Aalto University Mechanical Engineering Master’s Thesis Guide: 30 ECTS Thesis, Public Seminar and School of Engineering Process

Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in Mechanical Engineering is a 120 ECTS Master of Science (Technology) programme in the School of Engineering. The current 2026–2028 curriculum contains seven majors: Arctic Marine Technology, Engineering Materials, Marine Technology, Mechatronics, Product Development, Production Engineering, and Solid Mechanics.

Those majors lead to very different technical thesis topics, but they do not currently have seven different thesis administrations. Aalto publishes one shared Mechanical Engineering thesis process, supplemented by the common School of Engineering Master’s Thesis Guidelines.

For current students, the central structure is:

• EME.thes Master's Thesis: 30 ECTS;
• ENG.matr Maturity Test: 0 ECTS;
• recommended thesis period: second-year spring;
• expected workload: about 800 hours / six months of full-time work;
• written thesis: individual work, not a pair or group thesis;
• supervision: one eligible School of Engineering supervisor and normally one or two advisors;
• official topic and supervisor approval: MyStudies;
• thesis presentation: a compulsory public Mechanical Engineering seminar;
• maturity requirement: the thesis abstract serves as the maturity essay; and
• final approval and grading: through the Degree Programme Committee under the School of Engineering 0–5 evaluation framework.

This guide is based on Aalto’s current Mechanical Engineering curriculum and thesis pages, the School of Engineering Master’s Thesis Guidelines and evaluation criteria, the current 2027 graduation timetable, and university-wide rules for public theses, AI use and Turnitin, all checked on 30 August 2026.

One thesis process across seven Mechanical Engineering majors

The current programme has seven majors: Arctic Marine Technology, Engineering Materials, Marine Technology, Mechatronics, Product Development, Production Engineering and Solid Mechanics. Their technical content differs substantially, but Aalto places all seven inside the same Mechanical Engineering degree structure and publishes the same programme-level thesis process for them.

That means a Marine Technology student and a Product Development student may use very different theories, data and research methods, while still following the same administrative sequence for topic approval, supervision, presentation, maturity, final submission and grading.

A separate guide for each major would therefore duplicate the same School of Engineering process and risk implying that Aalto has major-specific administrative thesis rules that it does not currently publish.

Where the thesis sits in the degree

Mechanical Engineering is a 120 ECTS degree. The current structure contains 60 ECTS of major studies, 30 ECTS of electives and the 30 ECTS master’s thesis.

The thesis course code in the current curriculum is EME.thes. The separate maturity component is ENG.matr at 0 ECTS. The 30 ECTS thesis entity also includes the presentation and maturity requirement under School of Engineering rules.

Aalto recommends the second-year spring semester for the thesis project and advises students to start searching for a suitable topic well before that period. This timing makes sense because the School of Engineering guidance expects the student to have completed the bachelor’s degree and to have sufficient advanced knowledge from the major before beginning the thesis.

The written thesis must be individual

One important School of Engineering rule is easy to miss when comparing Aalto programmes: the written master’s thesis cannot be a pair or group thesis. The School of Engineering and Degree Programme Committee policy requires the written work to be completed individually.

Collaboration is still possible around the thesis. A student may work in a research group, contribute to a larger company project, use shared experimental infrastructure or discuss closely related problems with other researchers. But the research question, analysis, written thesis and demonstrated independent contribution must remain the student’s own.

This differs from some School of Business programmes where pair theses may be allowed. Those BIZ rules should not be imported into Mechanical Engineering.

Plan for about 800 hours and six months of full-time work

The School of Engineering describes the 30 ECTS master’s thesis as approximately 800 hours, corresponding to about six months of full-time study.

The six-month figure is a planning baseline, not a promise that every project will fit neatly into six calendar months. Experimental work, laboratory access, prototype development, simulation runs, industrial data access, field work or delayed external inputs can affect the calendar.

However, schedule management is itself relevant to evaluation. Aalto’s evaluation guidance states that significantly exceeding the agreed schedule may lower the grade, while delays outside the student’s control can be treated as extenuating circumstances.

The thesis deadline agreed with the supervisor may be set no later than one year from approval of the topic. That is an outer administrative limit, not the recommended normal duration. The recommended working model remains roughly six months.

Finding a thesis topic and supervisor

Mechanical Engineering gives students two main routes into a thesis topic. Students may apply for a ready-made topic offered through the department, or they may propose their own topic to a suitable supervisor.

Aalto’s Mechanical Engineering page points students to an Aalto-user-only wiki for ready-made topics. Because that list is login-restricted and changes over time, this guide does not reproduce individual topic advertisements.

The practical sequence is:

1. identify an area related to your major and advanced studies;
2. contact a possible supervisor about either a ready-made topic or your own proposal;
3. agree the topic in substance with the supervising academic; and
4. apply for official thesis topic and supervisor approval in MyStudies.

If a student has difficulty finding a supervisor, the School of Engineering guide allows a topic-approval application without supervisor information; the programme director or head of major can then appoint a supervisor.

Who can supervise and advise the thesis

Current School of Engineering rules permit the following academic roles to supervise master’s theses: a Professor, Adjunct Professor, Professor of Practice, Senior University Lecturer or Principal University Lecturer, subject to the School’s current appointment rules.

The thesis may also have one or two advisors. An advisor must hold at least a master’s degree. Advisors are often technical experts from a company or organisation involved in the project, but they may also be Aalto researchers, doctoral students or university teachers specialising in the thesis area.

The supervisor and advisor roles are related but not identical. The supervisor is responsible for the academic suitability of the thesis and for ensuring that School of Engineering requirements are met. An advisor can provide more frequent technical or operational guidance during the project.

Apply for topic approval in MyStudies

Before completing the MyStudies topic-approval form, the student should already have agreed the topic in writing with the supervisor and advisor or advisors.

The MyStudies application includes the thesis topic, supervisor, advisor information and thesis language. The student’s personal study plan and degree structure are also checked by the time thesis topic approval is requested.

Aalto’s School of Engineering guide gives several useful topic-formulation rules. It recommends avoiding company or brand names and abbreviations in the official title, and the official thesis topic should not be phrased as a question.

Minor refinements to an approved topic are possible with supervisor agreement. A change of supervisor is more consequential and requires a new supervisor application.

Write a research proposal before full execution

Once the topic is considered suitable, Aalto expects a research proposal. This is one of the most useful documents in the whole process because it turns an interesting engineering problem into an executable six-month project.

The proposal should cover the background and theoretical framework, the research problem or questions, the main and interim objectives, research methods, timetable and any relevant budget.

The proposal can be reviewed in a kick-off meeting with the supervisor and advisor. Interim goals are particularly useful in Mechanical Engineering projects because they make it possible to separate literature work, model or prototype development, experiments, analysis and writing into manageable milestones.

The actual execution of the thesis starts after the supervisor and advisor have approved the proposal.

Keep research design aligned with the major

The seven majors should not be forced into one universal thesis methodology. A Solid Mechanics thesis may be driven by analytical or numerical modelling. A Production Engineering thesis may focus on manufacturing systems or process analysis. Mechatronics may involve sensing, control, hardware and experiments. Product Development may require design research, prototyping or mixed technical evidence. Marine and Arctic topics may depend on simulation, experiments or field-relevant engineering models.

The common requirement is not a particular method. It is that the research question, theoretical background, evidence, method and conclusions are logically aligned and appropriate for the engineering problem.

Aalto’s evaluation criteria explicitly consider command of the topic, use of relevant literature, justified methods, well-founded conclusions, contribution to knowledge, thesis structure, presentation and language.

Supervisor review and correction rounds need real calendar time

Students should not plan to finish the thesis on the same day they finish the first complete manuscript. The School of Engineering guide says the supervisor normally examines the first manuscript thoroughly and provides feedback on required corrections.

Aalto states that this examination process usually takes up to four weeks, and that another two to three weeks should be reserved for corrections and changes. An advisor may review the manuscript in parallel, particularly from the perspective of an external organisation’s objectives.

This does not mean every thesis needs exactly seven additional weeks. It means the student should protect a realistic review window rather than assuming that final submission follows immediately after the first complete draft.

Repeated correction rounds can also extend the process, so the aim should be to send the supervisor a manuscript that is as close to final as reasonably possible.

The public Mechanical Engineering thesis seminar is compulsory

Mechanical Engineering has a clear programme-specific presentation rule. Aalto states that presentation of the thesis in a public seminar is an integrated and compulsory element of the M.Sc. (Tech.) graduation process.

The department arranges regular seminars. Detailed seminar-home instructions and schedules are available through an Aalto-user-only wiki, so this guide does not invent dates or a fixed presentation format that is not stated on the public page.

Under the School of Engineering guide, the finished-thesis presentation or equivalent event must be held no later than the final day on which the student submits the thesis approval application.

That means the presentation should be treated as a graduation dependency, not as an optional academic extra to be organised after submission.

The thesis abstract serves as the maturity essay

The master’s thesis includes a maturity requirement. At the School of Engineering, the thesis abstract serves as the maturity essay, so students do not normally create a separate long maturity essay document for the master’s thesis process.

The supervisor checks whether the abstract demonstrates sufficient familiarity with the thesis field. Language-related maturity requirements can depend on the student’s educational background and the language in which earlier language proficiency was demonstrated.

Aalto’s current AI guidance is especially important here: language models are not permitted in the maturity test. Because the thesis abstract performs the maturity-test function in this process, students should follow the applicable maturity rules when preparing the assessed abstract.

Use Turnitin during writing, not only at the end

Aalto states that Turnitin is a mandatory part of the thesis submission process, but it can also be used proactively while drafting.

The useful purpose of a similarity report is to identify places where quotation, paraphrasing or citation may need attention. A similarity percentage does not itself prove plagiarism. Common phrases, references and properly cited material can also generate matches.

Aalto also warns against treating AI-detection output as conclusive proof of misconduct. AI reports have limitations and do not verify whether references are accurate. Students remain responsible for the originality, accuracy and integrity of the final thesis regardless of the tools used during writing.

Final submission, PDF/A and Aaltodoc

School of Engineering master’s theses are submitted electronically. The final thesis enters the approval and archiving workflow through MyStudies and is stored through Aaltodoc.

The archival thesis file must be PDF/A. Students should therefore test PDF/A conversion before the deadline rather than discovering formatting or validation problems during final submission.

The final submitted version matters because it becomes the formal evaluated and archived thesis. Any appendices or other material included in the thesis need to be appropriate for a public academic document.

The thesis is public, including commissioned theses

Aalto master’s theses are public documents. The thesis submitted for evaluation may not contain secret or confidential information.

This is particularly important for company-sponsored Mechanical Engineering theses. Commercial secrets and other restricted information must be kept in background material outside the evaluated thesis. A commissioning organisation cannot make the evaluated academic thesis confidential simply through a private agreement.

Aaltodoc publishes thesis metadata and, since 1 January 2024, the abstract openly. Full-text online publication requires the author’s consent. Refusing open full-text publication does not make the thesis confidential; the thesis remains a public document and may still be provided through Aalto’s public-document process.

Confidentiality therefore needs to be designed into the project before data collection and writing, not solved at the final submission stage.

How Mechanical Engineering theses are graded

The School of Engineering uses the 0–5 scale:

• 0: fail;
• 1: passable;
• 2: satisfactory;
• 3: good;
• 4: very good; and
• 5: excellent.

The evaluation framework considers the definition of research scope and goals, command of the topic and literature, methods and conclusions, contribution to knowledge and thesis structure, and presentation and language.

The supervisor evaluates the complete submitted thesis and writes an examiner statement with a proposed grade for the Degree Programme Committee. The committee makes the formal decision on approval and grading. For proposed grades 1, 5 or fail, School of Engineering policy requires an additional qualified academic consultation.

A thesis submitted for evaluation should be evaluated within four weeks. Students who disagree with the final thesis grade have a formal appeal route to the Aalto University Academic Appeals Board within the applicable 14-day period.

Current 2027 Mechanical Engineering submission dates

The current School of Engineering graduation timetable publishes these 2027 dates as the final dates to apply for graduation and submit the thesis and maturity essay:

• 27 January 2027
• 17 February 2027
• 24 March 2027
• 21 April 2027
• 26 May 2027
• 30 July 2027
• 25 August 2027
• 22 September 2027
• 20 October 2027
• 17 November 2027
• 31 December 2027

There is an important June exception. 23 June 2027 is a graduation date, but no thesis or maturity essay may be submitted for examination in June. Students targeting June graduation must submit the thesis and maturity essay according to the May timetable.

These dates are cycle-sensitive. Always recheck the live Mechanical Engineering and School of Engineering pages before committing to a final graduation schedule.

A practical Mechanical Engineering thesis workflow

A robust sequence for current students is:

1. Complete the bachelor’s degree and most relevant first-year master’s studies. Build enough major knowledge to start independent research.
2. Start topic searching well before second-year spring. Review department topics and contact suitable supervising academics.
3. Choose a topic related to the major. Either accept a ready-made research topic or shape your own proposal with a supervisor.
4. Agree the topic, supervisor and advisor structure. Remember that the written thesis itself must remain individual.
5. Apply in MyStudies. Record the topic, language, supervisor and advisor information and ensure the study plan is in order.
6. Prepare the research proposal. Define the problem, theory, research question, methods, milestones, timetable and budget where relevant.
7. Protect the six-month / 800-hour scope. Avoid an oversized project that cannot be completed or evaluated on time.
8. Execute the research and write continuously. Do not postpone the literature, methods and reporting until experiments or modelling are finished.
9. Use Turnitin proactively. Resolve citation and paraphrasing problems before the final archival version.
10. Plan the supervisor review window. Leave time for the up-to-four-week review and corrections rather than treating the first complete draft as submission-ready.
11. Complete the compulsory public Mechanical Engineering seminar. It must be finished by the thesis-approval application deadline.
12. Prepare the abstract as the maturity essay. Follow the applicable language and AI restrictions.
13. Create and validate the final PDF/A. Make sure the evaluated thesis contains no confidential material.
14. Submit through MyStudies by a current deadline. If aiming for June graduation, use the May thesis timetable.
15. Wait for supervisor evaluation and Degree Programme Committee decision. The committee formally approves and grades the thesis.

Final checklist

Before submission, confirm that:

• you are following the current Mechanical Engineering 2026–2028 curriculum;
• your major is one of the seven current majors and you are using the shared programme thesis route;
• EME.thes is treated as a 30 ECTS individual thesis and ENG.matr as the separate 0 ECTS maturity component;
• your bachelor’s degree was completed before beginning the thesis;
• your topic is related to your advanced studies and was agreed with an eligible supervisor;
• the supervisor and advisor information is approved through MyStudies;
• the official topic avoids unnecessary company names, abbreviations and question-form wording;
• a research proposal defines the problem, objectives, methods and schedule;
• the project is scoped around approximately 800 hours / six months full-time;
• supervisor review and correction time are included in the calendar;
• the compulsory public Mechanical Engineering thesis seminar has been completed by the approval-application deadline;
• the abstract satisfies the maturity-test requirement and prohibited AI assistance was not used for that assessed maturity component;
• Turnitin and source attribution have been checked;
• the final thesis contains no secret or confidential information;
• the archived file is valid PDF/A;
• the thesis is ready for evaluation under the School of Engineering 0–5 criteria; and
• the current submission/graduation dates have been rechecked on Aalto’s live pages.

The main planning rule is simple: Mechanical Engineering uses one shared School of Engineering thesis process across all seven majors, but the research design must still fit the technical field of the chosen major. Keep the thesis individual, control the six-month scope, build in review time, complete the compulsory public seminar, and treat MyStudies approval, maturity and final PDF/A submission as part of the thesis rather than last-minute administration.