Aalto University Engineering Physics Master’s Thesis Guide: 2026–2028 Curriculum

Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in Engineering Physics is a School of Science programme leading to the Master of Science (Technology) degree. The current 2026–2028 curriculum has two majors, Materials Physics and Quantum Technology and Advanced Energy Technologies, and both use the same programme-level thesis framework.

This guide is therefore written as one Engineering Physics thesis guide rather than separate major-specific articles. It is based on current official Aalto sources verified on 29 August 2026. Where Aalto directs students to the authenticated SCI Master’s Thesis workspace in MyCourses, that access boundary is kept intact. The guide does not reconstruct hidden SCI forms, rubrics or procedures from another school.

Where the thesis fits in the degree

The Engineering Physics Master of Science (Technology) degree is 120 ECTS. The current curriculum allows two main structures:

• a 65 ECTS long major, a 30 ECTS thesis and 25 ECTS of electives; or
• a 40 ECTS compact major, a 30 ECTS thesis, a 20–25 ECTS minor and enough electives to complete the degree.

The thesis itself is 30 ECTS in both structures. It is not reduced or expanded according to which of the two Engineering Physics majors the student chooses.

Aalto describes the programme as strongly connected to research in applied physics. Current focus areas include experimental and theoretical materials physics, nanophysics and nanoscience, quantum technology, and energy-related research. That breadth matters for thesis planning because it means there is no single compulsory method for every Engineering Physics thesis.

What the 30 ECTS thesis is

The current curriculum defines the Master’s thesis as a research assignment with a workload corresponding to 30 credits. The topic is normally related to the student’s major and, in special curriculum cases, may relate to a minor.

The public thesis framework also includes:

• a seminar presentation or equivalent presentation;
• a maturity essay related to the thesis; and
• public-document status for the approved thesis.

The programme does not publish one universal thesis page count, word count, citation style or chapter template on its current public pages. Students should therefore avoid treating examples from another programme, another Aalto school or an older thesis as a compulsory Engineering Physics format.

Start at the beginning of the second study year

Aalto’s current Engineering Physics starting guidance recommends beginning the thesis process at the beginning of the second study year.

For this programme, the 30-credit thesis is described as approximately six months of full-time work. Students who cannot work on it full time because of employment, other courses, extended experiments, access to equipment or prolonged data collection are advised to start earlier.

Aalto also warns that exceeding the six-month target may affect the grade. The practical implication is not that every project must use an identical calendar. It is that the scope should remain compatible with a 30 ECTS project and should be agreed with the supervisor early enough to prevent uncontrolled expansion.

A useful planning sequence is:

1. explore a research area and possible topic before the intended thesis period;
2. identify an academically suitable supervisor and, where needed, advisor or advisors;
3. agree the topic and scope;
4. complete the MyStudies approval steps early;
5. plan the actual research and writing period around the six-month target;
6. reserve enough time for presentation, final supervisor review and committee approval.

Choosing a topic in Engineering Physics

The programme covers very different research environments. A thesis topic may grow from areas such as:

• experimental materials physics;
• theoretical or computational materials physics;
• quantum materials or quantum technology;
• nanophysics and nanoscience;
• energy systems, fusion, fission or renewable-energy research;
• data-intensive or machine-learning-supported physical research;
• modelling, measurement, simulation or laboratory work.

These are examples of legitimate disciplinary directions, not a mandatory list of methods. A strong thesis method follows from the research question, available data or experimental system, and the conventions of the relevant research field.

An experimental project may require measurements, calibration and uncertainty analysis. A theoretical project may depend on mathematical modelling. A computational project may rely on simulation or numerical methods. An energy-oriented project may combine physical modelling, system analysis or empirical data. The current programme rules do not force all of these projects into one methodology.

Supervisor and advisor rules

The current Engineering Physics curriculum says that the thesis supervisor is normally a professor at Aalto University.

It also gives a School of Science exception: for special reasons, the supervisor may be a university lecturer or senior university lecturer of the school.

The thesis advisor or advisors must hold at least a Master’s degree. Advisors can provide specialist support on research execution, data, technical details or writing, while the supervisor carries the central academic responsibility under the programme’s thesis framework.

Before committing to a topic, students should clarify:

• who will act as supervisor;
• whether one or more advisors are needed;
• the expected research scope;
• how often progress will be reviewed;
• which drafts the supervisor or advisor will comment on;
• what resources, equipment, data or computing infrastructure are available;
• how the presentation and final evaluation timetable will be handled.

MyStudies is the administrative thesis record

Aalto’s current thesis-management system uses the Thesis tab in MyStudies across the schools of technology, including the School of Science.

The current university-wide workflow supports:

• entering basic thesis information;
• applying for supervisor approval;
• approval of the topic and advisors by the supervisor;
• maintaining thesis metadata; and
• submitting the final thesis for evaluation, approval and archiving.

Engineering Physics graduation instructions add a programme-specific public requirement: the thesis topic must be approved before the final thesis is submitted for evaluation. Aalto tells students to send the topic approval application through MyStudies as soon as the topic has been agreed with the supervisor.

This means topic approval should not be left until the final upload. It is part of the formal start of the thesis process.

The detailed SCI process remains in MyCourses

Aalto repeatedly directs Engineering Physics students to the authenticated SCI Master’s Thesis workspace in MyCourses for thorough process instructions.

That workspace may contain detailed templates, school-specific workflow instructions, internal guidance and other material that is not fully reproduced on public pages. This guide does not invent those details or borrow them from ELEC, CHEM or ENG.

For any requirement not stated on the public Engineering Physics pages, students should use the current SCI MyCourses workspace and supervisor guidance as the controlling operational source.

Thesis language

The current curriculum allows the Master’s thesis to be written in English, Finnish or Swedish. It also states that the language of the Master’s thesis determines the language of the degree.

The thesis language should therefore be agreed deliberately. It is not merely a final formatting preference.

Presentation and maturity essay

The current curriculum explicitly includes a seminar presentation or equivalent presentation in the thesis work. Students should build this into the project calendar rather than assuming that uploading the final PDF is the only final-stage task.

Engineering Physics also requires a maturity essay related to the thesis. Aalto’s current AI guidance prohibits AI in maturity examinations. Because the maturity component is an assessed maturity examination, students should treat it as an AI-prohibited component unless Aalto publishes a newer applicable rule.

The thesis and maturity requirements should be kept conceptually separate. The thesis may involve permitted research or writing-support tools under Aalto’s general AI rules, but the maturity examination has the stricter prohibition.

Public thesis and confidential research material

The current Engineering Physics curriculum states that the Master’s thesis is a public document and cannot be concealed.

This matters especially for projects done with companies, laboratories or externally funded research. The working environment may involve confidential data, unpublished results, proprietary devices or sensitive technical information, but the final assessed thesis must comply with Aalto’s public-document requirement.

Students should therefore discuss confidentiality early. A good project design separates material that can appear in the public academic thesis from information that must remain outside it. Do not wait until final submission to discover that essential parts of the argument cannot be published.

Company and external research projects

An external or company thesis can be valuable when the research question remains academically appropriate for Engineering Physics. External commissioning does not change the 30 ECTS academic requirement.

Before accepting an external topic, confirm with the Aalto supervisor that:

• the problem has sufficient academic depth;
• the research question belongs within Engineering Physics or the approved study context;
• the student can access the data, equipment or computational resources needed;
• the public thesis can contain enough evidence to be academically evaluated;
• the timetable is realistic for the six-month full-time target;
• external expectations do not replace the academic requirements of the programme.

Final supervisor review and graduation timing

Engineering Physics has unusually clear public graduation guidance.

A student may submit the final thesis for evaluation and apply for graduation at the same time, provided the timing has been agreed with the supervisor. Aalto tells students to leave four weeks for the supervisor to read the final thesis and write the evaluation statement.

Students must also:

• be registered as attending when submitting the thesis, requesting graduation and on the official graduation date;
• complete the other studies in the degree before graduation, with the thesis as the stated exception;
• keep the primary HOPS in Sisu current and approved; and
• have required study modules approved at least three weeks before the graduation-request deadline to avoid delays.

The Degree Programme Committee approves final Master’s theses.

Current 2027 thesis-compatible dates

The current Engineering Physics graduation page distinguishes dates on which a thesis can still be approved from starred graduation-only dates for students whose thesis has already been approved.

The current 2027 thesis-compatible deadlines are:

• 17 February 2027;
• 21 April 2027;
• 26 May 2027;
• 30 July 2027;
• 22 September 2027;
• 17 November 2027;
• 31 December 2027.

Other monthly dates marked with an asterisk on the Aalto schedule are graduation dates only when the thesis is already approved and registered in Sisu.

Administrative dates can change. Students should always recheck the live Engineering Physics graduation page and SCI MyCourses workspace before committing to a submission plan.

A realistic thesis workflow

A practical Engineering Physics workflow is:

1. Define the research area

Choose a topic direction connected to your major, research group, external project or approved study context. Read enough current literature to understand what problem is actually worth solving.

2. Confirm supervision

Agree with a suitable supervisor that the topic is academically appropriate and realistic for a 30 ECTS thesis. Identify advisor support if the project needs specialised day-to-day guidance.

3. Formalise the topic in MyStudies

Enter the required thesis information and submit the approval request after the topic and supervision have been agreed. Do this early enough that administrative approval does not become a final-stage blocker.

4. Build a research plan

Define the research question, relevant theory, data or experimental system, method, milestones, risks and expected outputs. The plan should reflect the actual research tradition of the project rather than a generic template.

5. Execute and document the research

Keep records of experiments, simulations, code, model assumptions, data processing decisions and changes to scope. Reproducibility is particularly important in quantitative and computational physics work.

6. Write iteratively

Do not postpone writing until all research is finished. Draft the background, method and technical documentation while the project is active. Use supervisor feedback to keep the argument aligned with the research question.

7. Prepare the presentation and maturity component

Schedule the required presentation or equivalent presentation and complete the maturity component according to current SCI rules. Remember the AI prohibition for the maturity examination.

8. Reserve the final review period

Before the intended graduation deadline, give the supervisor enough time for final reading and the evaluation statement. Aalto’s public Engineering Physics guidance says to leave four weeks.

9. Submit only the final version

Follow the current MyStudies and SCI MyCourses instructions for final submission, evaluation and archiving. Check all metadata and the final file carefully before submission.

Common mistakes to avoid

Treating six months as six months of calendar waiting

The target represents a 30 ECTS full-time workload. If you are working part time, collecting long-term data or waiting for specialised equipment, plan earlier.

Importing another Aalto school’s process

Engineering Physics belongs to the School of Science. ELEC-E0210, CHEM’s 800-hour wording and ENG-specific procedures are not Engineering Physics rules unless Aalto explicitly makes them applicable.

Assuming every physics thesis must be experimental

Engineering Physics supports experimental, theoretical, computational, quantitative and interdisciplinary research. The research question should determine the method.

Leaving confidentiality until the end

The approved thesis is public. Confidentiality must be designed around that fact from the start.

Ignoring the four-week final review allowance

A deadline is not just an upload date. The supervisor needs time to read the final version and prepare the statement.

Relying on a copied template as the academic rule

Current public Engineering Physics sources do not establish one universal page count, citation style or chapter sequence. Use current SCI guidance and supervisor instructions.

Final checklist

Before final submission, confirm that:

• your thesis is planned as a 30 ECTS Engineering Physics research assignment;
• the topic fits your major or another curriculum-permitted study context;
• the supervisor and advisor arrangement is valid;
• the topic has been approved in MyStudies;
• the project scope remains realistic for the six-month full-time target;
• the required presentation has been planned or completed;
• the maturity component follows the current SCI rules and AI prohibition;
• the final thesis can be public;
• your HOPS is current and approved;
• you have left enough time for the supervisor’s final review and statement;
• you have rechecked the live SCI MyCourses and Engineering Physics graduation instructions.

The core rule

For current Engineering Physics students, the safest rule is simple: treat the thesis as a 30 ECTS School of Science research project with a six-month full-time target, formalise the topic and supervision through the current MyStudies process, follow the programme’s public presentation, maturity and public-document requirements, and use the authenticated SCI Master’s Thesis workspace for the detailed operational process that Aalto does not publish openly.