Aalto University Information Networks Master’s Thesis Guide: 2026–2028 Curriculum and SCI Process

Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in Information Networks is a School of Science programme leading to the Master of Science (Technology) degree. The current 2026–2028 curriculum has two majors: Human-Centred Service Design and Engineering (HuDE) and Strategic Organizing, Technology, and Society (SOrTS). Both sit inside the same programme-level thesis framework, and current official Aalto guidance supports one thesis guide rather than separate major-specific articles.

There is, however, an important transition. Several older Information Networks majors were discontinued on 1 August 2026. Students who are completing those majors remain under time-limited transition rules. This guide therefore separates the current two-major structure from the legacy-major transition, while keeping the thesis process itself under the common 30 ECTS School of Science framework.

This guide 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 boundary is preserved. Internal forms, rubrics, exact presentation mechanics and maturity-test mechanics are not reconstructed from another programme.

Where the thesis fits in the degree

The Information Networks Master of Science (Technology) degree is 120 ECTS. Under the current 2026–2028 curriculum, students complete either a compact or long major:

• 44–45 ECTS compact major, in which case a 20–25 ECTS minor is required;
• 60–65 ECTS long major;
• 21–30 ECTS elective studies, depending on the chosen structure; and
• a 30 ECTS Master’s thesis.

The thesis credit is the same for both current majors. The degree structure around it can differ, but the thesis itself remains 30 ECTS.

The thesis may be written in English, Finnish or Swedish. Aalto states that the language of the Master’s thesis determines the language of the degree, so thesis language should be agreed deliberately rather than treated as a late formatting choice.

The current majors and what they mean for thesis topics

The two current majors have different disciplinary emphases.

Human-Centred Service Design and Engineering (HuDE) combines user-centred design, software and information architectures, digital products and services, and organizational context. A thesis in this major might therefore involve human-computer interaction, service design, software engineering, user research, product development, digital systems or related interdisciplinary questions.

Strategic Organizing, Technology, and Society (SOrTS) focuses more strongly on organizations, technology, institutions, political and social forces, sustainable change and the broader societal implications of technology. A thesis may therefore involve organizational studies, technology governance, policy, strategy, sustainability, computational social science or related socio-technical research.

These examples illustrate the programme’s breadth. They do not create one compulsory method. Current Aalto pages do not require every Information Networks thesis to use one empirical, statistical, qualitative, computational, design-science or organizational method. The research question and disciplinary setting should determine the method.

Research-method courses are recommended, not a universal thesis method

The current curriculum recommends that applicable research-method course(s) be completed before starting the Master’s thesis. That is an important planning signal because Information Networks is intentionally interdisciplinary.

The recommendation does not mean that every student must use the same research method in the thesis. Depending on the topic, a project may use interviews, surveys, case studies, design research, user studies, software or system evaluation, computational analysis, mixed methods, document analysis, organizational research or another suitable approach.

Students should distinguish between:

• a curriculum recommendation to build research-method competence before the thesis; and
• the actual research method selected for a specific thesis.

The second should be justified by the research question, data, theoretical framing and supervisor guidance.

What the 30 ECTS thesis is

Aalto defines the Information Networks Master’s thesis as a research assignment with a workload corresponding to 30 credits. The topic is usually related to the student’s major and is agreed with a professor who specializes in the thesis topic.

The current curriculum states that:

• the thesis supervisor must be a professor in the university;
• the thesis instructor or instructors must have at least a Master’s degree;
• thesis work includes a seminar presentation or equivalent presentation; and
• the approved thesis is a public document and cannot be concealed.

These are programme-level rules. They are more important than copying a thesis structure from another Aalto school or an older student thesis.

Start the process at the beginning of the second study year

Current Information Networks guidance recommends starting the thesis process at the beginning of the second study year.

Aalto describes a 30-credit thesis as approximately six months of full-time work. If employment, other courses, long data collection, access to participants or another project constraint means you cannot work on it full time, Aalto advises starting earlier.

The programme also warns that exceeding the six-month target may affect the grade. This does not mean every thesis must take exactly six calendar months. It means the scope and schedule should remain credible for a 30 ECTS project and any materially different schedule should be discussed early with the supervisor.

A practical implication is to avoid treating topic search as part of the final month. Finding a suitable question, supervisor, data source or commissioner can take time.

Choosing the supervisor and instructor arrangement

The thesis topic is agreed with a professor who specializes in the subject. The current curriculum requires the supervisor to be a professor, while instructor(s) must hold at least a Master’s degree.

Before formally starting, clarify:

• whether the proposed topic fits the current or legacy major you are completing;
• who will be the formal supervisor;
• whether one or more instructors are needed for day-to-day research support;
• what data, software, participants or organizational access are required;
• what the realistic six-month scope is;
• how frequently progress will be reviewed; and
• what current SCI MyCourses instructions apply to the presentation, maturity component and final submission process.

For interdisciplinary projects, this conversation is especially important. A thesis can sit between technology, design, organizations and society, but the academic responsibility and evaluation still need a clearly defined home.

MyStudies is the administrative thesis record

Aalto’s current thesis-management workflow for the School of Science uses MyStudies.

When starting the thesis process, students enter the basic thesis information in MyStudies and apply for supervisor approval. Under the technology-school workflow, the supervisor approves the topic and advisors. The final thesis is then submitted through MyStudies for evaluation, approval and archiving.

The Information Networks graduation page adds an important control: 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.

Do not leave topic approval until the final upload.

Detailed SCI process remains in MyCourses

Aalto directs Information Networks students to the authenticated SCI Master’s Thesis workspace in MyCourses for thorough thesis-process instructions.

That workspace may contain current internal templates, presentation arrangements, maturity instructions, submission details or rubrics that are not reproduced on the public programme pages. This guide therefore does not invent those details and does not import them from ELEC, ENG, CHEM or another SCI programme.

When a procedural question is not answered on the public Information Networks pages, the current SCI MyCourses workspace and your supervisor are the controlling sources.

Seminar or equivalent presentation

The current curriculum explicitly states that Master’s thesis work includes a seminar presentation or equivalent presentation.

The public programme pages do not establish one universal Information Networks presentation length, slide count, attendance rule or event format. Those details should therefore come from the live SCI MyCourses workspace.

Build presentation time into the project calendar. It is part of the thesis work, not an optional extra that can be considered only after submission.

Maturity component and AI

Aalto’s public Information Networks pages delegate detailed SCI process instructions to MyCourses, so this guide does not reconstruct a programme-specific maturity-test format.

What is clear university-wide is the AI rule: Aalto currently prohibits AI use in maturity examinations. Students remain responsible for the content they submit and must follow any more specific assessment-level restrictions.

Accordingly, if you are completing the maturity component connected to your degree, follow the exact current SCI instructions and do not use AI in that examination.

The thesis is public

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

This matters for company, organizational, public-sector or research-group projects. The project environment may include confidential interviews, internal documents, proprietary systems, commercially sensitive plans or unpublished research. The final assessed thesis must nevertheless comply with Aalto’s public-document requirement.

Confidentiality should therefore be designed into the project from the beginning. Discuss with the supervisor and any commissioner:

• what evidence can appear in the public thesis;
• what data need anonymisation or aggregation;
• what confidential background material must remain outside the thesis; and
• whether the research question can still be answered convincingly in a public academic document.

Do not wait until final submission to discover that the central evidence cannot be published.

Legacy-major transition: what changed on 1 August 2026

The 2026–2028 curriculum introduced the current HuDE and SOrTS structure and discontinued four previous majors on 1 August 2026:

• Strategy and Organisational Design;
• Software Engineering and Architectures;
• Digital Ethics, Society and Policy; and
• User, Data and Design.

Students who are studying in and wish to graduate from those majors have until 31 July 2028 to complete their studies, including minor and elective courses.

Aalto adds a second, later boundary: approval and grading of the Master’s thesis, as well as graduation, must be requested by 31 December 2028 at the latest.

The same transition deadline also applies to the older majors Business and Organisational Design and Information Networks.

This is not a separate 20-vs-30 ECTS thesis conflict. The previous 2024–2026 curriculum also used a 30 ECTS Master’s thesis. The key difference is therefore the major structure and transition timetable, not the thesis-credit value.

If you are a legacy-major student, confirm in Sisu which curriculum and major you are completing and plan backward from the 2028 transition deadlines.

Current 2027 thesis-compatible graduation dates

The Information Networks graduation page distinguishes between dates that feed a Degree Programme Committee meeting and starred dates that are graduation-only if the thesis has already been approved and registered in Sisu.

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; and
• 31 December 2027.

The starred dates 27 January, 24 March, 23 June, 25 August and 20 October 2027 are possible graduation dates only when the thesis has already been approved and registered in Sisu.

Administrative schedules can change. Recheck the live Information Networks graduation page before committing to a final submission date.

Four weeks for the supervisor’s final review

Aalto says it is possible to submit the final thesis for evaluation and apply for graduation at the same time, provided the timing has been agreed with the supervisor.

The Information Networks graduation page specifically tells students to leave four weeks for the supervisor to read the final thesis and write the statement.

This means a graduation deadline is not simply the day on which you finish writing. Your own internal deadline should be earlier enough to allow final supervisor review, revisions and the formal SCI process.

Graduation controls: attending status, HOPS and Sisu

Current Information Networks graduation guidance requires students to be registered as attending when submitting the thesis, requesting graduation and on the official graduation date.

All other studies included in the degree must be completed before applying for graduation, with the Master’s thesis as the stated exception.

Aalto also tells students to make sure required study modules are approved at least three weeks before the graduation-request deadline. The degree is generated from the student’s primary HOPS in Sisu, so the study plan must be approved and up to date.

The Degree Programme Committee approves final Master’s theses.

A realistic Information Networks thesis workflow

1. Confirm your curriculum and major

If you are in HuDE or SOrTS, use the current 2026–2028 structure. If you are completing a discontinued major, confirm the legacy curriculum and the 2028 transition deadlines in Sisu.

2. Build research-method readiness

Complete appropriate research-method studies before the thesis where the curriculum recommends it. Do not choose a method merely because another thesis used it.

3. Define a researchable problem

Move from a broad interest such as digital services, AI governance, user experience, software systems, organizations or technology policy to a question that can be answered within a 30 ECTS project.

4. Secure appropriate supervision

Agree the topic with a professor who specializes in the area. Clarify the formal supervisor and any instructors.

5. Formalise the thesis in MyStudies

Enter the basic thesis information and complete topic/supervision approval early. Keep the record current if the project changes.

6. Plan around six months of full-time work

Set milestones for literature review, research design, data or system work, analysis, writing, feedback and finalisation. If the thesis cannot be full time, begin earlier.

7. Execute and document the research

Keep clear records of data sources, participant procedures, analytical choices, design decisions, code, system versions, interview protocols or organizational evidence as relevant to the project.

8. Write iteratively

Draft background, method and analysis while the project is active. Use supervisor and instructor feedback to prevent scope drift.

9. Complete the presentation and applicable maturity process

Follow the current SCI MyCourses instructions for the seminar/equivalent presentation and any maturity component. Respect Aalto’s AI prohibition for maturity examinations.

10. Reserve the final review window

Give the supervisor the four-week final review period described on the Information Networks graduation page and recheck the committee/graduation calendar.

11. Submit through the current SCI/MyStudies process

Use MyStudies for the formal final thesis submission for evaluation, approval and archiving, following the current SCI instructions.

Common mistakes to avoid

Ignoring the curriculum transition

A legacy-major student has hard 2028 boundaries. Confirm your curriculum before planning the final year.

Treating a recommended method course as a compulsory thesis method

Method readiness is important, but the thesis method must fit the research question.

Importing another school’s thesis process

Information Networks belongs to the School of Science. Do not assume ELEC, ENG, CHEM or Business thesis procedures apply unless Aalto explicitly says so.

Leaving topic approval until submission

Current graduation guidance requires topic approval before final evaluation. Complete the MyStudies approval earlier.

Forgetting the public-document rule

Company confidentiality and public thesis requirements must be reconciled at the topic-design stage.

Treating the graduation date as the writing deadline

Aalto asks you to leave four weeks for the supervisor’s final review and statement.

Copying a thesis length or citation style from an old example

Current public Information Networks pages do not establish one universal word count, page count, citation style or chapter sequence.

Final checklist

Before final submission, confirm that:

• you know whether you are in HuDE, SOrTS or a legacy major;
• if you are in a legacy major, you have planned around the 31 July and 31 December 2028 transition boundaries;
• your thesis is planned as a 30 ECTS research assignment;
• the topic fits your major or approved study context;
• the supervisor is an eligible professor and instructor arrangements are valid;
• you have adequate research-method preparation;
• the topic and supervision have been approved in MyStudies;
• the project scope is realistic for the six-month full-time baseline;
• the required seminar or equivalent presentation has been planned;
• any maturity component follows current SCI instructions and Aalto’s AI prohibition;
• the final thesis can be public;
• your primary HOPS in Sisu is approved and current;
• you are registered as attending for the relevant graduation stages;
• you have left four weeks for final supervisor review; and
• you have rechecked the live SCI MyCourses and Information Networks graduation instructions.

The core rule

For current Information Networks students, the safest approach is to treat the thesis as a 30 ECTS School of Science research project, begin the process around the start of the second study year, use research methods appropriate to the actual question, formalise topic and supervision through MyStudies, preserve the public-document requirement, and use the authenticated SCI Master’s Thesis workspace for detailed process instructions. Legacy-major students should follow the same thesis framework while planning explicitly around Aalto’s 2028 transition deadlines.