Changes to doctoral thesis display period and education regulations

In its meeting on 20 May 2025, the Aalto University Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) decided to shorten the public display period of doctoral theses from ten days to seven days. The public display period for doctoral theses is defined in the Degree Regulations on Doctoral Education, which will be updated before the changes come into force. This decision contributes to enabling a faster graduation process for doctoral students. More detailed guidelines for the pre-examination and defence process.

The decision applies to doctoral theses whose display period begins on 1 August 2025 or later. The display period of a doctoral thesis refers to the time during which the thesis is publicly available before the defense. At Aalto University, the display happens online: Aalto University's online display page.

Additionally, the AAC decided to update the 2015 decision ‘Doctoral thesis at Aalto University’ by changing the term essay-based thesis to research paper-based thesis at the request of the School of Business. At the same time, sections concerning jointly supervised theses agreed in 2020 related to the School of Arts, Design and Architecture were updated. These changes will also come into effect starting on 1 August 2025. The thesis formats used at Aalto University are described on the page Doctoral thesis at Aalto University. The new term will be updated on the page once it comes into effect.