil society
• arts, writing and media careers

Working life connections in the Programme are maintained by visiting organisations working in the field of the Programme, taking active part in various events and inviting visting lecturers, for example, from Finnish, Nordic and European governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Students are also encouraged to complete an internship during the Programme. The internship is optional but can be included in the degree.

Graduates of the Programme are eligible to apply to the doctoral programmes in the relevant fields of humanities and social sciences.

The University of Turku Graduate School (UTUGS) consists of doctoral programmes which cover all disciplines and the approximately 2,000 doctoral candidates of the University. 
 

General Requirement

You are an eligible applicant for Master’s-level studies if

• you have a nationally recognized first cycle degree – normally a Bachelor’s degree – from an accredited institution of higher education,
• your degree corresponds to at least 180 ECTS (European credits) or to three years of full-time study,
• your degree is in a relevant field for the Master’s degree programme that you’re applying to. Please check the programme page for detailed degree requirements.

Language Requirements

Applicants must have excellent English language skills and a certificate that proves those skills. You can indicate your language skills by taking one of the internationally recognized English language tests. Read more about the language requirements here.

Applying students must provide a three-year Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or equivalent diploma in relevant field of humanities or social sciences, or human geography. The degree has to be completed by 10 July 2018. Prospective candidates should have a good level of proficiency in the English language and they are expected to demonstrate their language skills according to the language requirements set by the University of Turku (see below).

Applying students must provide a three years Bachelor, Master or equivalent diploma in relevant humanities or social sciences, or human geography. 

The applicants that pass the academic and English language proficiency requirements will be graded and approximately 20 applicants with the highest points (max 100 points) will be selected. The decision on admission will be based on:

• motivation letter expressing the motivation to study specifically in this Programme (0-60 points)

• Bachelor’s thesis or corresponding final thesis as well as relevant previous studies (0-40 points. The assessed elements include the scientific quality, extent and the relevance of the contents from the viewpoint of the Programme.

The applicants that have passed the academic and English language proficiency requirements will be graded and approximately 20 applicants with the highest points (max 100 points) will be selected. The grading is done as follows:

Motivation letter (0-60)

The applicant will receive 0-60 points from the motivation letter. A letter of motivation is a short essay, where you introduce yourself and present your reasons for studying in this Master’s programme.  In the motivation letter, the applicant should cover the following themes:

• What is your educational and professional background and what is its relevance and benefit for your studies in this Master’s Degree Programme?
• Describe your internships, work experience and other experience, also international, that you consider relevant for your studies in this Programme.
• Define your reasons for choosing this Master’s Degree Programme and career plans after graduation from this Programme.

The length of the motivation letter is limited to a maximum of 4,000 characters. The language of the motivation letter is English.

The motivation letter will be graded with the following criteria:

• Relevant experience. (0-20 points)
• The level of motivation to enter the Programme. (0-20 points)
• Understanding the context of Programme and its relevance for career plans. (0-20 points)

If the motivation letter is missing, the application will be rejected. If the applicant receives fewer than 20 points from the motivation letter, Bachelor’s thesis and relevant previous studies will not be graded and the selection of the applicant will not be further considered.

Bachelor’s thesis and relevant previous studies (0-40)

Bachelor’s thesis or corresponding final thesis as well as relevant previous studies will be awarded 0-40 points. The assessed elements include the scientific quality, extent and the relevance of content from the viewpoint of the Programme.

The thesis and previous studies will be graded with the following criteria:

• Scientific quality of the thesis and extent and scientific quality of previous studies (0-20 points)
• The relevance of the thesis and other previous studies for the Programme (0-20 points)

If the applicant’s studies do not include a thesis or the thesis is written in a language other than English, Swedish or Finnish, the other previous studies will be evaluated and awarded 0-40 points.