Director of the degree programme: Risto Sarvas

Degree: Master of Science (Technology), 120 ECTS

Abbreviation: INF

The Master’s Programme in Information Networks programme is how technological development and creation of new businesses shape our societies. The mission of the programme 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. And importantly, we train engineers to understand the complexities and structures of society, especially how technology and business shape societies. Lastly, we educate professionals who actively work with the ethical, sustainability and value-based issues involved in shaping a society in one direction or another.

Students of this program have a common basis in designing systems, organizations, and businesses for the society, with a good understanding on ethics, research methodology and the interaction between society and technology. The students can focus in one of the four majors within the programme to build a more specific combination of societal topics and practical skills.

 

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 and philosophical discourses involved in creating new business and technology; both on a product and on a systemic level. 
•    How to understand one’s own role, identity, and goals in the context of technology, organisations, business, and societal impact.

Read the descriptions of the Information Networks M.Sc. majors to get a more detailed view.

The programme offers four majors. 

The Strategy and Organizational Design (SOD) major focuses on understanding how organizations, including businesses and other entities, shape their strategies to achieve desired value, impact, and outcomes. We emphasize that technologies have an impact through organized collective action, while also recognizing that organizations play a crucial role in creating those technologies.

Organizations and technology serve as means to achieve broader objectives, including financial, social, and environmental outcomes. In this major, we adopt a societal strategic thinking perspective that goes beyond traditional approaches to leadership, management, and business.

Through the SOD major, students gain the knowledge and skills necessary to create and transform organizations, whether for-profit or non-profit, considering the opportunities and challenges arising from technological and societal changes. Our goal is to educate graduates who understand the interconnectedness of people, technology, organizations, and strategy - areas that have traditionally been taught separately.

The Digital Ethics, Society, and Policy (DESP) major explores the intersection of technology, sustainability, and policy in a societal context.  

Emerging information technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous systems, internet of things (IoT), robotics, drones, and extended reality (XR), and their massive effects on surveillance and cybersecurity, have sparked significant debates concerning their societal implications. From an engineering standpoint, this major is essential for critically examining the ethical aspects of and values embedded within technology, understanding its interaction with society, and considering the role of policy-making in addressing both positive and negative impacts.

The major focuses on comprehending the societal effects of technologies through a transdisciplinary approach, drawing upon research conducted at the convergence of different fields and engaging diverse stakeholders.

The Software Engineering and Architectures (SEA) major focuses on designing and creating digital products and systems through agile and user-centric processes, particularly within organizational contexts. Students will gain knowledge in designing, managing, and implementing software architectures, as well as the fundamentals of product management. Upon completion of this major, students will possess the skills and expertise to contribute towards shaping organizations and society through the creation of large-scale software systems, with a specific emphasis on organizational settings. 

The User, Data, and Design (UDD) major equips students with the knowledge and tools necessary to design and develop digital products and services using design thinking, analytics, and a user-centric approach to product development. The role of a designer increasingly requires the integration of diverse perspectives and methodologies. In essence, product development and service design involve a blend of human understanding, decision-making, and data analysis.

Students specializing in this major can pursue careers as product managers, product owners, lead designers, service and UX designers, user researchers, or heads of design. The specific career path will depend on the individual's interests, skills, and further specialization within the field. Prior to choosing this major, students should have a foundational understanding of design thinking, user-centric product development, and programming and software knowledge.

Code: SCI3010

Scope: compact major 40-45 ECTS, long major 55-65 ECTS

Faculty in charge: Jukka Luoma

Learning outcomes

• 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 domains, ecosystems and societies.
• The major also provides tools, thinking and knowledge to critically reflect and analyze business models, organization structures and strategies, especially from the perspective of sustainability, societal power, individual people, values and ethics.
• Third, the major teaches the ability to lead people, change and transformations in organizations. Especially, we emphasize the importance of facilitation, well-being, and reflection both in self-leadership and in leading others. 
   

*CS-E5011 Research Methods: Case studies & Design Science can be substituted with CS-E5012 Research Methods: AI-based Data Synthesis & Analysis 2 ECTS.

We recommend complementing your major with courses from the DESP major to enhance your ability to reflect on the sustainability, ethics, societal impacts and values in societal strategic thinking.

Code: SCI3160

Scope: compact major 40-45 ECTS, long major 55-65 ECTS

Faculty in charge: Risto Sarvas

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 policy.
• Has a rich academic grounding into the themes of sustainable design, corporate social responsibility, and values and ethics in technology & business.
• Can incorporate societal thinking into the engineering and design of information systems, services, and infrastructure. 
• Has knowledge of key policy perspectives and practices that influence technology and business. 
• Has a good basis for continuing into cross-disciplinary doctoral studies within the themes of the major.

* CS-E5011 Research Methods: Case studies & Design Science can be substituted with CS-E5012 Research Methods: AI-based Data Synthesis & Analysis 2 ECTS

**Course can be completed several times on different topics for DESP major. Course code may vary and have additional number in the end, e.g. CS-E50501, etc. Check these in Sisu.

We encourage you to complement your major with courses from other INF majors to follow your personal interests and to broaden your knowledge. 

Code: SCI3036

Scope: compact major 40-45 ECTS, long major 55-65 ECTS

Faculty in charge: Casper Lassenius

Learning outcomes
After completing the SEA major the student

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

Potential professions related to this major include software architect, software developer, product owner or manager, chief technical/information officer, and software engineer. The specific career path will depend on the individual's interests, skills, and further specialization within the field.

* CS-E5011 Research Methods: Case studies & Design Science can be substituted with CS-E5012 Research Methods: AI-based Data Synthesis & Analysis 2 ECTS.

We encourage you to complement your major with courses from other INF majors to follow your personal interests and to broaden your knowledge.
 

Code: SCI3161

Scope: compact major 40-45 ECTS, long major 55-65 ECTS

Faculty in charge: Marko Nieminen

Learning Outcomes

After completing this major the student:

• can apply the tools, practices and processes of 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.
• understands how analytics is applied into actual business contexts.
   

* CS-E5011 Research Methods: Case Studies & Design Science can be substituted with CS-E5012 Research Methods: AI-based Data Synthesis & Analysis 2 ECTS.

**Course can be completed several times on different topics. Course code may vary and have additional number in the end, e.g. CS-E50501, etc. Check these in Sisu

We encourage you to complement your major with courses from other INF majors to follow your personal interests and to broaden your knowledge.
 

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>>

As elective studies, students can

• select additional courses from their chosen major or other INF majors
• select individual courses from other programmes at Aalto University
• select a second minor, (if it fits into your degree)
• select individual courses form other Finnish Universities
• participate in an international student exchange programme https://www.aalto.fi/en/other-studies/exchange-studies
• include 1-10 ECTS of work experience completed in Finland or abroad. 
  • please note that if you include course JOIN-A0003 Contributing in Community (3 cr) in your degree, only 7 credits of practical training is accepted in the degree.

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. All studies planned to be taken at another Finnish University or abroad should be approved in the personal study plan before taking the courses.

Elective studies may not overlap with student's other studies. For this reason, the
programme may restrict the choices in elective studies.

If you have compulsory language studies in your master's degree, they are included in the elective studies. 
 

• If you have completed your bachelor's degree in Finland (in Aalto or in another higher education institute), you have fulfilled the compulsory language requirements in the respective degree or received the exemption. You do not need to complete language studies in the master's degree.
• If your language of education is Finnish or Swedish and you have completed your bachelor’s degree outside of Finland, you must 
  • demonstrate proficiency in national languages by writing the maturity test in your language of education (Finnish or Swedish) and complete the language proficiency tests (2 ECTS) in the other national language. Read more about the language of education here. You may also apply for an exemption of demonstrating proficiency in national languages. 
  • complete 3 ECTS in one foreign language (including both oral (o) and written (w) proficiency).
• If you have completed your bachelor’s degree outside of Finland, you are required to complete only 3 ECTS in one foreign language (including both oral (o) and written (w) proficiency). Students, whose language of education is not Finnish or Swedish, may alternatively complete an elementary course in Finnish or in Swedish (3 ECTS). The courses in national languages can be at any level on CEFR scale.

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

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

For more information about the Master's thesis process, see MyCourses>>