Aalto University Finance Master’s Thesis Guide: 20 ECTS Thesis, 4 ECTS Seminar and the 2026-2028 Transition

Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in Finance changed its thesis structure for the 2026-2028 curriculum. The current programme uses a 20 ECTS Master’s Thesis, a separate 4 ECTS Master’s Thesis Seminar, and a 0 ECTS maturity test. Some students whose Master’s study right began before 1 August 2026 may still be eligible to complete an older curriculum with a 30 ECTS thesis during the transition period ending on 31 July 2028.

This distinction is essential. A Finance student should not decide between 20 and 30 ECTS simply by preference, by copying another student’s study plan, or by relying on an applicant-facing page. The thesis scope follows the curriculum under which the degree is completed.

This guide explains the current Finance structure, the transition rule, seminar participation, workload, topic planning, supervision, MyStudies, Turnitin, PDF/A submission, maturity essay, public-thesis rules, grading, and current 2027 submission dates.

The current Finance degree structure

The Master’s Programme in Finance is organised by the Aalto University School of Business and leads to the Master of Science (Economics and Business Administration) degree. The degree is 120 ECTS and is normally completed in two years of full-time study.

Under the current 2026-2028 curriculum, the degree contains 84-90 ECTS of programme studies and 30-36 ECTS of elective studies. The current thesis-side structure is:

• Master’s Thesis: 20 ECTS, code FIN.20.thes
• Master’s Thesis Seminar: 4 ECTS, current curriculum code FIN-E0599
• Maturity Test: 0 ECTS, code BIZ.matr

The curriculum and recommended timetable place the thesis and thesis seminar in the second year. The seminar is a separate study unit. It should not be added into the thesis credit as if the thesis itself were 24 ECTS.

The 20 ECTS and 30 ECTS transition

Aalto’s Finance thesis page explicitly sets a transition period from 1 August 2026 through 31 July 2028.

If your Master’s study right began before 1 August 2026, you may during the transition be able to complete the curriculum that applied when your study right began or move to a newer curriculum. In practical Finance thesis terms, that can mean:

• remaining on an eligible older curriculum with a 30 ECTS thesis, or
• moving to the 2026-2028 structure with a 20 ECTS thesis.

The thesis and the rest of the degree must follow the same curriculum framework. The thesis scope is therefore not a free-standing choice.

If your Master’s study right began on or after 1 August 2026, Aalto states that you follow the 2026-2028 curriculum or a newer one, so your thesis scope is 20 ECTS.

After 31 July 2028, the older curriculum route closes. From 1 August 2028, students who have not graduated can no longer complete the degree under the 2024-2026 or earlier structure.

If you are in the transition group, confirm your curriculum in Sisu and with programme guidance before fixing your thesis scope.

A current seminar-code conflict you should notice

The 2026-2028 curriculum lists the 4 ECTS Finance Master’s Thesis Seminar as FIN-E0599. However, the Finance thesis page still tells students in its seminar-registration section to enrol to older code 28E99905.

That is a live source-level discrepancy. It should not be hidden or silently merged.

For current students, the safer rule is:

1. use the current 2026-2028 curriculum as the structural authority;
2. check the seminar code shown in your current Sisu study plan and live enrolment notice;
3. if the code differs from the thesis-page text, follow the current Sisu/programme instruction.

The guide therefore uses FIN-E0599 as the current curriculum code while explicitly warning that the thesis page still contains the older code.

What the 20 ECTS thesis means in workload

The School of Business describes a 20 ECTS thesis as approximately 500-600 hours of work, or roughly 63-75 full-time working days, which corresponds to about three to four months of full-time study.

The current 20 ECTS form is intended to be focused. Aalto explains that high quality does not require unnecessary expansion of the project. A narrower data collection strategy, suitable secondary data, a focused literature review, or deliberately bounded analysis can all be appropriate when they fit the research question.

For eligible students who remain on a 30 ECTS thesis, School guidance estimates approximately 750-900 hours, or about 94-113 full-time working days, equivalent to roughly five to six months of full-time work.

The difference between 20 and 30 ECTS is not a simple page-count rule. Aalto explicitly says scope is about the amount and depth of research work rather than merely the number of pages.

The mandatory Finance Master’s Thesis Seminar

All Master’s Programme in Finance students must complete the mandatory thesis seminar applicable to their curriculum.

The Finance thesis page says the seminar generally lasts one or two semesters and is offered in both autumn and spring. It is graded pass/fail.

Current seminar participation includes mandatory elements such as:

• a kickoff session;
• a data session at the start of the semester;
• at least one meeting with the supervisor per semester;
• a seminar presentation session with the supervisor’s group at the end of the semester, normally in December or May.

The seminar gives structure to topic development, data choices, research design, supervision, peer interaction, and thesis progress. It is not merely an administrative registration.

When you can start

Aalto recommends that Finance students begin thesis work at the start of the second year of Master’s studies.

The programme also allows an earlier start if the student has completed at least four Master’s-level Finance courses. Students must already have completed the Bachelor’s degree.

For autumn seminar groups, registration opens in May and closes in late August. Spring registration is handled during December. Because exact enrolment windows can change, the live Sisu notice and programme email should control the exact dates.

A topic does not have to be completely final when you enrol, but thinking about the topic or at least the topic area helps the programme match you with an appropriate supervisor.

Choosing a Finance thesis topic

Finance offers a broad research space. Possible thesis areas can include corporate finance, asset pricing, portfolio management, behavioural finance, mergers and acquisitions, banking, financial stability, household finance, fintech, sustainable finance, venture capital, private equity, risk management, derivatives, or other questions supported by the programme’s expertise.

A useful topic is not merely a broad subject such as “sustainable finance” or “M&A”. It should become a researchable question with a realistic evidence base and a scope that fits the applicable 20 or 30 ECTS regime.

A practical topic-development sequence is:

1. identify the financial decision, market behaviour, institutional problem, or theoretical issue;
2. map the relevant academic literature;
3. formulate a specific research question;
4. identify available data or other evidence;
5. choose an analytical design that can answer the question;
6. narrow the project until it is realistic within the applicable ECTS workload;
7. discuss the topic and scope with the supervisor.

Finance methods: analytical does not mean one mandatory method

Finance is highly quantitative and the programme includes advanced econometrics, investments, corporate finance, and other analytical courses. That does not create one compulsory thesis method.

A Finance thesis may use panel data, event studies, time-series analysis, asset-pricing models, valuation models, experiments, archival financial statements, market data, survey data, causal inference, theoretical modelling, simulation, or another defensible design.

The current official sources do not say that every thesis must use one regression model, one database, one programming language, or one software package. The Finance seminar and supervisor can set programme-specific expectations, and the research question should determine the method.

Individual, pair, commissioned, and article-type theses

School of Business guidance allows a thesis to be written individually or in a pair, subject to programme requirements. A pair thesis is one cohesive research project with shared responsibility and documented contributions.

A commissioned thesis with an external organisation is also possible. The university supervisor must approve the academic topic. A commissioner may have legitimate confidentiality needs around background data or extra reports, but the thesis itself remains a public academic document. An external organisation cannot require the submitted thesis to be confidential.

Aalto also allows an article-type thesis. The School guidance describes this format as a ready-to-submit academic manuscript and notes a typical target of 10,000-15,000 words. That range belongs to the article format. It is not a universal Finance thesis word count and should not be applied to every monograph-style thesis.

Supervisor, seminar, and MyStudies

Finance students are allocated to seminar groups and supervisors according to the programme process. The current School guidance says supervisors generally meet students approximately four to six times, while Finance seminar requirements add at least one supervisor meeting per semester.

Early meetings should clarify:

• the topic and research question;
• the applicable 20 or 30 ECTS scope;
• data availability;
• methodology and research design;
• expected milestones;
• feedback practices and realistic supervisor review time.

Once you have a preliminary topic and assigned supervisor, apply for supervisor and topic approval in MyStudies, Thesis tab. The starting information includes the supervisor, possible advisor, thesis topic, and thesis language.

The supervisor must be approved in MyStudies before final thesis submission.

Writing structure and templates

Aalto says thesis sections depend on the research method, focus, and field conventions. Previous theses can be useful examples, but they are not rigid templates to imitate.

Aalto provides a Master’s thesis Word template and instructs School of Business students to use it. This does not mean that every Finance thesis must have exactly the same analytical chapters. A quantitative empirical thesis, theoretical thesis, and article-format thesis can require different internal structures.

The Finance seminar and supervisor remain the best sources for programme-specific structure, formatting, methodology, and analytical expectations.

Turnitin and academic integrity

Turnitin can be used proactively during thesis writing. Before final submission, students can also use the relevant MyCourses checking route according to Aalto instructions.

When the final thesis is submitted in MyStudies, a Turnitin similarity report is generated automatically.

Aalto also requires research integrity in data handling, analysis, citation, authorship, and reporting. Plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, or misrepresentation can lead to rejection of the thesis.

AI use and the maturity essay

Aalto’s current AI guidance allows AI to support learning where its use has not been restricted, but the student remains responsible for originality, accuracy, and compliance with academic-integrity rules.

The maturity component is different. Aalto explicitly prohibits AI in maturity examinations.

For School of Business Master’s theses, the thesis abstract serves as the maturity essay. The maturity test carries 0 ECTS, but it is still a required degree component. Students should therefore complete the assessed maturity-essay component without AI assistance and follow any additional programme or teacher restrictions.

The abstract normally uses the same language as the thesis, with translations where required by the student’s language-of-education obligations.

Final PDF/A submission

The final Finance thesis is submitted for evaluation, grading, and archiving in MyStudies.

The final file must be:

• one PDF/A file;
• contain the cover page and thesis abstract;
• use an accepted archival PDF/A format;
• be no larger than 100 MB.

Students should validate the PDF/A before the deadline. The submission system checks the file format.

If the thesis is written as a pair, both students submit the same final thesis file through their own process.

Public thesis and Aaltodoc

Aalto Master’s theses are public academic documents. The thesis abstract and metadata are openly published in Aaltodoc, and the approved thesis is archived there.

This matters especially for company or data-sensitive Finance projects. Confidential data, unreleased deal information, client material, personally identifiable information, or proprietary models should be managed so that the submitted public thesis remains academically complete without violating lawful restrictions.

Confidential extra reports delivered to a commissioner are not part of the thesis grading.

Evaluation

The Finance thesis is evaluated under the School of Business thesis rubric. The current rubric was updated to account for 20 ECTS and 30 ECTS theses from 1 August 2026.

Aalto states that the thesis is evaluated by the supervisor and a second examiner, who provide a single evaluation under the rubric. The Head of Department confirms thesis grades for the month’s submissions.

Assessment is not based simply on length. Relevant dimensions include specialised knowledge, scientific and critical thinking, methods and analysis, academic standards, project management, and communication.

A focused 20 ECTS thesis should therefore be judged as a 20 ECTS project, not as an incomplete 30 ECTS thesis.

2027 thesis and graduation dates

The Finance graduation page uses monthly School of Business deadlines. For 2027, thesis and maturity submission can be made on:

There is also a 23 June 2027 graduation date, but Aalto states that no theses or maturity essays are submitted for examination in June. Students graduating in June must use the May thesis/maturity deadline.

Always re-check the live Finance graduation page before final submission.

A practical plan for a current 20 ECTS Finance student

Before seminar registration

• confirm that your study right uses the current 20 ECTS route or an eligible older transition curriculum;
• check that the current thesis, seminar, and maturity codes are correct in Sisu;
• verify the live seminar code because the thesis page still contains older 28E99905 while the curriculum lists FIN-E0599;
• identify a realistic topic area and potential data source;
• confirm that your Bachelor’s degree and programme prerequisites are complete.

At the beginning of the seminar

• attend the mandatory kickoff and data sessions;
• refine the research question;
• discuss data feasibility and methods;
• confirm the supervisor;
• apply for supervisor/topic approval in MyStudies;
• build a workload plan appropriate to 20 ECTS.

During research and writing

• attend the required supervisor meetings;
• maintain reproducible data and analysis procedures where relevant;
• use seminar feedback;
• keep the literature review and analysis proportional to the research question;
• avoid expanding the project simply to make it longer.

Before final submission

• complete the seminar requirements and presentation;
• finalise the thesis abstract/maturity essay independently;
• check citations, data documentation, and academic integrity;
• prepare a single PDF/A file under 100 MB;
• validate the PDF/A;
• complete permitted Turnitin checks;
• submit the final thesis in MyStudies by the correct deadline;
• make sure your Sisu study plan is ready for graduation processing.

What not to assume

Do not assume that:

• every Finance student currently writes a 30 ECTS thesis;
• transition students may choose 20 or 30 ECTS independently of their curriculum;
• 28E99905 is definitely the current seminar code merely because it remains on the thesis page;
• the 4 ECTS seminar is part of the 20 ECTS thesis credit;
• every Finance thesis needs the same model, dataset, software, or citation system;
• 10,000-15,000 words is the standard length for every Finance thesis;
• confidential company information can make the submitted thesis confidential;
• a June graduation date is also a June thesis-submission date;
• AI may be used in the maturity-essay abstract.

Final checklist

Before submitting your Aalto Finance Master’s thesis, confirm that:

• your curriculum and thesis scope are correct in Sisu;
• you know whether you are on the current 20 ECTS route or a qualifying older 30 ECTS transition route;
• your seminar code and registration are current;
• mandatory seminar sessions and presentation are completed;
• your supervisor and topic are approved in MyStudies;
• your research design matches the question and the applicable ECTS workload;
• your thesis is academically complete and suitable for public archiving;
• the maturity abstract has been completed according to Aalto’s language and AI rules;
• the final file is a compliant PDF/A under 100 MB;
• you have submitted through MyStudies by the applicable live deadline.

The most important current rule is simple: Finance students starting their Master’s study right on or after 1 August 2026 use the 20 ECTS thesis structure. Older eligible students must verify their transition curriculum rather than assuming that either thesis scope applies automatically.