Q: What is a licentiate thesis?
A: It is a scientific study one can commit and report after the Master's thesis (called "Pro Gradu" in Finland), before Doctoral dissertiation (called "Väitöskirja"here), larger than the former and more concise than the latter. It formally qualifies the scholar to lecture in Finnish universities. It is not so usual to write a licentiate thesis any more, because you can also go into the doctoral dissertiation right after Master's. I personally have found it very useful for a novice researcher: it gives you confidence, and helps you more safely to the doctoral dissertiation by offering you opportunities to practice scientific communication and argumenting.
Behind this page you'll find my licentiate thesis in completed form (but, still mostly in finnish). It was last updated in July 30, 1999. The publication of a WWW-version aims at virtual easiness of reading the work in its different drafts, as well as to experimenting with the WWW-environment in the seminar phase of licentiate/doctoral studies.
Some notifications should be made: