Studies
Regardless of which avenue of study you choose, our curriculum gives you access to many good courses, nice facilities for production and a collegial atmosphere of international staff and students. We like people to get involved and contribute to our community and therefore we don’t necessarily accept visiting students who wish to pick just a few courses at the lab, but welcome people of varying backgrounds to apply if you are interested to join us.
The common theme of our studies is summed up in our mission statement: “The mission of the Media Lab is to explore, discover and comprehend the new digital technology and its impact in society; to find and exploit the possibilities it opens to communication, interaction and expression and to evaluate, understand and deal with the challenges it poses to design and creative publication.”
Our design school context also places a high value on the quality of our art, design and media production as well as the end-user/viewer experience. This concern for the individual person’s experience of a product or a production is indeed important to us and, in many ways, sets us apart from many more technically oriented schools.
MA Study Programmes
The studies of the Media Lab are characterized by collaboration in an experimental and critical environment in which interaction and work in multidisciplinary and multicultural teams occurs on a wide scale between students and staff as well as with students of other faculties and institutions. By nature studies in ’new media’ emphasize emerging fields and practices and related tools and technologies for communication, creative production and distribution. In practice graduates of the Media Lab tend to become employed in ’new’ roles and ’emerging professions’ within the broad gamut of the new media industry, as well as in related research and development activities.
During the studies students are expected to get familiar with a variety of tools, and to understand the fundamental characteristics of digital media as well as the specific of their major subject.
Academic communication and writing are a part of the studies, and more research courses can be chosen if the student is planning to become a researcher. Students and researchers are encouraged to network internationally and have an option to spend a part of their studies abroad through any of our exchange programmes.
The education is project-oriented, combining practice with theory, hands-on with minds-on. The project modules emphasise interdisciplinary and collaborative work, while individual skills are studied in the tools & skills modules, in workshops and through tutored studio work.
The programme is fully taught in English, and students can write their thesis in Finnish, Swedish or English.
The students can also continue their studies to doctoral degree, e.g. by doing (part of) their research in research groups at the Department of Art and Media.
In a technology-saturated world, it is indispensable to understand and study the impacts that technology has on individuals, organisations and society. The New Media major brings together a multicultural group of students with very versatile skills and backgrounds. They all share the same passion of exploring the opportunities and challenges that new and emerging digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence and extended reality, open for communication, art, and design. By exploring the field of new media through various topics, including media art and culture, interaction design, creative computing, and interactive narratives, the graduates of the major have unique competences to take on new and emerging professions within the broad spectrum of the new media industry.
The major also aims to provide a supportive and constructive environment for artistic, technical, and professional development. An environment where learning from failures is just as important as learning from successes. The students are encouraged to step outside of their comfort zones and get familiar with a variety of tools and skills, to understand the characteristics of digital media.
The aim of the Major in Sound in New Media is to explore, discover and comprehend the emerging digital technology and its aural impact in society; to find and exploit the possibilities it opens to acoustic communication, sonic interaction and new interfaces for musical expression and to evaluate, understand and deal with the challenges it poses to art, design, and creative production in the auditory domain.
More info: [email protected]
See also Sound in New Media web page
Game Design and Development is a multidisciplinary major that offers a unique mix of technical and artistic aspects of game development. The major produces visionary, out-of-the-box thinkers who have the ambition to push the boundaries in the world of game design. Using a project-based, hands-on with minds-on approach, the major in Game Design and Development cultivates a strong community of students from highly diverse backgrounds. Students can apply for the major with any Bachelor’s degree, and accepted students include programmers, 3D artists, animators, creative writers, architects, and even psychologists.Graduates of the programme will graduate with a Master of Arts (Art and Media) degree. Aalto University School of Science offers a “sibling major” of the same name that leads to a Master of Science (Technology) degree (diplomi-insinööri in Finnish). The M.Sc (Technology) path is recommended for students with a strong technical background, and students should apply according to the academic degree they wish to have. Content-wise the two programmes are similar and organised in close collaboration with one another.
More info: [email protected]
Minor Studies
Minor subject studies in Aalto Media Lab offer an opportunity for MA level students from various fields to enhance and deepen their professional skills in a multidisciplinary design and research environment.
Minor subject study areas 2022-2024
DA Studies
Doctoral studies allow individuals to develop and carry on their own research towards the degree of Doctor of Art (in Art and Design), as offered by the School of Art, Design and Architecture at Aalto University.
Candidates are also encouraged to make use of the opportunities for participation in doctoral-level studies, seminars and workshops that are provided through Schools in Aalto University as well as participate in national and international networks and doctoral schools.
Application procedure
The application deadline is annually on 31 March. Further information about the application procedures and the research plan can be found in: https://into.aalto.fi/display/enopinnot/Doctoral+programmes
In practice
Doctoral students may participate in courses aimed for doctoral students and, to a certain extent, those for MA students in the Media Lab, as well as to some offered in other departments and universities in Finland. Registering credits should be discussed with the professor in charge of the doctoral studies. Every doctoral student should have at least one advisor who is himself/herself a doctor.
Faculty
Teaching faculty supervising the doctoral studies are experienced research professionals from different international backgrounds.
The program is coordinated by Prof, DA Lily Díaz.
Doctoral students
Students enrolled in the doctoral studies are talented professionals from a variety of disciplines and countries. Since September 2016 they’re listed in the Aalto University’s ACRIS research database, which hosts current information on their projects.
More info: [email protected]
From an artistic and design perspective, the research subject of the Media Lab is digital media, how is it created and used and what is its potential impact in society. Our research engages in practical and theoretical activities covering both traditional and new categories in non-conventional ways.
Latest Theses
The theses from the Media Lab are on public display at the Aalto University library as well as some of the latest ones also online. First recorded theses are from 1995 up to this date.
Apply to Media Lab
Media Lab at the Department of Media offers interdisciplinary studies in design and production of new media, games and sound. Also various areas and amounts of design, arts, computer science, communication, cognitive science, sociology etc. are present during your studies in Media Lab.
In short, we require applicants to have a prior degree (at least BA, BSc or equivalent), preferably with previous experience in group work using digital media tools and an ability to function in an international, mainly English language-based environment. We also ask for commitment, as work here is done mainly in projects, not by dropping in for exams.
A group of students representing a variety of skills, backgrounds and talents are chosen every spring. The process consists of these steps: a written application which describes your background, experience and motivation, followed by a set of assignments and finally, an interview which also includes a portfolio pitch. For more information, look for information via the Aalto University Admissions page.
Apply to Media Lab
Media Lab at the Department of Art anf Media offers interdisciplinary studies in design and production of new media, games and sound. Also various areas and amounts of design, arts, computer science, communication, cognitive science, sociology etc. are present during your studies in Media Lab.
Apply to DA studies (external link)
The main purpose of doctoral education at the Aalto Doctoral Programme in Arts, Design and Architecture is to teach the doctoral candidate to create new knowledge via scentific and artistic methods and theories. Admission to the Aalto Doctoral Programme in Arts, Design and Architecture is organized annually in March for studies starting in September.
Head of New Media
Head of Sound in New Media
Head of Game Design and Development
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