Commission a Master's thesis

The most common way to conduct a Master's thesis is to recruit a student as an employee in the company. This is a normal fixed-term employment relationship, for which the student and the company sign an employment contract. Usually, the student's main job is to do the thesis, but the company and the student can also define other tasks in the contract, as long as the student works primarily on the thesis. In Finland, the employer usually obtains intellectual property rights to the results of the thesis, but the student always has copyright to their own thesis.

For a Master's thesis in engineering and technology (diplomityö), the student must have an industry advisor appointed by the company to support them in the planning and implementation of the experimental part and the writing process of the thesis. In addition, the student will also have an academic supervisor appointed by the university to supervise the scientific validity and structure of the thesis and the overall thesis process.

For a Master's thesis in business fields (pro gradu), the student only has an academic advisor from the university, and the company does not need to appoint an advisor. For a Master's thesis in arts and design, the student may have an industry advisor in addition to the academic supervisor.

A company or organisation can also commission a thesis. In this case, the student is not employed by the organisation, but the thesis is carried out as a direct assignment for which the company pays a fee or remuneration to the student according to the assignment contract. As a contractor, the company is not responsible for the costs of the paid work, such as social security and insurance contributions.

A company can have a thesis worker through a commissioned research project from Aalto University. In this case, a research cooperation agreement is concluded between the company and the university, and the university is responsible for recruiting a student for the thesis project. The academic staff of the university will also be responsible for supervising the thesis. In principle, the company will receive rights to the research results of the project in accordance with the cooperation agreement. The thesis is a public document and the writer of the thesis has copyright on their own work, but the ways in which the thesis is prepared for publication can be agreed with the client on a case-by-case basis.

An organisation can make a donation to one of Aalto University's support foundations. The foundations will direct the donation to the field of the donor's choice as a grant for a Master's thesis or a doctoral dissertation. Making a donation is an easy way for a company to participate in research, as it doesn't require signing an employment contract with the student or a cooperation agreement with the university. The donation is also tax-deductible for the company. On the other hand, the decision on the grant recipient and the topic of the research is made by the grant foundation, and the intellectual property rights remain with the student. The donation is therefore best suited to a company that wants to support academic research in a particular field but does not have a specific business challenge of its own. Read more about the Aalto University support foundations:

Foundation for Aalto University Science and Technology

The Helsinki School of Economics Support Foundation

Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture Support Foundation

Normally, a Master's thesis is written in the final year of the student's Master's studies. The most optimal time from the point of view of studies is the spring semester of the final year, when the student has already completed most of the advanced studies for their Master's degree. Spring is also the time when students often have more flexibility in their study schedule to work full-time on a thesis project.

From a company's point of view, it's a good idea to start thinking about possible thesis recruitment already in the autumn, when many students are still looking for a suitable research topic or project. It's also possible to schedule some of the thesis writing for the summer months, but there's rarely enough time to complete the whole thesis then, so it's a good idea to start the work earlier. A Master's thesis takes about 6 months to complete, so the thesis project should be planned accordingly.

Before starting the thesis work, students should seek approval for their research topic from their academic supervisor/advisor, after which the thesis work in the company can begin. If the thesis is done in the field of engineering (diplomityö), the company should also appoint a thesis advisor at this stage, who will be responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the thesis student. The advisor can be any employee of the company who holds at least a Master's degree. In the fields of business, art and design, the company does not appoint an advisor, and the student only has an academic advisor from the university.

The thesis advisor assigned by the company will go through the thesis research plan with the student, which the student has defined with their academic supervisor. It is recommended that a kick-off meeting with the industry advisor and the academic supervisor be arranged. At this stage at the latest, a timetable and milestones for the thesis should be agreed upon with the students and monitored by the company's thesis advisor.

The role of the industry advisor is to provide day-to-day guidance and support to the student in the planning and implementation of the experimental part of the thesis, as well as in the writing process. The industry advisor should arrange regular meetings with the student to monitor the progress of the research and the fulfilment of the milestones.

As the thesis is an academic paper, it is important to ensure that the writing process continues throughout the thesis project, even if the project has to do with the experimental part of the research. The industry advisor should therefore require written reports from the student on the progress of the thesis and, of course, allow sufficient time for the writing process in the student's daily work. For this reason, the student should not be assigned operational tasks that are not directly related to the thesis project.

The optimal duration of the thesis is 6 months. At the end of the thesis project, the student presents their work in a thesis seminar, and the final thesis paper is approved by the university. The industry advisor should also comment on the student's performance from the company's perspective before the thesis is approved, as this provides valuable feedback to the university for the academic evaluation of the thesis. If the thesis is carried out in an employment relationship, the company will also provide the student with a certificate of employment at the end of the project. Of course, the company and the student can also agree at this stage to continue the employment relationship in the form of other tasks.