Aalto University CCIS Master’s Thesis Guide for School of Electrical Engineering Students, 2026–2028

Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in Computer, Communication and Information Sciences (CCIS) is jointly organised by the School of Electrical Engineering (ELEC) and the School of Science (SCI). That joint structure matters for thesis planning because Aalto does not use one identical procedural route for every CCIS student. The programme’s thesis page explicitly sends ELEC students to a detailed public ELEC thesis process, while SCI students use a separate SCI Master’s Thesis workspace in MyCourses.

This guide is therefore intentionally limited to CCIS students whose thesis administration is handled by the School of Electrical Engineering. It covers the current 2026–2028 curriculum and current ELEC thesis instructions verified on 29 August 2026. It does not reconstruct or borrow SCI procedures.

Degree structure and the 30 ECTS thesis

The CCIS Master of Science (Technology) degree is 120 ECTS. Under the current 2026–2028 curriculum, the degree contains:

• a 40 ECTS compact major or a 60 ECTS long major, depending on the major;
• a 30 ECTS Master’s thesis;
• a 20–25 ECTS minor for students taking a compact major;
• elective studies making up the remaining degree credits.

The thesis is a separate 30 ECTS research assignment. Aalto describes it as work usually connected to the student’s major and based on scientific knowledge and scientific research practice. The thesis work includes a seminar or equivalent presentation and a maturity essay.

Do not add course credits automatically to the 30 ECTS thesis. In particular, ELEC-E0210 Master’s Thesis Process is a separate course. It is compulsory in many ELEC programmes or majors, but not universally compulsory for every CCIS ELEC student. Where it is not compulsory, it may be taken as an elective. The thesis itself remains 30 ECTS.

Which CCIS students this guide applies to

Aalto’s current thesis-routing page identifies the ELEC route for students in:

• Acoustics and Audio Technology;
• Communications Engineering;
• Human-Computer Interaction for students coming through Aalto ELEC;
• Signal Processing and Data Science;
• Speech and Language Technology.

The same CCIS parent programme also contains SCI-administered majors. Their thesis process is not covered here because Aalto directs those students to a different SCI MyCourses thesis environment.

This split is not editorial convenience. It is a real administrative boundary in Aalto’s current programme architecture.

Timing: second-year spring is the model, not a restriction

The ELEC two-year model schedules the Master’s thesis mainly in the spring of the second study year. Aalto nevertheless states that there is no rule restricting the thesis to that semester.

The more important operational point is the six-month full-time target. ELEC describes six months as the target time for the thesis. That period is tied to the actual thesis start as agreed and judged by the supervisor, not merely to the date on which the administrative approval of the topic or supervisor happens.

Students should therefore distinguish three different dates:

1. the point at which they start exploring topics and supervisors;
2. the formal MyStudies approval process for topic, supervisor and advisor(s);
3. the actual agreed start of the thesis project.

These dates may be close together, but they are not conceptually identical.

Prerequisites before thesis work

Current ELEC instructions state that, before beginning the Master’s thesis, the student must at least:

• have completed the Bachelor’s degree; and
• have an approved study plan in Sisu.

A student planning a two-year degree should not wait until the last moment to create the thesis plan. ELEC encourages second-year students to add basic thesis information to MyStudies during the autumn term so the project can be prepared before the main thesis period.

Start with a preliminary MyStudies thesis record

ELEC uses the Thesis tab in MyStudies as the central administrative record. A student can create a preliminary thesis plan before the final topic and supervision are confirmed.

The preliminary record can include:

• degree programme;
• preliminary topic and thesis language;
• supervisor and advisor information, if known;
• planned start and end dates;
• whether the project may be for a company, university or another commissioner;
• potential supervisors or other planning notes.

At this early stage the topic can still be provisional. The point is to make the thesis visible as a planned project and to keep the information up to date.

Finding a topic and supervisor

ELEC states that students are mainly responsible for finding their thesis topic. There is no single general list containing every available topic.

Possible routes include:

• a research project at Aalto;
• a company or other organisation;
• a topic proposed by a professor or research group;
• an independently proposed topic developed with a suitable supervisor.

Aalto also states an important safety net: when a student is ready to begin and has not found a suitable topic through the normal routes, the School is obliged to arrange an independent Master’s thesis topic.

A strong topic should be connected to the student’s advanced studies. For CCIS ELEC students that can mean very different research environments, including acoustics and audio technology, communications systems, signal processing and data science, speech and language technology, and human-computer interaction.

Because these areas use different scientific traditions, there is no single compulsory thesis method for the whole ELEC side of CCIS. A thesis may involve experiments, simulations, signal analysis, machine learning, measurement studies, systems implementation, user studies, modelling or combinations of methods. The research question should drive the method.

Supervisor and advisor rules

The current detailed ELEC thesis instructions say that the thesis supervisor can be:

• an Aalto University professor;
• an Aalto University university lecturer;
• an Aalto staff or senior scientist, provided that the staff/senior scientist works in ELEC.

The supervisor is responsible for the scientific validity and format of the thesis and for the thesis as a whole.

There is a source-level nuance worth understanding. The generic 2026–2028 CCIS curriculum uses narrower wording and says that the thesis supervisor must be an Aalto professor. The current detailed ELEC operational instructions, updated in August 2026, explicitly list the broader eligibility above. For an ELEC thesis, students should follow the current detailed ELEC process and confirm the selected supervisor in MyStudies if there is any uncertainty.

The thesis must also have one or two advisors. An advisor must hold at least a Master’s degree. In a company project, the advisor is often the local specialist who supports the student in day-to-day research execution and writing. The supervisor may also act as an advisor.

Formal topic, supervisor and advisor approval

Once the topic and supervision have been agreed, the student applies through MyStudies for approval of:

• the thesis supervisor;
• advisor or advisors;
• the thesis topic.

ELEC processes these applications continuously rather than using fixed topic-approval dates. Current instructions say the processing can take up to one month. Students are therefore instructed to submit the approval application at least one month before they intend to submit the finished thesis for evaluation.

The final thesis title can develop during the project, but it must remain within the field of the approved topic.

Initial meeting and research plan

At the beginning of the project, the student and supervisor, and where appropriate the advisor or advisors, should hold an initial Master’s thesis meeting. This is the point to agree practical expectations such as:

• project scope;
• research question;
• supervision frequency;
• expected milestones;
• access to data, software, equipment or participants;
• company/publication boundaries;
• final review and presentation schedule.

ELEC-E0210 Master’s Thesis Process can support this planning. If the course is part of the student’s major, the student should register when the topic and supervisor have been agreed.

For students not using ELEC-E0210, Aalto publishes a concise research-plan model of roughly 2–3 pages. It covers:

1. research problem and research questions;
2. state of the art;
3. methodology;
4. milestones and preliminary monthly schedule;
5. preliminary references.

This research-plan guidance is specific enough to be useful, but it should not be confused with a universal thesis chapter template.

Writing and templates

ELEC provides Aalto Master’s thesis templates for both LaTeX and Microsoft Word. The ELEC instructions recommend LaTeX, while Word remains an accepted route.

Aalto’s public ELEC instructions do not establish one universal word count or page count for all CCIS ELEC theses. They also do not establish one universal citation style that applies regardless of research field.

That restraint is important for a multidisciplinary programme. An acoustics measurement thesis, a communications simulation thesis, a machine-learning study and an HCI experiment may all need different internal structures. The supervisor should confirm the appropriate disciplinary structure and referencing practice.

Turnitin during drafting and final submission

ELEC encourages students to use Turnitin during the writing process rather than treating similarity checking as something that happens only after completion.

The student should review the similarity report and correct citation or paraphrasing problems before final submission. When the final thesis is submitted through MyStudies, the system automatically generates:

• a similarity report visible to the student and supervisor; and
• an AI report visible to the supervisor.

The final MyStudies submission is therefore not a draft checkpoint. The file submitted for evaluation, grading and archiving must be the final corrected version.

AI use and the maturity-exam boundary

Aalto’s current AI guidance allows AI tools to support learning under defined limits, while leaving responsibility for accuracy, originality and academic integrity with the student.

ELEC’s thesis instructions emphasise transparency about AI use and warn students not to use AI as a substitute for original scientific source material. Students should ensure that the supervisor knows how AI has been used where disclosure is required.

A separate hard boundary applies to the maturity component: Aalto’s current student guidance prohibits AI in maturity exams. Because CCIS requires a maturity essay related to the Master’s thesis, that assessed component must be completed under the current maturity-exam AI restriction.

Seminar presentation

The CCIS thesis work includes a seminar or equivalent presentation, and ELEC’s process requires the presentation before final approval.

The presentation should be built into the project calendar. A student who plans only for writing and upload may discover too late that the presentation, supervisor review and administrative deadline all need to happen before the intended Degree Programme Committee meeting.

Public thesis and confidential material

The Master’s thesis is a public document once approved. Aalto states that the thesis cannot contain confidential sections.

This is especially important for company-sponsored theses. A company may have confidential source material, internal datasets, technical specifications or commercial information, but the final assessed thesis must remain a coherent public document without concealed sections.

Confidential background material should therefore be separated from the public thesis from the beginning of the project rather than removed hurriedly at the end.

Final MyStudies submission

To apply for thesis approval, the student submits the final thesis in MyStudies.

Current ELEC requirements include:

• final file in PDF/A format;
• file size below 100 MB;
• all required thesis information completed in MyStudies;
• acceptance of the Turnitin conditions;
• supervisor, advisor(s) and topic already approved.

After final submission, the thesis cannot be edited. The uploaded version becomes the basis for the Turnitin reports, supervisor evaluation, Degree Programme Committee decision and university archive.

Students should therefore complete proofreading, reference checks, figure/table verification, appendix checks and PDF/A validation before pressing the final submission control.

Evaluation

CCIS ELEC theses use the School of Electrical Engineering common thesis evaluation framework. Aalto’s thesis-statement service identifies Template 2 for Computer, Communication and Information Sciences.

The supervisor prepares an evaluation statement and grade proposal. The Degree Programme Committee then evaluates and grades the thesis using that material.

Students receive the evaluation statement and decision through the administrative process and retain the right to appeal the evaluation under Aalto rules.

Current 2027 ELEC approval schedule

Aalto currently lists the following CCIS/ELEC thesis application deadlines and committee dates for 2027:

• 31 December 2026 → 25 January 2027;
• 17 February 2027 → 8 March 2027;
• 21 April 2027 → 17 May 2027;
• 26 May 2027 → 14 June 2027;
• 30 July 2027 → 23 August 2027;
• 22 September 2027 → 11 October 2027;
• 17 November 2027 → 7 December 2027;
• 31 December 2027 → January 2028.

These are administrative dates and should always be rechecked on the live Aalto page. ELEC also warns students to account for supervisor holidays, particularly around the summer submission period.

A practical six-month plan

Before Month 1

Complete the Bachelor’s degree and confirm the Sisu study plan. Add the preliminary thesis record to MyStudies. Explore suitable research groups, companies and supervisors. Clarify whether ELEC-E0210 is compulsory in your major.

Month 1

Agree the topic and supervision. Hold the initial meeting. Apply for topic, supervisor and advisor approval in MyStudies. Prepare the research plan and define the research question, method, evidence and milestones.

Months 2–4

Develop the literature/state-of-the-art foundation and perform the main empirical, computational, experimental or design work. Write while the research is progressing rather than postponing all writing until the end.

Month 5

Complete analysis and the main thesis draft. Use Turnitin on the draft, correct referencing issues and obtain supervisor/advisor feedback.

Month 6

Complete final revisions, seminar presentation, maturity essay and final PDF/A preparation. Confirm that topic/supervisor/advisor approvals are complete. Submit the final file early enough for the intended Degree Programme Committee deadline.

Final checklist

Before final submission, confirm that:

• you are following the ELEC rather than SCI thesis route;
• the thesis remains the official 30 ECTS research project;
• your major/minor/elective structure is correct in Sisu;
• the supervisor and one or two advisors satisfy the current ELEC requirements;
• topic, supervisor and advisor approval is complete in MyStudies;
• ELEC-E0210 has been handled according to your own major rather than assumed to be universal;
• the research plan and agreed milestones are complete;
• Turnitin has been used before final submission;
• the seminar presentation is complete or correctly scheduled;
• the maturity essay follows current Aalto rules, including the AI prohibition for maturity exams;
• confidential material is not embedded in the public thesis;
• the final file is PDF/A and below 100 MB;
• the current committee deadline has been rechecked.

Final planning principle

CCIS is one academic programme but not one thesis-administration regime. For ELEC students, the safe current framework is clear: a 30 ECTS research thesis, six-month full-time target, preliminary and formal MyStudies workflow, school-specific supervisor/advisor rules, research planning, Turnitin, seminar presentation, maturity essay, PDF/A final submission, public-document status and Degree Programme Committee evaluation.

Within that framework, the student’s major and research problem should determine the detailed research method and thesis structure. Use current ELEC instructions and supervisor guidance rather than importing SCI, CHEM, ENG or Business School rules.