Aalto University Life Science Technologies Biosystems and Biomaterials Engineering Master’s Thesis Guide: Legacy BBE Route

The Biosystems and Biomaterials Engineering (BBE) major is now a legacy route inside Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in Life Science Technologies. It is no longer part of the five-major current intake architecture, but existing students can still complete the major if they graduate by 31 July 2028. Aalto’s current curriculum says students who have not completed the major by that deadline will be transferred to the Master’s Programme in Biotechnology unless they move to another eligible LifeTech major.

That transition makes thesis planning unusually time-sensitive. BBE students do not use the same MyCourses-only route as the five current LifeTech majors. Aalto still publishes a separate School of Chemical Engineering-style thesis process for BBE.

The central framework is: 30 ECTS thesis, approximately 800 hours / about five months, supervising professor plus advisor(s), MyStudies topic/supervision approval, research proposal and kick-off meeting, finished-thesis presentation before evaluation, thesis abstract as maturity test, final PDF/A submission through MyStudies, Aaltodoc archiving, public-document status and CHEM Degree Programme Committee approval.

Why the BBE thesis route is still separate

BBE remains part of Life Science Technologies only as a transitioning legacy major. The current 2026–2028 LifeTech curriculum no longer lists it among the five active majors and states that the major will be removed on 1 August 2028. Existing students must graduate with BBE by 31 July 2028.

The thesis itself remains 30 ECTS. The public BBE instructions describe a full CHEM-style process rather than the authenticated SCI route used by BIOINFO, BME, BIOSENS, Complex Systems and Human Neuroscience and Technology.

For a BBE student, that distinction controls practical decisions: how the supervisor and advisor roles are organised, use of a research proposal and kick-off, the approximately 800-hour workload model, presentation timing, maturity test, PDF/A/Aaltodoc workflow and CHEM committee approval calendar.

Because the major is closing, students should plan thesis approval and graduation together rather than assuming the route can continue indefinitely beyond the 2028 transition date.

Before you start: make sure the thesis can formally begin

A CHEM thesis should not begin as an informal company project that is only later converted into a university thesis. The academic scope and supervision need to be established from the beginning.

Before the starting application, current CHEM guidance expects the student to be enrolled as attending, to have the bachelor’s degree approved, to have an approved personal study plan for the master’s degree, and to have completed any complementary studies that were assigned on admission.

The first academic task is to identify a suitable topic and supervising professor. Aalto recommends contacting professors and research groups rather than waiting passively for an ideal advertised topic. A thesis may be connected to a company, another organisation, an Aalto research group or another suitable setting, but the topic still needs to satisfy the academic requirements of the degree.

If the proposed supervisor is not from the School of Chemical Engineering, the professor responsible for the major must confirm that the topic is connected to the student’s advanced studies.

This legacy-major and programme connection is particularly important for LifeTech BBE, because a multidisciplinary business or design topic is not automatically acceptable as a CHEM thesis simply because it fits the broader LifeTech BBE theme. The topic must also make academic sense within the student’s technology degree and approved study structure.

MyStudies approval: topic, language, supervisor and advisors

The thesis starting information is submitted through the MyStudies Thesis tab. The application identifies the thesis topic, thesis language, supervisor and advisor or advisors.

The supervisor approves the topic and thesis language and appoints one or two thesis advisors. The Programme Director then approves the supervisor. Aalto warns that the supervisor and programme-level approval process may take up to four weeks, so this administrative lead time should be built into the project plan.

CHEM also gives practical rules for the thesis title. Company and brand names should not appear in the topic/title, and non-standard abbreviations should be avoided. The title can later be refined, but material changes to the topic must be agreed with the supervisor.

The thesis may be written in Finnish, Swedish or English. LifeTech BBE students normally work in English, but the formal language choice is part of the MyStudies thesis record and has consequences for degree-certificate language.

Understand the difference between supervisor and advisor

The thesis supervisor and thesis advisor are not interchangeable roles.

CHEM requires one or two advisors. An advisor should be an expert in the thesis field and must hold at least a master’s degree. In a company thesis, the advisor often represents the collaborating organisation. An Aalto researcher or doctoral student with suitable subject expertise may also act as an advisor.

The advisor typically gives practical, frequent guidance during day-to-day thesis work and may comment on the manuscript. The advisor does not formally grade the thesis.

The supervisor carries the academic responsibility for topic suitability and for ensuring that the research proposal gives the student a viable framework for completing a master’s-level project. Contact with the supervisor is often especially important at the beginning and end, while advisor contact is normally more frequent throughout execution.

At the start, agree who will comment on what, how often progress is reported, who needs to approve changes, and how much time will be left for final supervisor review. CHEM recommends allowing the supervisor roughly two to three weeks to read and comment on a near-final manuscript.

Use the kick-off meeting to turn the topic into a real research project

After the topic is considered suitable, a kick-off meeting is arranged. The student should invite the supervisor, advisor or advisors, and where relevant a representative of the collaborating company or organisation.

This meeting should not be treated as a formality. It is the point at which the parties can agree the schedule, objectives, funding arrangements, working practices and other practical constraints.

The student develops a research proposal in cooperation with the supervisor and advisor(s). Current CHEM guidance expects the proposal to address matters such as:

• background and theoretical framework;
• the research problem;
• the main objective and interim objectives;
• research methods;
• timetable;
• possible budget;
• analysis and synthesis; and
• intended conclusions.

Aalto notes that it is often useful to express the main objective as a question. The research questions should make clear what the work is actually trying to answer.

This is the right point to challenge an over-broad LifeTech BBE topic. A project about “sustainable innovation”, “digital transformation” or “new business models” is not yet a thesis design. The proposal needs to identify a tractable problem, an evidence strategy and a scope that can be completed within approximately 800 hours.

The student and supervisor should also agree a thesis deadline. CHEM states that the deadline should be no later than one year from the starting date, even though the normal working model is much shorter.

The five-month CHEM model: useful planning guidance, not a rigid calendar

Aalto publishes a model workflow for CHEM thesis work. It is useful for planning, but it should not be treated as a compulsory universal timetable for every LifeTech BBE project.

The model broadly places:

1. topic definition and kick-off at the start;
2. literature acquisition in month 1;
3. experimental or equivalent substantive work mainly in months 2–3;
4. results collection and writing of the experimental part around month 4;
5. completion of the report and supervisor review around month 5; and
6. presentation and evaluation scheduling towards the end of the project.

Aalto itself notes that thesis projects, students, supervisors and advisors differ, so the manuscript process may depart from this model. The safer approach is to agree realistic project-specific deadlines early and keep them visible throughout the work.

For an LifeTech BBE student, “experimental work” should also be interpreted carefully. The method depends on the programme, topic and supervisor. CHEM’s current FAQ says that a literature-review-only thesis is generally not possible, while modelling or another non-laboratory approach may be possible depending on the research problem. Do not assume either that every thesis must be a laboratory experiment or that a purely conceptual essay will automatically meet the CHEM thesis requirement.

Structure the report around the research problem

CHEM gives unusually concrete practical guidance for the thesis report. Its current public instructions describe a typical structure containing:

• Introduction;
• Literature review;
• Experimental;
• Results and discussion;
• Conclusions;
• References; and
• Appendices.

The headings are useful, but the academic logic behind them matters more than mechanically copying a template.

The Introduction should establish the motivation, focus, aims and relevant hypotheses or questions. The Literature review should help solve the research question and should be critical and analytical rather than a catalogue of previous studies. Where experimental methods are used, the Experimental section should describe them accurately enough to support repeatability. Results and discussion should focus on the main results, address reliability and error, and connect findings to earlier literature. Conclusions should return directly to the research question and may discuss novelty and future research.

For an interdisciplinary LifeTech BBE topic, this structure can still work even when business, design and technology perspectives intersect. The main requirement is coherence: the theory, method, evidence and conclusions must answer the same research problem.

Write while the project is running, not after it ends

CHEM recommends engaging with written material early. That is good advice for both experimental and non-experimental projects.

Do not wait until data collection, modelling, prototyping or company work is complete before beginning the literature review and method documentation. Early writing exposes weak definitions, missing evidence and scope drift while there is still time to correct the research plan.

A practical rhythm is to maintain a live literature matrix, method log, decision record and results notebook during the project. That makes the final report more defensible because claims can be traced back to evidence and decisions rather than reconstructed from memory.

Advisor feedback should be used iteratively. Once the student and advisor believe the manuscript is close to the expected level, the supervisor performs the more comprehensive academic review before final submission.

The finished-thesis presentation is mandatory before evaluation

CHEM requires a presentation of the finished thesis before approval and evaluation.

Unlike some other LifeTech BBE routes, CHEM does not publish one fixed oral-presentation seminar calendar. The student agrees the time and format of the presentation with the thesis supervisor. The advisor or advisors are recommended to attend where possible.

This means presentation planning belongs inside the thesis schedule. Do not finish the manuscript on the application deadline and only then try to arrange the presentation. The presentation must occur before the thesis goes forward for approval and evaluation.

Use the presentation as a final test of the research argument. You should be able to explain the problem, why it matters, the approach, the strongest findings, limitations and the contribution without relying on the audience to infer how the pieces fit together.

The thesis abstract is also the maturity test

A CHEM master’s student must complete a maturity test before thesis approval. Since 1 August 2021, the thesis abstract is used as the maturity test for master’s degrees in the School of Chemical Engineering.

The supervisor approves the content. The maturity test is graded pass/fail and does not change the thesis grade.

The language requirement depends on the student’s educational background. Students who still need to demonstrate Finnish or Swedish proficiency may require a language check and should allow additional processing time. International students also have a maturity-test requirement and commonly write it in English when they do not need the Finnish/Swedish language demonstration.

Aalto’s current AI guidance adds an important restriction: AI is prohibited in maturity examinations. Because the thesis abstract functions as the CHEM maturity test, students should prepare the assessed maturity abstract without prohibited AI assistance. Rules for other uses of AI in thesis work can differ, but responsibility for the submitted work remains with the student.

Turnitin and final MyStudies submission

Turnitin should be understood as part of the writing process, not merely as a final policing tool. Aalto allows students and supervisors to use Turnitin proactively on drafts, and Turnitin is a mandatory part of the thesis submission process.

For the CHEM final process, the final thesis submitted through MyStudies is automatically checked and the Turnitin report becomes available to the supervisor.

A similarity percentage is not a plagiarism verdict. Aalto explicitly states that Turnitin does not itself determine whether plagiarism occurred, and its AI-detection output also requires human interpretation. The practical goal is transparent academic writing: correct quotation, paraphrasing, referencing, data attribution and documentation of external contributions.

Before final submission, the student needs permission from the supervisor. The MyStudies upload is the final version used for grading, so it should not be treated as a draft submission.

PDF/A, Aaltodoc and the public nature of the thesis

CHEM master’s theses are stored electronically. The archival thesis copy must be in PDF/A format.

Aaltodoc publishes thesis metadata and the abstract, while the approved full text is archived. Students may consent to online publication of the full thesis and CHEM allows online publication to be postponed for up to one year from thesis approval in appropriate circumstances.

That postponement does not make the thesis confidential. Aalto theses are public documents. If the project contains commercial secrets, confidential technical information, sensitive personal data or patent-sensitive material, those issues must be managed before final writing. Secret material that cannot be public must not simply be placed inside the evaluated thesis and hidden by refusing online publication.

This is particularly important for company-based LifeTech BBE projects. The public thesis should still contain enough evidence and analysis to justify the academic conclusions without exposing material that cannot lawfully or contractually be disclosed.

How the LifeTech BBE thesis is evaluated

The supervisor prepares the formal evaluation report and proposes a grade, while also requesting input from the advisor or advisors. The advisor’s knowledge of the student’s day-to-day work can therefore inform the supervisor, even though the advisor does not formally grade the thesis.

CHEM evaluation covers the whole thesis project, not only the final report. The student’s development, project execution and written communication are part of the assessment.

Aalto also makes an important fairness distinction: only factors that depend on the student should affect grading. A delay caused by matters outside the student’s control, such as unavailable equipment or an external production stoppage, should not reduce the grade merely because the calendar became longer.

The student remains the author. Supervisors and advisors may guide, comment and recommend improvements, but they should not rewrite the thesis for the student.

The thesis evaluation is approved through the CHEM Degree Programme Committee.

After approval, the submitted thesis itself cannot simply be edited and resubmitted. Later discovered errors are handled through an approved errata page attached to the Aaltodoc record.

Current BBE/CHEM thesis-approval dates

The BBE thesis uses the CHEM Degree Programme Committee schedule. The current public graduation page distinguishes ordinary graduation dates from dates on which the committee can actually approve a new thesis.

For the spring/summer 2027 cycle, thesis-approval application dates with a CHEM committee meeting are:

• 31 December 2026 → committee 26 January 2027;
• 17 February 2027 → committee 9 March;
• 21 April 2027 → committee 18 May;
• 26 May 2027 → committee 15 June;
• 30 July 2027 → committee 24 August.

The dates 27 January, 24 March and 23 June 2027 are marked as graduation-only dates with no CHEM committee meeting. A student using one of those dates must therefore have the thesis approved earlier.

The transition deadline adds a second planning layer: BBE students must still complete the major by 31 July 2028. Recheck both the live BBE graduation page and the 2028 transition rules before relying on a final schedule.

Plan backwards from the 31 July 2028 major deadline

BBE is unusual because the thesis must be planned against both the normal CHEM approval calendar and the major’s closure deadline. If the thesis slips beyond the period in which BBE can be completed, the student may no longer be able to graduate under the same major structure.

Build a backward plan that includes topic approval, research proposal/kick-off, roughly 800 hours of work, advisor feedback, the supervisor’s 2–3 week manuscript review, finished-thesis presentation, maturity requirement, final MyStudies submission, a CHEM committee meeting and the graduation application.

Do not target 31 July 2028 as though it were simply the day to upload a first final draft. The thesis needs enough administrative and academic lead time to be approved within the valid BBE route.

A practical LifeTech BBE thesis workflow

A reliable workflow is:

1. confirm CHEM is your correct LifeTech BBE legacy-major route in Sisu;
2. make sure attendance, BSc, study-plan and complementary-study requirements are in order;
3. identify a suitable topic and supervising professor;
4. clarify programme/advanced-study fit, particularly if the supervisor is outside CHEM;
5. establish one or two qualified advisors;
6. submit the MyStudies starting information for topic, language, supervisor and advisors;
7. run the kick-off meeting and agree roles, timetable and working practices;
8. build and approve a focused research proposal;
9. execute the approximately 800-hour project while writing continuously;
10. use advisor feedback frequently and reserve adequate supervisor review time;
11. complete the finished-thesis presentation before evaluation;
12. prepare the abstract/maturity test under the applicable language and AI rules;
13. obtain supervisor permission for final submission;
14. submit the final PDF/A thesis through MyStudies and complete Turnitin processing;
15. follow the correct CHEM Degree Programme Committee approval deadline; and
16. keep confidential material outside the evaluated public thesis.

Final checklist

Before submitting, confirm that:

• you are following the LifeTech BBE legacy-major process;
• the thesis is 30 ECTS and scoped to approximately 800 hours;
• the project is realistically planned around the normal five-month model;
• the supervisor and one/two advisors are correctly established;
• the advisor meets the minimum qualification requirement;
• topic, language, supervisor and advisors have been handled through MyStudies;
• prerequisites and the approved Sisu study plan are in order;
• the research proposal clearly defines problem, objectives, method and timetable;
• the report structure supports the research problem rather than mechanically filling sections;
• sources, data, images and external contributions are documented transparently;
• supervisor review time has been reserved before the submission deadline;
• the finished-thesis presentation has been completed;
• the abstract/maturity test complies with the applicable language and AI rules;
• supervisor permission for final submission has been obtained;
• the final file is the correct PDF/A version;
• Turnitin requirements are completed;
• confidential material is not included in the evaluated public thesis;
• the current LifeTech BBE thesis-approval deadline has been rechecked; and
• you understand that the submitted final thesis cannot later be silently replaced, with corrections handled through the formal errata process.

Final planning principle

For an LifeTech BBE student, the safest thesis plan is to treat the work as a 30 ECTS, approximately 800-hour academic project with a five-month execution model, not as an open-ended company assignment. Establish the academic topic and supervision early, use the kick-off and research proposal to control scope, keep the advisor involved throughout the project, reserve meaningful supervisor review time, complete the presentation and maturity requirement before approval, and use the CHEM Degree Programme Committee calendar rather than another technology school’s deadlines.

LifeTech BBE may be multidisciplinary, but the thesis remains governed by the School of Chemical Engineering process for CHEM students. That school-specific boundary is the key to planning the project correctly.