Educational Sciences

The graduate:

• is able to ground the solutions to problems in Educational Sciences from the broader point of view of Social Sciences
• is familiar with the modern approaches to the methodology of research
• is able to plan a study and use research methods and data analysis methods
• is able to effectively work with scientific texts and to create these themselves
• is ready for scientific communication and cooperation with other researchers

Detailed study programme information can be found here. 

What are the career options after the studies?

Graduates are able to follow a number of career options depending on their personal interests. For example they can work as researchers, university lecturers or experts in the field. In any case they are very well equipped to develop a sound professional career based on visionary thinking and critical knowledge of the field.

Admission Deadlines

Summer 2025 Admission Deadlines:

May 19th till June 30th 2025 at 12:00 – submission of applications in SAIS or DreamApply.
July 9th 2025 – admission exam (the exact time will be sent to each candidate individually).
September 1st 2025 – beginning of the studies.

Required Documents

• CV
• Proposal for the Doctoral Thesis signed by the prospective supervisor needs to be added while applying to the programme. Please contact prospective supervisors by sending them a draft of your proposal. This should be done several months before the deadline of submitting your application, as writing a good proposal takes time.
• Recommendation letter from a future supervisor.

Need to be sent by post after filling in the online application form:

• Application cover printed from the online application system.
• Copy of a bachelor’s degree certificate or equivalent + transcript of records (translations are requested if documents are not in English); both copies and translations must be attested by a notary.
• Copy of a master’s degree certificate or equivalent + transcript of records (translations are requested if documents are not in English); both copies and translations must be attested by a notary.
• Proof of English Proficiency
• Copy of the identification page of passport.

Admission exam (interview) is based on the proposal for the doctoral thesis that is agreed with and is approved by the prospective supervisor. Exam points are formed as a result of the points given by all committee members.

You can also find general admission information here. 

A Fully Funded PhD Position on “Agency, Trust, and Personal Responsibility in the Context of Sustainable Futures”

The School of Educational Sciences at Tallinn University is seeking to recruit an exceptional and motivated PhD candidate to join the ERA Chair in Sustainable Futures project (SustainERA, DOI: 10.3030/101186958). This project is led by Prof Anu Realo and Prof Kai Pata and is funded by the European Commission's Horizon Europe "Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence" programme.

Running from 2025 to 2029, SustainERA combines high-level research with the development of innovative solutions to promote sustainable mindsets and practices. Four PhD students will be recruited through an international competition, each assigned to different university schools to complement the existing research team.

Project Description

One of these positions focuses on the topic: “Agency, Trust, and Personal Responsibility in the Context of Sustainable Futures,” supervised by Prof Anu Realo (main supervisor) and Dr Grete Arro (second supervisor).

The key questions this PhD project seeks to address are the roles of agency, responsibility, and trust in driving sustainable change. Possible methods include, but are not limited to, quantitative approaches (e.g., survey-based studies, experiments, and ecological momentary assessment) and qualitative methods (e.g., focus groups, in-depth interviews, and participant observation).

About the Position

Successful candidates will be hired as Junior Research Fellows for a four-year study period, commencing 1st September 2025. In addition to their PhD research, they will be expected to contribute to various teaching, administrative, and capacity-building activities within the SustainERA project, accounting for 20% of their workload. Candidates will be expected to reside and work in Tallinn. 

Candidate Requirements

Applicants should hold an MSc degree in Psychology or a related discipline (or be near completion) and demonstrate strong expertise in advanced quantitative statistical methods. They should also exhibit a clear interest in and passion for sustainability and non-growth topics from an individual-level perspective, along with excellent written and oral English skills.

If you are interested in applying for this PhD position, please contact Prof Anu Realo (anu.realo@tlu.ee) to discuss potential supervision. A supervisor’s preliminary agreement is required prior to submission.  

The application deadline is Midnight (EEST) 16 April 2025.

More information here.

A Doctoral Student without an employment contract with Tallinn University has student status and can apply for various scholarships and participate in inter-university mobility.

In summer 2025, it is possible to apply for two doctoral student positions with a specific research topic:

• Supporting Students’ Deep Learning in Subject Lessons – Didactic Approaches and Strategies

This research focuses on supporting students' deep learning in subject teaching by analysing which didactic strategies and teaching methods help students achieve a deeper understanding and long-term knowledge retention.

Supervisor of the topic is Professor Katrin Poom-Valickis.

• Developing the foundations of subject* teaching to support students' learning skills sustainability (*preference is given to the Estonian language and humanities)

The study focuses on one subject field in the national curriculum and looks at issues of teaching and learning in primary education. It will update the didactical principles of this subject. The study will seek answers to the questions of how the objectives and content of this subject should be updated in the light of future competencies, and what are the optimal teaching approaches to support the development of students' learning skills in this subject so that they can be well applied at subsequent levels of education and throughout life.

Supervisor of the topic is Professor Inge Timoštšuk.

In Summer 2025 it is possible to apply with your own preferred topic after getting approval from one of our supervisors.
In order for you to be able to find a supervisor, please look at our supervisors' fields of research in ETIS and our Study Areas.
If the field of research matches your personal research interests, please contact that potential supervisor by sending your draft of the proposal for the doctoral thesis. Please send your draft at least a couple of months before the admission deadline. You can submit your application only with an approved plan.

Doctoral Student-Junior Research Fellow works at Tallinn University with a workload of at least 0.75 and the content of his/her work is the completion of a doctoral thesis:

• The doctoral student will sign a Junior Research Fellow contract (fulltime workload with a salary of 1700 euros per month and will become an employee of the School of Educational Sciences.
• The period of the studies is 4-6 years (full-time work load position means 4 years of studies).

The Estonian Doctoral School supports cooperation between universities to improve the quality and attractiveness of doctoral studies. The school enables Estonian doctoral students to make interdisciplinary and international research contacts and use self-development opportunities. A separate series of events aims to support the development of supervision skills.

The doctoral school events are open to all doctoral students and their supervisors at Estonian universities who are interested. Within the doctoral school, cross-disciplinary knowledge is shared, and future skills are developed with the support of external experts. Among other things, the doctoral school allows doctoral students to broaden their research horizons and expand their professional network and collaboration opportunities.

Doctoral School events can be found here.

Specific questions regarding the programme should be directed to the School of Educational Sciences: Elina van der Toorn, elinba@tlu.ee, Doctoral Studies Coordinator.