You must agree on a master's thesis topic with a professor from the subject field of your major. There are three primary sources for finding a topic:

• topics offered by research groups as a part of ongoing research projects (announced on department websites, during courses, etc.)
• individual topics offered by professors (announced on professors' websites or agreed individually)
• topics offered by companies, the public sector, etc.

There is no general list of available topics. In all cases, you should contact the corresponding professor directly yourself. If you do not find a funded thesis position, you may always do your thesis in one of the university's research groups without funding. All supervisors are obliged to offer you a topic. You can also suggest a topic based on your own interests. 

Descriptions of possible thesis topic areas by professors in each programme:

Electronics and Nanotechnology
Automation and Electrical Engineering
Computer, Communication and Information Sciences

The supervisor of the thesis must be a professor or a university lecturer working in Aalto University. The supervisor’s responsibility is to provide guidance on the scientific validity and format of the thesis and the thesis as a whole.

You must also have one or two advisors for your thesis. A master's thesis advisor must have completed at least a master's degree.

The advisor's role is to take care of day-to-day guidance and support the student in the planning and execution of the experimental part of the thesis as well as in the writing process. The supervisor of the thesis can also work as the advisor.

At the beginning of the thesis process, the supervisor and the student (and possibly advisor(s)) should organize an initial master's thesis meeting. Initial master's thesis meeting template is below.

Apply for the approval of your thesis supervisor, advisor(s) and topic in MyStudies service (mystudies.aalto.fi) by creating a thesis record in the Thesis tab of MyStudies. Instructions on how to create the thesis record can be found from MyStudies. It is strongly recommended that you apply for approval of the supervisor, advisor(s) and topic as soon as you have agreed on a topic with your thesis supervisor.

The application is processed by the suggested thesis supervisor and another decision maker, who is either the programme director or major responsible professor, depending on your programme. The application is processed within a month. You will be informed by email and in MyStudies when the application has been approved.

Please note, that the supervisor, advisor(s) and topic must be approved in MyStudies before you can submit the final version of the thesis for evaluation. Application must be submitted in MyStudies at the latest a month before submitting the thesis to ensure, that the supervisor, advisor(s) and topic approval is processed before submitting the thesis.

The target time for completing the thesis is six months. Time used for completing the thesis affects the thesis evaluation. Note, that this time period is not calculated from the approval date of the supervisor, advisor(s) and topic but from the actual start date of the thesis as agreed and judged by the thesis supervisor.

In the thesis record you can set planned start date for the thesis and estimate of when the thesis will be completed. These dates are non-binding. They are intended to serve as a framework for your thesis work, and you should agree on the target time for thesis completion with your supervisor and advisor(s).

Support courses for thesis writing:

• ELEC-E0210 Master's Thesis Process
• LC-1322 Thesis Writing for engineers (MSc) (w)
• LC-1315 Tools for Master's Thesis
• LC-7109 Tieteellinen kirjoittaminen maisteriopiskelijoille

Other support services:

• Writing clinic (language support for writing in English offered by the language center)
• Starting Point of Wellbeing’s Theses & Tomatoes
• Turnitin (online tool for practicing scientific writing and prevention of plagiarism. Currently, using Turnitin is not required when submitting a master's thesis. Starting in 27.1.2025, using Turnitin is mandatory and is an automatic part of the thesis submission.

Write your thesis on a master's thesis template. Two templates are available:

• Thesis template for LaTeX (recommended). For LaTeX use Aalto provides free accounts for students on Overleaf (a web-based Latex tool) or you can download a free Latex software on your own computer.
• Thesis template for Microsoft Word.

Please note that a master’s thesis is a public document once it has been approved. The thesis cannot have any confidential sections. If there are confidential sections, only the "visible" part of the thesis will be evaluated and the thesis must form a coherent whole without the concealed parts. Read more about theses as public documents.

To have your Master's thesis approved:

• check the application deadlines below
• convert your thesis into pdf/A format (instructions)
• attach the final pdf/A version of your thesis to MyStudies (mystudies.aalto.fi -> thesis), fill in the required information concerning the thesis and submit the thesis for evaluation
• if you also want to apply for graduation, see the instructions under Graduation.
   

Please make sure that the electronic version submitted in the application is the final and corrected version of your thesis. 

Based on the final version of the thesis

• your supervisor will write the evaluation statement
• the degree programme committee will make the thesis evaluation
• the university will archive the thesis and it is used for example as the official copy of the thesis in thesis grade appeal cases.
   

The degree programme committee evaluates and grades the thesis based on the written statement and grade proposal provided by the thesis supervisor. The evaluation statement will be provided to the student in MyStudies after the Committee meeting and at the same time when the student receives information on the Committee's decision. The evaluation decision is subject to appeal, i.e., students dissatisfied with the evaluation may submit an appeal.