All new students get a student tutor (so called “iso”). Tutors (isos) are students from the School of Electrical Engineering who help new students during orientation week and at the beginning of their studies. All tutors have completed a tutoring training. Tutors are not necessarily senior students from your programme but they know all the general study practicalities and can help you eg. With course registrations etc. Tutoring is carried out in cooperation with the student organisations and the learning services. Your contact information will be given to your tutor and your tutor will contact you in July.

In the School of Electrical Engineering there are three student associations ie. Student guilds:

• Guild of Electrical Engineering
• Guild of Automation and Systems Technology
• Inkubio – Guild of bioinformation technology

The guilds operate under the Student Union AYY. The guilds organize tutoring and welcome activities to new students during the orientation week and also during the entire first semester.

Tutors in the IDBM programme are assigned by the IDBM Club from School of Business.

Advanced Energy Solutions - Sustainable Energy Systems and Markets

• If your BSc degree is from other field than electrical engineering, a good source to go through is:
  Mohamed A. El-Sharkawi, Electric Energy, An Introduction, 3rd Edition, CRC Press,ISBN 978-1-4665-0303-8

Automation and Electrical Engineering - Control, Robotics and Autonomous Systems

• Basics of engineering mathematics, e.g. integral transforms and probability theory
• Basics of linear systems and control theory
• Programming in e.g. Matlab, Python and/or C/C++

Automation and Electrical Engineering - Electrical Power and Energy Engineering

• Basics of engineering mathematics, e.g. integral transforms and Fourier analysis
• Basic of electric circuit theory
• Basics of linear systems and control theory
• Basic programming with Matlab

Automation and Electrical Engineering - Electronic and Digital Systems

• Engineering mathematics, calculus and probability in particular
• Basic programming with Matlab and/or Python, probably also C or C++

Computer, Communication and Information Sciences - Acoustics and Audio Technology

• Brush up you Matlab skills. Matlab is used in many courses and basic signal processing operations and plotting the figures are needed to do the home assignments.

Computer, Communication and Information Sciences - Communications Engineering

• Basics of Signals and Systems
• Programming in C/C++ (C-courses are available in Aalto as well, no need to study beforehand if no previous knowledge exists)
• Knowledge of Python is recommended but not necessary

Computer, Communication and Information Sciences - Signal Processing and Data Science

• Brush up your Python and Matlab skills as they are used in many courses

Computer, Communication and Information Sciences - Speech and Language Technology  

• Brush up your Python skills. Python is used in many courses.  

Electronics and Nanotechnology - Microwave Engineering

• Circuit analysis
• Electromagnetic field theory

Electronics and Nanotechnology - Micro- and nanoelectronic circuit design

• Electronics
• Circuit analysis

Electronics and Nanotechnology - Space Science and Technology, depending on your planned focus area within the major

• Circuit analysis
• Electromagnetic fields
• Electronics
• Physics

Electronics and Nanotechnology - Photonics and Nanotechnology

• Physics
• Basic mathematics

On Tuesday there are two sessions with the same contant in the morning and in the afternoon. Please check when the session of your programme is organised. Bring your laptop etc!

• You will meet with your programme staff in different sessions to ask questions in person. 
• Send mail to [email protected].
• Book an appointment with the planning officer of your programme. Go to mystudies.aalto.fi and book.
• Ask your student tutor (ISO). Your tutor is not necessarily a senior student from your own programme but they can help with many general study-related questions. 

The student guilds organize activities every day during the orientation week. Ask your tutor for details. Attendance in the events is not compulsory but will surely provide you with a lot of fun and a possibility to network with students in your field! Detailed schedule for 2024 will be published in August. 

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A personal study plan is an agreement: the university grants you the right to study according to the approved, official personal study plan, but at the same time you are obliged to follow it. For Aalto scholarship students the study progress follow-up is based on the confirmed personal study plan. The personal study plan is done in Sisu-system. The deadline for completing your study plan is by the end of the II teaching period (beginning of December).

The basic structure of your degree is fixed according to the Degree Regulations. In the personal study plan, you can however select the following parts:

• your major (if applicable) and the optional courses of your major
• the elective studies of your degree (including the compulsory language courses of the degree, if applicable)
• possible minor of your degree (a part of elective studies)

Study plan is the tool for making your studies look like you and serve your needs. You can add studies such as exchange studies, studies in another Finnish university, other transferred studies or practical training credits. In all cases the content must be approved with the personal study plan. Please read about the different options on Other studies.

Creating a new HOPS

1. Choose the template.

   If you have been admitted in master’s admission, go to Sisu and select "structure of studies" and create a new study plan. After this, search by the name of your programme.

   If you have done your BSc in Aalto, you can add the MSc template in your BSc study plan. Go to Sisu and select "structure of studies" and activate the plan by clicking the first row and select a master’s programme from the selection assistant box appearing on the right.

2. Choose the right curriculum period.
   When creating a new HOPS, you will need to choose a curriculum period for your HOPS template. Choose the curriculum period based on the academic year you started your studies in the programme. If you wish to, you can also choose a later curriculum period. If you are continuing your studies after a long break, please choose the latest curriculum period.

3. Mark primary plan.

   You can create multiple personal study plans, but you can only have one primary study plan that is approved. Mark the HOPS you plan to follow as primary.

Scheduling your studies

At the same time as you are selecting the courses for your degree, you should also schedule each course in your degree (study year and study period). Under the “timeline” section in Sisu, you can find a timing template for each programme. Information on the recommended study years of the compulsory courses is available in the curriculum. In addition, you must place the optional studies of the major as well as elective studies/minor and compulsory language studies in your schedule. In Sisu, you can find the course schedules (lecture and exercise hours etc.) to plan each teaching period. In the default 2-year schedule, the second spring semester should be reserved for the master's thesis. Note that preparations for the master's thesis start already in the second autumn semester.

Changes to curriculum always require approval from the professor responsible.

1. List the suggested content of eg. your major in e-mail and send to the professor responsible of your major for comments.
2. After this, forward the response to the planning officer of your programme.
3. If you have received an approval, open the free edit mode (button with three dots in the selection box) and add the proposed content.
4. Then you can submit the study plan for approval.

Applying for approval

Per se, your HOPS is approved if your selections match your curriculum. However, the following parts of a study plan need approval:

• Elective studies (applies to all)
• Edited majors (see above).

See the instructions how to apply for approval here.

Changes to approved study plan

You can update your study plan whenever needed. If your study plan or parts of it have already been approved, you must first give up the approval. Then you can update courses and resubmit for approval.

You can find instructions for creating a HOPS in Sisu instructions. Please also follow the instructions on the selection assistant that opens on the right side of the screen. If you are facing difficulties and you do not find the answers from Sisu Instructions, please contact the Planning Officer or Study Coordinator of your programme.

When applying for exchange

You have to make an exchange study plan (Learning agreement for Erasmus exchange) as a part of the application for exchange studies, i.e. a list of the courses you intend to complete during the exchange. At the same time, you must update your study plan (HOPS) in Sisu and indicate where in your degree you intend to place the exchange studies. Please note that the exchange studies should fit into the 120 credits of the master’s degree.

Use the "study draft" function in Sisu to indicate a place for exchange studies in your degree. At this stage, you can place all planned exchange studies in one draft (or in two if you plan to place exchange studies, for example, in both the major and the elective studies). List the same courses and credits in the draft(s) as you have listed in the exchange study plan/learning agreement.

After the exchange

After completing your exchange, you must apply for credit transfer. Credit transfer is applied for each completed course separately. You can apply for either inclusion or substitution. In most cases, inclusion is recommended, as substitution requires a course that is completely equivalent in content. Please follow these instructions:

• Delete the study draft(s) you added when you applied for exchange
• Add a new draft for each course you completed on exchange and place it in the correct module (ie. elective studies or major).
• Apply for credit transfer through the study drafts
• Attach the required documents (transcript of records and course descriptions). It is enough to add the documents to one application.

Note, if you apply for a course substitution instead of inclusion, a study draft is not needed. Instead, apply for the credit transfer through the course info sheet of the substituted course in Sisu.

• Once the credit transfer is ready, apply for approval for the needed module. If you have transferred credits to your major, you will need to use the free edit mode to apply for the approval. 

You can include a maximum of 5 cr of practical training in your master’s degree. The training is done via the course ELEC-E7990 Professional training 2 – 5 cr. You should register for this course in Sisu. Practical training is included in the elective studies module in the degree.

We recommend that you participate in the course ELEC-E7990 Professional training after the first year of your master’s studies. However, the course is available at all times during the academic year.

You are responsible to find the practical training placement by yourself, and it should be approved by the course teachers beforehand as part of the preliminary assignment of the course.

On the MyCourses pages of the course, you can find more specific information about the practical training course.

The scholarship may be awarded to a student of the School of Electrical Engineering who meets the following criteria (1–3):

1. The student has completed at least 60 cr during the academic year in question, of which at least 45 cr are included or are to be included, according to the student’s personal study plan (HOPS), in the student’s bachelor’s and/or master’s degree at the School of Electrical Engineering.
2. The student must meet at least one of the following criteria (a–c):
   a) In the case of bachelor’s students, the student has not been enrolled for more than 7 academic terms as an attending student in the Bachelor's Programme in Electrical Engineering as counted from the end of the academic year in question.
   b) In the case of master’s degree students who have earned a Bachelor of Science (Technology) degree from Aalto University, the student has been enrolled as an attending student, first in a degree programme leading to a Bachelor of Science (Technology) degree and then in a master’s programme of the school for a combined time not exceeding 11 academic terms as counted from the end of the academic year in question.
   c) In the case of master’s students who have not earned a Bachelor of Science (Technology) at Aalto University, the student has not been enrolled as attending in a master’s programme of the School of Electrical Engineering for more than 5 academic terms as counted from the end of the academic year in question.
3. The student has not paid tuition fee to Aalto University in the academic year in question.

In addition, the following students of the School of Electrical Engineering may be eligible for the scholarship:

• A bachelor’s degree student who completes less than 60 cr credits’ worth of studies in the academic year in question but graduates with a Bachelor of Science (Technology) within the target time (6 terms) in the academic year in question.
• A Master of Science (Technology) student who completes less than 60 cr credits’ worth of studies in the academic year in question but graduates with a Master of Science (Technology) within the target time (10 terms) in the academic year in question. This applies to master’s degree students who have completed a Bachelor of Science (Technology) degree at Aalto University. The Bachelor of Science (Technology) degree is included in the target time (10 terms).
• A Master of Science (Technology) student who completes less than 60 cr credits’ worth of studies in the academic year in question but graduates with a Master of Science (Technology) within the target time (4 terms) in the academic year in question. This applies to master’s degree students who have not completed their Bachelor of Science (Technology) degree at Aalto University.

Who is regarded a student of the School of Electrical Engineering?

To be considered a bachelor’s student at the School of Electrical Engineering, the student must have, at the time of applying for the scholarship, a valid right to study towards a Bachelor of Science (Technology) degree at the school or have earned a Bachelor of Science (Technology) degree from the school by 31 July of the academic year in question.

To be considered a master’s student at the School of Electrical Engineering, the student must have, at the time of applying for the scholarship, a valid right to study towards a Master of Science (Technology) degree at the school or have earned a Master of Science (Technology) degree from the school by 31 July of the academic year in question.

Studies completed during the academic year

For the purposes of the incentive scholarship, studies completed in one academic year are studies that have been, as indicated by the student’s transcript of records, completed and marked into the Aalto University student register during academic year in question, i.e. between 1 August and 31 July. The student has the responsibility to make sure that the completion dates of their studies are correct.

Studies completed in one academic year also include credits earned during that academic year in some other Finnish or foreign higher education institution, provided they have been transferred into the Aalto University student register by 30 September in the year the scholarship is applied for.

Academic terms attended

All academic terms in which the student has been enrolled as attending in the degree programme as well as those in which the student has completed studies that have been included in his or her degree or personal study plan are counted towards the academic terms attended.

Further conditions

The student may be awarded a scholarship only once per academic year. Students awarded an equivalent incentive scholarship on the basis of their right to study towards a master’s degree in another Aalto University school of technology are not eligible for the incentive scholarship for the School of Electrical Engineering’s bachelor’s degree students.

Upon request, the scholarship recipients will be issued with a certificate of award.

The scholarship application period is in September. Students who appear to meet the eligibility criteria in the beginning of September will be sent a link to the application form to their Aalto email address.

Students who have completed studies that have not yet been entered into the student information system at the start of September due to, for instance, credit transfers, or have not received the link for other reason, may ask for the link from the Student services by sending an email to [email protected].

The scholarship is not awarded by meeting the award criteria alone, but the student must apply for the scholarship during the application period. Applications submitted after the application deadline will not be considered. For the purpose of paying the scholarship, students’ personal information is attached to the application.

The decision on awarding incentive scholarships is made by the dean of the school. 

Master's thesis topic is agreed 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 professor's 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 interest. 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. 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 Supervisor’s responsibility is to provide guidance on the scientific validity and format of the thesis and the thesis as a whole.

Advisor's role is to take care of daily 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 below.

Topic is applied electronically in eAge system (enter application form). With the application you must attach a confirmation about the topic from your supervisor (for example a screenshot of an e-mail discussion or a separate document).

You can apply for thesis topic approval when:

• you have completed your Bachelor's degree (graduation date passed)
• you have an approved personal study plan for the Master's degree

The thesis topic and the completed thesis cannot be approved in the same committee meeting. The Master’s thesis topic is valid for one year from the date of approval. However, 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 topic but from the actual start date of the thesis as agreed and judged by the supervisor.

If you have problems completing your thesis within the target time, please contact your supervisor as soon as possible. The thesis supervisor can extend the target time if there is a good reason for it.

Re-approval of the topic is needed if:

• the topic expires before the thesis is ready (same topic can be re-approved)
• the topic changes significantly (minor changes to the title don't require re-approval)
• the supervisor and/or the advisor(s) change

Support courses for thesis writing:

• ELEC-E0210 Master's Thesis Process
• LC-1320 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

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 Overlief (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 the Master’s thesis is a public document once it has been approved. The thesis can't 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 also without the concealed parts. Read more about theses as public documents.

In order to have your Master's thesis approved:

• check the application deadlines (see topic approval section above)
• convert your thesis into pdf/A format (instructions)
• fill in the online application form in the eAge system for the approval of your thesis
• attach a pdf/A version of your thesis in the online application form
• 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. Your supervisor will write the evaluation statement on the basis of this electronic version. Also, this version is the one that will be evaluated by the degree programme committee. In addition, this will be the archive version which 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 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.

Topic is applied electronically in eAge system (enter application form). With the application you must attach a confirmation about the topic from your supervisor (for example a screenshot of an e-mail discussion or a separate document).

You can apply for thesis topic approval when:

• you have completed your Bachelor's degree (graduation date passed)
• you have an approved personal study plan for the Master's degree

The thesis topic and the completed thesis cannot be approved in the same committee meeting. The Master’s thesis topic is valid for one year from the date of approval. However, 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 topic but from the actual start date of the thesis as agreed and judged by the supervisor.

If you have problems completing your thesis within the target time, please contact your supervisor as soon as possible. The thesis supervisor can extend the target time if there is a good reason for it.

Re-approval of the topic is needed if:

• the topic expires before the thesis is ready (same topic can be re-approved)
• the topic changes significantly (minor changes to the title don't require re-approval)
• the supervisor and/or the advisor(s) change

Support courses for thesis writing:

• ELEC-E0210 Master's Thesis Process
• LC-1320 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

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 Overlief (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 the Master’s thesis is a public document once it has been approved. The thesis can't 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 also without the concealed parts. Read more about theses as public documents.

In order to have your Master's thesis approved:

• check the application deadlines (see topic approval section above)
• convert your thesis into pdf/A format (instructions)
• fill in the online application form in the eAge system for the approval of your thesis
• attach a pdf/A version of your thesis in the online application form
• 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. Your supervisor will write the evaluation statement on the basis of this electronic version. Also, this version is the one that will be evaluated by the degree programme committee. In addition, this will be the archive version which 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 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.

• Your study plan is not in "deleted" -status (some older study plans might have a deleted status. In this case, create an entirely new study plan, add courses and apply for needed approvals first)
• The code of the master's thesis is correct. The master's thesis code must correspond to the supervisor's school / department so change the code in your study plan if needed.
• The most common codes are:
  • ELEC.thes = For all ELEC supervisors
  • Men.thes = Dpt of Mechanical Engineering
  • CS.thes = Dpt of Computer Science
• If your supervisor is from none of these departments or you don't know the correct department, ask your supervisor. If it is still unclear, contact [email protected].

Master's thesis written in Finnish or Swedish

You will receive a degree certificate in Finnish / Swedish and get English translation of your degree certificate.

Master's thesis written in English

You will receive a degree certificate in English (the language of the degree) and either in Finnish or Swedish according to your choice.

If you want to receive the certificate in Swedish, please provide the information in the "Other info: Additional info on graduation" text field in the graduation request. Otherwise, the certificate will be printed in Finnish by default.

Students who, in their master’s degree studies, have shown excellent knowledge of the field as well as exceptional maturity and sense of judgment in their thesis, may have this recognised in their degree certificate with the phrase 'completed with honours'. The decision regarding awarding a degree with honours rests with the school. A degree may be awarded with honours if the weighted average grade of the studies (with the thesis) included in the degree is at least 4.00 and if the thesis grade is 4 or 5.

If you are unable to attend the ceremony, you can collect your diploma from the Learning Services ca. six weeks after your graduation date. Also, someone else can collect your diploma from the Learning or it can be mailed to you, if you give a power of attorney for these purposes (certificates are mainly mailed only outside the Helsinki Metropolitan Area). You can submit the power of attorney as a hard copy to Learning Services or as a scanned copy to [email protected].

Power of attorney

Temporary diploma

When your degree has been registered to Sisu, you can download official transcript of records from Sisu. Your graduation date is visible in the transcript of records. In many cases, the official transcript of records is acceptable as a temporary diploma. If you however, need an official temporary diploma, you can request it from the Learning Services ([email protected]) after you have received a message from Sisu, that your graduation request has been accepted.

School of Electrical Engineering arranges four graduation ceremonies every year. The graduation ceremony is a formal event where the dean presents the diplomas. The programme includes music, a speech by the Dean, by one of the graduates and by a representative of TEK (Academic Engineers and Architects in Finland). After the ceremony coffee and cake are served. The estimated duration of the event is two hours. The dress code at the ceremony is dark suit. You may wear your technology student cap at the ceremony. Invitations will be sent to graduates by email around one month before the ceremony. For further inquiries please contact [email protected].

In addition to the School of Electrical Engineering graduation ceremony, an outdoor event “Graduation Party” will be organized on Wednesday 14 June 2023 at 17 for all bachelors, masters and licentiates who have graduated between 1 May 2022 and 30 April 2023 from Aalto University. Invitations to the event with registration link will be sent in April and May. So, remember to update your email address you’ll be using after the graduation in Sisu!
Read more about the Party at https://www.aalto.fi/en/gradparty.