Student Guide

Joint International Master's Programme in Communications and Data Science

Thesis

Master’s thesis is completed under joint supervision of both Universities you have studied in the programme. The main supervision of your thesis is in the University where you are physically present on your second year of studies. However, you need to follow the instructions of both Universities and fulfill both Universities’ thesis requirements. You also need to have a thesis supervisor from both Universities.

The instructions on this webpage will guide you how to complete your thesis successfully at Aalto University. You need to follow these instructions if you have:

  • studied your first year at Aalto and you are now studying your second year in another university OR
  • studied your first year in other university and you are now studying your second year at Aalto

Students starting from 2024 onwards: If you are required to complete the final semester (thesis work) in another Host University (to meet the requirement of studying in two countries other than your country of residence), your thesis will be supervised by all three universities involved. The degree will be granted by the Home University and the first Host University, where you have completed at least 60 ECTS. The second Host University will not grant the degree, as the requirement of 60 ECTS is not met to grant a degree. Please contact [email protected] for further information.
 

  1. Agree on the topic with a professor
  2. Register to ELEC-E0210 Master's thesis process
  3. Apply for Master’s thesis topic approval
  4. Write the Master’s thesis
  5. Give a seminar presentation
  6. Maturity essay
  7. Apply for the approval of your Master’s thesis

Agree on the topic with a professor

Register to ELEC-E0210 Master's thesis process (if applicable)

If ELEC-E0210 is part of your major's compulsory courses, remember to register for the course. The course is compulsory in many programmes in ELEC and students from programmes where it is not compulsory can also attend. Register for the course as soon as you have agreed on the topic with your supervisor. The course supports you in the initial stages of your thesis. Register in Sisu and then proceed to the further steps according to the instructions on the course's MyCourses page.

Apply for Master's thesis supervisor, advisor(s) and topic approval

Apply for approval of the thesis supervisor, advisor(s) and the topic as soon as you have agreed about the topic with your thesis supervisor.

For the application it is sufficient that you have agreed on the topic in a broad sense, i.e. the field of the thesis. The final title of the thesis will be developed during the thesis work, and the final title must be within the field of the original approved topic. Supervisor, advisor(s) and topic approval applications are approved continuously and there are no certain application deadlines. Applications are processed within a month.

If your thesis topic, supervisor, language, and advisor have been approved 31.7.2023 or before according to the old instructions (valid until 31.7.2024) by the degree programme committee, i.e. your "topic approval date" is 1.8.2023 or before, you must apply for the approval.

Write the Master’s thesis

Thesis work in brief consists of topic definition, research plan, literature review, experiments, analysis and conclusion. It is essential to start writing the actual thesis from the very beginning and continue the writing process throughout each phase of your research.

The evaluation of the Master's thesis is based on the School of Electrical Engineering common guideline for thesis evaluation. By reading the guideline you will get an idea of what is expected of a Master's thesis.

Give a seminar presentation

A seminar presentation about the topic of your thesis is a compulsory part of the thesis approval process. You must agree on the schedule and arrangements of your seminar presentation with your thesis supervisor. When applying for approval of your thesis you must indicate whether you have already held the seminar presentation or provide the date of the upcoming presentation.

Please note that the seminar presentation must be completed at the latest by the deadline for submitting theses and applications.

Once you have completed the seminar presentation, your thesis supervisor will mark the seminar presentation completed in MyStudies at the same time with the thesis evaluation.

Maturity essay

According to the Universities Act 794/2004 students are required to complete a maturity essay. The abstract of your thesis will serve as the maturity essay. Hence, you don't need to agree on writing a maturity essay separately with your supervisor. When you submit your thesis with an abstract completed according to the instruction in the master's thesis template, your maturity essay is considered done.

Apply for the approval of your Master’s thesis

The Master’s thesis is evaluated in the Degree Programme Committee meeting. The thesis supervisor, advisor(s) and thesis topic must be approved in MyStudies before submitting the thesis.

See application deadlines for the approval of Master’s thesis at the end of the page.

Application deadlines for applying the approval of Master’s thesis

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