Social Work PhD

Educated social workers are in demand across the public, private, and non-profit sectors in various fields, including social welfare, education, the justice system, and healthcare. You can also become an entrepreneur - achieve success through social entrepreneurship or, after completing your studies, find a meaningful professional role that contributes to society. As the field is still relatively young, there is an ongoing shortage of adequately trained specialists to carry out this highly important and rewarding work. Join us and begin your studies at the School of Governance, Law and Society of Tallinn University!

We welcome applications to the PhD programme in Social Work if you wish:

to acquire in-depth knowledge of the science of social work;
to develop skills to participate in the research and development of social work and social policy, present research results in the international scientific literature of social work and at conferences;
to develop skills for working as a university lecturer for forwarding knowledge of social work, social policy and organise specialised training;
to participate in public discussions, present research results in a well-reasoned manner and influence the social decision-making processes.

Admission to doctoral studies is open for full-time study only. To ensure the opportunity to fully dedicate oneself to doctoral research, all doctoral candidates admitted from the 2026/27 academic year onwards are expected to take up employment as doctoral junior researchers at a 1.0 full-time equivalent workload at the School of Governance, Law and Society.

Course Outline

Objectives of the Programme:

to create opportunities for acquiring the highest scientific qualification in social work;
to support the development of competencies for a professional career as an independent expert in the field of social work;
to create pre-conditions for the development of a new generation of researchers and lecturers with independent research skills for institutions of higher education and for social welfare and health institutions.

Learning Outcomes:

has expanded knowledge and systematic overview in social work, in-depth knowledge on a specific research topic;
possesses knowledge and skills for implementation of social and health sciences research methods;
has skills for independent critical analysis and synthesis;
has knowledge and skills for participating in international research and development activities;
is able to plan, implement and critically evaluate professional research and development actions;
is able to present the results of their research orally and in writing both in Estonian and a foreign language to international scientific communication (in conferences and in scientific publications);
is able to communicate specialized knowledge, supervise scientific work and arrange professional studies;
is able to participate in social discussions, present results of their research in argumentative form and influence social decision-making processes.

See study programme here

Admission Requirements

Preferred Research Topics for Admission to the PhD Programme in Social Work, 2026

For general requirements, please read admission to PhD Studies.

Programme specific requirements:

Admission exam(interview) is based on the plan for the doctoral thesis that is agreed with the prospective supervisor. Information about the plan for the doctoral thesis: sisask.merike@gmail.com.

Structure of the PhD proposal (5-10 pages+references):

(1) the subject of the doctoral thesis, including a brief summary of the research problem that the doctoral thesis seeks to solve
(2) objectives of the research, main research questions and tasks or work hypotheses
(3) a brief overview of the most important thematic previous studies and theoretical standpoints with literature references
(4) the data and research methods that are intended to be used to solve the research problem, including sampling principles
(5) work plan, resources necessary for doctoral studies and potential risks
6) why did you choose Tallinn University?

* The PhD proposal must be agreed upon and signed by a potential supervisor.

Supervisors contacts can be found here: https://www.tlu.ee/en/yti/contact-us

Supervisors research fields can be found here: https://www.etis.ee

Contact us!

Specific questions regarding the programme should be directed to the School of Governance, Law and Society: Triin Vendik phone: 6409 452 E-mail: yti-ope@tlu.ee

For additional guidelines regarding admission procedure please contact the international admission specialist.