Making a study plan is mandatory and it is used in many administrative processes, but it is first and foremost meant to be a tool for the students. Drafting your personal study plan helps you to plan your studies and keep track of their progress. When you have considered your goals, chosen the courses accordingly and drafted a realistic and target-oriented schedule for completing these studies, you have a map for making your plans a reality. 

Approved study plan is used in many administrative processes, including for example:

• Credit transfer of studies completed at other universities: Credit transfer is possible only for studies that are included in the approved study plan.
• Exchange studies: Exchange studies need to be included in the approved study plan when applying for exchange.
• Graduation: The diploma will be compiled based on the approved study plan, so it is important that the study plan is up-to-date when ordering the diploma.

The study plan is a binding agreement on both parties: the student and the university. It grants the student with a right to study according to the approved, official personal study plan, but at the same time, obliges the student to follow his or her study plan. Any deviation from the study plan must be checked first with the student services of your programme.

First familiarise yourself with the curriculum. 

Next consider what your own interests and goals are, and what do you want to learn and which skills you want to develop during your studies (in addition to the professional and academic skills, e.g. language studies, communication skills etc.). This helps you to make the right choices regarding your specialisation area, minor studies, elective studies etc.

Consider whether you want to go for exchange, do an internship or complete studies at other Aalto Schools or in another Finnish university, and in which phase of your studies they best fit. Read the instructions concerning these options so that you know what they mean in practice, how they can be included in the degree, when are the application times etc.

By default, the second spring semester should be reserved for master's thesis. Note that preparations for the master's thesis start already in the second autumn semester at the latest. 

The basic structure of your degree is fixed according to the Degree Regulations and the curriculum. Within these boundaries, you have a possibility to make choices that support your own interests, goals, and life situation in different phases of your studies. The structure of the degree leaves room for selecting courses you are most interested in, in addition of the compulsory courses of your major studies. Hence, it is important that you do study planning carefully in the beginning of your studies. You can always update your plan later if needed.

Remember that your study time is limited. There are only a certain amount of years that can be used for completing the degree, and it is therefore advisable to aim at completing 60 ECTS per year. On the other hand, free time is necessary for keeping your energy level up, so it is also not wise to try to complete courses at too tight a pace.

When you know which studies you are going to include in your degree, the next step is to draft a study plan in Sisu and formulate a schedule for completing these studies, i.e. to place the courses to study years and teaching periods. You'll find the teaching periods and recommended study years under Curriculum.

Links to instructions you can find at the top of the page.

If you want to discuss your plans with someone or if you need guidance e.g. with Sisu, you can always contact the planning officer of the programme.

All students will be also assigned an academic advisor. You can contact your academic advisor if you want to discuss for example your studies, career plans, thesis topic etc.

After your study plan has been approved, you can always update it if your plans change. Remember to have it approved again!

Start planning the exchange well in advance! This will give you time to consider your destination carefully and acquire needed language skills and possible language certificates.

Plan in which part of your degree you include the exchange studies. During the exchange you can take courses

• for your electives. 
• for your major: you can take courses equivalent to mandatory courses of the major, and/or you can include exchange courses in the optional part of the major. If you take optional courses for the major, you don’t have to find equivalent courses from our curriculum. However, the courses you select must meet the learning outcomes of the major.
• for your minor. 

According to Aalto regulations, it is not possible to transfer courses which have overlapping content with your other courses. Choose courses that will provide new knowledge!

There must be room for exchange studies in your degree. 

• The studies you have already completed, including those not included in your HOPS (but shown in your transcript of records), will be taken into account when assessing whether there is room for planned exchanges in your degree. 

Here are some companies where students of LifeTech programme have done their master's thesis:

• Evolva
• VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
• GE Healthcare Finland
• Nokia Technologies
• Polar Electro
• Verto Analytics
• HUS Medical Imaging
• Neste Oy
• Philips Medical Systems MR Technologies Finland
• SciLifeLab
• FIMM Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland
• Verto Analytics
• Haartman Institute (University of Helsinki)
• HIIT Helsinki Institute of Information Technology
• ZenRobotics
• BABACenter
• Orion
• Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology

Healthtech Finland is an industry association and part of Technology Industries of Finland.

If a student wants to change they major, they have to prepare a free-form application and a study plan (HOPS). In the application, the student clearly expresses that they want to change the major and justifies the motivation for the planned change. In addition, the student has to confirm that they have familiarised themselves with the prerequisites of the new major and that they have the required knowledge. The application is submitted by email to the planning officer of the new major.

After receiving the application, the planning officer checks the study plan and sends the application with the HOPS to the professor in charge of the major. The planning officer or the professor in charge for the new major may request more information from the applicant. Professor of the new major may also recommend prerequisite courses. These courses can be included in the degree as elective studies. The HOPS has to be approved before the change of major is possible.

When the HOPS and change of major have been approved, the planning officer informs the student and makes necessary changes to the study register.

NOTE: If a student wants to change to the Biosystems and Biomaterials Engineering major, they have to follow the instructions and timetable of CHEM.

Changing majors is not recommended, since it may delay studies and graduation.