Aalto University Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering Master’s Thesis Guide: 30 ECTS Thesis, 5 ECTS Thesis Seminar and SPT Presentation Process

Aalto University’s Master’s Programme in Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering (SPT) is a 120 ECTS Master of Science (Technology) programme in the School of Engineering. The current 2026–2028 curriculum uses one shared administrative thesis route for students who focus more on spatial and land-use planning, transportation engineering, or an integrated profile across the two fields.

The current degree structure is 60 ECTS major studies + 30 ECTS master’s thesis + 30 ECTS elective studies. Inside the 60 ECTS major, SPT-E1061 Thesis Seminar is a compulsory 5 ECTS second-year course. The actual thesis is the separate BE.thes Master's Thesis, 30 ECTS, and ENG.matr Maturity Test is 0 ECTS.

That distinction matters. The thesis seminar does not make the thesis 35 ECTS. It is a separate compulsory major-course component that supports the second-year thesis process.

For the current SPT route, the main thesis controls are:

• the written thesis is an individual academic work;
• the normal workload baseline is about six months of full-time work, approximately 800 hours under School of Engineering guidance;
• students should start topic searching well before the recommended second-year spring thesis period;
• the thesis has an authorised supervisor and may have one or two advisors;
• topic and supervision approval are handled through MyStudies;
• the ENG process includes a research proposal;
• the completed thesis must be presented before final approval;
• SPT publishes both a staff-hosted presentation format and an agreed public-video alternative;
• the thesis abstract serves as the maturity essay;
• the final thesis is submitted through MyStudies as PDF/A;
• School of Engineering theses use the 0–5 grading scale; and
• formal approval and grading are decided by the Degree Programme Committee.

The detailed ENG Master’s Thesis Guide remains in authenticated MyCourses. This article uses current public Aalto material and does not reconstruct login-only forms or model schedules.

Where the thesis fits in the current SPT degree

The current major code is ENG26. The 2026–2028 major contains 35 ECTS compulsory studies and 25 ECTS chosen advanced studies, covering planning systems, plangineering, planning theory, land-use and transport policy, planning studio and the 5 ECTS thesis seminar. Students can emphasise planning, transportation engineering or an integrated profile, but all use the same SPT/ENG thesis administration.

The recommended timetable says most major studies should be completed during the first academic year, except the thesis seminar. The second year then combines electives with thesis work, and the second-year spring should be reserved primarily for the thesis.

Understand the separate 5 ECTS Thesis Seminar

SPT-E1061 Thesis Seminar is a 5 ECTS compulsory course in the major, currently taught across periods I–V in the second study year. It is not another name for the 30 ECTS thesis and it is not added to BE.thes to create a 35 ECTS thesis.

This matters for study planning and for how students describe their degree structure. The thesis seminar supports thesis-related academic work, communication and progression within the major. The thesis itself remains the separate 30 ECTS assessed research project.

Students should therefore make sure both components appear correctly in their study plan:

• SPT-E1061 Thesis Seminar: 5 ECTS inside major studies;
• BE.thes Master's Thesis: 30 ECTS outside the major module; and
• ENG.matr Maturity Test: 0 ECTS.

Aalto’s recommended timetable also makes the sequencing clear. The seminar is a second-year course, while the main thesis execution is recommended for second-year spring. Students should not wait until the final spring to begin thinking about a topic.

Start topic planning well before second-year spring

The SPT thesis page advises students to begin with their interests, learning goals, possible methods and the data limitations those methods create. It also distinguishes independent university work from a city/company thesis, where topic and timetable must be coordinated with both the external organisation and academic supervisor.

Before the topic is fixed, the programme advises students to read academic literature and identify a research gap. Students should also check whether essentially the same topic has been addressed in a recent master’s thesis. If it has, the new project needs a clearly different contribution.

A practical topic test is:

1. Problem: What planning, mobility or transport problem is actually being investigated?
2. Research gap: What is not already adequately known from prior research or recent theses?
3. Evidence: What data, documents, interviews, spatial information, observations or models are realistically available?
4. Method: Can the chosen method answer the question within a master’s-thesis scale?
5. Contribution: What will the study add to knowledge, planning practice, engineering analysis or policy understanding?
6. Feasibility: Can the project be completed inside the agreed six-month-scale workload?

SPT professors can help students identify the right supervisor once the broad topic has become clear enough for a useful academic discussion.

Choose the supervisor and advisor structure correctly

The current School of Engineering framework permits thesis supervision by professors and certain other authorised academic staff, including adjunct professors, professors of practice, senior university lecturers and principal university lecturers.

The thesis may also have one or two advisors. An advisor must hold at least a master’s degree. Advisors may be Aalto researchers or other academic specialists, but they can also be experts in a collaborating city, consultancy, company, transport operator or public organisation.

The supervisor retains Aalto’s academic responsibility; advisors may provide more frequent technical, methodological or organisational guidance. In a commissioned planning or transport thesis, an external expert can therefore advise while an authorised Aalto supervisor remains academically responsible.

The written thesis must be individual

School of Engineering policy requires the master’s thesis to be an individual written work. It cannot be submitted as a jointly written pair or group thesis.

This does not prevent collaboration around a larger project. Two students might analyse different parts of the same transport dataset, work within one municipal planning project, or contribute to the same research initiative. Each student’s assessed thesis must nevertheless have an independent research question, scope, contribution, analysis and written report.

That distinction is important in SPT because planning and transportation projects are often multidisciplinary and collaborative by nature. Professional collaboration around the project does not convert the academic thesis into a shared report.

Formalise the topic and supervision in MyStudies

The current School of Engineering process handles formal thesis topic, supervisor and advisor information through MyStudies. Before submitting the approval request, the student should already have discussed and agreed the topic and supervision arrangement.

The student’s HOPS should also be current, because missing major studies, seminar completion or unapproved electives can complicate graduation. MyStudies connects topic/supervision information with later submission, evaluation and archiving, so the record should remain accurate throughout the process.

Build the research proposal before full execution

The School of Engineering thesis process includes a research proposal. This is the stage where a broad planning or transport interest becomes an executable academic project.

The ENG guideline expects the proposal to define, where relevant:

• background and theoretical framework;
• research problem or questions;
• main objective and possible interim objectives;
• methods and evidence;
• timetable and milestones; and
• practical resources or budget constraints.

For an SPT thesis, feasibility often depends heavily on data and stakeholder access. A transport-model study may depend on network or travel-demand data. A planning thesis may require interviews, policy documents, spatial datasets or access to local planning processes. A commissioned thesis may depend on organisational data that cannot all appear in the public final document.

The proposal should expose those constraints early. A strong proposal reduces the risk of discovering halfway through the project that the evidence cannot answer the research question.

Treat six months and about 800 hours as a scope constraint

Aalto’s applicant-facing SPT page says that completing the 30 ECTS thesis usually takes six months of full-time work. The School of Engineering thesis guideline gives an approximate total workload of about 800 hours.

These are planning baselines, not a mechanical hour-counting rule. Their practical meaning is scope discipline: the thesis should not become an open-ended urban-development, consultancy or transport-system project. The student, supervisor and advisor should agree a feasible schedule, and avoidable major delay can affect grading under ENG guidance.

The School of Engineering framework permits a formally agreed deadline of up to one year from topic approval, but that maximum should not be confused with the normal planning target. The normal benchmark remains a six-month-scale thesis.

Match the method to the planning or transport question

SPT does not prescribe one universal thesis method. The programme itself spans planning theory, transport engineering, policy, participatory methods, modelling, systems thinking and urban analysis.

A spatial-planning thesis might use interviews, document analysis, institutional analysis, participatory research, spatial analysis, comparative case studies or mixed methods. A transportation-engineering thesis might use quantitative modelling, traffic or mobility datasets, simulation, accessibility analysis, optimisation, survey evidence or policy analysis. An integrated thesis might combine planning and engineering evidence.

The central requirement is alignment: the research question determines the evidence, the evidence must fit the method, the method must address the question, and conclusions must stay within what the evidence supports. SPT explicitly invites students to consider qualitative or quantitative methods without making either compulsory.

City, company and commissioned theses remain academic and public

The SPT programme explicitly recognises theses completed for cities, companies or other external partners. The applicant page also describes research-and-development projects for public or private organisations as legitimate thesis contexts.

External collaboration can provide a strong problem, real-world data and expertise, but the student must still produce an independent academic thesis and meet ENG requirements. The evaluated master’s thesis is a public document, so commercial secrets, restricted organisational material or confidential personal data cannot simply be hidden by commissioner agreement.

Students should resolve confidentiality boundaries early. Sensitive background information may need to remain outside the assessed thesis while the public document contains the research problem, lawful evidence, method, analysis and conclusions.

Declining consent for open full-text publication in Aaltodoc does not make the thesis confidential.

Use literature, Turnitin and AI responsibly

The current SPT page specifically tells students to consult academic literature when confirming a research gap. This is important because a professional planning or transport problem does not automatically become an academic thesis merely because it is practically important.

The literature review should establish prior knowledge, define the analytical frame and show the thesis’s contribution. Turnitin can support source-use checking, but a similarity percentage is not itself a misconduct verdict and requires contextual interpretation.

Students remain responsible for correct citation, paraphrasing, evidence integrity and the accuracy of submitted work. AI use must follow current Aalto and thesis-specific rules. A tool permitted for some drafting support may still be forbidden for another assessed task.

In particular, Aalto’s current guidance states that language models are not permitted in the maturity test.

Complete the SPT thesis presentation before approval

SPT publishes more detailed presentation guidance than many other ENG programmes. Students should contact the supervisor well in advance and agree the presentation date before leaving the thesis for evaluation.

Presentations are usually held on Mondays on an application deadline date. After agreeing the date, the current SPT page asks the student to provide the final thesis title and a short description for the presentation invitation at least a week in advance.

The presentation should briefly explain:

• what was studied, including the research question and background;
• how the study was conducted, including data and methods;
• the main results; and
• what the student learned.

The programme publishes two presentation routes.

Staff-hosted presentation

The staff-hosted event is approximately 15 minutes of presentation followed by about 15 minutes of discussion, with approximately 8–12 slides suggested.

Video presentation

An alternative 10–15 minute video presentation may be used when agreed with the supervisor in advance. The current instructions expect approximately 8–12 explained slides, identification of Aalto and the advisor(s)/supervisor, the student speaking personally, and the student’s face visible in at least some parts of the video.

The video link must be provided by the applicable application deadline and must remain publicly viewable at least until thesis approval under the current SPT instructions.

These are programme-specific SPT presentation rules. Students in another ENG programme should not assume they have the same presentation format, and SPT students should not import presentation mechanics from another programme.

The abstract serves as the maturity essay

At the School of Engineering, the thesis abstract serves as the maturity essay. ENG.matr carries 0 ECTS, but it remains a required degree component.

The supervisor checks that the maturity text demonstrates knowledge of the thesis field. Depending on the student’s earlier education and whether Finnish or Swedish language proficiency has already been demonstrated, the maturity process may also include language checking.

Because the abstract functions as the maturity essay, students should not treat it as a last-minute administrative summary. It is an assessed component connected to the thesis.

Aalto’s current AI guidance is especially important here: language models are not permitted in the maturity test. Students should follow the applicable maturity-test instructions when writing the assessed abstract.

Submit the final thesis through MyStudies as PDF/A

School of Engineering theses are submitted electronically through MyStudies. The final thesis should be prepared as the required archival PDF/A version.

Before final evaluation submission, the topic and supervision should already be approved, the finished-thesis presentation should be completed, and the maturity abstract should be ready according to the applicable language requirements.

The first complete manuscript should reach the supervisor well before the administrative deadline. The School of Engineering guidance says a thorough supervisor review usually takes up to four weeks, and students should also leave time for corrections.

The final MyStudies file enters evaluation and archiving. Approved theses are transferred to Aaltodoc, while full-text online consent remains separate from public-document status.

Understand how the thesis is graded

School of Engineering master’s theses use the 0–5 scale:

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

The supervisor submits a written evaluation statement and proposed grade, and the Degree Programme Committee makes the formal approval and grading decision.

ENG evaluation covers research scope/goals, command of the topic, methods/conclusions, contribution/structure, project performance, independence, presentation and language, not simply whether the project produced an interesting map, model or recommendation.

For proposed grades at certain boundaries, including 1, 5 or fail, the School of Engineering evaluation guideline requires an additional independent academic consultation before the formal committee decision.

Allow enough time for review and administrative approval

Aalto’s ENG framework expects the thesis to be evaluated within about four weeks after submission for evaluation, and the supervisor’s full-manuscript review also needs meaningful time before the final application.

A sensible backwards plan starts with the desired committee deadline and reserves time for:

1. a complete manuscript;
2. supervisor/advisor review;
3. corrections;
4. the SPT presentation or agreed video route;
5. final abstract/maturity work;
6. PDF/A preparation;
7. MyStudies evaluation application; and
8. Degree Programme Committee approval.

Finishing the first full manuscript only a few days before an application deadline leaves too little room for responsible academic review.

Current SPT thesis-evaluation deadlines

As verified on 30 August 2026, the current SPT thesis page publishes the remaining 2026 thesis-evaluation application deadlines as:

• 28 September 2026, committee meeting 19 October 2026;
• 23 November 2026, committee meeting 14 December 2026; and
• 31 December 2026, committee meeting in January 2027.

The SPT graduation page also lists some graduation-only dates with no committee meeting. Those dates cannot be treated as new thesis-evaluation deadlines. The thesis and maturity component must already have been approved and registered for those graduation-only dates.

The current SPT pages do not yet publish a full programme-specific 2027 thesis-evaluation calendar. This guide therefore does not borrow 2027 dates from another School of Engineering programme.

Students planning a 2027 thesis should recheck the live SPT Thesis and Graduation pages and the authenticated ENG Master’s Thesis Guide before fixing a final submission plan.

A practical SPT thesis workflow

A reliable sequence is:

1. Review your HOPS and second-year timetable. Make sure SPT-E1061 and the separate 30 ECTS thesis are correctly placed.
2. Start topic searching early. Do not wait until the second-year spring.
3. Read recent literature and theses. Identify a research gap and a distinct contribution.
4. Discuss the topic with an eligible SPT/ENG supervisor. Use programme professors to help find the right match.
5. Agree advisor arrangements if useful. External city/company expertise can support the project while Aalto supervision remains controlling.
6. Apply for topic and supervision approval in MyStudies. Keep the record accurate.
7. Prepare the research proposal. Lock the problem, literature, evidence, methods and timetable.
8. Execute a six-month-scale individual project. Control scope and document major changes.
9. Use supervision actively. Resolve data and methodology problems before they become writing emergencies.
10. Deliver a full manuscript early enough for review. Reserve weeks for feedback and corrections.
11. Complete the SPT presentation. Use either the staff-hosted format or an approved video alternative.
12. Finalise the abstract/maturity essay. Follow the relevant language and AI restrictions.
13. Create the final PDF/A and submit through MyStudies. Recheck the current SPT deadline.
14. Allow for Degree Programme Committee approval. Submission and formal approval are separate events.
15. Apply for graduation in Sisu when the degree requirements are ready. Keep the study plan and attendance status valid.

Final checklist

Before final submission, confirm that:

• your thesis is the current 30 ECTS BE.thes project;
• SPT-E1061 is being treated as a separate 5 ECTS major course, not part of the 30 ECTS thesis;
• your written thesis is individual;
• your topic relates to the programme’s advanced studies and has a defensible research gap;
• the supervisor is eligible under current ENG rules;
• any advisor has at least a master’s degree;
• topic and supervision information are approved in MyStudies;
• the research proposal aligns the question, evidence, method and timetable;
• the project is realistically scoped around the six-month / ~800-hour baseline;
• any city/company confidentiality issue has been resolved without putting secrets in the public thesis;
• citations, Turnitin review and academic-integrity issues are resolved;
• the required SPT presentation or approved video route is complete;
• the abstract satisfies the maturity-test requirements;
• prohibited language-model assistance has not been used for the maturity test;
• the final file is the correct PDF/A archival version;
• the live SPT thesis-evaluation deadline has been rechecked; and
• a graduation-only date or another programme’s 2027 calendar has not been mistaken for an SPT thesis deadline.

The most useful planning principle is to treat SPT as one shared School of Engineering thesis route with programme-specific academic and presentation features. Whether the research focuses on spatial planning, transport engineering or an integrated land-use-and-mobility question, success depends on a clear gap, feasible evidence, defensible method, controlled scope, active supervision and disciplined completion of the formal ENG process.