Master's thesis
Usually the thesis and possible thesis-related seminar work are scheduled in the last studying year. The seminar work is organized by the supervisor, who is usually the professor of the field. The length of a master's thesis is typically 50-80 pages, but more detailed instructions and learning objectives are written in the curriculum of each degree programme.
The hole Master's thesis process is now in updated Laturi -system. You start the process there, guidance is partly there, monitoring, reviewing, plagiarism detection (Turnitin Similarity) and publishing takes place through Laturi -system. The guidebook is in Laturi. Students can read previously published master's theses at the Pegasus library. A Master student is also required to complete a maturity test. The maturity test is a written exam which evaluates the students command of the research topic and proficiency in Finnish, Swedish or English.
For you
Faculty of Education and Psychology
Faculty of Education and Psychology - instructions
(Instructions for degree programme in Psychology below)
A master's thesis is a requirement to complete the degree in Master of Education. The thesis is a way for the student to express deep knowledge on the topic of the thesis and of scientific thinking, and show they handle research methods.
- Master's thesis statement form (word)
- Assessment criteria for theses (pdf)
- The template for Bachelor's and Master's theses (word) and instructions (pdf)
- Submitting your thesis and graduation (website)
- Muuntaja
- Muuntaja is a web-based service, which can be used to convert the following documents to a PDF/A format:
- Microsoft Word DOC and DOCX
- Open Office ODT
- 'Normal' PDF
- Muuntaja is a web-based service, which can be used to convert the following documents to a PDF/A format:
- Laturi
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University of Oulu’s Laturi system is for launching, supervising, monitoring and evaluating the thesis process and for entering the finalised thesis for publication. The finalised and approved thesis is transferred from the system to the university archives and made available at certain workstations on the library premises.
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Information on The master's theses can be found on Moodle:
- Moodle: "KPTK THESIS " (course key: 2023).
- The coordinator of the study groups is Hannu Heikkinen | hannu.m.heikkinen(at)oulu.fi
Instructions for graduation can be found here:
Click here to go to the website of the Bachelor's thesis.
Instructions for degree programme in Psychology
Faculty of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine
The MSc thesis is the single most important piece of work undertaken as part of the MSc and as such the research group should be chosen carefully by the student and the work should be planned carefully before starting.
Students may carry out their MSc thesis work at any university or research institute. The MSc thesis work can also be undertaken in a company, but the work must be research based. Students are encouraged to undertake the thesis work in one of the leading research groups in the sub-discipline they are interested in wherever it is located in the world.
We currently have variable size Pro Gradu projects. The project can be between 30-60op (in 5op blocks). The difference comes from the length of the experimental work. A 30op project has 3 calendar months of experimental work. Each additional 5op adds 3 weeks of additional experimental work, up to a maximum of 18 additional weeks (an additional 30op). For example, a 45op Pro Gradu project would contain 3 calendar months + 9 weeks of experimental work. If the Pro gradu work spans over Christmas break, one week is added automatically. Examiners are made aware of the length of the experimental work so they can put the extent of the results into context.
LATURI
Since the end of 2021, the university has implemented a more unified process to start an MSc thesis. The online tool for this process is the new Laturi system. At the same time as the student prepares the Pro Gradu research project proposal, the Laturi process can be initiated (see below).
The Pro Gradu thesis must be submitted no later than exactly one year after the beginning of the experimental part. It is arranged in this manner because it is the duty of the Faculty to give every student the opportunity to graduate from the MSc program in the set time of two years. Exceeding the set times without good reason will result in the work being penalized. However, if there is a well justified reason for extension, this should be applied from the Project Coordinator (currently Alexander.Kastaniotis@oulu.fi). Good reasons may be for example sickness or breaking of critical equipment in the lab, being unable to obtain essential reagents or any other factors which both cause delay through no fault of the student.
BEFORE STARTING
- Students are allowed to do their MSc thesis work at any university or research institute. The MSc thesis work can also be undertaken in a company, but the work must be research based. Students are encouraged to undertake the thesis work in one of the leading research groups in the sub-discipline they are interested in wherever it is located in the world.
- You can start the experimental work after you have completed at least 30 study points of MSc studies.
- Fill in the Pro Gradu experimental work–form (pdf) and remember the starting date and supervisor’s signature. Kaisa Tuominen or Jari Heikkinen will check the studies and take a copy of the form.
- Before starting the experimental part of the Pro gradu students must present a short research proposal to the Project Coordinator (Alexander Kastaniotis). The proposal should be submitted at least 2 weeks before you plan to start and must be approved BEFORE starting the work. The proposal will be checked to ensure that the research has been planned well in advance.
- The proposal is written in English by the student and encompasses about 2 – 3 pages including the references
- The proposal, typically two-three pages, has free format but it should include:
- The students name, student number and contact information
- Start and end date of the project and the proposed number of credits
- Supervisor(s) names and titles and the place where the work will be undertaken
- Half to one page of background information (Why this project is important?)
- A “Specific Aims” section (typically two to three aims, preferably in bullet points)
- About one page of experimental details (Purpose of the work, methods used in the work)
- References
THE LATURI STARTING PROCESS
- At the same time the student starts writing the MSc project proposal, the Laturi process should be initiated:
- Log on to https://laturi.oulu.fi/
- From the Menu bar on the side, choose “ + Master’s theses” (“Gradut”)
- On the new page that opens, under “Theses à STARTING A NEW THESIS” choose “Start Master’s thesis” (Uuden opinnäytetyön aloittaminen (gradu ja DI-työ) - + Aloita Gradu
- Fill in the form that shows on the next website, check and submit
- Invite your supervisor(s)
- Attention: there is currently no option available to have a supervisor from outside of Oulu University as the main supervisor, as Laturi only accepts supervisors that are employees of Oulu University. If you have an outside supervisor, enter the Project Coordinators name (currently Alexander Kastaniotis) as the MAIN supervisor. I will then be able to add your actual supervisor! This is for internal purposes only. Your real supervisor will be the person who is in fact doing the supervision. You DO NOT include the Project coordinators name on your Thesis Manuscript that you will be submitting at the end of the Master’s work.
- Your supervisors must accept the role as supervisor before you can upload your thesis project proposal
- After the Project Coordinator has approved your Pro Gradu/MSc Project proposal, you upload it to Laturi. Your supervisor(s) will then receive an invitation to formally approve the project proposal.
EXPERIMENTAL PART
- The experimental part takes at least 3 months and at maximum three months plus 18 weeks. The final written thesis must be submitted for review at the latest one year after the beginning of the experimental part, irrespective of the length of the experimental part.
- We currently have variable size Pro Gradu projects. The project can be between 30-60op (in 5op blocks). The difference comes from the length of the experimental work. A 30op project has 3 months experimental work. Each additional 5op adds 3 weeks of additional experimental work, up to a maximum of 18 additional weeks (an additional 30op). For example, a 45op Pro Gradu project would contain 3 months + 9 weeks of experimental work. Examiners are made aware of the length of the experimental work.
- The thesis is based on the results obtained during the experimental part. You are allowed (if you want) to include an appendix that includes work after experimental part, but it will not be considered by the examiners in marking the thesis.
- Exceeding the set times without good reason will result in the work being penalized.
- If there is a well justified reason for extension, this should be applied from the Project Coordinator (currently Alexander Kastaniotis). Good reasons may be for example sickness, breaking of critical equipment, being unable to obtain essential reagents or any other factors which cause delay through no fault of the student. The request of extension should be signed by student and supervisor. Any extension to the experimental part extends the write up period by the same amount.
Finishing the experimental part
- Send the Pro gradu experimental work –form with closing date and supervisor’s signature as attachment to Kaisa.Tuominen@oulu.fi.
WRITING OF PRO GRADU THESIS
- The student is responsible for writing his/her thesis and the supervisor's responsibility is to give guidance. The supervisor is not expected to undertake substantial editing or revision of a draft.
- Each figure that comes from another source must contain in its legend, after the proper citation: "Permission to use the figure has been obtained from the publisher or the publisher has a policy to grant such permission automatically for use in theses". You must acquire permission for the use of copyrighted material (pictures, drawings, maps, and photographs) by contacting the publisher. Some journals allow to use their material without a special individual permission if proper citation is used. This information should be available on the web page of the journal. As an example, J. Biol. Chem. follows this policy (https://www.jbc.org/content/permission). Therefore, please check this to avoid unnecessarily asking for permissions. Instructions and a template for requesting permission can be found on Oulu University library webpage (you will have to log into LibApps to use the Theses guide).
- In the abstract the student should present and analyze the material, research methods and results of the thesis. The length of the abstract should not exceed one page (font size 12, spacing 1.5). The abstract should provide the following information:
- The topic of the thesis
- The subject-matter, material and intention of the research
- Research methods used (if the research is of a theoretical nature and based on certain written material, the main source books should be mentioned; if the research is of an empirical nature, the methods used should be mentioned)
- Central research results
- Conclusions and proposals for action made on the basis of the results
- Keywords.
- The thesis must be written in clear formal style that follows norms of written language. The thesis must be formatted to comply the Instructions for writing Pro Gradu Thesis using THESIS template June 2023 (word). The general presentation (language and layout) is also one of the marking criteria of the thesis.
- Instructions for publishing in the series Acta Universities Ouluensis and Oulu University library pages also contain useful information.
- To see already published Pro gradu thesis, visit library OuluREPO webpages.
The supervisor drafts a summary document (maximal one side of A4) to help the examiners. This should include comments on the student’s performance during the project (dexterity in the lab, attendance and enthusiasm, ability to plan experiments, ability to discuss data) and on specialized aspects of the final thesis (breadth and depth of introduction, appropriateness of methodologies, significance of the results obtained etc). This summary should also include details of any problems encountered during the project which should be taken into account e.g., equipment failure, sickness etc. Two copies of this should be passed on to Kaisa Tuominen. Supervisor can send the document also by e-mail Kaisa.Tuominen@oulu.fi.
THESIS DEFENCE
Thesis examination
- The student produces a written thesis comprised of:
- Abstract (max 1 page)
- List of Abbreviations (no page limit)
- Acknowledgements (not compulsory)
- Introduction (max 1 page),
- Literature report (max 25 pages including any figures/tables)
- Aims and objectives (max 1 page)
- A suitable Materials and Methods section (no minimum/maximum number of pages)
- Results summary (max 2 pages, including any figures/tables)
- Conclusions (max 2 pages, including any figures/tables)
- List of References (no page limit)
- An appendix One comprised of the presentation for the oral exam
- The student prepares a 20-minute oral presentation on the work undertaken. A printout of this forms the appendix to the thesis
- There is a one-hour session where the student presents the Pro Gradu work to two senior examiners (who have not read the thesis), followed by an oral examination of the work.
The marks from the examiners are combined and converted into the final grade. For detailed information on how the different sections and aspects of the thesis are evaluated, please consult the Pro Gradu marking scheme.
SUBMITTING THE THESIS FOR REVIEW
Since it is advised that the supervisor also supervises the writing of the Thesis, it is suggested that the student and the supervisor together make sure that the Thesis is ready for submission by the set deadline, allowing sufficient time for possible corrections, additions and deletions to be made as suggested by the supervisor. Students and supervisors are advised to examine the Pro Gradu mark scheme and the instructions for writing the Pro Gradu thesis before the writing process starts. Likewise, the supervisor is instructed to reserve a rehearsal session of the oral presentation for the student for example in a research group meeting so that the student gets valuable feedback for improving his/her presentation prior to the oral defense.
The thesis should be submitted via the Laturi system. In order to be able to submit,
- the Dean of Education (Dr. Kaija Autio) must assign reviewers.
- after the reviewers have accepted, you can upload the thesis and, unless the student refuses permission, it
- you need to submit your thesis to the Turnitin plagiarism detection system (Turnitin helpdesk: turnitin@oulu.fi)
- The thesis must be as a pdf/A type file (not the “normal” pdf) before beginning the submission.
- First fill in and send the maturity test to Kaija Autio (Kaija.Autio@oulu.fi). It has been agreed by the FBMM that the abstract of your Master’s thesis can be used without modification as maturity test for the Biochemistry MSc program.
During the submission two choices needs to be made:
- Visibility of the thesis
Please consider the following issues:
- Most of our Theses contain results that will be published in articles.
- If the work is obtainable freely on the internet, this may compromise getting results published in articles, and also may give advantage to possible competitors.
- Although legally the student has a copyright to his/her thesis, the student and the supervisor (and often other people) jointly have the copyright to the research results.
- Therefore, in most cases it is the advantage of the student to choose the “not visible in internet” option.
- The visibility can be changed later on when eventual scientific articles have been published.
2. Checking of the thesis in the Turnitin (Turnitin helpdesk: turnitin@oulu.fi) plagiarism detection system
- is highly recommended
- proves that all students have done honest work
- guarantees that no other student or third party later on can misuse your material
GRADING OF PRO GRADU
- Remind your supervisor to send their statement to Kaisa Tuominen before submission to Laturi for review.
- The examination process depends on which thesis style is chosen
- Two independent examiners are appointed by the faculty to grade the written part of the thesis. They have maximally three weeks’ time to suggest a grade.
- In addition, two independent examiners are appointed by the faculty to grade the oral part of the thesis. The oral defense should take place within three weeks of appointment of the examiners.
- The thesis is graded 0-5 based on the Pro Gradu mark scheme.
- The examiners must also give a written statement to justify their opinion on the grade. In addition, they are obliged to offer the student a chance to receive feedback face to face.
- The examiners have access to a statement from the supervisor of the student to aid them in their deliberations.
- Assignment of the final mark proceeds via the Master’s Degree Program Leader. The student is informed of the grade after that, and he/she then also receives the feedback of the examiners.
- If the student does not agree with the grade, he/she can make a justified appeal to the Dean of Education, who then assigns a third examiner if needed. The appeal is free format but must contain as detailed justifications as possible about the points the student wants to make. The appeal must be submitted within two weeks of receiving the grading and reviewers’ report.
Oulu Business School
Master's Thesis process
At Oulu Business School, the primary master's thesis supervision model is group supervision, which includes seminar work. Supervised master's thesis work in groups starts in autumn and enrolment for the study module will take place according to the instructions provided at the time. At the initial stage of the group activities, a supervisor will be appointed for each student.
The supervision process (pdf) has four stages: Topic selection, research plan, intermediate report and manuscript. Supervision is linked with these stages. During topic selection, students can discuss potential research topics with supervisors, for example, during their consultation hours or using some other agreed method. Three other stages are primarily based on group supervision as well as individual supervision given within a group. At these stages, students prepare their work to appropriate stage (research plan, intermediate report, manuscript), draw up the presentation materials and hold a presentation, on which the supervisor and the rest of the group as well as a possible opponent will comment.
An essential element of group supervision is that students learn by acquainting themselves with the work of other group members and by commenting on them. Other elements of the supervision process include presentation of your own work, performing as an opponent to someone else's work and commenting as a part of group supervision. Drawing up and holding a presentation are a part of the supervision process and supervision of the content of the thesis. In addition to verbal skills, summarizing of the content, pointing out the crucial arguments and the evaluation of your own work and the research process are crucial in the drawing up and holding the presentation with regard to content and supervision. In exceptional cases, the supervisor may organise return points related to these stages in other ways besides seminar presentations. Also in these cases, students provide the supervisor/the group in its entirety with the presentation and the abstract of that particular stage of the thesis for commenting. However, oral presentation of the thesis is required at the latest in the intermediate or manuscript stage in order to evaluate oral presentation skills (a measuring point of the learning objective of the master's degree programme).
Consequently, students commit to prepare three reports with presentations advancing the thesis work, perform as opponents to another student's thesis at least once and prepare a opponent report (A4 sheet) for the student whose work is discussed and to participate in seminar work in manner agreed with the supervisor. Supervisors commit to comment on students' reports and presentations and, when needed, to provide additional supervision during their consultation hours and in accordance with their resources.
Individual work
Students, who do not participate in the above supervision process, may also work on their thesis independently. In this case, the student forgoes the right for supervision in accordance with the supervision process. In independent work, students must have their research topic approved by the thesis supervisor appointed to them when they enroll for master's thesis work. After this, the student will work on the thesis independently. The supervisor will be normally available during consultation hours and during these meetings students will have the opportunity to present questions which the supervisor will answer based on information provided by the student. As a rule, these meetings do not include actual reading and commenting of the thesis. Once the student has finished the manuscript, he or she has to present it in a thesis seminar selected by the supervisor in order to evaluate his or her oral presentation skills. The supervisor will give his or her comments on the manuscript after which the the student continues to work on the thesis in the way chosen by him or her and will deliver the thesis to the supervisor, who will give a permission to upload the thesis in Laturi or demand additional corrections in the thesis.
In this alternative, students commit to working on their thesis independently and preparing a presentation based on their manuscript. Supervisors commit to answering questions presented by the student during their consultation hours and reading and commenting on the manuscript and presentation by the student.
As a rule, both the supervised master's thesis work and independent work follow the same schedule according to which a master's thesis will be completed in one academic year.
Enrolment for Master's Thesis
The next Graduate Thesis info session on the general thesis process at OBS, will be organized 15th of May 2024 at 13:15 – 13:45 in Zoom; https://oulu.zoom.us/j/68161357676
The general info will be recorded and uploaded to Master’s Thesis Process in OBS (2024-2025) site in Moodle. You may access this work space with key MTOBS. Link to workspace: Kurssi: Master's Thesis Process in OBS (2024-2025) (oulu.fi)
Students of all majors/master’s programmes will enrol via the following common electronic form: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/00E54F176C8A17C7
Deadline for enrolment is 17th of June 2024. The supervisor for your thesis is named according to these registrations. If you have already registered earlier during 2023-2024, already have a supervisor or your Thesis process is on-going, you do not have to register again.
If you need more information, you may contact the person responsible of your own major:
Business Analytics:
Fan Wang (fan.wang@oulu.fi)
Economics:
Jaakko Simonen (jaakko.simonen@oulu.fi)
Finance:
Petri Sahlström (petri.sahlstrom@oulu.fi)
Financial and Management Accounting:
Juha-Pekka Kallunki (juha-pekka.kallunki@oulu.fi)
International Business Management:
Anna-Liisa Kaasila-Pakanen (anna-liisa.kaasila-pakanen@oulu.fi)
Marketing:
Teck Ming Tan (teckming.tan@oulu.fi)
While the actual seminars and meetings for Master’s thesis will start in autumn 2024, appointing a supervisor now enables you to start working on your thesis already before next autumn.
Program-specific info sessions about Master’s Thesis work are:
- International Business Management; 22.05.2024 at 09.00 -10.00.
Zoom link: https://oulu.zoom.us/j/63283058331
No recording available.
Moodle; Master’s Thesis in International Business Management, access key ThesisIBM. - Accounting; 27.5.2024 at 10.00 -11.00
Zoom link: https://oulu.zoom.us/j/69684490487
Recording available.
Moodle; Master's Thesis in Accounting, Finance and Economics. - Business analytics; 27.5.2024 at 12.00 - 13.00.
Zoom link: https://oulu.zoom.us/j/68245336071
Recording available.
Moodle; Master’s Thesis, Business Analytics. - Marketing; 15.5.2024 at 14.00 - 15.00.
Zoom link: https://oulu.zoom.us/j/63428370946
Moodle; Master's Thesis, Marketing. - Finance; 15.5.2024 at 13:45
Teams link:
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZDc5OWU4NTctYWMxYi00MzFlLWJlYzMtZTY3YzIwZTE3YjQ1%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%229f9ce49a-5101-4aa3-8c75-0d5935ad6525%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%229cffe480-c83c-44f5-8ad5-575d790e3f5b%22%7d
Meeting ID: 341 664 973 721, Passcode: vtC4UF
Moodle; Master's Thesis in Accounting, Finance and Economics. - Economics; No separate thesis info during Spring 2024. If you wish to start your thesis process already during spring, contact the person responsible for the graduate thesis process in Economics. Moodle -työtila; Master's Thesis in Accounting, Finance and Economics.
Master's Thesis seminars
The stages and schedule of Master's Thesis work
Three mandatory reports:
- Research plan (approx. 5 pages)
- Intermediate report (approx. 30–40 pp. ~ theoretical part)
- Manuscript (approx. 60–80 pp. ~ all chapters written once)
Supervisors will comment on these, which will help the work forward
Oral presentation will be evaluated during the presentation of either the intermediate report or the manuscript.
Instructions for opponents
- Study the important research elements of the work in accordance with the evaluation criteria of master's theses and name two merits and two development suggestions related to the work. Present and provide grounds for these four issues during your own turn in the seminar.
- Prepare also an A4 document where you can collect various observations for the thesis writer (e.g. about mistakes, etc.)
Tools and Instructions
Instructions for thesis work
Oulu Business School guidelines for writing a Bachelor´s or Master´s thesis (in English)
- A guide to writing a master`s thesis (pdf)
- Reporting the use of artificial intelligence during Master`s thesis process (pdf)
A Microsoft Word template that can be used when writing a thesis, containing the correct page setup, styles and formatting:
- MS Word template (in English): Thesis template (docx)
- MS Word template with abstract (in English): Thesis template with abstract (docx)
Abstract template for a Master's thesis written in English:
- Abstract (docx), Abstract (rtf)
- How to add abstract template to the thesis (pdf)
Cover page for thesis written in English:
- Cover page (rtf) (If not using the MS Word template; Cover page is included in the MS Word Thesis template)
Evaluation of the Master's Thesis
Evaluation of the Master's thesis is done according to Evaluation rubric (pdf).
In addition written and oral communication skills are evaluated in order to measure the learning goal of the master's program (these evaluations do not affect the grade of the thesis):
- Written communication skills (pdf) with the maturity exam
- Oral communication skills (pdf) in the presentation of intermediate report or manuscript
Published master´s thesis
Published master’s theses of Oulu Business School are available in
Jultika – the open access repository.
Faculty of Humanities
Follow the general instructions above.
Health Sciences
For further information and guidelines for the Master's thesis in health sciences, please contact your thesis supervisor.
Computer Science and Engineering
Master's thesis plays a significant part in the master's studies. Its purpose is to prepare the student to work independently and to think critically. Therefore, guidance plays a smaller part than in the previous studies. Typically, a relatively extensive technical solution is developed in a master’s thesis. Even though some additional courses from the field of the thesis are sometimes demanded, the purpose is to get the student to use mainly the skills and knowledge acquired during her/his previous studies. In addition, the master's thesis trains the student in technical and scientific documentation.
Thesis Process:
Find supervisors for your master's thesis. The supervisors of the master's thesis can be found at the bottom of the page.
Start the thesis process at Laturi. Instructions can be found in the Laturi Guide. It is also worth checking out the thesis guide of the Library of the University of Oulu.
Write a short research plan in Laturi. The plan is max. one A4 in length. The plan should include: 1. The purpose of the work 2. Methods/material/devices/software to be used 3. Expected results. Your supervisors will approve the research plan in Laturi.
The main part of the work is performed at the second stage, in writing the thesis and performing the actual work, for example, designing, building and testing a piece of software. When the thesis is ready, it is reviewed by the supervisors and modified by the student as necessary. When the work is ready in Laturi, at this stage, the student needs to apply the degree certificate and perform some other tasks that are required from graduating students. The supervisors obtain the thesis from the archive and evaluate it. The degree programme committee accepts the grade and the faculty grants the degree.
The application for a diploma will be done via graduation system in student´s desktop in Peppi when all the credit points included in the degree are displayed in Peppi. An up-to-date PSP approved by a tutor teacher (or education planner) is also needed before you can fill the diploma application. The education planner can be reached at study.itee@oulu.fi.
Studying after graduation?
Yes, you can continue studying after getting the M.Sc. degree and target Ph.D. degree. See the page about postgraduate studies.
Instructions and forms
The Master’s Thesis Guide is the most important source of information, in addition to these pages, the supervisors, and the study affairs office:
Word document templates can be found here:
- CSE_ThesisTemplate_FI.doc (in Finnish)
- CSE_ThesisTemplate_EN.doc (in English)
Latex template for the Master's Thesis can be found from Overleaf.
The rest of this page lists milestones of thesis work; with short instructions and required forms for each of them.
Writing the Thesis
Please follow the instructions given in the Master's Thesis Guide. You can use the following title page template, or produce a similar one yourself:
NB: The old title pages meant for the bound theses are not valid anymore. Electronic versions containing old type of title pages can not be accepted but the title page has to be corrected.
Delivering the Thesis
When the thesis has been accepted, it is transferred to the university's archive and to the Jultika repository. The thesis will be publicly available on the internet, if you permit this wide publicity when delivering the thesis to Laturi. If not, the thesis will be available only at the Jultika workstations at the university libraries.
Evaluation
The supervisor and the second examiner evaluate the thesis in Laturi. They evaluate it according to the following guidelines. It´s also recommended that the student gets acquainted with the evaluation criteria. Note: in the evaluation process the supervisor and the second examiner firstly discuss and agree about the evaluation. After that the supervisor writes the evaluation to Laturi. When s(he) has done that, the second examiner joins that evaluation in Laturi. When this has been done both instructors´ names will show under the "Evaluation" form link in "Inspectors" section.
- Evaluation_Instructions.pdf
- Evaluation_Instructions_English
- Evaluation scale:
Score Grade
10-15 1
16-21 2
22-28 3
29-35 4
36-42 5
It is a good idea to check from the instructions what is required for the best grades!
You need to deliver the following form to the customer (when not the department), who then writes thesis evaluation into this form:
Applying Degree Certificate
You need to attend the maturity test, and return all university library books, as well as keys, equipment, machinery, and tools belonging to the university.
The application for a diploma is submitted via Peppi´s graduation service at student´s desktop. This will be done at the end of the studies, when all the studies included in the degree have been completed and they are shown in Peppi.
Note: the application for a diploma will be processed after the deadline of submitting the application. This means that as long as you have submitted your application on time, that is enough, and your application will be processed after that. You will receive an automatic email when your application is processed.
Note: The degree is compiled no later than the Graduation ceremony Day (not the graduation day).
Timetable for graduation Autumn 2024 & Spring 2025
There is no graduation ceremony in July. Students are welcome to join the ceremony in August.
| Deadline for the thesis in Laturi | Deadline for the evaluation in Laturi | Master´s or Bachelor's thesis in TUTO meeting | Deadline for the degree certificate application | Graduation date | Graduation ceremony, the degree certificate is available |
| 3.12.2024 | 10.12.2024 | 17.12.2024 | 24.12.2024 | 31.12.2024 | 23.1.2025 |
| 30.12.2024 | 6.1.2025 | 13.1.2025 | 24.1.2025 | 31.1.2025 | 13.2.2025 |
| 20.1.2025 | 5.2.2025 | 12.2.2025 | 21.2.2025 | 28.2.2025 | 13.3.2025 |
| 28.2.2025 | 7.3.2025 | 14.3.2025 | 24.3.2025 | 31.3.2025 | 10.4.2025 |
| 2.4.2025 | 9.4.2025 | 15.4.2025 | 23.4.2025 | 30.4.2025 | 15.5.2025 |
| 2.5.2025 | 9.5.2025 | 16.5.2025 | 24.5.2025 | 31.5.2025 | 12.6.2025 |
| 29.5.2025 | 5.6.2025 | 12.6.2025 | 23.6.2025 | 30.6.2025 | No Ceremony (you can join the Ceremony on 21.8.) |
| 5.6.2025 | 12.6.2025 | 19.6.2025 | 23.6.2025 | 30.6.2025 | No Ceremony (you can join the Ceremony on 21.8.) |
The last event in your M.Sc. studies is the graduation ceremony (Publiikki) where you will receive the paper copy of the degree certificate. You are supposed to dress formal black and you can have two guests. You will get an Alumni Pin.
- Publiikkiohjeet (instructions for the ceremony, in Finnish)
Master's degree graduation schedule
The Degree Programme Committee (TUTO) meets about once a month (not July). After the work has been completed, the Degree Programme Committee approves the evaluated thesis at the meeting. Below is a scheduled checklist for the graduate and supervisor. Check how much time is required for processing before the selected TUTO meeting.
- STUDENT: The completed thesis must be in Laturi two weeks before the TUTO meeting.
- SUPERVISOR AND STUDENT: Maturity test in Exam.
- SUPERVISOR and SECOND INSPECTOR: The evaluation of the work must be completed in Laturi no later than a week before the TUTO meeting.
- STUDENT GRADUATION: submit a degree application in Peppi´s graduation service when all the studies included in the degree are shown in Peppi. You also need a recent Personal Study Plan approved by your tutor teacher (or education designer) before graduation. The education designer can be reached at study.itee@oulu.fi.
- STUDENT: The electronic degree certificate can be downloaded on graduation ceremony day. You will get an email about this. A paper copy of the electronic degree certificate is given in Publiikki if you participate the ceremony.
The codes for CSE maturity tests:
- 521008A Computer Science and Engineering, The Maturity Test for Bachelor’s Degree
- 521009S Computer Science and Engineering , The Maturity Test for Master`s Degree
Who can supervise master’s theses?
- Thesis supervisor (valvoja) can be a CSE, EE, or DCE professor, or a postdoc currently working at CSE
- Second examiner (toinen tarkastaja) can be a CSE professor, a professor from other fields (no restrictions to the field), or a postdoc currently working at CSE.
- Either the supervisor or the second examiner has to be a CSE professor, Docent, Senior Research Fellow or experienced Postdoctoral Researcher. However, also a member of CSE personnel who has previously been a CSE professor, can act in CSE professor's role in thesis supervision.
- A postdoc acting as the supervisor must have earlier experience on acting as the second examiner.
- Technical supervisor must have at least an M.Sc. degree.
DCE = Department of Communications Engineering EE = Department of Electrical Engineering
Eligible supervisors and second examiners from CSE
Professors and postdocs listed below can supervise master theses. When a supervisor's expertise macthes your topic, please ask the supervisor in question first.
| Supervisor | Expertise | |
| Álvarez Casado, Constantino | Computer Vision, Digital Signal Processing, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Vision Systems Engineering, Real-time Systems, Face Analisys, Remote Healthcare Monitoring, Human Sensing, Biomedical Engineering, Human-Computer Interaction, Embedded Systems (Only in English). | |
| Alavesa, Paula | location based mobile games, location-based media, virtual environments, mobile augmented reality, game design, game user research, player experience. | |
| Bordallo Lopez, Miguel | computer vision, mobile/embedded vision, parallel programming, GP-GPU, vision systems engineering, real-time systems, thermal/infrared imaging, vision for healthcare/wellness, panorama imaging and multi-frame reconstruction (Only in English). | |
| Celentano, Ulrico | interaction of natural and artificial intelligent entities incl. human-technology interaction, Internet of things, systems modelling, dependability, privacy protection (Myös suomenkieliset työt). | |
| Center, Evan | Visual Perception, Attention, EEG, ERP, Virtual Reality, Presence and Plausibility, Cybersickness, Artificial Neural Networks | |
| Georgiev, Georgi | Design creativity and design thinking topics, especially related to 3D fabrication, prototyping, and process of idea generation (Only in English). | |
| Gilman, Ekaterina | Ubiquitous computing, context-awareness, context modelling and reasoning, intelligent transportation systems (data management and analysis, applications) (Only in English). | |
| Halunen, Kimmo | Cryptography, cyber security, software security, usable security, user authentication. | |
| Heikkilä, Janne | machine vision, digital image processing, digital video processing, pattern recognition, statistical signal processing, signal analysis (Finnish and English). | |
| Hosio, Simo | Crowdsourcing, decision-making, public displays, digital advertising, human computer interaction. | |
| Kannala, Juho | Machine vision, machine learning, deep learning, artificial intelligence. | |
| Keskinarkaus, Anja | multimedia, digital watermarking of audio, speech and images, digital watermarking methods for printouts, mobile applications taking advantage of watermarking methods (Finnish and English). | |
| Kortelainen, Jukka | biomedical engineering, neuroscience, pattern recognition, signal processing (Finnish and English). | |
| Loven, Lauri | edge intelligence, edge AI, edge computing, fog computing, computing continuum, continuum orchestration, distributed AI, distributed learning, distributed decision-making, smart cities, smart environments, ubiquitous intelligence. | |
| Mustaniemi, Janne | machine vision, signal analysis, digital image processing, computational photography, 3D reconstruction. | |
| Nguyen, Le | Multimodal data analysis, radio-based sensing, human activity recognition, ubiquitous computing, usable security (only in English). | |
| Ojala, Timo | networking, Internet, distributed systems, mobile computing, ubiquitous computing, multimedia, HCI (Finnish and English). | |
| Oussalah, Mourad | Natural Language Processing, Text Mining, Information Retrieval, Social Network, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence (Only in English). | |
| Partala, Juha | cryptography, cryptographic protocols, computational complexity, analysis of algorithms, information theory, biometric authentication, signal processing. | |
| Pedone, Matteo | image processing, signal processing, pattern recognition, image restoration, medical image reconstruction, degraded image recognition, image descriptors, computational photography, high-dynamic range imaging, computer graphics. | |
| Pouke, Matti | Virtual Reality, 3D Virtual Environments, Presence and Plausibility, Cybersickness, Scale-Varying Virtual Reality. | |
| Praneeth, Susarla | RF beamforming, reinforcement learning, joint communications and sensing, AI for radios, embedded systems, radio communications, hardware architectures, machine vision, real-time systems, radar communications. | |
| Röning, Juha | embedded systems, software security, intelligent systems, robotics, data mining, big data (Finnish and English). | |
| Safapour, Mehdi | AI hardware, computer architectures, embedded systems, machine vision, energy efficiency, low power design, digital systems | |
| Sangi, Pekka | computer vision, pattern recognition, signal processing. | |
| Seppänen, Tapio | biomedical engineering, biomedical signal analysis and pattern recognition (Finnish and English). | |
| Suutala, Jaakko | machine learning, statistical signal processing, pattern recognition, artificial intelligence, sensor and data fusion, data analysis, probabilistic modelling, big data, location and context sensing, robotics, computer vision. | |
| Tamminen, Satu | data mining, big data, data analysis, data science, descriptive and predictive modelling, industrial statistics, internet of things, machine learning, pattern recognition, quality improvement, statistical modelling. | |
| Tuovinen, Lauri | knowledge discovery and data mining, databases and knowledge bases, knowledge representation and semantic computing, software engineering and software architecture, security and privacy in information systems, social and philosophical issues in computing. | |
| Visuri, Aku | human-computer interaction, mobile computing, ubiquitous computing, pervasive computing, context-awareness, mobile instrumentation, attention, machine learning, wearable technologies, smart technologies. | |
| Zhao, Guoying | digital image & video processing, human motion tracking, action recognition, facial expression and micro-expression analysis, dynamic texture analysis, lip-reading, expressional face/lip animation, biometrics, surveillance (Only in English). |
Information Processing Science
Evaluation Procedure and Requirements for Inspectors
A Master's Thesis is evaluated by the Degree Programme Committee in the Department of Information Processing Science. Two inspectors, of which another is typically a supervisor, write a statement and propose a grade according to evaluation criteria. The Study Evaluation Group makes the decision. A student may request correction from the university examination board within 14 days from the day he/she was able to receive the results of the evaluation.
The deadlines for delivering a thesis for evaluation are.
Requirements for Inspectors
| Proposed Grade | Requirement for Inspectors |
|---|---|
| 1 | Both holding at least master's degree |
| 2 | |
| 3 | |
| 4 | One holding at least doctor's degree, another holding at least master's degree |
| 5 |
If the proposed grade is 5, the evaluation requires two Study Evaluation Group meetings as follows:
- In the first meeting, the Study Evaluation Group nominates a third inspector that is a professor, a docent, a doctor or a person holding equal competence. The third inspector must have adequate expertise on the domain of the thesis and/or the methods used in the thesis.
- In the second meeting, the Study Evaluation Group decides the grade based on the statements.
Students and supervisors must take into account the time taken by the evaluation procedure.
Masters Thesis Evaluation Criteria (pdf)
Maturity Test for The Degree of Master of Science
In case the student has in the course of his/her completed Bachelor level studies (or in the completed studies in a college or in the Master level studies) written a maturity test and proved his/her language skills in Finnish or Swedish, an abstract of the Master’s thesis will be accepted as showing the required competence instead of writing the text for the maturity test. The student has to write the abstract in a separate form that includes special guidelines for the maturity test. In this case the text does not have to prove the language skills of the student in Finnish or Swedish. However, the text must still show knowledge of the student's field of study.
The abstract must include
- the topic of the study;
- the object of the study, material used and the aim of the study;
- research methods used (If the study is theoretical in nature and is based on literature, the student must mention the most significant source texts. In case the study is empirical in nature, the student must mention the research methods used.);
- the essential results of the study;
- conclusion and suggestions for future actions based on the results; and
- keywords.
The abstract must fit on one page (font size 12, line height 1,5) and it has a cover sheet that needs to be signed by the student. Otherwise, the abstract is free-from and there is no official template.
In the abstract the student will showcase and analyse the material of his/her study, research methods and results according to the guidelines above. The supervisor or faculty members who have been appointed to that role will assess the text written for the maturity test. The supervisor signs the abstract and delivers it to the secretary of Study assessment group (OAR). Finally, OAR will accept the maturity test. The text will be assessed with a pass/fail grading. No credits will be given for completing the maturity test.
If the student has not demonstrated his/her language skills in Finnish or Swedish in his/her Bachelor's degree, or in some other his/her basic degree, the student must take the maturity test as required for the Bachelor's degree. In this case the student must demonstrate the required level of language. The rules for choosing the language are the same as for Bachelor's degree.
Electronics and Communications Engineering
Instruction of the Master’s thesis for ECE, WCE and Electronics study programs
This page describes how to make a Master’s thesis and how to apply a degree in Degree Programmes in Electronics and Communications Engineering (ECE), Wireless Communications Engineering (WCE) and Electronics. There exists a separate guideline for writing of the thesis.
- How and where to acquire Master’s thesis topic
- By following notices of companies, research centres and universities
- By contacting employers, professors, research group leaders and lecturers
- Own unpaid topic is an option
- Information for you: Master's Thesis Topics for ECE / WCE / Electronics Students
- Selection of the supervisor
- Contact persons of the study programs will help you in this matter.
- Jari Hannu (ECE)
- Kari Kärkkäinen (WCE, WCE-DD)
- Marko Neitola (Electronics)
- Email firstname.surname@oulu.fi
- Contact persons of the study programs will help you in this matter.
- Kick-off meeting with supervisor
- In the kick-off meeting a topic, a technical supervisor and a time schedule of the thesis are defined and evaluation instructions of the thesis are looked through. The technical supervisor is nominated if the thesis will be done outside of the University.
- Links: MSc Thesis Evaluation Form, Master Thesis Guidelines
- Start the process in Laturi
- Fill in the basic information about the thesis and invite a main supervisor for your thesis
- As a student you invite a main supervisor and possible other supervisors for your thesis. The reviewers in the thesis process are invited by the main supervisor. Each degree program has designated approver(s) who will automatically be linked to the thesis process.
- More information on how to use Laturi can be found in Laturi-guide.
- Links: Instructions on starting a new thesis in Laturi, Instructions on adding persons involved in your thesis
- Submitting the research plan
- After the director of the degree programme confirms the main supervisor for your thesis, you can submit your research plan in Laturi.
- The supervisor has to approve the research plan in Laturi.
- Links: Instructions on submitting the research plan in Laturi
- Thesis work and writing the thesis
- A practical part as well as writing of the thesis will be done in guidance of the nominated persons and according master thesis guidelines.
- Links: Master Thesis Word Template, Master Thesis Guidelines, Latex template
- Master’s thesis Seminar
- All students of ECE, WCE and Electronics study program who follow study structure of the year 2015 or later will prepare a seminar presentation from his/her Master's thesis and present it in a master thesis seminar.
- Link: Electronics and Communications seminar
- Uploading of the thesis to the Laturi
- When the supervisor thinks that the thesis is ready for examination, he/she will give a permission to upload the thesis to Laturi.
- The thesis has to be uploaded a week before the meeting day of the Degree Programme Committee (TOTO). The student will upload the thesis to Laturi.
- Links: Schedule of the uploading, Instructions on uploading your thesis to Laturi
- Maturity test and its evaluation
- The supervisor creates a maturity test as an E-exam and inform the student about it. The student complete this test in an Examinarium. The supervisor grades and locks the test in E-exam system. The grade will move automatically to the queuing process of Peppi and further for student’s information.
- Statement of the technical supervisor
- The student takes an evaluation form for client to his/her technical supervisor, and the technical supervisor gives it back filled to the supervisor.
- Linkki: Evaluation form for client
- Inspection of the Master’s thesis
- The director of the degree programme, the supervisor and the second examiner download the thesis from Laturi and go through results of the plagiarism inspection. The supervisor and the second examiner create a proposal for the inspection of the thesis to the evaluation form of the Master’s thesis in Laturi. The proposal has to be submitted to Laturi three days before the meeting day of the Degree Programme Committee (TOTO).
- Links: MSc thesis evaluation form, Master’s thesis evaluation grounds
- Evaluation of the Master’s thesis
- A committee of the degree programme grades the thesis in Laturi based on the statement of supervisor and the second examiner.
- The information of the grade goes from Laturi to Peppi and the thesis moves forward for publishing.
- The student has a right to make a request for rectification concerning grading to the Board of Examiners during 14 days. Koulutuksen johtosääntö 24 §.
Architecture
DIPLOMA WORK (MSc THESIS) GUIDELINES Oulu School of Architecture
Master’s thesis i.e. diploma work in architecture is a research-based (artistic or theoretical) study unit included in the advanced level studies of the master’s (architect’s) degree. The extent of the thesis is 30 credits (30 ECTS).
The diploma work is carried out individually by the student. Responsibility for the quality and outcome of the work always remains with the author. The Supervisor ensures that the work fulfils the minimum requirements set for diploma projects.
Please, find the detailed diploma work instructions 2020 for the Oulu School of Architecture in the above link (title of this paragraph).
The student has to have the title of his/her thesis approved by the Study Programme Committee of the School before the planned diploma presentation by sending the application to study.architecture@oulu.fi one week before the preceeding committee meeting .
The OSA education committee will meet in the spring semester 2020 on the following Mondays: 20.1./ 10.2. / 16.3. / 20.4. / 25.5. / 15.6. (on reserve)
Application for diploma thesis subject_OSA
THE DIPLOMA SEMINARS AT THE OULU SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, SPRING SEMESTER 2022:
February 2022 seminar: Wednesday 2.2.2022
March 2022 seminar: Wednesday 30.3.2022
May 2022 seminar: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 23.-25.5.2022
June 2022 seminar: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 13.-15.6.2022
Medical and Wellness Technology
The degree programme in Medical and Wellness Technology follows General instructions on publication of the theses prepared in the degree programmes at the Faculty of Medicine.
In addition the students of the programme will follow the listed process in preparing the thesis:
Master's thesis (30 ECTS):
580213S Master's Thesis in Biomedical Engineering 30 ECTS = 810 hours of work .
Kindly note that if you have course 580214S Study Plan of the Thesis 5 ECTS in your personal study plan, you will get the credits after you have presented the study plan in BME seminar. Form: Examiner's statement on Master's thesis study plan
1. Register for the course(-s) in PEPPI
2. Choosing and agreeing on the topic of your thesis
You will find list of already available topics in programmes Moodle work space. You also can contact research groups and/or companies directly and ask for possibility to prepare the thesis on topic of their interest. Check also what the Career Services Network of Finnish Universities "Aarresaari" (in Finnish; in English) has to offer.
As soon as you have found an interesting topic, discuss and agree on it with the proposed supervisor of the topic in question. Should you not find a topic of your interest, contact Anna Maijala anna.maijala(at)oulu.fi for further advise.
3. Topic Proposal (Discuss with the supervisor)
Application for Topic Proposal
Fill the application in and send it via email to all listed in signatures section. However, there is no need to sign the document, since the actual accepting will take place electronically in Laturi system.
4. Process in Laturi
After you have agreed on the topic with your supervisor you will start the thesis process in Laturi, where you fill in in an electronic form all required information such as, for example, title, supervisors, study plan. The whole thesis process including i.e. supervision, evaluation, approval and electronic publishing will be administered in Laturi.
During this process there are several checkpoints and many persons involved. That is why it is important that you will consider the time needed for finalizing the process.
Note: if you are preparing an article thesis, kindly check faculty´s instructions above (English translation in process).
Study carefully information in Laturi-guide (in Finnish; in English)
5. Writing a thesis
The actual writing of a thesis takes usually approximately 4-6 months. Your supervisor/-s will support you throughout the process so do not hesitate to contact them, whenever you feel need for that. Kindly study in the programme´s Moodle workspace (Biomedical engineering study guide) general guidelines for writing the thesis and also template of a thesis.
6. Submission and grading of the thesis
As soon as your supervisor/-s has/have accepted final version of the thesis you will start the finalization process in Laturi by submitting the thesis for review, approval, and publishing.
The evaluation and grade will also be discussed and approved in the degree programme committee of the Master´s Programme in Biomedical Engineering.
Kindly note that you should reserve approximately three (3) weeks between submission of the thesis and graduation. See also webpage Graduation: Master´s degree for checking the steps that need to be taken before graduation.
The physical copy of Master's thesis: the study programme pays for 2 copies of the book: one for the student, one for the unit's library. Students can order more copies on one's own account. Instructions on how to order the physical copies, you get by asking Meri Ojakangas (meri.ojakangas(at)oulu.fi).
7. Maturity Test and Diploma application
Kindly note that in Biomedical Engineering all students of the programme will write a maturity test. For more detailed information about the test kindly visit page Maturity Test.
After completion of the test and all other studies included in your PSP and required for the degree you must apply for graduation / degree diploma in PEPPI. Check instructions in Graduation: Master´s degree.
Kindly note that from 1st of Oct, 2022 on students will only receive an electronic degree certificate. Copy of it can be received in Diploma Conferment Ceremony (information in Finnish and in English).
More information in page Degree certificate, transcript of records and Diploma Supplement.
8. Feedback
Give feedback on thesis process via course´s implementation/realization in PEPPI. If the course is not in your course list in PEPPI, make sure that you have registered for the course. Registration is also necessary for recording evaluation in Peppi.
For further information kindly contact Anna Maijala anna.maijala(at)oulu.fi or study.medicine(at)oulu.fi.
Biomedical Engineering MHSc
The Master´s Programme in Biomedical Engineering follows General instructions on publication of the theses prepared in the degree programmes at the Faculty of Medicine.
In addition, the students of the programme will follow the process in preparing the thesis listed below.
Master's thesis (30 ECTS):
580213S Master's Thesis in Biomedical Engineering 30 ECTS = 810 hours of work .
1. Register for the course in PEPPI
2. Choosing and agreeing on the topic of your thesis
You will find list of already available topics in programmes Moodle work space. You also can contact research groups and/or companies directly and ask for possibility to prepare the thesis on topic of their interest. Check also what the Career Services Network of Finnish Universities "Aarresaari" (in Finnish; in English) has to offer.
As soon as you have found an interesting topic, discuss and agree on it with the proposed supervisor of the topic in question. Should you not find a topic of your interest, contact Anna Maijala anna.maijala(at)oulu.fi for further advise.
3. Topic Proposal (Discuss with the supervisor)
Application for Topic Proposal
Fill the application in and send it via email to all listed in signatures section. However, there is no need to sign the document, since the actual accepting will take place electronically in Laturi system.
4. Process in Laturi
After you have agreed on the topic with your supervisor you will start the thesis process in Laturi, where you fill in in an electronic form all required information such as, for example, title, supervisors, study plan. The whole thesis process including i.e. supervision, evaluation, approval and electronic publishing will be administered in Laturi.
During this process there are several checkpoints and many persons involved. That is why it is important that you will consider the time needed for finalizing the process.
Note: if you are preparing an article thesis, kindly check faculty´s instructions above (English translation in process).
Study carefully information in Laturi-guide (in Finnish; in English)
5. Writing a thesis
The actual writing of a thesis takes usually approximately 4-6 months. Your supervisor/-s will support you throughout the process so do not hesitate to contact them, whenever you feel need for that. Kindly study in the programme´s Moodle workspace (Biomedical engineering study guide) general guidelines for writing the thesis and also template of a thesis.
6. Submission and grading of the thesis
As soon as your supervisor/-s has/have accepted final version of the thesis you will start the finalization process in Laturi by submitting the thesis for review, approval, and publishing.
The evaluation and grade will also be discussed and approved in the degree programme committee of the Master´s Programme in Biomedical Engineering. For further details on evaluation criteria kindly check Biomedical Engineering Study Guide in Moodle.
Kindly note that you should reserve approximately three (3) weeks between submission of the thesis and graduation. See also webpage Graduation: Master´s degree for checking the steps that need to be taken before graduation.
7. Maturity Test and Diploma application
Kindly note that in Biomedical Engineering all students of the programme will write a maturity test. For more detailed information about the test kindly visit page Maturity Test.
After completion of the test and all other studies included in your PSP and required for the degree you must apply for graduation / degree diploma in PEPPI. Check instructions in Graduation: Master´s degree.
Kindly note that from 1st of Oct, 2022 on students will only receive an electronic degree certificate. A copy in university´s folder can be received in Diploma Conferment Ceremony (information in Finnish and in English).
More information in page Degree certificate, transcript of records and Diploma Supplement.
8. Feedback
Give feedback on thesis process via course´s implementation/realization in PEPPI. If the course is not in your course list in PEPPI, make sure that you have registered for the course. Registration is also necessary for recording evaluation in Peppi.
For further information kindly contact Anna Maijala anna.maijala(at)oulu.fi or study.medicine(at)oulu.fi.
Biology
MSc thesis meetings
You will have to submit your final version of MSc thesis to Laturi 2-3 weeks before the meeting date
22.09.2020
15.10.2020
18.11.2020
18.12.2020
21.01.2021
18.02.2021
23.03.2021
22.04.2021
20.05.2021
22.06.2021
30.06.2021
Industrial Engineering and Management
The whole Master's thesis process is done now in Laturi -system. See the instructions for using the Laturi system.
Please see below instructions for the contents and structure of the Master’s thesis:
Get acquainted also with the evaluation criteria of the Master’s thesis:
Read more information on IEM StudyNavi (Moodle) and enroll in the Research seminar course.
Process and Environmental Engineering
In Faculty of Technology a congruent form and instructions are used for writing the Master’s thesis.
Please see below instructions for the contents and structure of the Master’s thesis and Research plan:
The student begins the thesis process in Laturi system,
In Laturi there are following steps:
After the start meeting
1. The student calls the main supervisor and gives a preliminary name for the Master’s thesis
2. If necessary, the student fills in the information of the partner company
3. The main supervisor accepts the invitation as a supervisor
4. The Head of the degree program approves the topic and the main supervisor
5. The student uploads a research plan prepared with the supervisor to the system
6. The supervisor and the student agree on optional intermediate stages
At the completion stage of the thesis
7. The student uploads the thesis in PDF/A -format to Laturi system
8. In connection with the upload, the student approves/denies the plagiarism identification and the publication of the thesis.
9. The reviewer inspects the work and completes the evaluation form at Laturi system
10. The reviewers submit the work for approval
11. The thesis is approved by the Degree Programme Committee
Master’s thesis must be uploaded to the Laturi system no later than the Wednesday before the Degree Programme Committee meeting.
Get acquainted also with the evaluation criteria of the Master’s thesis:
Mechanical Engineering
Instructions in Mechanical Engineering Degree Programme
In Faculty of Technology a congruent form and instructions are used for writing the Master’s thesis.
Form "Supervising master’s thesis and subject" must be filled at the early state of the process. The information must also be uploaded to the Laturi system.
Please see below instructions for the contents and structure of the Master’s thesis:
Once the university supervisor has approved the thesis as completed, the student is given the permission to start the publishing process. Master’s thesis is published in an electronic form through Laturi: All theses must be submitted for evaluation via the Laturi system of the Oulu University Library. If the title of the Master’s thesis changes during Master’s thesis working process, final title can be informed via study.technology(at)oulu.fi.
Get acquainted also with the evaluation criteria of the Master’s thesis:
Supervisor: First save the evaluation document on your own computer and then fill.
Biomedical Engineering
Master's thesis plays a significant part in the master's studies. Its purpose is to prepare the student to work independently and to think critically. Therefore, guidance plays a smaller part than in the previous studies. Typically, a relatively extensive technical solution is developed in a master’s thesis. Even though some additional courses from the field of the thesis are sometimes demanded, the purpose is to get the student to use mainly the skills and knowledge acquired during her/his previous studies. In addition, the master's thesis trains the student in technical and scientific documentation.
Thesis Process
Find supervisors for your master's thesis. Start the thesis process at Laturi. Instructions can be found in the Laturi Guide. It is also worth checking out the thesis guide of the Library of the University of Oulu
Write a short research plan in Laturi. The plan is max. one A4 in length. The plan should include:
- The purpose of the work
- Methods/material/devices/software to be used
- Expected results.
Your supervisors will approve the research plan in Laturi.
The main part of the work is performed at the second stage, in writing the thesis and performing the actual work, for example, designing, building and testing a piece of software.
When the thesis is ready, it is reviewed by the supervisors and modified by the student as necessary. When the work is ready in Laturi, at this stage, the student needs to apply the degree certificate and perform some other tasks that are required from graduating students. The supervisors obtain the thesis from the archive and evaluate it. The degree programme committee accepts the grade and the faculty grants the degree.
The application for a diploma will be done via graduation system in student´s desktop in Peppi when all the credit points included in the degree are displayed in Peppi. An up-to-date PSP approved by a tutor teacher (or education designer) is also needed before you can fill the diploma application. The education designer can be reached at study.itee@oulu.fi.
Instructions and forms
The Master’s Thesis Guide is the most important source of information, in addition to these pages, the supervisors, and the study affairs office:
Word document templates can be found here:
- BME_ThesisTemplate_FI (doc) (in Finnish)
- BME_ThesisTemplate_EN (doc) (in English)
Latex template for the Master's Thesis can be found from Overleaf.
The rest of this page lists milestones of thesis work; with short instructions and required forms for each of them.
Writing the Thesis
Please follow the instructions given in the Master's Thesis Guide. You can use the following title page template, or produce a similar one yourself:
Delivering the Thesis
When the thesis has been accepted, it is transferred to the university's archive and to the Jultika repository. The thesis will be publicly available on the internet, if you permit this wide publicity when delivering the thesis to Laturi. If not, the thesis will be available only at the Jultika workstations at the university libraries.
Evaluation
The supervisor and the second examiner evaluate the thesis in Laturi. They evaluate it according to the following guidelines. It´s also recommended that the student gets acquainted with the evaluation criteria. Note: in the evaluation process the supervisor and the second examiner firstly discuss and agree about the evaluation. After that the supervisor writes the evaluation to Laturi. When s(he) has done that, the second examiner joins that evaluation in Laturi. When this has been done both instructors´ names will show under the "Evaluation" form link in "Inspectors" section.
Evaluation Scale:
Score Grade
10-15 1
16-21 2
22-28 3
29-35 4
36-42 5
It is a good idea to check from the instructions what is required for the best grades!
You need to deliver the following form to the customer (when not the department), who then writes thesis evaluation into this form:
Maturity Test
You need to attend the maturity test. More information about the maturity test can be found on Performing Maturity Test .
The supervisor creates a maturity test as an E-exam and inform the student about it. The student complete this test in an Examinarium.
Instructions for E-exam:
Note also that you have to return all university library books, as well as keys, equipment, machinery, and tools belonging to the university.
Applying Degree Certificate
The application for a diploma is submitted via Peppi´s Graduation service at student´s desktop. This will be done at the end of the studies, when all the studies included in the degree have been completed and they are shown in Peppi.
The degree is compiled no later than the Graduation ceremony Day (not the graduation day).
There is no graduation ceremony in July. Students are welcome to join ceremony in August.
Timetable for graduation during academic year 2024 – 2025
The last event in your M.Sc. studies is the graduation ceremony (Publiikki) where you will receive the paper copy of the degree certificate. You are supposed to dress formal black and you can have two guests. You will get an Alumni Pin.
- Publiikkiohjeet (instructions for the ceremony, in Finnish)
Studying after graduation?
Yes, you can continue studying after getting the M.Sc. degree and target Ph.D. degree. You can apply for a complementary study right when submitting your application for degree certificate through Peppi's Graduation service. Also University of Oulu Graduate School , open university studies and non-degree studies are available.
Civil Engineering
A Master's thesis is a research project in which student utilizes theory and research methods of the study field. The scope of the thesis is normally about 30 credits, which means about six months of full-time studying. Usually the thesis and possible thesis-related seminar work are scheduled in the last studying year. The seminar work is organized by the supervisor, who is usually the professor of the field. The length of a master's thesis is typically 50-80 pages, but more detailed instructions and learning objectives are written in the curriculum of each degree programme. The completed Master's thesis will be reviewed at Urkund plagiarism checker and then published after approval in the Laturi database. The faculty's dean of education or the degree programme committee accepts the theses. Students can read previously published master's theses at the Pegasus library. A Master student is also required to complete a maturity test. The maturity test is a written exam which evaluates the students command of the research topic and proficiency in Finnish, Swedish or English.
Read also: Thesis as a project-based work
Please, answer this enquiry concerning the guidebook above
In Faculty of Technology a congruent form and instructions are used for writing the Master’s thesis.
Form "Supervising master’s thesis and subject" must be filled at the early state of the process. The information must also be uploaded to the Laturi system.
Please see below instructions for the contents and structure of the Master’s thesis:
Once the university supervisor has approved the thesis as completed, the student is given the permission to start the publishing process. Master’s thesis is published in an electronic form through Laturi: All theses must be submitted for evaluation via the Laturi system of the Oulu University Library. If the title of the Master’s thesis changes during Master’s thesis working process, final title can be informed via study.technology(at)oulu.fi.
Get acquainted also with the evaluation criteria of the Master’s thesis:
Supervisor: First save the evaluation document on your own computer and then fill.
Chemistry
Master's thesis in the degree program in chemistry
For the master's degree in the chemistry degree program, a master's thesis is written, the scope of which is 20 cr. In addition to this, the degree of chemist includes a special thesis in the major of 30 ECTS, which is laboratory research.
Master's thesis writing and assessment instructions
Epidemiology and Biomedical Data Science
THESIS PROCESS IN THE MASTER´S PROGRAMME IN EPIDEMIOLOGY AND BIOMEDICAL DATA SCIENCE
The following is an outline of the thesis process. More detailed information and materials will be provided during the following seminar courses:
- OH00AL82 Master´s thesis seminar I (1 ECTS cr) organized for 1st year students in spring term of 1st academic year of studies and
- OH00AL83 Master´s thesis seminar II (4 ECTS cr) organized for 2nd year students in autumn term of 2nd academic year of studies
The Instructions for a master´s thesis and Writing guidelines for a thesis are published in seminar courses Moodle workspace.
The process also includes registration for the following courses:
- 551313S Master´s thesis (35 ECTS cr)
- 551315S Maturity test (0 ECTS cr)
Remember to register for these courses in Peppi before the start of the course during the registration period. Registration for 551313S and 551315S is required for evaluation of the courses after the thesis has been completed and approved. The abstract of the approved thesis will serve as the maturity test.
STEPS TO BE TAKEN DURING THE PROCESS
- Familiarize with given guidelines (Moodle, university´s For student -pages, and library pages including Laturi guides)
- Start reading research publications relevant to your research interest.
- Find the topic and supervisors for your thesis.
- Fill out the topic proposal/supervision agreement form (available in Moodle).
- Start the thesis process in Laturi.
- Prepare a research plan and submit it in the Laturi system where the whole thesis process is managed electronically. The research plan is presented during thesis seminar II.
- Write the thesis, communicate with supervisors, and ask for consultations, and feedback.
- Have your thesis examined preliminary by your supervisor(s) and agree together with them on that the thesis is ready for submission to Laturi.
- After approval from the supervisor(s) submit the thesis for evaluation in Laturi.
- Plagiarism and text similarity detection will take place in Laturi after which the main supervisor will read the report and accept or return the thesis for corrections. More information about possible pre-check via Moodle will be provided separately.
- Evaluation and grading of the thesis by examiners.
- The Degree Programme Committee will discuss and accept the final grade.
- Accepted thesis and assessment are sent by email/via Laturi after the Degree Programme Committee meeting.
- If you disagree with the assessment you may request a rectification of the assessment within 14 days from the date of being informed the decision.
- The abstract of the thesis is accepted as a Maturity test. The academic Affairs service team will get the information about the completed thesis from Laturi and will mark the maturity test as completed in Peppi.
- When the thesis process has been finalized look at the steps to be taken for graduation in Graduation: Master´s degree.
For further information about the process kindly contact coordinator Miia Halonen and/or study.medicine(at)oulu.fi.
Business Analytics MSc (Tech)
Master's thesis purpose is to prepare the student to work independently and to think critically. The master's thesis trains the student in technical and scientific documentation.
Thesis Process
Find supervisor for your master's thesis:
Start the thesis process at Laturi. Instructions can be found in the Laturi Guide.
Write a short research plan in Laturi. The plan is max. one A4 in length. The plan should include:
- The purpose of the work
- Methods/material/devices/software to be used
- Expected results.
Your supervisors will approve the research plan in Laturi.
When the thesis is ready, it is reviewed by the supervisors and modified by the student as necessary. When the work is ready in Laturi, at this stage, the student needs to apply for the degree certificate and perform some other tasks that are required from graduating students. The supervisors obtain the thesis from the archive and evaluate it. The degree programme committee accepts the grade and the faculty grants the degree.
The application for a diploma will be done via graduation system in student´s desktop in Peppi when all the credit points included in the degree are displayed in Peppi. An up-to-date PSP approved by a tutor teacher (or education designer) is also needed before you can fill the diploma application. The education designer can be reached at study.itee@oulu.fi.
Template for Theses
Instructions and forms (Will be updated)
Delivering the Thesis
When the thesis has been accepted, it is transferred to the university's archive and to oulurepo to been published. The thesis will be publicly available on the internet, if you permit this wide publicity when delivering the thesis to Laturi. If not, the thesis will be available only at the Jultika workstations at the university libraries.
Evaluation
The supervisor and the second examiner evaluate the thesis in Laturi. They evaluate it according to the following guidelines. It´s also recommended that the student gets acquainted with the evaluation criteria. Note: in the evaluation process the supervisor and the second examiner firstly discuss and agree about the evaluation. After that the supervisor writes the evaluation to Laturi. When s(he) has done that, the second examiner joins that evaluation in Laturi. When this has been done both instructors´ names will show under the "Evaluation" form link in "Inspectors" section.
Evaluation Scale:
Score Grade
10-15 1
16-21 2
22-28 3
29-35 4
36-42 5
It is a good idea to check from the instructions what is required for the best grades!
You need to deliver the following form to the customer (when not the department), who then writes thesis evaluation into this form:
Maturity Test
You need to attend the maturity test. More information about the maturity test can be found on Performing Maturity Test .
The supervisor creates a maturity test as an E-exam and inform the student about it. The student complete this test in an Examinarium.
Instructions for E-exam:
Note also that you have to return all university library books, as well as keys, equipment, machinery, and tools belonging to the university.
Applying Degree Certificate
The application for a diploma is submitted via Peppi´s Graduation service at student´s desktop. This will be done at the end of the studies, when all the studies included in the degree have been completed and they are shown in Peppi.
The degree is compiled no later than the Graduation ceremony Day (not the graduation day).
There is no graduation ceremony in July. Students are welcome to join ceremony in August.
The last event in your M.Sc. studies is the graduation ceremony (Publiikki) where you will receive the paper copy of the degree certificate. You are supposed to dress formal black and you can have two guests. You will get an Alumni Pin.
- Publiikkiohjeet (instructions for the ceremony, in Finnish)
Studying after graduation?
Yes, you can continue studying after getting the M.Sc. degree and target Ph.D. degree. You can apply for a complementary study right when submitting your application for degree certificate through Peppi's Graduation service. Also University of Oulu Graduate School , open university studies and non-degree studies are available.
Timetable for graduation on spring 2024 and academic year 2024 – 2025
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