Director of the degree programme: Professor of Practice Risto Sarvas
Degree: Master of Science (Technology), 120 ECTS
Abbreviation: INF

The mandatory elements of the student’s curriculum are a major (either long or compact), a Master’s thesis, and elective studies. A compact major is always supplemented with a minor.

The specific content of the major depends on the student's own interest areas. The Information Networks major offers four majors:

1. Software Engineering and Architectures
2. Business and Organisational Design
3. Digital Ethics, Society and Policy, and
4. User, Data and Design.

Each major equals 15 ECTS at minimum and 40 ECTS at maximum. Moreover, the major includes Information Networks compulsory studies of 25 ECTS.

Besides the major, the programme requires elective studies (25–35 ECTS) and the Master’s Thesis (30 ECTS). If the student chooses to take a compact major, a minor (20–25 ECTS) is mandatory. When starting their Master’s studies, the students select one major. During the first semester the students are obliged to make their study plan (HOPS), which after its approval acts as a contract between the student and the programme. Before approving the study plan, the programme confirms that the proposed study plan fulfills all the criteria of the programme.

Master’s students have two possibilities to structure their studies.

Long major

• Long major (55–65 ECTS)
• Master’s thesis (30 ECTS)
• Elective studies (25–35 ECTS)

A long major (55–65 ECTS) consists of

1. Information Networks compulsory studies, 25 ECTS
2. Selected major from the Information Networks offering, 30-40 ECTS

The students are encouraged to select the core content of the long major to support their Master’s Thesis interests.

Compact major

• Compact major (40–45 ECTS)
• Master’s thesis (30 ECTS)
• Minor (20–25 ECTS)
• Elective studies (25–30 ECTS)

A compact major (40–45 ECTS) consists of

1. Information Networks compulsory studies, 25 ECTS
2. Selected major from the Information Networks offering, 15–20 ECTS

A compact major is supplemented with a minor that broadens the student’s competence. The students are encouraged to select the core content of the compact major to support their Master’s Thesis interests. A minor is selected from study entities that are offered as a minor. The professor of the student’s focus area approves the suggested minor by signing the student’s personal study plan (HOPS).

The extent of a major may not exceed 65 ECTS. Similarly, the extent of a compact major together with a minor may not exceed 65 ECTS. Thus, the students will always have a choice of a minimum 25 ECTS completely elective studies. The students are obliged to complete the chosen majors or minors in that extent they are offered.

In the Information Networks programme we underline two forces that drive change in societies: technological development and creation of new business. Both technology and business capture human activities that have shaped people’s lives for the past centuries. And they keep on shaping our lives on a global, societal, communal, and individual level.

Are the changes shaped by technology and business good or bad for the societies? This is a question traditionally not within the domain of engineers, designers and business developers. In addition, the answers to that question have been typically outside the expertise of these same professionals.

The ethics and social impact of technology and the business around it has been left to social scientists and philosophers. However, the social scientists who understand the societal impacts of technology often do not understand the inner workings of technical products, processes and methods. Nor do they have similar first-hand knowledge of how technology is commercialized into a prosperous business.

The mission of our program is to educate societally conscious engineers. Engineers who are masters of software and digital technology and who can create new business based on this technical know-how.

In addition, we train these engineers to understand the complexities and structures of society, especially how technology and business shape societies. Third, we recognise that passive analysis and knowledge of technology and business in society is not enough. Therefore, we educate professionals who actively work with the ethical, philosophical and value-based issues involved in shaping a society in one direction or another.

The generic aims of the education are listed below:

• How to create, engineer and design societally sustainable and ethically sound technologies, organisations, and businesses.
• Provide the students with a comprehensive understanding on how technology and society interact, especially how technology is socially constructed.
• What are the ethical, aesthetic, and philosophical discourses and issues involved in creating new business and technology; both on product and systemic level.
• How to understand one’s own role, identity, and goals in the context of technology, organisations, business, and societal impact.

More specifically, the studies provide:

• Knowledge on how design processes and data are used to create digital products and services that are usable, valuable and functional.
• A critical understanding on how digital technology and business, e.g., in social media, is shaping the way our societies work.
• Skills and tools on how software and data is designed and engineered as part of businesses, systems and architectures.
• Knowledge and practices on how organisations and businesses are shaped to create the value, impact, and outcomes desired.

Professor in charge: Jukka Luoma
Professors: Mikko Jääskeläinen, Lauri Saarinen, Natalia Vuori, Niina Nurmi, Risto Sarvas
Extent: Long major 55–65 ECTS, compact major 40–45 ECTS
Code: SCI3099

Objectives

The Business and Organizational Design major equips the student with knowledge and skills required in creating and transforming businesses in light of opportunities and challenges arising from technological and societal changes. The major accumulates the student’s knowledge, toolkit and skills for analyzing, evaluating, and developing business models and strategies that allow organizations to create new value in changing business environments. The  major also advances the student’s knowledge and ability for assessing and reflecting on the challenges and implications of adopting new business models and strategies, as well as for designing supportive organizational structures and processes.

Learning outcomes

After completing the compulsory and elective studies of the major the students are able to:

• analyze, evaluate and develop business models and strategies in changing business environments
• analyze and evaluate how organizational design and development supports adapting to changing business environments
• structure and analyze complex business problems individually and in teams
• foster collaboration and knowledge creation within and across organizations

Information networks compulsory courses (25 ECTS), compulsory for all students of the programme.

^{* Societal Design Project course can be substituted with one of the following:
MEC-E3001 Product Development Project, 10 cr
MUO-E8043 Design for Government, 12 cr
MUO-E3050 Design for Social Change - Co-design D, 6 cr and MUO-E3051 Design for Social Change - Strategy D, 6 cr
TU-E4100 Startup Experience, 9 cr}

The student has to select at least one course (5 cr) in both of the "buckets", and a minimum of 15 cr altogether.

Professor in charge: Risto Sarvas
Professors: Nitin Sawhney, Marko Turpeinen, Marjo Kauppinen, Johanna Viitanen, Marko Nieminen, Casper Lassenius
Extent: Long major 55–65 ECTS, compact major 40–45 ECTS
Code: SCI3160

Objectives

Digital Ethics, Society and Policy (Digital-ESP) major is at the intersection of technology, social science and policy concerns in a societal context. From an engineering perspective this is a crucial area for critically interrogating the ethics and values embedded in technology, the interplay with society, and the role of policy-making to better understand and mediate positive or adverse impacts. Digital-ESP is focused on understanding the societal impact of technologies in a transdisciplinary manner (i.e. drawing on research conducted at the intersection of different fields and engaging diverse stakeholders).

Increasingly, contemporary concerns with emerging technologies such as AI, surveillance, cybersecurity, robotics, drones and autonomous systems in society have been much debated. However, issues of information warfare, design gender and racial equity, Global South inclusion, political participation, democracy, protest, civic engagement, crisis, and sustainability in technological contexts, are also topics in the scope of this major.

This major collaborates closely with the Computer Science Department's research area of the same name.

NOTE! This is a fresh new major, so not all the relevant courses for this major have been yet established with solid course codes. Please, contact Risto Sarvas for the latest news on seminars, courses with "variable content" titles, courses in other universities and any new changes.

Learning Outcomes

After completing the major the student:

• has a solid understanding of the contemporary issues and challenges in the intersection of technology, society, and values.
• has a rich academic grounding into the themes of sustainable design, corporate social responsibility, and ethics in technology & business.
• can incorporate social sciences into the engineering and design of information systems, services, and infrastructure. 
• has a good basis for continuing into cross-disciplinary doctoral studies within the themes of the major.

Information networks compulsory courses (25 ECTS), compulsory for all students of the programme.

^{* Societal Design Project course can be substituted with one of the following:
MEC-E3001 Product Development Project, 10 cr
MUO-E8043 Design for Government, 12 cr
MUO-E3050 Design for Social Change - Co-design D, 6 cr and MUO-E3051 Design for Social Change - Strategy D, 6 cr
TU-E4100 Startup Experience, 9 cr}

The student selects from these courses to complete the major so that the required amount of the credits is fulfilled. The student can suggest any courses to be included in this major.

Professor in charge: Casper Lassenius
Professors: Marjo Kauppinen, Risto Sarvas, Marko Turpeinen
Extent: Long major 55–65 ECTS, compact major 40–45 ECTS
Code: SCI3036

The Software Engineering and Architectures major is on designing and creating information and communications systems through agile and user-centric processes; especially in the context of organisations and networks. The student will learn how software architectures are designed, managed, and implemented, as well as, what governance and legal issues are related to software design and engineering. After completing this  major, the student has the knowledge and skills to shape organisations and society by creating large software systems, especially in an enterprise context. The types of professions related to this  major are, e.g., software architect, software developer, product owner or manager, chief technical/information officer, and software engineer. 

Objectives

After completing the major the student

• understand the role and need of software and information architectures & systems in modern organisations and enterprises.
• understand the relationships between software systems, architectures and human aspects of technology in an enterprise context.
• have skills to design, engineer, manage and lead software projects and architectures.

Information networks compulsory courses (25 ECTS), compulsory for all students of the programme.

^{* Societal Design Project course can be substituted with one of the following:
MEC-E3001 Product Development Project, 10 cr
MUO-E8043 Design for Government, 12 cr
MUO-E3050 Design for Social Change - Co-design D, 6 cr and MUO-E3051 Design for Social Change - Strategy D, 6 cr
TU-E4100 Startup Experience, 9 cr}

The student conducts compulsory courses and selects optional courses to complete the major so that the required amount of the credits is fulfilled.

Professor in charge: Marko Nieminen
Professors: Risto Sarvas, Johanna Viitanen.
Extent: Long major 55–65 ECTS, compact major 40–45 ECTS
SCI3161

Objectives

The User, Data and Design  major provides knowledge and tools to design and develop digital products and services leveraging design thinking, data analytics and user-centric product development. Increasingly, the profession of a designer requires the combination of different world views and methodologies. In other words, product development and service design is a mixture of human understanding and decision-making enhanced with data analysis.

Students specialising in this major can find themselves working, e.g., as a product manager, product owner, lead designer, service and UX designer, a user researcher and/or head of design. Before taking this  major the student should have basic knowledge of design thinking, user-centric product development, as well as programming and software. After the compulsory courses in this major, students are encouraged to find their profile and expertise by selecting from the list of optional courses.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this major the student:

• understands how data analytics is applied into actual design and business contexts.
• can apply the tools, practices and processes of user interface (UI), interaction design (IX), user experience (UX), and service design.
• can create digital products or services by leveraging both qualitative design thinking and quantitative methods.
• has the potential to create radically new ways of creating products, services, and processes that blend data analytics with design thinking.

Information networks compulsory courses (25 ECTS), compulsory for all students of the programme.

^{* Societal Design Project course can be substituted with one of the following:
MEC-E3001 Product Development Project, 10 cr
MUO-E8043 Design for Government, 12 cr
MUO-E3050 Design for Social Change - Co-design D, 6 cr and MUO-E3051 Design for Social Change - Strategy D, 6 cr
TU-E4100 Startup Experience, 9 cr}

The student conducts compulsory courses and selects optional courses to complete the  major so that the required amount of the credits is fulfilled.

The minor is optional and allows the students to broaden their competence within the Information Networks master’s programme, as well as to fields of technology other than information and communication technology.

If the major is completed as compact (40–45 credits), a minor must be selected. The minor is confirmed in the Personal Study Plan.

More information on Aalto University’s minor subjects:

Minors

Students choose 25–35 ECTS of elective studies. As elective studies, students can complete a minor and/or take individual courses at Aalto University or other Finnish universities. Students can also participate in an international student exchange programme or include 1–10 ECTS of work experience completed in Finland or abroad in elective studies. If students include course JOIN-A0003 Contributing in Community (3 cr) in their degree, only 7 credits of practical training is accepted in the degree.

For more information on internationalisation or Aalto University’s minor subjects:

• Minors
• Internationalisation and studies abroad

Elective studies must be university level studies that fulfill the degree requirements and, in general, studies that are offered as degree studies at the university in question. Universities also offer courses that are targeted for a larger audience. The suitability of these studies is evaluated taking into consideration the learning outcomes of the degree that the courses are planned to be included in.

Compulsory language studies for students whose language of education is Finnish or Swedish are included as part of the bachelor’s degree. If the language studies have not been completed in the phase preceding master’s studies, they must be taken during the master’s degree studies. In this case, the student must take 2 ECTS in second national language and 3 ECTS in one foreign language (including both oral (o) and written (w) proficiency).

Students who have received their education in a language other than Finnish or Swedish or received their education abroad are required to complete only 3 ECTS in one foreign language. Students with excellent command of English (e.g. English as a first language) may alternatively choose 3 ECTS of Finnish or Swedish courses instead. In this case, according to the Degree Regulations, the student has not demonstrated the requisite written and oral language requirement in a foreign language, which is reflected in the appendix of the degree certificate.

Language studies are included in students’ elective studies and agreed in the personal study plan (HOPS).

Students are required to complete a master's thesis, which is a research assignment with a workload corresponding to 30 credits. The thesis is written on a topic usually related to the student's major and agreed upon between the student and a professor who specializes in the topic of the thesis. The supervisor of the thesis must be a professor in the university, whereas the instructor(s) must have at least a master’s degree.

Master’s thesis work includes a seminar presentation or equivalent presentation. The student is also required to write a maturity essay related to the master’s thesis. 

The master’s thesis is a public document and cannot be concealed.

For more information, see MyCourses>>