Please note that this is a double degree programme implemented through international collaboration which is why its structure may deviate from the regular structure of the Master’s Degree Programme in Computer, Communication and Information Sciences.

Programme website: http://www.masterschool.eitdigital.eu/
Administration: Study Coordinator Aino Roms, Study Affairs Secretary Anne Kiviharju (student affairs)
Head of the programme: Prof. Petri Vuorimaa

Master’s Programme in ICT Innovation is a European double degree programme for students who want to know both the technical and entrepreneurial aspects of information and communications technology. The ICT Innovation programme follows the general structure of the EIT Digital Master School. It is a full-time two-year 120 ECTS  master’s  programme,  combining  a  90  ECTS  technical  part  with  a  30  ECTS standardised module on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E). The programme is completed by studying at two different universities in two countries. Graduates will receive a Master’s degree from both of these universities. Aalto University offers six majors within the ICT Innovation programme.

A degree equivalent to a Bachelors degree of 180 ECTS credits. The specific admission requirements vary for each major. The language of instruction of the programme is English. The applicants must have an excellent command of English. For further information on    admission,    application    deadline    and    English    language    proficiency    please see www.masterschool.eitdigital.eu.

Language courses for all majors

According to the degree regulations at Aalto University, students must take at least 3 ECTS of foreign language studies for the degree. In Master’s Programme in ICT Innovation the students have the option to choose between an English course, fulfilling both oral and written requirements (o,w) or at least 3 ECTS of Finnish courses. We recommend the English course LC-1310  Academic Communication for MSc Students for everyone. Taking the Finnish course(s) as part of the degree requires an application for exemption from the foreign language course requirement. Please contact your study affairs secretary for more information. 

Mobility of students

First year universities are called entry universities and second year universities are exit universities. Some universities are only available as either entry or exit points. Please check from each major/programme which entries and exits are available.

The table below describes the study track options currently available in EIT Digital Master School in the six majors where Aalto University is involved. First year universities are called entry universities and second year universities are exit universities. Some universities are only available as exit points.

 Mobility options

Major code: SCI3081

Entry points:

• AALTO
• TU Berlin
• TU Delft
• U Rennes 1

Exit points with specializations:

• AALTO: Mobile Services
• KTH: Data Intensive Computing
• TU Berlin: Cloud operation
• TU Delft: Distributed Data Processing
• UPS: Distributed Information Management
• U Rennes 1: Cloud Infrastructures

Professor in charge: Associate professor Keijo Heljanko

Other professors of the major: Tuomas Aura, N. Asokan, Mario di Francesco, Antti Ylä-Jääski

Objectives of the programme

The program objective is to educate engineers who will be able to design, implement and maintain distributed software systems for a wide range of applications including peer-to-peer, cloud computing, web-services provision and internet-based applications. The program will provide students with a system of knowledge both in formal foundations, technological platforms and practical skills in implementing distributed software applications. The program will also provide an insight into current and future directions of the distributed software development.

Graduates of the programme are able to

• analyse and design a complex distributed IT-system  based on network,  storage,  and processing components
• describe a service-based system using dedicated description languages
• calculate and assess the necessary quantitative capacities of the system components to achieve specified performance goals
• can apply up-to-date technology in fault tolerance and security to achieve privacy and dependability goals in complex distributed systems
• identify business opportunities in the area of cloud computing and to turn them into operation
• communicate technical issues to professionals and non-professionals
• work in multidisciplinary and multinational teams and take over responsibilities
• have business skills to understand and execute a business development process, and have insight in legal and societal aspects of products and services

Courses

Total for the whole year: 60 ECTS 

Note about master's thesis: In some exit universities, requirements for master's thesis may be different from Aalto's requirements. A master's thesis done according to the requirements of such an exit university is accepted at Aalto. However, at Aalto the thesis is evaluated and graded according to the guidelines of Aalto. If a section of the thesis is not adequate in terms of Aalto's requirements, it may affect the grade of the thesis. Guidelines for master's thesis evaluation are available in Into:https://into.aalto.fi/display/enmastersci/Master%27s+thesis#Master'sthesis-Master'sthesisevaluation 

Note also that according to Finnish legislation, a master's thesis is a public document and its contents cannot be confidential. Therefore, the material of the thesis must be chosen so that it does not include any information that could be classified as a business secret of the financing company.

Entry year, fall semester

Compulsory courses (18 ECTS)

^{(*) See ‘Language courses for all majors'.}

Compulsory I&E Courses (7 ECTS)

Optional courses - select 8 ECTS of over two semesters

Entry year, spring semester

Compulsory courses (10 ECTS)

Compulsory I&E Courses (17 ECTS)

Optional courses - select 8 ECTS of over two semesters

Exit year, autumn semester

Aalto specialization – Mobile Services

The courses cover the theoretical and practical aspects of designing mobile distributed systems and services. In the seminar the students learn to read technical and research literature on selected thematic topics and mobile computing, as well as scientific writing and presentation. In the Master’s thesis project, the students can focus on problems arising from the thematic research projects in the Helsinki Node of EIT Digital.

Compulsory major courses (18 ECTS)

^{(*) See ‘Language courses for all majors’ above.}

Compulsory I&E Courses (6 ECTS)

Optional major courses (6 ECTS)

Total 30 ECTS

Exit year, spring semester

Major code: SCI3023

Entry points:

• KTH
• TU Delft
• UNITN  

Exit points with specializations:

• AALTO: Hypermedia
• KTH: Media Processing and Communications
• TU Delft: Medical Imaging
• BME: Media Communications Services
• UNITN: Semantic Media
• UCL: Virtual Environments

Professor in charge: Petri Vuorimaa

Other professors of the major: Eero Hytönen

Objectives of the programme

The main focus of the Digital Media Technology (DMT) technical major is on the enabling technologies for digital media systems, including technologies for generation of (interactive) media, processing and coding of media and for wired and wireless transfer and storage of media content.

Applications that use these technologies include teleconferencing, interactive multimedia applications, entertainment, computer games, telemedicine and surveillance etc. The master will be based on a systems engineering approach in order to successfully integrate media technologies in  applications such as “smart  spaces”, “health and well-being”,  and “smart cities”, thematic areas of EIT Digital.

Exit year at Aalto

Aalto specialization – Hypermedia

Second autumn 2017

Compulsory major courses (17 ECTS)

^{(*) See ‘Language courses for all majors’.}

Compulsory I&E Courses (6 ECTS)

Optional Courses (7 ECTS)

Total 30 ECTS

Second spring 2018

Total for the whole year: 60 ECTS 

*NOTE: According to Finnish legislation, a master's thesis is a public document and its contents cannot be confidential. Therefore, the material of the thesis must be chosen so that it does not include any information that could be classified as a business secret of the financing company.

Major code: SCI3024

Entry points:

• KTH
• TU Berlin
• TU/e

Exit points with specializations:

• KTH: Embedded Platforms and Internet of Things
• AALTO: Mobile Cyber-Physical Systems
• TU Berlin: Embedded Multicore Processing
• UNITN: Real-Time Systems and Design of Cyber-Physical systems
• TU/e: Embedded Networking
• UTU: Energy Efficient Computing
• BME: Critical Embedded Systems

Professor in charge: Stavros Tripakis

Academic coordinator: Vesa Hirvisalo

Objectives of the programme

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) combine computational and physical elements. A mobile CPS is designed as a network that includes mobile and wireless elements. The technology for mobile CPS forms the corner stone for many novel application areas and businesses, such as augmented and mixed reality systems, infotainment systems, and games. Especially, the rise in popularity of smartphones has increased interest in the area of mobile CPS. The students will acquire skills to develop applications and services that are based on mobile CPS technologies. The topics covered include programming web and multimedia systems, processing of video and audio, designing user interfaces, and mastering the embedded systems design flow.

Exit year at Aalto

Aalto specialization – Mobile Cyber-Physical Systems

Autumn 2017

Compulsory major courses (13-18 ECTS)

(*) See ‘Language courses for all majors’.

Compulsory I&E Courses

Optional major courses (6-11 ECTS)

Total 30 ECTS

Second spring 2018

*NOTE: According to Finnish legislation, a master's thesis is a public document and its contents cannot be confidential. Therefore, the material of the thesis must be chosen so that it does not include any information that could be classified as a business secret of the financing company.

Total for the whole year: 60 ECTS

Major code: SCI3020

Entry points:

• Aalto
• KTH
• Université Paris-Sud (UPS)
• University of Twente (UT)

Exit points with specializations:

• KTH: Mobile and ubiquitous interaction
• AALTO: User Modeling for advanced human-computer interaction
• TU Berlin: Multi-modal interaction
• UPS: Situated interaction
• UT: Intelligent systems
• UNITN: Cognitive Interaction
• UPM: Accessible and Adaptive Interaction

Professor in charge: Marko Nieminen

Other professors of the major: Samuel Kaski, David McGookin

Academic coordinator: Mika P. Nieminen

Objectives of the programme

Human Computer Interaction and Design (HCID) focuses on the study, design, development and evaluation of novel user interfaces and interactive systems taking into account human aspects, at the cognitive and sensory-motor levels, technological aspects, as well as business aspects.

New ICT technologies are transforming our daily lives. Smart devices (mobile phones, PDAs, tablet computers), smart products (car, navigation) and smart environments (ambient intelligence) are enabling new services such as navigation, information providing, learning, making reservations or buying of goods are delivered.

Increasingly, the interaction with these devices is not through simple buttons or keystrokes but with more flexible and intuitive interaction methods such as multi-touch, speech, gestures, and with advanced display systems such as augmented and virtual reality. Smart devices and services are also able to show intelligent behaviour recognizing intentions of the user and anticipating the user’s needs. These technologies are central in Human-Computer Interaction and Design.

The design of intuitive user interfaces, however, is not only a matter of the right technology but also a matter of good interaction design: study user’s social and cognitive behaviour in relation to using technology, taking the user as a central driver for design, designing for the right user experience, andtesting and evaluating the design within context, are keys to understanding and designing successful user experience.

NOTE about master's thesis: In some exit universities, requirements for a master's thesis may be different from Aalto's requirements. A master's thesis done according to the requirements of such an exit university is accepted at Aalto. However at Aalto the thesis is evaluated according to the guidelines of Aalto. If a section of a thesis is not adequate in terms of Aalto's requirements, it may affect the grade of the thesis. Guidelines for master's thesis evaluation are available in Into: https://into.aalto.fi/display/enmastersci/Master%27s+thesis

Note also: According to Finnish legislation, a master's thesis is a public document and its contents cannot be confidential. Therefore, the material of the thesis must be chosen so that it does not include any information that could be classified as a business secret of the financing company.

Entry year, fall semester

First autumn 2017

Compulsory major courses (13 ECTS)

(*) See ‘Language courses for all majors’.

Compulsory I&E Courses (7 ECTS)

Optional major courses - Select at least 3 ECTS over the two semesters:

Entry year, spring semester

Compulsory major courses (20 ECTS)

Compulsory I&E Courses (17 ECTS)

Optional major courses - Select at least 3 ECTS over the two semesters:

Total for the whole year: 60 ECTS

Exit year, autumn semester

Aalto specialization – User Modeling for advanced human-computer interaction

Second autumn 2017

Compulsory major courses (8 ECTS)

^{(*) See ‘Language courses for all majors’.}

Compulsory I&E Courses (6 ECTS)

Optional courses (16 ECTS)

Total: 30 ECTS

Exit year, spring semester

Total for the whole year: 60 ECTS

Entry points:

• AALTO
• UNITN
• ELTE

Exit points with specializations:

• Aalto: Software and Services for Smart Spaces
• ELTE: Distributed service systems
• UNITN: Service-oriented social informatics
• UPM: Software and Services in the Cloud

Professor in charge: Kari Smolander

Objectives of the programme

The main desideratum for designing the SSA Technical Common Base is to ensure that SSA students, after the first year, have comparable technical understanding of important topics related to SSA.

NOTE about the master's thesis: In some exit universities, requirements for a master's thesis may be different from Aalto's requirements. A master's thesis done according to the requirements of such an exit university is accepted at Aalto. However at Aalto the thesis is evaluated according to the guidelines of Aalto. If a section of a thesis is not adequate in terms of Aalto's requirements, it may affect the grade of the thesis. Guidelines for master's thesis evaluation are available in Into: https://into.aalto.fi/display/enmastersci/Master%27s+thesis

Note also: According to Finnish legislation, a master's thesis is a public document and its contents cannot be confidential. Therefore, the material of the thesis must be chosen so that it does not include any information that could be classified as a business secret of the financing company.

Courses

Entry year, fall semester

Compulsory major courses (18 ECTS)

^{(*) See ‘Language courses for all majors’.}

Compulsory I&E Courses (7 ECTS)

Optional courses – Select at least 8 ECTS over the two semesters:

Entry year, spring semester

Compulsory major courses (10 ECTS)

Compulsory I&E Courses (17 ECTS)

Optional courses – Select at least 8 ECTS over the two semesters:

Total for the whole year: 60 ECTS

Exit year, autumn semester

Aalto specialization – Software and Services for Smart Spaces

The starting point for the second year in SSA at Aalto is to create a personal study plan for each student that matches the student’s own interests as well as the needs of the research project that forms the foundation of the student’s Master’s thesis.

Aalto  offers  a  specialization  in Software and Services for Smart Spaces. The courses cover the theoretical and practical aspects of designing digital services with a strong mobile focus. In the Master’s thesis project, the students can focus on problems arising from the thematic research projects in the Helsinki Node of EIT Digital.

Second autumn 2017

Compulsory major courses (3 ECTS)

^{(*) See ‘Language courses for all majors’.}

Compulsory I&E Courses (6 ECTS)

Optional major courses (21 ECTS)

Total 30 ECTS

Exit year, spring semester

Total for the whole year: 60 ECTS

Coordinator in charge: Olli-Pekka Mutanen

The  I&E  minor  at Aalto is developed  in  co-operation  with  the  Aalto  Venture  Program (AVP,  http://avp.aalto.fi/). The focus of the Aalto I&E program is on entrepreneurship in ICT. The content of I&E minor is same for all five majors.

Compulsory I&E courses during the entry year 2017-2018 and summer 2018

Compulsory I&E course during the exit year 2017-2018