Aalto University Creative Sustainability Business Master’s Thesis Guide: 2026–2028 Curriculum

Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in Creative Sustainability is deliberately interdisciplinary. It is jointly organised by the School of Arts, Design and Architecture, the School of Business and the School of Chemical Engineering. That shared programme identity does not mean that every Creative Sustainability student follows the same thesis route.

This guide applies only to Creative Sustainability students enrolled through the School of Business and completing the Master of Science (Economics and Business Administration). Under the current 2026–2028 curriculum, this route has a 30 ECTS Master’s thesis, a separate 2 ECTS Master’s Thesis Seminar (MNGT-E1016) and a 0 ECTS maturity test. The ARTS route has a different seminar structure, and the CHEM route has a different thesis administration framework. Those rules should not be mixed.

Where the thesis fits in the Business route

The Creative Sustainability Business degree is a 120 ECTS, two-year, full-time Master’s degree taught in English. The Business route combines common Creative Sustainability studies with management and sustainability-oriented business studies, methods training, electives and the Master’s thesis.

The current curriculum places the following thesis-related components in the second study year:

• MNGT1.thes Master’s Thesis: 30 ECTS;
• MNGT-E1016 Master’s Thesis Seminar: 2 ECTS;
• BIZ.matr Maturity test: 0 ECTS.

The curriculum also includes 3 ECTS Quantitative Methods and 3 ECTS Qualitative Methods. Their presence is important preparation, but it does not mean that every Creative Sustainability Business thesis must use both methods or must follow one predetermined empirical design.

A 30 ECTS School of Business research project

Aalto’s current School of Business thesis guidance states that the programme determines whether a thesis is 20 or 30 ECTS. Creative Sustainability Business is currently a 30 ECTS programme, so the 20 ECTS rules used in some other Business programmes are not the correct scope here.

For a 30 ECTS thesis, the School of Business estimates approximately 750–900 hours of work, corresponding roughly to 94–113 full-time workdays or around five to six months of full-time study. This is a planning estimate, not a promise that every thesis will take the same calendar time.

The useful principle is to keep the academic scope proportionate to 30 ECTS. A sustainability project can expand quickly because it may involve multiple organisations, stakeholder groups, policy environments or data sources. More data or a broader problem is not automatically a better thesis. The research question, evidence and analysis must remain manageable enough to complete rigorously.

Choosing a Creative Sustainability Business topic

The Business route focuses on sustainability through business and organisations. Suitable thesis areas can include, for example:

• corporate sustainability strategy and transformation;
• circular economy and sustainable business models;
• sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation;
• stakeholder relations and responsible governance;
• sustainability accounting, metrics or reporting;
• supply-chain sustainability;
• organisational capabilities for sustainability transitions;
• impact, ESG and responsible investment questions;
• policy-business interactions;
• social innovation and systems change;
• sustainable consumption and market transformation.

These are possibilities, not a prescribed list. A thesis can be theoretical, qualitative, quantitative, mixed-method, case-based, comparative, design-oriented or based on secondary data when that approach fits the research problem and the programme’s academic expectations.

The current School of Business guidance explicitly leaves programme and seminar instructors room to specify expectations about structure, formatting, methodology and additional procedures. Students should therefore use the current Creative Sustainability seminar instructions and supervisor guidance as the final operational authority for their own project.

The 2 ECTS thesis seminar is separate from the thesis

The current curriculum lists MNGT-E1016 Master's Thesis Seminar as a separate 2 ECTS course. It should not be added into the thesis and described as a 32 ECTS thesis. The thesis remains 30 ECTS.

The School of Business process begins with the programme’s thesis seminar. Students register for the relevant seminar, develop the topic and supervision arrangement, and then move into the formal MyStudies thesis workflow.

Because the seminar is programme-specific, its current MyCourses or Sisu instructions may set deadlines, workshop requirements, presentations, draft expectations or other milestones. These should be checked directly rather than reconstructed from another Business programme.

Individual and pair theses

Aalto School of Business allows the Master’s thesis to be written individually or as a pair thesis.

A pair thesis is not two independent reports bound together. It must be one cohesive research project in which both students contribute substantially. The School normally evaluates the thesis as one work and the students usually receive the same grade. In special circumstances, different grades can be assigned when individual contributions justify that outcome.

Students considering a pair thesis should agree early on the research interests, working style, schedule, division of responsibilities and documentation of contributions. A pair can make a demanding sustainability project more feasible, but it also adds coordination risk.

Commissioned theses and external organisations

A Creative Sustainability Business thesis can be commissioned by a company or another external organisation. This can be especially relevant in sustainability work, where students may study a real organisational challenge, transition initiative, supply chain, reporting system or innovation project.

The academic relationship remains clear: the university supervisor must approve the topic, and the thesis must satisfy Aalto’s academic standards even when the commissioning organisation has practical objectives.

Aalto’s School of Business also states that the thesis itself must be publicly available. An external organisation cannot require the academic thesis itself to remain confidential. Separate confidential reports or documents may be provided to a commissioner, but they are not taken into account in grading.

This makes early scoping essential. Before accepting a project involving proprietary data, commercially sensitive material or an NDA, clarify what can appear in the public thesis and what must remain outside it.

Article-type thesis option

The School of Business permits an article-type Master’s thesis in addition to a more traditional monograph format. The article-type option consists of a manuscript written according to the conventions of the relevant academic field.

Aalto notes that an article-type manuscript commonly aims at roughly 10,000–15,000 words. This figure must not be converted into a universal Creative Sustainability Business thesis word limit. It applies to the article-type format and reflects journal-article conventions.

Publication in a journal is not required for thesis acceptance. Students considering the article format should discuss its suitability with the supervisor and seminar teacher early enough to align the research design and writing process with the intended format.

Supervisor, topic and MyStudies

The detailed School of Business workflow requires a preliminary topic and an assigned supervisor before the student applies for formal supervisor approval in MyStudies.

In MyStudies, the student records the supervisor, advisor if applicable, preliminary topic and thesis language, then submits the information for supervisor approval. Programme staff also verify the correct thesis course code and maturity-language requirements.

The School of Business expects supervisors to meet thesis students approximately four to six times, although exact practice can vary. The important point is to agree supervision routines at the beginning: how meetings are requested, how drafts are shared, expected feedback time, and which decisions require supervisor confirmation.

The student remains the primary driver of the project. Supervision supports academic quality, but the supervisor is not expected to manage every research task.

Structure, formatting and citations

There is no current official Creative Sustainability Business source used for this guide that establishes one universal page count, one compulsory chapter sequence or one programme-wide citation style for every thesis.

The School of Business states that thesis structure depends on methodology, the focus of the study and field-specific conventions. Previous theses can be useful examples, but they are not rigid templates.

Aalto provides a Master’s thesis template, and programme or seminar instructions may further narrow formatting expectations. Students should therefore distinguish between:

1. university and School requirements;
2. Creative Sustainability seminar requirements;
3. disciplinary writing conventions agreed with the supervisor.

Research ethics, integrity and responsible AI

Creative Sustainability topics often involve organisations, employees, communities, consumers, sustainability claims, policy or potentially sensitive data. Research ethics and integrity therefore need to be part of the project design from the beginning.

The School of Business makes the student responsible for the originality and accuracy of the thesis even when AI tools are used. Aalto’s current AI guidance allows AI to support learning unless a teacher or assessment rule restricts it, but AI-generated text may not simply be presented as the student’s own work.

Aalto also prohibits AI use in maturity exams. For the Master’s thesis process, the School of Business uses the thesis abstract as the Master’s-level maturity essay. Students should therefore treat the assessed maturity component conservatively and follow the latest programme, School and university instructions.

Maturity test: 0 ECTS, implemented through the abstract

The Creative Sustainability Business curriculum lists BIZ.matr as 0 ECTS. At the School of Business, the Master’s thesis abstract serves as the maturity essay. A separate maturity essay is normally not required because the abstract is submitted, evaluated and approved as part of the thesis.

If the thesis is in English, the abstract is written in English. Depending on the student’s language of primary and secondary education, a Finnish or Swedish version may also be required. The programme planning officer confirms the practical language requirements in MyStudies.

The 0 ECTS maturity test should therefore not be interpreted as “nothing to do.” It is a formal degree requirement implemented through the thesis abstract and associated language/conversance rules.

Final submission: PDF/A, MyStudies and Turnitin

The final School of Business thesis is submitted through the Thesis tab in MyStudies for evaluation, grading and archiving.

The final submission should be one archival PDF/A file containing the cover page and thesis abstract. A Turnitin similarity report is generated from the final file submitted through MyStudies. Students can also use Turnitin proactively during the thesis process according to current Aalto instructions.

The supervisor must already have been approved in MyStudies before the final thesis can be submitted for evaluation. Students must also be registered as attending for the study right to which the thesis belongs.

Evaluation and grade approval

School of Business Master’s theses are evaluated using common School criteria. The common Master’s rubric was updated to distinguish the expectations of 20 and 30 ECTS theses and applies in its updated form from 1 August 2026.

The thesis is evaluated by the supervisor and a second examiner who is knowledgeable in the field. They provide a single evaluation using the School rubric. The Head of Department then confirms the grades for theses submitted in the relevant month.

This means the grade is not based only on whether the research produced an interesting practical result. The School’s stated learning outcomes also emphasise specialised knowledge, scientific thinking, critical problem-solving, appropriate methods and analysis, academic standards, project management and the use of feedback.

Current 2027 graduation-linked deadlines

The Creative Sustainability Business graduation page currently lists monthly 2027 dates that also function as the thesis and maturity submission deadlines:

• 27 January 2027;
• 17 February 2027;
• 24 March 2027;
• 21 April 2027;
• 26 May 2027;
• 23 June 2027;
• 30 July 2027;
• 25 August 2027;
• 22 September 2027;
• 20 October 2027;
• 17 November 2027;
• 31 December 2027.

There is an important June exception: no theses or maturity essays are submitted for examination in June. A student graduating on the June date must follow the May thesis and maturity timetable.

Administrative calendars can change, so always recheck the live Creative Sustainability Business graduation page before final submission.

A realistic working sequence

Before the second year

Use the first-year sustainability, systems, design and business courses to identify a research area. Review faculty expertise, ongoing projects and previous Business theses. If external data or a commissioner will be needed, start conversations early.

Start of the second year

Enter MNGT-E1016 Master's Thesis Seminar, narrow the topic and identify the supervision arrangement. Convert a broad sustainability challenge into a researchable business question with a realistic 30 ECTS scope.

Early thesis stage

Agree the preliminary topic and supervisor, complete the MyStudies approval step, and create a documented research plan. Decide what evidence is necessary and why the selected method answers the research question.

Main research and writing stage

Work iteratively through literature, data or source material, analysis and writing. Use seminar and supervision feedback. Keep the scope controlled and maintain clear documentation for data, coding, calculations or analytical decisions where relevant.

Final stage

Resolve outstanding analytical issues, complete the thesis abstract/maturity requirement, check public/confidentiality boundaries, format the document as PDF/A and allow enough time for supervisor feedback and technical submission checks.

Submission and graduation

Submit the final file in MyStudies by the current programme deadline, monitor the evaluation process, and complete the graduation request when the rest of the degree is ready. Recheck the live timetable, particularly around the June exception.

Final checklist

Before submitting a Creative Sustainability Business thesis, confirm that:

• you are following the School of Business, not ARTS or CHEM, thesis route;
• the thesis is 30 ECTS;
• MNGT-E1016 is treated as a separate 2 ECTS seminar;
• BIZ.matr is recognised as a 0 ECTS maturity requirement implemented through the abstract;
• the topic and method fit a business/sustainability research question;
• the project scope is realistic for approximately 750–900 hours;
• the relevant seminar and supervisor instructions have been checked;
• supervisor approval is complete in MyStudies;
• public/confidentiality issues are resolved before finalising an external project;
• ethics, integrity and data responsibilities have been addressed;
• any AI use complies with current Aalto and course restrictions;
• the final file contains the correct cover and abstract and is valid PDF/A;
• the current graduation/thesis deadline has been rechecked.

Final planning principle

For the current 2026–2028 Creative Sustainability Business route, the safe framework is clear: 30 ECTS thesis, separate 2 ECTS thesis seminar, 0 ECTS maturity test, School of Business supervision and MyStudies workflow, public-thesis status, common School assessment and programme-specific methodological freedom.

Use the current Creative Sustainability seminar instructions and supervisor guidance for project-specific details. Do not import the ARTS 4 ECTS seminar, CHEM procedures, another Business programme’s thesis scope, or an old universal page-count assumption into this route.