Student Guide

Structure of studies on Sisu

Detailed instructions on how to create a study plan on Sisu and an overview of the ‘Structure of studies’ section.

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Making selections in your study plan (HOPS)

  1. Click on an item you want to edit.
    • This item can be either a study module or a grouping module under it.
    • Do not click on a study module code, as this will not allow you to make selections.
  2. The item you have clicked turns blue, and the selection assistant appears on the right-hand side.
    • Use the selection assistant to select courses for this item.
    • The selection assistant shows the rules for selecting courses under this study module or grouping module. It guides you with messages such as ‘Select 1 pc’ or ‘Select 20 cr’.
  3. Make selections by clicking on the toggles next to the item names displayed in the selection assistant.
    • The items displayed may be either study modules, grouping modules or courses. 
    • Depending on the situation, one of the following things will happen when you click on a toggle:
      • A white toggle turns blue. This means that you have added the item to your study plan.
      • A blue toggle turns white. This means that you have removed the item from your study plan.
      • A grey toggle remains grey. This means that the item is a compulsory part of your study plan. The only way to remove compulsory studies is to use the free edit mode.
      • The selections are saved automatically.
  4. Depending on the situation, the selection assistant may include a search function.
    • Use it to search for and add any Aalto University courses or study modules to your study plan, such as elective studies and minors.

You can browse courses at courses.aalto.fi.

Course equivalences

Some Aalto courses may correspond to other Aalto courses. This means that you may substitute a course with an equivalent course. If a course can be substituted with another course, this is indicated in the course information sheet.

  1. To see the information sheet of a course, click the course code in your study plan.
  2. Go to the ‘Substitutions’ tab.
  3. If equivalences have been defined, they are listed in the section ‘Equivalences’.
  • If the equivalence has been entered into Sisu directly, you can also select the equivalent course directly. Simply use the menu in the course information sheet.
    • The selection is usually saved automatically, but please check your study plan to make sure that Sisu saved it.
    • The equivalent course is marked with an icon with two arrows pointing in opposite directions.
    • If you want to edit or cancel the equivalence, please click the icon with two arrows.
    • If you need to, you may also change the version of the equivalent course in your study plan. For more information: Changing versions in your study plan
  • It is also possible that information about equivalent courses is only available as text. In this case, you need to need to use the free edit mode to apply to have the equivalent course substituted for the original one.

Compensating for Aalto University studies with studies you have completed at another university

Study module status

The status of each item in your study plan is indicated next to its name on the right-hand side.

Confirming a minor as part of your study right in Sisu

You can only confirm your right to pursue minor subject studies through a study plan (HOPS) created for a degree for which you have a right to study.

  • You can only add minors to the sections where nothing but minors are allowed.
  • For these sections, the selection assistant displays the following text: ‘Search only for minors.’
  • Note: Your right to study in your degree programme needs to be confirmed first. Only then can a minor be confirmed as part of your bachelor’s or master’s degree.

Changing versions in your study plan

You may need to change the version of a course, study module, minor or master’s-level study plan to ensure that your study plan has the right structure. 

  • The courses, study modules, minors etc. in your study plan automatically follow the curriculum that was in force in the academic year when you created your study plan.
  • If your plan contains older versions of courses, a banner will appear on the top of the page notifying you about it. The banner also includes a link via which you can update course versions easily. 
  • You cannot select a version that is older than your right to study.

General instructions on changing versions:

  1. Go to your study plan and click on the underlined code of the element in question.
  2. Switch between versions by clicking on the list of academic years under the name of the element.
  3. Sisu will now display the following notification: ‘You are viewing a version of the study module that is not included in your study your plan. Use this version.’
    • This banner sometimes hides behind other blue banners. For example, if you see a notification of a confirmed minor, close this notification, and the banner informing you about changing versions will appear.
  4. Click the link ‘Use this version’.

Free edit mode

Use free edit mode if your studies do not follow the structure of your degree programme. An administrative staff member from your programme has to accept the changes you make in the free edit mode before you may graduate. You need to request approval for any changes you make.

Courses with varying scope

If a course has a varying scope in credits (e.g. 1–10 ECTS credits), the teacher will confirm the scope when they are entering your study attainment into Sisu.

How to process courses with varying content

Some courses have varying content but the same course code (for example, CS-EV or ABR-ENG). You can only add one instance of a course like this to your study plan.

If your degree is going to include three courses with varying content that have the same course code, you can include the course with the correct course code in your study plan only once. Add the other two courses to your study plan as study drafts.

After you have completed all three courses, add them to your study plan.

Study draftAdding completed studies to your study plan

Additional study plan functions

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