For thesis-writing: Theses & Tomatoes on Mondays
Online co-writing event for thesis writing
The topic of your doctoral thesis must be approved by the Doctoral Programme Committee of your School. The topic is approved when you are admitted to the programme (except at the School of Business the topic is decided at a later stage).
If your topic changes, you must get approval for the change from the Doctoral Programme Committee. Always discuss the changes with your supervising professor first. If the research focus doesn't drastically change, you can modify the title of the thesis or the research plan without an official approval.
In case of a major change in your research topic, it is possible that your supervising professor and research field also changes.
Submit the application to your Doctoral programme's Doctoral Education Services (aalto.fi)
The form "Change of supervisign professor, thesis advisor, research field or mode of study" is available at Doctoral student forms (aalto.fi).
Check out the courses in transferable skills and the courses offered by the Aalto University Language Centre under Doctoral curriculum. Some doctoral programme's also offer field specific writing courses.
Resources and services by Aalto University's Harald Herlin Learning Centre
Please note the referencing and writing style conventions depend on the research field. Discuss the preferred styles and formats with your thesis advisor(s).
The language of instruction at Aalto doctoral programmes is, in principle, English but the doctoral thesis can also be completed in Finnish or in Swedish (in the field of business only in English or in Finnish). Normally, the language of your degree is the language in which you write your thesis (English, Finnish or Swedish).
Online co-writing event for thesis writing
You can write your thesis using the Word or LaTeX templates available at the page Publishing doctoral thesis. You can also use your own style or adapt some previously used thesis layout.
Doctoral students at Aalto University publish their thesis through the Aalto Publication Platform. Doctoral students at Aalto ARTS may also apply to publish their thesis through Aalto ARTS Books. The Aalto University publication platform generates the standard front and back covers to the doctoral theses. The platform also generates the title pages and the abstract pages to the doctoral thesis.
If the thesis contains material that has already been published (such as pictures) the doctoral student should refer to it appropriately and obtain the required copyrights.
Copyrights should also be obtained for the separate publications included in an article thesis. Publications in an electronic form should be equivalent in content with the printed publications.
See more at the section Research integrity: Responsible conduct of research
Patents nor standards may not be used as publications of an article-based thesis. Patents and standards are important results of research work but their publication practices may be in conflict with the principles of scientific publication. Patents can be presented in the summary, and if necessary, be appended to the thesis.
Properly managed research data creates competitive edge and is an important part of a high-quality research process. Here you will find links to support, services and instructions for research data management.
Aalto University has committed itself to following the guidelines for ethical principles of research and integrity. You will find help and advice on questions on research ethics.
Learning Centre supports postgraduates and researchers by providing access to information resources. We also assist in information retrieval, publication and open science related questions.
Doctoral dissertations at Aalto University, Decision of the Aalto University Academic Affairs Committee, 1 December 2015
Schools may approve doctoral thesis in the forms described below. Schools take the decision on the acceptable formats of thesis and give further guidelines on the requirements for doctoral thesis as needed.
An article-based doctoral thesis consists of a set of publications on a related set of problems, and a summary of the findings.
The articles included in the doctoral thesis are published or submitted for publication in an acknowledged peer-reviewed forum in the discipline (for example a scientific publication series, conference proceedings or other work). Articles not yet accepted for publication can also be included in the doctoral thesis. The number of publications required for the thesis depends on their extent, scientific significance and quality as well as on the weight of the independent contribution of the doctoral student to the publications.
The articles may also include co-authored publications if the author's independent contribution to them can be demonstrated. An article can be included in several doctoral theses if the separate contribution of the doctoral student can be demonstrated.
The summary of the article-based doctoral thesis is an independent entity, which provides an overview of the thesis contents. The summary shall describe the research problem, research goals and methods, and presents a summary of the key findings. The summary shall assess the significance of the study for the discipline. The summary shall contain a list of the publications included in the thesis and describe the independent contribution of the student in each publication separately.
A monograph is a coherent writing based on the work of the doctoral student and written by the student. The monograph may contain references to previous works by the doctoral student on the same topic.
The doctoral thesis describes the research problem, the research goals, the used methods and results, and presents a summary of the key findings. The summary shall assess the significance of the study for the discipline.
An essay-based doctoral thesis consists of scientific essays and a summary. The essays and the summary shall deal with a single research problem or set of problems so that, when viewed as a whole, the independent contribution of the author meets the requirements set for a doctoral thesis.
Each of the essays shall contain new results and viewpoints, and shall primarily be based on independent research by the author, but also collaboratively written essays may be accepted as part of the doctoral thesis if the independent contribution of the author may be clearly demonstrated.
The number of essays required depends on their extent, scientific significance and quality as well as on the weight of the independent contribution of the author to the essays.
The summary describes the research problem, research goals and methods, and presents a summary of the key findings. The summary shall assess the significance of the study for the discipline. The summary contains a description of the independent contribution of the author in each of the essays.
At its discretion, the school may also approve as a doctoral thesis some other work meeting corresponding scientific criteria.
Doctoral dissertations at Aalto University, Decision of the Aalto University Academic Affairs Committee, 1 December 2015
In the field of art and design, a doctoral thesis may also include artistic components such as art productions, series of art productions meaningfully connected to each other, or product development projects. More information is available at the page artistic components (aalto.fi).
ARTS: Formats of doctoral theses (aalto.fi)
CHEM: Instructions for doctoral theses (aalto.fi)
ELEC: Forms of doctoral theses (aalto.fi)
Doctoral students at Aalto University publish their thesis through the Aalto Publication Platform. Doctoral theses are public documents by law and available at Aalto University's open access repository Aaltodoc.
Doctoral thesis: preparation for pre-examination and publicationPublishing your doctoral thesis
A set of 500e and 2000e incentive scholarships are awarded by application for doctoral students who meet the conditions given.
Aalto University has one shared publication series for its doctoral theses.
Instructions for the practical arrangements of the doctoral defences at Aalto University
Aalto University rewards the most meritorious doctoral thesis by the annual Aalto University Doctoral Thesis Awards. The core criteria for the awards are academic quality, impact and originality.
Doctoral theses at Aalto University are available in the open access repository maintained by Aalto, Aaltodoc.