The official degree certificate will now be electronic - the first certificates for graduates in August 

The electronic degree certificate is reliable because it is much more difficult to forge than a paper certificate. In addition, these days graduates mostly look for jobs online, for example through electronic recruitment systems, which means that an electronic certificate helps graduates since attachments no longer need to be scanned from paper to electronic format. In addition, the employer can check the authenticity of the certificate in an online service.

After graduation, students download their electronic degree certificate from the Peppi Atomi service. At the same time, graduates are able to automatically download the transcript of records which includes a breakdown of completed courses and Diploma Supplement, which is the English-language version of the degree certificate.

In addition to the electronic degree certificate, students receive a paper copy by participating in the graduation ceremony of the faculty. A paper copy is not the official certificate. The copy will be still handed out in the university folder, with which you can take graduation photos and display the certificate at your graduation party.

How do I download an electronic degree certificate?

When you graduate, the secretary of the Academic Affairs Service Team creates the degree certificate and sends it to you on the Peppi Atomi service. The university's login credentials are only valid for a short time after graduation, so you should download the certificate as soon as possible.

It is a good idea to download the official diploma to a location where it is not easily lost or get into the wrong hands. You can upload the diploma to your own files, such as a cloud service, computer, external hard drive or flash drive. It is a good idea to store the certificate in several locations so that you have a backup copy. Each unmodified, saved copy is an official diploma. The location of the file should also be such that it is easy to attach the diploma to a job application.

The University of Oulu archives electronic degree certificates. If the electronic certificate you have uploaded is lost, you can request it from the Faculty Study Affairs. A fee is charged for sending a new certificate.

Please note that if the certificate is modified after signing or the electronic certificate (i.e. the signature) is broken, the diploma is no longer authentic. In other words, you should never open the electronic degree certificate for example on Word in editing mode.

How is the authenticity of an electronic degree certificate checked?

The electronic degree certificate is an EU approved document that complies with EU standards and is classified with the highest EU security classification. Falsification of an electronic degree certificate is considerably more challenging than a paper certificate. The document is signed using an electronic signature of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

On the Oulu.fi website, you can find the Atomi Validator service which enables employers to check the authenticity of the certificate. The authenticity of the degree certificate can also be checked using a service available on the Digital and Population Data Services Agency's website. In addition, a service for verifying the authenticity of the certificate will be available on the European Commission's website.

Information on the degree certificate and instructions can be found also on the For students pages

Change to original news 30.9.2022: From on 1.10.2022 only the students who attend to the Faculty's Diploma Conferment Ceremony will receive an unofficial, paper copy of the degree certificate. Students, who graduated in August and in September, have automatically received a paper copy of the degree certificate.