Aalto University IDBM Master’s Thesis Guide for ARTS Students: 2026–2028 Curriculum

Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in International Design Business Management (IDBM) is organised across all six Aalto schools. That multidisciplinary structure is central to the programme, but it does not create one university-wide IDBM thesis process. Aalto’s current IDBM thesis guidance tells students to follow the thesis process of their own home school.

This guide therefore applies only to IDBM students in the School of Arts, Design and Architecture who graduate with the Master of Arts (Art and Design). It does not apply to IDBM students in Business, Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Engineering or Science.

For the current 2026–2028 ARTS route, the core structure is:

• Master’s thesis: 30 ECTS;
• MUO-E0025 Thesis Seminar: 4 ECTS, separate from the thesis;
• IDBM.matr Maturity Test: 0 ECTS;
• thesis work is positioned in the second study year;
• ARTS students follow the ARTS Master’s Thesis Guide and the Department of Design thesis process;
• the thesis is developed through three 10 ECTS parts before final examination.

The 4 ECTS seminar does not make the thesis a 34 ECTS thesis. The maturity test also does not add credits to the thesis.

Where the thesis sits in the IDBM ARTS degree

The IDBM ARTS study option leads to the Master of Arts (Art and Design) degree. It is taught in English, totals 120 ECTS, and is designed for two years of full-time study.

The current curriculum identifies the ARTS field studies as ARTS216 and places the 30 ECTS Master’s thesis, the separate 4 ECTS Thesis Seminar and the 0 ECTS maturity test in the second-year structure.

The important administrative distinction is that IDBM is a shared programme but thesis rules follow the student’s school. For an ARTS student, the controlling public guidance is therefore the IDBM ARTS route, the ARTS Master’s Thesis Guide and the Department of Design process. A Business or technology-school thesis calendar should not be substituted simply because another student is also enrolled in IDBM.

Choose between the Standard and Intensive thesis paths

The Department of Design currently describes two main ways to organise thesis work: the Standard path and the Intensive path.

The Standard path begins in September and targets final submission at the end of May. It is structured for students who work on the thesis alongside other courses, so thesis work is effectively part-time across a longer period.

The Intensive path begins in January and targets final submission at the end of July. It is designed around full-time thesis work. Aalto identifies it as particularly relevant when the autumn has been used for an exchange, internship or intensive minor.

Both paths begin through MUO-E0025 Thesis Seminar and development of a Thesis Proposal. The choice should be made by looking at the whole second-year workload rather than choosing the faster-looking calendar without considering whether full-time thesis work is actually realistic.

For the current published 2026–2027 cycle, the Standard path begins with the seminar on 31 August 2026 and targets final submission on 25 May 2027. The spring 2027 Intensive path begins with the seminar on 11 January 2027 and targets final submission on 31 July 2027. These dates are cycle-sensitive. A later candidate and any student’s real submission plan must recheck the live Department of Design schedule.

Thesis Seminar and the Thesis Proposal

The separate 4 ECTS Thesis Seminar is the structured entry point into the Department of Design thesis process. It supports the transition from an initial idea to a project that can be supervised and completed as a 30 ECTS Master’s thesis.

A useful Thesis Proposal should make the project legible before substantial work begins. Current ARTS guidance expects planning around matters such as:

• the topic and working title;
• the relevant programme context;
• intended supervisor and advisor arrangements;
• the expected extent of the work;
• goals and research or design purpose;
• any artistic or production component;
• scope and boundaries;
• methodological choices;
• thesis language; and
• a realistic timetable.

After the proposal presentations, the supervisor is confirmed according to the topic and the programme or major process. The supervisor then approves the thesis topic and the advisor or advisors.

This makes the proposal stage more than a writing exercise. It is where an interesting idea needs to become a feasible academic project with a clear scope, evidence plan, supervision structure and timeline.

The 30 ECTS thesis is developed in three 10 ECTS parts

Current ARTS and Department of Design guidance divides thesis work into three stages of 10 ECTS each.

Part 1: establish the project

Part 1 focuses on building the proper thesis plan, timeline and conceptual framework. At this stage, the student should be able to explain what is being investigated or developed, why it matters, what body of knowledge or practice frames it, and how the work can be completed within the intended schedule.

This is the right stage to correct an over-broad question. A thesis that tries to solve an entire organisational, technological or design problem usually becomes difficult to examine. A stronger project defines a specific problem, context, unit of analysis or design challenge and makes the intended contribution explicit.

Part 2: develop methods, evidence and production

Part 2 develops the methodological work, preliminary results and any production component. Depending on the project, that could mean collecting or generating evidence, conducting design work, testing concepts, documenting iterations, analysing material or developing the argument that will support the final thesis.

The current public sources do not require one universal research method for every IDBM ARTS thesis. Method should therefore be justified by the actual research or design question, the available evidence and supervisor guidance rather than copied from another thesis merely because the topic appears similar.

After Part 2, the project moves toward the final examination stage. The first two 10 ECTS parts must be approved before final examination.

Part 3: complete, present and submit

Part 3 completes the thesis. It brings together the final research or design work, the written component, any relevant production documentation, the oral presentation and preparation for examination.

The final stage should not be treated as a last-minute formatting period. It includes academic synthesis: making sure the evidence supports the claims, the limitations are visible, the written and production components relate coherently, and the final thesis can be assessed as one complete Master’s-level work.

What kind of thesis can an ARTS student produce?

The ARTS Master’s Thesis Guide allows several forms of Master’s thesis. A thesis may be theoretical, artistic, applied research, a work of art, or a combination of these forms. It may include a production component, but it always includes a written component.

That flexibility is useful in IDBM because a student may be working at the intersection of several professional or academic perspectives. The flexibility does not remove the need for academic rigour. Whatever form the thesis takes, the written work still needs to make the problem, process, evidence, reasoning and contribution understandable to examiners.

Do not choose a method or production format first and force the research question into it. A better sequence is:

1. define the problem precisely;
2. determine what evidence is needed to answer it;
3. choose methods and design practices that can produce or analyse that evidence;
4. agree with the supervisor how any production component relates to the written argument; and
5. document decisions well enough for examination.

Current public IDBM ARTS sources do not impose one universal chapter structure or one universal citation style. The thesis should instead use a coherent structure and academically consistent referencing appropriate to the project and confirmed through supervision.

Recommended written extent: use it as guidance, not a quota

The current IDBM thesis page directly links ARTS students to the ARTS Master’s Thesis Guide. That guide recommends a written component of approximately 25–70 pages. It also describes a minimum of about 50,000 characters and a recommended maximum of about 140,000 characters, with the appropriate extent depending partly on whether the thesis contains a production component.

This is best understood as ARTS guidance, not a mechanical page quota that every thesis must hit regardless of format. A production-heavy project and a predominantly written research thesis may distribute the work differently.

The planning priority should therefore be completeness and proportionality. The written component should be long enough to establish the problem, contextualise it, explain and justify the approach, present the work or evidence, analyse the results and state a defensible conclusion. Adding pages that do not strengthen the academic argument does not improve the thesis merely because the document becomes longer.

Supervisor and advisor arrangements

Current ARTS guidance permits one or two advisors, including external advisors. At least one advisor should have strong knowledge of the thesis field. The supervisor and advisor may also be the same person.

In practical terms, the roles should be clarified early. The formal supervisor is responsible for the academic thesis process, including approval of the topic and advisor arrangements. An advisor may provide more specialised or frequent support for the research, design work, domain context, production or writing.

Before substantial work begins, clarify:

• who is the formal supervisor;
• who the advisor or advisors are;
• what each person will review;
• how often feedback will be sought;
• which decisions require supervisor approval;
• whether an external organisation is involved; and
• how the project will remain feasible within the 30 ECTS scope.

As a rule, an approved ARTS thesis topic is valid for one year. If the topic approval expires before the thesis is submitted, it must be approved again. This is another reason not to formalise an unrealistically broad project and then allow it to drift indefinitely.

MyStudies is the formal thesis record

Current IDBM ARTS administration uses MyStudies for the formal thesis process. Students use it to manage the thesis topic and supervisor/advisor information and later to submit the final thesis for evaluation and archiving.

The formal record should match the actual project. If the title, language, supervision or other key information changes, the student should follow the current ARTS/MyStudies process rather than leaving the record inconsistent until the final upload.

A useful administrative sequence is:

1. develop the Thesis Proposal;
2. confirm supervision through the programme process;
3. complete topic and advisor approvals;
4. keep the MyStudies thesis information current during the work;
5. complete the required presentation and receive examination permission; and
6. use MyStudies for the final evaluation submission.

Turnitin and originality checks

Current ARTS instructions use Turnitin during the thesis process. The student completes an originality check and the advisor checks the report. The current final MyStudies submission also creates originality and AI-detection checks that are available to the supervisor.

An AI-detection score should not be treated as proof of misconduct by itself. More broadly, the purpose of the integrity process is not merely to obtain a low similarity number. Sources, quotations, paraphrases, images, data, design precedents, external contributions and reused material must be handled transparently and accurately.

For a project containing visual, design or production material, authorship and permissions need the same attention as written quotations. If another person or organisation contributed material, make the ownership and permitted use clear before final submission.

The oral presentation is mandatory

The ARTS process requires an oral thesis presentation before the thesis is submitted for examination. The supervisor cannot give final examination permission until the required presentation has been completed.

This makes the presentation a real project milestone. It should be scheduled before the final hand-in period, not arranged only after the PDF is already finished.

Use the presentation to demonstrate the logic of the thesis: the problem, key decisions, evidence or production process, main results, limitations and contribution. It is also a useful final test of coherence. If the argument cannot be explained clearly in a presentation, the written thesis may still need structural work.

Maturity test: the thesis abstract

For the ARTS Master’s degree, the thesis abstract serves as the maturity test. The current curriculum records the maturity test as 0 ECTS, but zero credits does not make it optional.

Students whose language of education is neither Finnish nor Swedish normally write the maturity abstract in English, and the supervisor evaluates its content. Individual language requirements can depend on educational background, so students should follow the current ARTS instructions that apply to their own record.

Aalto’s current AI rule is particularly important here. AI is not permitted in maturity examinations. Because the thesis abstract functions as the maturity test in this route, the assessed maturity abstract must be prepared without prohibited AI assistance.

AI rules for other parts of thesis work can differ according to Aalto, course and supervisor instructions. The student remains responsible for accuracy, originality and appropriate disclosure or attribution wherever AI use is permitted.

Final technical file: PDF/A and under 100 MB

Current IDBM ARTS instructions require final submission through MyStudies as a PDF/A file of less than 100 MB. The Aalto thesis template is available, but current ARTS instructions state that using the template is not mandatory.

This matters especially for image-heavy or production-oriented theses. Do not wait until the final day to discover that fonts, transparency, embedded media or image resolution prevent reliable PDF/A conversion or push the file over the size limit.

A safer technical workflow is to create test archival PDFs during the final writing stage, check visual quality after conversion, and keep high-resolution production material separately where the ARTS archive process permits it.

If the thesis contains a separate artistic or production component, digital documentation can be supplied as relevant media appendix material. The written thesis remains the academic publication and should explain how the production component contributes to the overall project.

The approved thesis is a public document

An approved ARTS Master’s thesis is a public document. Current IDBM ARTS guidance archives the thesis and its metadata in Aaltodoc. A student may choose not to make the full text openly available online immediately, but that does not make the approved academic thesis confidential.

This boundary matters for commissioned, company-linked or otherwise sensitive projects. A thesis may be commissioned, but it remains academic work and is evaluated according to academic criteria. Confidential business information, sensitive personal information or material that cannot become public should therefore be kept out of the thesis submitted for evaluation.

Confidentiality should be planned when the project is designed, not when it is ready to upload. Before relying on sensitive material, clarify what can appear in the public thesis, what needs anonymisation or aggregation, what must remain outside the assessed document, and whether the research question can still be answered convincingly within those constraints.

Examination, grading and Programme Committee approval

The final thesis is graded as a whole on the ARTS 0–5 scale, where 0 is fail and 5 is excellent.

Near the end of the project, the student completes the oral presentation and shows the final work according to the ARTS process. The supervisor gives examination permission after reviewing the thesis and confirming that the presentation requirement has been met.

The thesis is then evaluated by the appointed examiners. The formal grade is approved by the IDBM Programme Committee on the basis of the examination statement and grade proposal. Submission, examiner evaluation and committee approval are therefore separate steps.

The ARTS Master’s Thesis Guide treats the 30 ECTS thesis as roughly six months of full-time study for planning and evaluation purposes. Extensive delay beyond the target agreed with the supervisor can affect the grade. Delays outside the student’s control can be treated as mitigating circumstances. The practical lesson is to agree a credible timetable early and communicate promptly when access, data, health of the project, collaboration or other circumstances materially change the plan.

Current 2027 ARTS thesis submission dates

Current IDBM ARTS guidance lists the following thesis submission dates for 2027:

• 26 May 2027;
• 30 July 2027;
• 17 November 2027; and
• 31 December 2027.

These are administrative dates, not permanent curriculum rules. They are cycle-sensitive and must be checked again before a publication candidate is frozen and again by the student before planning final submission.

The Standard and Intensive path calendars also contain cohort-specific milestones. Use them for project planning, but always confirm the live Thesis Seminar and IDBM/ARTS schedule rather than treating a date copied from an older guide as permanent.

A practical IDBM ARTS workflow

1. Confirm that ARTS is your home-school route

Before using any thesis instructions, confirm that you are in the IDBM Master of Arts (Art and Design) route. The common IDBM identity does not override the school-specific thesis regime.

2. Choose the realistic path

Decide whether the Standard or Intensive path fits your second-year workload. Standard allows thesis work alongside other studies over a longer period. Intensive assumes substantially full-time thesis work from January toward the end-of-July submission period.

3. Enter the Thesis Seminar with a workable direction

Do not wait for the seminar to invent the entire project from zero. Bring a broad but informed problem area, initial reading or contextual research, and an understanding of what access or material may be required.

4. Build and present the Thesis Proposal

Translate the broad idea into a focused proposal. Define the problem, scope, purpose, likely evidence, methodological direction, possible production component and timetable. Use the proposal process to establish appropriate supervision.

5. Complete Part 1

Build the proper thesis plan, timeline and conceptual framework. Test whether the question is realistically answerable and whether the expected evidence or design work can support the intended claims.

6. Complete Part 2

Develop the methods, preliminary results and production where applicable. Document decisions and iterations instead of trying to reconstruct them only when writing the final thesis.

7. Write throughout the project

Do not postpone the written component until the production or data work is complete. Drafting early exposes missing logic, unsupported claims and scope problems while there is still time to fix them.

8. Prepare Part 3 and the oral presentation

Complete the research or design work, integrate the written and production components, address limitations and prepare the required oral presentation. Use feedback to make final revisions before asking for examination permission.

9. Complete integrity and maturity requirements

Run the required Turnitin process, check citations and permissions, and prepare the thesis abstract as the maturity test without prohibited AI assistance.

10. Prepare the archival submission

Create and verify a PDF/A file under 100 MB. Arrange any permitted separate production documentation, confirm that confidential material has not entered the public thesis, and check the current submission deadline.

11. Submit through MyStudies

Use the current MyStudies process for final evaluation and archiving. Then allow for examiner review and the IDBM Programme Committee decision rather than assuming that uploading the file immediately creates the final grade.

Final checklist for IDBM ARTS students

Before final submission, confirm that:

• you are following the IDBM ARTS / Master of Arts (Art and Design) route;
• the thesis itself is 30 ECTS;
• the separate MUO-E0025 Thesis Seminar is 4 ECTS;
• the IDBM.matr maturity test is 0 ECTS;
• your Standard or Intensive path is based on the current cohort schedule;
• the Thesis Proposal, topic, supervisor and advisor arrangements have been handled through the current process;
• Parts 1 and 2 have been approved as required before final examination;
• your methods and any production component are justified by the actual thesis question;
• the written component is appropriately scoped, using the ARTS 25–70-page recommendation as guidance rather than a mechanical quota;
• the MyStudies record is accurate;
• Turnitin and originality requirements have been completed;
• the mandatory oral presentation has been completed;
• you have examination permission;
• the maturity-test abstract was prepared without prohibited AI use;
• citations, images, design material and external contributions are properly documented;
• confidential material has not been placed in the public thesis;
• the final file is PDF/A and under 100 MB;
• any separate production documentation is prepared appropriately;
• the live ARTS/IDBM thesis deadline has been rechecked; and
• you understand that examiner review and IDBM Programme Committee approval follow submission.

Final planning principle

For a current 2026–2028 IDBM ARTS student, the secure thesis framework is: 30 ECTS thesis + separate 4 ECTS MUO-E0025 Thesis Seminar + 0 ECTS maturity test, completed through the Department of Design Standard or Intensive process, developed in three 10 ECTS thesis parts, administered through MyStudies, checked through the current integrity workflow, presented orally before examination, submitted as a PDF/A under 100 MB, and approved through the IDBM Programme Committee.

The most important boundary is the home school. IDBM is multidisciplinary, but an ARTS thesis remains an ARTS thesis. Use the shared programme for intellectual context, while using the ARTS and Department of Design process for the actual thesis administration, examination and submission.