University of Helsinki Geology and Geophysics Master’s Thesis Guide 2026-2027

The Master’s Programme in Geology and Geophysics at the University of Helsinki is a 120 ECTS, two-year programme in the Faculty of Science. Its thesis process is closely connected to the programme’s research culture: students are expected to begin planning early, define a geological or geophysical research problem, work with an appropriate supervisor, and develop the project through literature, data, experiments, fieldwork or a combination of these.

This guide uses official University of Helsinki material verified on 25 August 2026. It is a thesis guide, not an admissions guide. Application eligibility, tuition fees, scholarships, language-test thresholds and admission deadlines are intentionally outside this article.

The current degree structure

The degree is 120 ECTS and is designed for completion in two years. Most teaching is in English, although some teaching in areas such as hydrogeology and environmental geology may be in Finnish. For English-taught courses, examination in Finnish or Swedish can be possible under the programme rules. The Master’s thesis itself may be written in English, Finnish or Swedish.

Current programme guidance describes 100-120 ECTS of advanced studies. This includes:

• the 30 ECTS Master’s thesis;
• the 0 ECTS maturity test;
• 25 ECTS of compulsory common studies, including Conducting Scientific Research, internship, scientific engagement and a book examination; and
• at least 45 ECTS of advanced geology and geophysics studies.

The remaining 0-20 ECTS can come from other studies within the degree rules.

The programme presents thematic groupings of geology and geophysics courses to help students design a coherent degree. These should not be treated as a set of rigid thesis tracks. Your research question, prior studies, supervisor and available research material should determine the most appropriate thesis route.

The thesis is 30 ECTS

The Master’s thesis is worth 30 ECTS, corresponding approximately to one academic term of full-time work. It is an independent piece of research and writing, even when the project is connected to a larger research group or an external organisation.

A Geology and Geophysics thesis will normally combine a review of current scientific literature with a research component. Depending on the project, that component may involve geological or geophysical datasets, laboratory or field observations, experiments, computational analysis, interpretation or several of these together.

The programme’s research environment includes work in geology and geophysics, biogeosciences and seismology. Current research projects can therefore provide possible thesis settings, but a student’s final project must still be clearly scoped as independently assessable work.

Start with GEOM1002 in the first-year spring

One of the most important programme-specific features is the early start. Current instructions place the beginning of the thesis process in GEOM1002 Conducting Scientific Research, normally in the spring semester of the first year.

During this stage, you develop the thesis idea into a proposal and research plan. That means the first-year spring is not simply a time to browse possible topics. It is the point at which you should begin turning a broad geological or geophysical interest into a feasible project with a clear problem, material, method and supervisory arrangement.

A practical sequence is:

1. identify a research area that fits your studies and available expertise;
2. discuss possible topics with relevant teachers, research groups or supervisors;
3. define the main research question and the material needed to answer it;
4. decide whether the project requires fieldwork, laboratory work, existing datasets, modelling or another analytical approach;
5. build the proposal and research plan during GEOM1002; and
6. agree on a realistic schedule for research, analysis and writing.

Current programme guidance also notes that fieldwork often takes place during the summer between the first and second study years. In some cases an internship can be combined with thesis-related data collection. These possibilities make early planning especially important: a missed field season cannot always be replaced by extra writing time later.

Make a detailed thesis plan with your supervisor

When the thesis project formally starts, the student and supervisor or supervisors prepare a detailed thesis plan. Current programme-specific instructions require the signed plan to be submitted through HelsinkiUni Help.

The plan should make the project assessable and manageable. In practice, you should be able to state:

• the research problem and main questions;
• the scientific background and relevant literature;
• the material or data;
• the research methods;
• any fieldwork, laboratory work or computational stages;
• the student’s independent contribution where the thesis belongs to a larger project;
• the supervision arrangement; and
• the working timetable.

The programme allows work connected with University research, the Institute of Seismology and other relevant research settings. Collaboration with external research institutes or private companies is also possible. External collaboration does not change the requirement that the thesis itself must remain the student’s independently written and assessable work.

There is no verified universal page-count rule

The current programme sources verified for this guide do not establish one universal Geology and Geophysics thesis page range. The linked programme thesis guide contains detailed writing and layout instructions, but it does not provide a universal page-count target that should control every project.

Do not copy a page range from Chemistry, Computer Science, Humanities or another Helsinki programme. Geological and geophysical projects can differ substantially in data, maps, figures, field material, methods and appendices. Scope the document around the research question and the programme template rather than an imported page target.

Follow the programme template and Harvard-style references

Current programme instructions explicitly direct students to the programme’s thesis guidelines, template and cover-page requirements. The currently linked Geology and Geophysics thesis guide uses a Harvard-style author-year citation system.

In practical terms, the guide instructs students to cite authors and years in the text and arrange the reference list alphabetically. It also encourages the use of original or first-hand scientific sources where possible. Reference-management software such as EndNote or Zotero can help, but software does not replace checking the final references against the programme convention.

The linked thesis guide also provides a useful model for scientific structure. Depending on the project, sections can include the introduction, geological setting or scientific background, materials, methods, results, discussion, conclusions, acknowledgements, references and appendices. Computational scripts or extensive supporting material may be placed in appendices where appropriate and where doing so improves reproducibility and readability.

Important: use current 2026 process instructions, not the old workflow in the PDF

The programme still links a thesis-guidelines PDF updated in 2021 because its writing, layout and reference guidance remains useful. However, some administrative process details in that older PDF are no longer current.

For the 2026-2027 guide, current University web instructions take priority. In particular:

• use the current course GEOM1002 Conducting Scientific Research, not the older GEOM_1003 wording found in the PDF;
• follow the current Sisu + new E-thesis submission process rather than an old Ouriginal-era workflow; and
• follow the current Faculty of Science examination and Dean-approval process rather than older programme-board wording.

This is why a thesis guide must distinguish enduring writing conventions from administrative instructions that change over time.

Submit through Sisu and the new E-thesis system

Before final assessment, complete the required thesis and maturity-test registrations in Sisu and follow the current programme instructions for submission. The final thesis PDF is submitted through the new E-thesis system.

Treat the uploaded file as final. After final submission, the thesis cannot simply be edited in place. If a serious change is needed, assessment must be stopped and any resubmission must follow the University’s process.

Before uploading, check that:

• the programme template and cover-page requirements are followed;
• the title and abstract match the final work;
• figures, maps and tables are readable and correctly attributed;
• references are complete and consistent with the programme convention;
• appendices are included and cited where needed;
• confidential information has been removed; and
• the PDF you upload is genuinely the version you want assessed.

How the thesis is examined and graded

Faculty of Science assessment uses two examiners. Under the current framework, one examiner is an appropriately qualified University academic, such as a professor, assistant or associate professor, research director, senior university lecturer or university lecturer. The other examiner must hold at least a doctoral degree. A supervisor may also serve as an examiner when the rules permit it.

The thesis is graded on the University’s 0-5 scale using the programme evaluation matrix. The examination evaluates the thesis as a scientific work rather than simply counting pages or measuring how much data was collected. The Dean makes the final decision on approval and grading on the basis of the assessment process.

The abstract is the maturity test

For the Master’s Programme in Geology and Geophysics, the thesis abstract functions as the maturity test under the current programme-specific instructions. The maturity test carries 0 ECTS and is assessed pass/fail.

Language requirements for the maturity test can depend on the student’s educational background and whether a maturity test has previously demonstrated the required language proficiency. Follow the current University instructions if your prior education creates a specific language requirement.

AI is prohibited in maturity tests. This prohibition applies even though the University’s broader AI policy can permit AI tools in other learning and writing contexts subject to teacher, programme and Faculty restrictions, disclosure requirements and research-integrity rules. The student remains responsible for the accuracy, reasoning and final content of the thesis.

Faculty of Science submission rounds for 2026-2027

The current Faculty of Science timetable gives the following thesis-submission rounds. The submission deadline is 23:59 Finnish time on the stated date.

Theses are not assessed in July. Current Faculty guidance also says that, unless otherwise required, students should not expect normal supervision or feedback in July. Build your schedule around the actual assessment rounds rather than assuming a summer submission will be processed immediately.

Publicity and confidential material

Master’s theses are public documents. The thesis abstract is also public and is published through the University’s repository arrangements, including Helda under the applicable process.

Do not place confidential information in the thesis, appendices or abstract. If your project involves company data, sensitive field information or another restricted dataset, resolve the confidentiality boundary before writing the final manuscript. The research material can sometimes be governed separately, but the assessed thesis itself must comply with the University’s publicity rules.

A practical Geology and Geophysics thesis workflow

A defensible workflow for the current programme is:

1. First-year spring: use GEOM1002 to define the research question and research plan.
2. Before field or data collection: confirm supervisor(s), material access, methods, safety/permissions and timetable.
3. Summer where relevant: complete fieldwork, internship-linked data collection or other time-sensitive research.
4. At formal thesis start: prepare and sign the detailed thesis plan and submit it through the current University channel.
5. During research: maintain clear records of data, methods, code, maps, laboratory procedures and analytical decisions.
6. During writing: follow the programme template and current-linked Harvard author-year convention; write alongside analysis rather than postponing all writing to the end.
7. Before submission: complete Sisu requirements, finalise the abstract/maturity-test requirement, remove confidential material and perform a final reference/format check.
8. Submission: upload the final PDF to new E-thesis before 23:59 Finnish time for the chosen Faculty of Science round.
9. Assessment: allow for the two-examiner process and Dean decision rather than treating the submission date as the graduation date.

Final checklist

Before submitting, confirm that:

• your thesis is registered correctly in Sisu;
• your detailed signed thesis plan has followed the current programme process;
• the document uses the current programme template and cover page;
• your research question, material and methods are clearly aligned;
• your independent contribution is identifiable;
• Harvard-style author-year citations and the alphabetical reference list are consistent;
• you have not imported another programme’s page-count rule;
• the abstract satisfies the current maturity-test requirement;
• no AI has been used in the maturity test;
• confidential information is absent from the thesis and appendices;
• the final PDF is the exact version intended for assessment; and
• the selected deadline is one of the current Faculty of Science rounds.

University, programme, Faculty and supervisor instructions always take priority if a more specific or newer requirement applies to your project.