Defences in Spring 2026

The thesis must be submitted in electronic copy only as a digitally (ID card signed) signed container consisting of the following documents:

1. The electronic copy of the thesis in PDF format. The name of the electronic file must have the author’s name;
2. A licence which permits the publishing of the electronic thesis in the Tallinn University Academic Library repository ETERA. Please do not include the licence into your thesis file, add it as a separate document to the container.

The container must be digitally signed by you and your supervisor,  this confirms that your thesis is ready to be submitted. If you do not have a valid ID card and cannot create and sign the container, ask your supervisor to create and sign it.

The Tallinn University School of Humanities demands the confirmation of authorship: on the next page after the title page the author of the thesis must have a confirmation that all the sources have been appropriately referenced and quoted. The text that must be used:

“I hereby confirm that I am the sole author of the thesis submitted. All the works and conceptual viewpoints by other authors that I have used, as well as data deriving from sources have been appropriately attributed.”

Graduation Exam
The aim of the graduation exam is to show that you have acquired and mastered the subject related knowledge and skills you have accumulated during your BA studies and you are able to apply this knowledge. The graduation exam also enables to show research and analytical skills in the context of a research paper, which should show the mastery of composing coherent and linguistically flawless text.

The requirements to participate at a Graduation Exam
The student has the obligation to familiarize oneself with the contents and requirements of the graduation exam beforehand. The student should individually work through all the materials related to the preparation for the exam. 

• The registration for the exam should be submitted in ÕIS no later than 5 May 2026. Please use ‘other type of application’. 
• All the results of the assessments and exams should appear on ÕIS at the latest three working days before the first part of the graduation exam takes place.

To be entered for the exam you must have fulfilled all the requirements of your study programme and you cannot have pending financial obligations to the university.

The thesis can be defended only when the rest of the curriculum has been fulfilled and all graduation requirements met. All results must be in the database at the latest three days before defence. All the results still pending at the time of submission must be listed on the information form submitted with the thesis.

The external examiner report will be sent to student’s tlu.ee email at the latest one working day before the defence.

During the defence we will provide a computer so that the slide show can be shown.

All MA students must submit their application for confirming their thesis topic by the end of the first year of studies. The application form is here.

Application should preferably be submitted electronically to Elsi Vänto by 5th of June 2026. Please make sure that all the fields of the application are filled in (including the thesis title in Estonian) and that it is (digitally) signed by the student, the supervisor and the study programme administrator.

The Style Sheet for research papers at the School of Humanities

BA Exam in Liberal Arts in Humanities:

Lecturer Ksenia Shmydkaya (head), Associate Professor Lisa Indraccolo, Associate Professor Natalia Tšuikina, Lecturer Miriam Anne Mcllfatrick-Ksenofontov, Lecturer Jaanika Vider, Junior Research Fellow Airi Uuna, Junior Research Fellow Adedeji Moses Adeniyi

Estonian Studies MA:

Professor Piret Viires (head), Professor Kapitolina Fedorova, Professor Anna Verschik, Lecturer Ksenia Shmydkaya, Teacher Ele Arder

Literature, Visual Culture and Film Studies MA:

Professor Eneken Laanes (head), Research Fellow Mari Laaniste, Research Fellow Emilia Diana Popa, Lecturer Matthias Jost, Lecturer Margaret Tali, Junior Research Fellow Hanna Maria Aunin