Conferment ceremony

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Conferment ceremonies (promootio) are celebrations organised by faculties lasting several days, where the new master’s and doctoral degree holders graduated after the previous conferment ceremony get to celebrate in prestigious surroundings. By participating in the conferment ceremony, the newly graduated doctoral degree holder will receive a right to wear the insignia associated with their academic degrees: a doctoral hat and sword.

Conferment ceremonies combine solemnity with riotousness and tradition with youthfulness.  Conferment ceremonies are celebrations for the whole university community, and the participants include University leadership, the government and leading social figures, newly graduated masters and doctors, jubilee masters and doctors as well as young students working as heralds.

Conferment ceremonies are organised every four years, sometimes more often. Conferment committees established for the organisation of the ceremony ensure that all doctors and masters graduated after the previous conferment ceremony are informed of the upcoming conferment ceremony well in advance. The conferment ceremony is a unique academic tradition, which provides an opportunity to celebrate the completed degree once more with your fellow students.

Please visit the University's website for more information on conferment ceremonies.

A wreath bound to a tailcoat and a hand dressed in a white glove.
Photo: Juuli Kavalainen (University of Helsinki)