Aalto University Electronics and Nanotechnology Master’s Thesis Guide, 2026–2028

Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in Electronics and Nanotechnology is organised by the School of Electrical Engineering and the Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering. The programme covers five majors: Microelectronic Circuit Design, Antennas and Microwave Engineering, Photonics and Nanotechnology, Space Science and Technology, and Wireless and RF Engineering.

For thesis planning, those five technical areas are diverse, but the current 2026–2028 curriculum gives them one common thesis architecture. This guide therefore applies at programme level across all five majors. It is based on current Aalto student-guide material verified on 29 August 2026.

The degree structure and what belongs to the thesis

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

• 65 ECTS major studies;
• 30 ECTS Master’s thesis;
• 25 ECTS elective studies.

The thesis is registered as ELEC.thes, 30 ECTS. The curriculum also lists ELEC.matr, the maturity test, as 0 ECTS.

A separate course, ELEC-E0210 Master's Thesis Process, 2 ECTS, appears in each of the five current majors. This distinction matters. The thesis remains 30 ECTS; ELEC-E0210 is not part of those 30 credits. It is a separate major course that supports the start of the thesis process and research planning.

This is different from some other Aalto ELEC programmes where ELEC-E0210 may be optional or major-dependent. For Electronics and Nanotechnology, the current 2026–2028 curriculum lists it across all five majors.

What the 30 ECTS thesis represents

Aalto describes the Master’s thesis as an individual research project connected to the student’s advanced studies. It is documented as a written report, based on existing scientific knowledge, and conducted according to scientific research practices, good engineering practice and ethical principles.

The programme’s current ELEC instructions give a six-month full-time target. They also translate the 30 ECTS workload into approximately 810 hours of work on average.

Six months is a target, not merely an administrative number. A different duration can be agreed with the supervisor for justified reasons. The current instructions also warn that exceeding the agreed target duration may affect thesis grading. The relevant start point is the actual project start agreed between the student and supervisor, not simply the later administrative approval date in MyStudies.

When to do the thesis

In the programme’s two-year model, the thesis is usually planned for the spring semester of the second study year. Aalto explicitly says this is not a restriction. Students may complete the thesis on another schedule if that works better with their studies and supervision.

The practical message is to start planning earlier than the writing period. Topic searching can take months, especially for projects involving companies, research groups, cleanroom work, measurements, fabrication facilities, satellites, RF laboratories or specialised simulation environments.

Aalto’s model encourages students to begin the preliminary MyStudies planning before the main thesis period and to reserve time for finding a topic, arranging supervision and dealing with practical project requirements.

Before you start

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

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

These prerequisites are important because thesis work is treated as the final research-stage attainment of the Master’s degree rather than an isolated project detached from the study plan.

Create the preliminary thesis record in MyStudies

The programme uses the Thesis tab in MyStudies as the central administrative record.

You can create a preliminary thesis plan before the final topic and supervision have been formally confirmed. The initial record may include:

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

The early topic can be provisional. The point is to make the planned thesis visible and keep the record current as the project develops.

Thesis language

The programme is multilingual. The current curriculum states that the Master’s thesis may be written in English, Finnish or Swedish. The language of the Master’s thesis determines the primary language of the degree.

If your thesis will be written in a language different from most of your taught courses, confirm the language choice early with your supervisor and ensure that the required abstract and maturity requirements are handled correctly.

Finding a topic

Students are mainly responsible for finding their thesis topic. Aalto does not publish one complete central list of every available Electronics and Nanotechnology thesis topic.

Common routes include:

• a thesis position in an Aalto research group;
• a company or public-sector project;
• a topic proposed by a professor or research team;
• an independently developed topic agreed with a suitable supervisor;
• a thesis carried out abroad.

The programme spans several research cultures. A Microelectronic Circuit Design thesis might involve integrated-circuit design, verification or hardware implementation. Antennas and Microwave Engineering may involve electromagnetic modelling, RF measurements, antennas or propagation. Photonics and Nanotechnology may involve semiconductor devices, nanofabrication, optical systems, materials or cleanroom work. Space Science and Technology may involve satellite systems, Earth observation, space physics, instrumentation or radio astronomy. Wireless and RF Engineering may combine communications, antennas, signal processing, sensing or RF-system analysis.

Because the fields differ so much, there is no one compulsory thesis method for the whole programme. Experimental work, simulation, modelling, fabrication, measurement, software, data analysis and design research may all be legitimate depending on the question.

If you cannot find a topic

The current ELEC instructions provide an important safety net. If a student is ready to start the thesis but has not found a suitable topic through normal routes, the School is obliged to arrange an independent Master’s thesis topic.

That does not mean waiting passively. Students should contact suitable professors and research groups and use the programme’s major responsibilities and department expertise to identify potential supervision areas.

Supervisor and advisor rules

The current programme-specific thesis page states that the thesis supervisor may be:

• an Aalto University professor;
• an Aalto University university lecturer; or
• an Aalto staff or senior scientist, where 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.

The thesis must also have one or two advisors. An advisor must hold at least a Master’s degree. In company projects, an advisor is often the person who provides day-to-day technical guidance within the organisation. The supervisor may also act as an advisor.

Students can use supervisors from outside the Department of Electronics and Nanoengineering when appropriate, provided the topic remains connected to the student’s advanced studies and the current ELEC eligibility rules are met.

Company and international theses

A thesis may be completed for a company, research institute, public-sector organisation or another university, including abroad. The academic requirements do not disappear when the project is external.

For a thesis abroad, Aalto still requires an Aalto supervisor and the same core approval and submission process.

Company projects require early planning around confidentiality. The approved Master’s thesis is a public document and cannot contain confidential sections. Confidential company background material should therefore be separated from the final evaluated thesis from the beginning rather than removed at the last minute.

Formal topic and supervision approval

Once the topic and supervision have been agreed, you must apply in MyStudies for approval of:

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

Applications are handled continuously rather than through fixed topic-approval deadlines. Current programme instructions say processing may take up to one month. You should submit the approval application at least one month before you plan to submit the final thesis, because topic and supervision must be approved before final evaluation submission.

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

Initial meeting and ELEC-E0210

At the beginning of the project, the student and supervisor, and where relevant the advisor or advisors, should hold an initial Master’s thesis meeting.

This is the right time to agree:

• the research problem and scope;
• milestones and six-month target;
• expected supervision rhythm;
• experimental, measurement, simulation or fabrication resources;
• data and confidentiality boundaries;
• draft-review expectations;
• seminar-presentation timing;
• planned final submission deadline.

The current curriculum places the 2 ECTS ELEC-E0210 Master’s Thesis Process in every major. The course supports thesis initiation and research-plan preparation. Students should register according to Sisu and current MyCourses implementation instructions once the thesis topic and supervision are sufficiently established.

Research plan

The research plan should be a working control document rather than a ceremonial form.

Current ELEC guidance gives a 2–3 page research-plan model for students who are not using ELEC-E0210. The outline includes:

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

Because ELEC-E0210 is part of each current Electronics and Nanotechnology major, students should primarily follow the course’s live MyCourses instructions for the assessed course deliverables. The public outline remains useful for understanding the expected logic of thesis planning.

Writing the thesis

Aalto provides Master’s thesis templates in both LaTeX and Microsoft Word. The current ELEC page recommends LaTeX while also supporting Word.

The programme does not publish one universal thesis page count, word count, chapter template or citation style for all five majors. This is appropriate because a semiconductor-device experiment, an antenna measurement study, a satellite instrumentation project and a circuit-design thesis may require substantially different structures.

Use the supervisor and disciplinary literature to determine the appropriate structure, level of detail and referencing practice.

Turnitin and originality

Turnitin is built into the thesis process. Aalto recommends using it during drafting so citation, paraphrasing and similarity issues can be corrected before the 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 upload is not a draft. Once the final submission deadline has passed, the submitted thesis can no longer be edited.

AI use

Aalto’s current AI rules allow AI to support learning unless a teacher or assessment rule restricts it. Students remain responsible for everything submitted and may not present unmodified AI-generated text as their own work.

The Electronics and Nanotechnology thesis instructions also emphasise transparency and the use of original scientific sources. If AI has been used in research or writing, follow the current disclosure requirements and make sure your supervisor understands how it was used.

There is a hard boundary for the maturity component: current Aalto guidance states that AI is prohibited in maturity exams.

Maturity requirement

The current curriculum lists ELEC.matr as 0 ECTS. In this programme, the abstract of the Master’s thesis serves as the maturity essay. A separate maturity essay does not need to be arranged when the thesis abstract is completed according to the current thesis-template instructions.

Because the abstract serves as the maturity assessment, the university-wide AI prohibition for maturity exams applies to that component.

Seminar presentation

A seminar presentation about the thesis is a compulsory part of the thesis process.

You must agree the schedule and arrangements with the supervisor. When applying for thesis approval in MyStudies, you indicate whether the presentation has already been completed or provide the planned date.

The presentation must be completed no later than the relevant thesis/graduation submission deadline. The supervisor records completion in MyStudies during the evaluation process.

Final submission

For final thesis approval, current ELEC instructions require:

• supervisor, advisor(s) and topic already approved in MyStudies;
• final thesis converted to PDF/A;
• file size below 100 MB;
• all required thesis information completed in MyStudies;
• final file uploaded through MyStudies;
• Turnitin conditions accepted.

After final submission, the thesis should be treated as locked. The supervisor prepares the evaluation statement, and the Degree Programme Committee makes the thesis evaluation decision.

Current 2027 evaluation dates

The current programme thesis page publishes the following thesis-application deadlines for the 2027 committee cycle:

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

These dates are operationally important but should always be rechecked on the live Aalto page before planning a final submission.

Graduation connection

Graduation is handled through Sisu. When all other required studies are complete and registered, the thesis and maturity requirement may be submitted for evaluation at the same time as the graduation request.

Do not assume that uploading a thesis alone completes graduation. The Sisu study plan and graduation request remain separate degree-completion steps.

A practical six-month workflow

A workable sequence is:

Before Month 1: identify topic areas, create/update the MyStudies preliminary record, contact supervisors and resolve company/research practicalities.

Month 1: agree topic and supervision, hold the initial meeting, register for ELEC-E0210, prepare the research plan and apply for MyStudies topic/supervision approval.

Months 2–4: execute the main research, measurement, simulation, fabrication, design or analysis work while writing continuously rather than postponing all writing until the end.

Month 5: consolidate results, complete interpretation and conclusions, perform Turnitin checks and begin final supervisor review.

Month 6: complete final corrections, arrange and deliver the seminar presentation, confirm maturity-abstract compliance, convert to PDF/A and submit the final version through MyStudies before the intended committee deadline.

Final checklist

Before final submission, confirm that:

• you are following the current 2026–2028 programme structure;
• your 30 ECTS thesis is kept distinct from the separate 2 ECTS ELEC-E0210 course;
• topic, supervisor and advisor(s) are approved in MyStudies;
• your research question and method fit your major and topic;
• confidentiality has been kept out of the public final thesis;
• Turnitin has been reviewed before the final upload;
• AI use follows current Aalto and supervisor guidance;
• the thesis abstract satisfies the maturity requirement without prohibited AI use;
• the compulsory seminar presentation is completed on time;
• the final file is PDF/A and under 100 MB;
• you have rechecked the live Aalto submission deadline;
• you complete the separate Sisu graduation request when eligible.

The central principle is simple: treat the thesis as a six-month research project with early topic and supervision planning, explicit research design, continuous writing and disciplined administration. The five majors differ in subject matter, but the current Aalto process is shared and can be planned systematically.