The potential of applicants with an applicable Finnish polytechnic master’s degree for successful doctoral studies is assessed by the School case by case. Granting the right to study requires the School to determine the applicant’s need for supplementary studies. If the School deems the applicant with a polytechnic master's degree in an applicable technical field as having potential for completing the doctoral degree, the applicant will be assigned a sufficient amount of supplementary studies to allow him or her to start the doctoral studies. The extent of supplementary studies may not, however, exceed 60 ECTS. If the extent of necessary supplementary studies exceeds this maximum, the applicant will be advised to first pursue the master's degree before applying for a right to pursue a doctoral degree. When assessing the applicants’ potential for doctoral studies, the School shall acknowledge that the extent of the polytechnic master’s degree in the field of technology is 60 ECTS, which corresponds to studies of one year’s duration, whereas the extent of a university master’s degree is 120 ECTS, which corresponds to studies of two years’ duration. The extent of polytechnic master’s degrees in fields other than technology is 60 ECTS or 90 ECTS.

International applicants with a previous technical degree corresponding to a Finnish polytechnic degree are subject to the same rules as those with a Finnish polytechnic degree.

It is also possible to complete doctoral studies in a field or school other than the one in which the master’s degree was obtained. Persons wishing to pursue doctoral studies in another field on account of job experience gained in that field, or interest in it, can discuss the necessary prerequisites for entry as a doctoral student with a professor in that field of research.

Knowledge Prerequisites

To be approved for doctoral studies, an applicant must have adequate knowledge in his or her confirmed research field, gained through, for example, courses in the advanced module within the Master’s studies, or the equivalent. The completion of courses that support thesis work requires adequate prerequisite knowledge also. When necessary, the School will set prerequisites for admission into the doctoral programme. Students may gain the prerequisite knowledge, for instance, by earning the credits for them by taking exams related to master-level courses.

Aalto University’s Academic Affairs Committee confirmed the general admission criteria for Aalto University education in a meeting held on 10 April, 2018.

GENERAL ADMISSION CRITERIA FOR AALTO UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN 2019

The professor (i.e. supervising professor) who is responsible for the research field to which the applicant is applying to, is responsible for the academic evaluation of the applicant. The Doctoral Programme Committee will also evaluate the applicant.

The following is required for an applicant:

• Adequate knowledge in the research field applied for, gained through, for example, courses in the major or courses in the advanced module within the Master’s studies.
• Sufficient basic knowledge that supports the dissertation work and the writing of the dissertation.
• An excellent command of Finnish, Swedish or English
• When necessary, the School will set prerequisites for admission into the doctoral programme that may be gained, for instance, by taking master-level courses.

Grades

(on the scale of 1 to 5)

• The master’s thesis has been completed with the minimum grade of 3/5.
• The master’s degree that is the basis of doctoral studies has been completed with an average grade of 3.0/5 or higher.
• Those with a master’s degree earned in accordance with the degree regulations of 1995 or at an earlier time must have earned the master’s degree that is the basis of doctoral studies with an average grade of 3.0/5 or higher.

The same criteria are applied to students with a foreign degree or degree from another Finnish university. Students who fail to meet these minimum grade criteria but are otherwise suitable for doctoral studies may improve their grades by taking courses, or the School may set prerequisites for doctoral studies.

Other admission criteria (academic evaluation):

• prior academic success
• content of prior university studies
• potential for a researcher career, prior research experience: research-related work experience, conference presentations, journal articles etc.
• suitability of the research topic: relevance of the topic for the research focus area of the department
• research proposal: the original contribution of the research to the theory and practice of the field; the feasibility of the research proposal (its quality, workability, organization)
• time management and resources: the feasibility of the study plan and the time available for the doctoral studies in the next four years
• the university’s resources for dissertation supervision in the applicant’s field of research
• other grounds presented by the applicant.

The degree certificate and the transcript of record copies must be certified as authentic by a university official, a notary or a solicitor. The copies must be made of the original, official documents. Copies of copies will not be accepted. If the certificate has several pages, each page must be certified from the right side of the page. Each page must be certified separately and indicate clearly the date and the original signature, printed name and stamp of the certifying officer. Please also see the country-specific requirements.

If the original study certificates are not issued in Finnish, Swedish or English, the applicant must provide official translations of them. A translation is regarded official if it is made by an authorised translator or by the university that has granted the degree. Translations must be either originals or certified copies of the original translations. All translations must be accompanied with a certified copy of the original document.

Applicants who take the IELTS need to enclose a copy of the score report with the application documents. Because IELTS certificates can be electronically verified by Aalto University, applicants may send plain copies of their IELTS certificates. 

Applicants who take the TOEFL test need to ask for the official score report to be sent directly to Aalto University as soon as the score is available. Please make sure to use Aalto University's institutional reporting code 7364. Only the official score report submitted by ETS is accepted. If the TOEFL IBT score delivery request has been made before the application has been submitted, the applicants are asked to give their TOEFL Registration ID number (16 digits, e.g. 00000000xxxxxxxx).

Applicants who take the PTE A test can deliver their score to Aalto University once they have signed in to the PTE account on the test organizer's website. The scores can be sent to an unlimited number of institutions free of charge. The test organizer will send an email to confirm that the scores have been sent. Note that according to PTE, it takes up to 48 hours for scores to be sent to institutions. For more information on how to deliver PTE results, please see the test organizer's website.

If the CAE or CPE exam was taken in 2005 or later, the results can be verified electronically. For the verification, the candidate's ID number (e.g. ABC123456) and secret number (e.g. 1234) are required. You must include these two codes with a copy of your language certificate in your application package. Older test results cannot be verified electronically. If the CAE or CPE test was taken before 2005, you will need to include an officially certified copy of the certificate with your application.

The following groups are exempted from the above mentioned language test requirement:

1. Applicants who have completed a higher education degree and the requisite studies

• at a university or a university of applied sciences in Finland in Finnish, Swedish or English;
• at a university or polytechnic in an EU/EEA country in English. The language of the degree must be stated in the degree certificate or its appendix, the transcript of records or other official document, such as diploma supplement, issued by the higher education institution in question.
• in an English-language programme requiring a physical on-site presence at a university in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom or the United States.

2. Applicants who

• have attended Aalto University as an exchange student in the field of technology (an Aalto University transcript of records or certificate of student status required)
• are EU/EEA citizens from partner universities of Aalto University's schools of technology (Erasmus partners, Cluster, NordTek, Nordic5Tech or other official partner in student exchange). Applicants whose official transcript of records does not contain language studies in English shall provide certificates of sufficient language proficiency provided by their home universities.
• apply for a doctoral study right while already working at a Aalto University in the field of science and technology.
  (Sufficient language skills must be proven by a statement written by the  professor in charge of the research field the applicant is applying for.)

Only the above-mentioned groups are exempted from the language test requirement. For all other applicants the official language test result is a compulsory application document and applications without the test result will not be processed. There are no exceptions to the above-mentioned requirements.

All doctoral students are defined as either full-time or part-time students.  Full-time doctoral students' personal study plans are drawn up so as to complete the doctorate within four years from granting the right to pursue doctoral studies. Full-time doctoral students must be able to spend 80 % of their working hours to doctoral studies.

Students may not change their study mode by themselves, but it can be changed by application if necessary.

Full-time doctoral student

Students are entered into the register either as full-time or part-time doctoral students. Students may change their status only by application.

Typical full-time students are those who receive funding from a graduate school and the majority of those receiving research project funding. If the student works for a research institute or an enterprise and is carrying out full-time research for a doctoral dissertation and his or her study plan has been drawn up for four years, he or she will be classified as a full-time doctoral student.

Full-time doctoral students' personal study plans are drawn up so as to complete the doctorate within four years from granting the right to pursue doctoral studies. Full-time doctoral students must be able to spend 80 % of their working hours to doctoral studies. Those working outside Aalto University who wish to be full-time students must provide a document of the employees' approval for full-time doctoral studies.

The studies may comprise the Licentiate degree, the recommended completion time of which is two years and which will be included in the recommended completion time of the doctoral degree, four years.

Students granted the right to study towards a doctoral degree are required to prepare a personal study plan listing the theoretical courses to be taken and a plan on the implementation of the research. The study plan is to be signed by the student as well as the professors in charge of the research field and the studies in supplementary field.

Part-time doctoral student

If the above criteria are not met, the student's mode of study is part-time. The study plan of a part-time doctoral student is drawn up to serve doctoral studies that will last longer than four years but no more than eight years.

A part-time doctoral student typically has a main occupation outside the School of Engineering which does not include scientific research for doctoral dissertation.

Applicants of part-time doctoral studies should discuss

• whether the research is closely connected with the applicant’s own work
• what opportunities the employer has for supporting intensive postgraduate studying e.g. by side of work.

Changing the mode of study

You can change your mode of study any time your situation changes.

If you want to change your mode of study from full-time to part-time, please notify the Coordinator Reetta Mannola by an informal email, reetta.mannola@aalto.fi.

If you want to change your mode of study from part-time to full-time, you need to fill in a new research plan. The Doctoral Programme Committee Chair approves applications for a full-time study mode twice a month. The new research plan is submitted to the Coordinator Reetta Mannola.

Follow-up for full-time doctoral students

Full- and part-time study modes of doctoral studies have been approved by the Aalto University Academic Affairs Committee on 20 December 2012. Defining the two study modes more clearly emphasizes the four-year-goal for finishing a doctoral degree and the importance of instruction and planning.

Follow-up for full-time doctoral students every five years

If a full-time doctoral student has not completed his/her doctoral degree within five years from beginning his/her doctoral studies, the doctoral programme will require the student to submit a written account concerning the progress of studies along with a statement from the supervising professor. The student may also have to fill in new study and research plans. The Doctoral Programme Committee will make the decision on the student’s study mode in accordance with the university’s definition of policy. If the student’s dissertation is already in the pre-examination process, a separate account is not needed. If the required documents are not submitted within the school’s deadlines, the school will register that student as a part-time student.

In its decision-making, the Committee will take into account the time spent on maternity and parental leave as well as conscription or non-military service completed.

Yearly follow-ups after the fifth study year

After the fifth year of doctoral studies, the doctoral programme will require the student to submit a written account concerning the progress of studies along with a statement from the supervising professor every year. The student may also have to fill in new study and research plans. The Doctoral Programme Committee will make the decision on the student’s study mode in accordance with the university’s definition of policy. If the required documents are not submitted within the school’s deadlines, the school will register that student as a part-time student.

If necessary, the doctoral programme may check students’ study mode before the five year deadline and/or give further instructions on full-/part-time studies.