Programme staff support students in study affairs: planning of studies (personal study plan), guidance on practical study affairs and counselling in challenging study situations. You will meet your programme’s staff (planning officer & coordinator) during the orientation week. You can contact them any time during your studies.

You can reach your programme staff through email. You can find the contact information on the Contact page.

Each new student is assigned to a tutor group within their own major. Each major of the Aalto Bachelor’s Programme in Science and Technology (Chemical Engineering, Computational Engineering, Data Science, Digital Systems and Design and Quantum Technology) has its own student tutors and student guild, who introduce students of that major to campus, student organization activities and student life in general. 

The task of tutors is to guide new students to the student life at Aalto University, offer peer support and help new students find their place in the student community. Tutors are older students who act as volunteers and who are trained to the task by the Aalto University Student Union (AYY), student guilds and university personnel. 

You will receive further information about the student guild of your own major and their contact information through the newsletters send to you after admission during the summer. The contact information you gave for the admission is given to your guild. The guild will contact you in August.

You will receive newsletters by email after admission in the spring and summer. Please read through the newsletters carefully since they include important information about starting your studies. The email address we use is the one you gave when you applied to Aalto.

The events and activities during the orientation are planned to ensure a smooth start of studies. You will learn all you need about starting your studies by following the instructions on this page, reading your email, and participating in the orientation.

Here on your programme pages. This is the study guide of the programme, and here you can find the curricula, recommended timetables, instructions for study planning and for all study related matters.

Please read through the page Bachelor’s students and this page that you are currently on (Starting your studies) as well as International students (if applicable). These pages contain relevant information to new students. Please also complete the preorientation in MyCourses (link to be added).

You can browse through the Student guide to learn more about practical matters. The most important information will be part of the orientation programme.

The beginning of the academic year is the busiest time for the planning officers and study coordinators. Your planning officer/coordinator will reply to you as soon as possible.

If you have a study related question, instead of sending an email, please do the following:   

• Check if your question is answered in the newsletters you have received or on the pages for new Bachelor’s students or for new International Students.
• If the subject of your question is part of the orientation programme, attend the orientation event. Please also attend the available question clinics or other events and ask there.

Please be aware that during August and September we cannot prioritise emails with questions that will be answered during the orientation or are answered in the materials sent to new students.

The degree structure of your programme and the courses it includes are listed under Curriculum 2024–2026 (link to be added). You can find instructions for planning your studies under During your studies > Planning your studies.

The study plan is created in the student information system Sisu. You will receive detailed instructions and assistance for creating your study plan during the orientation week. There will be an orientation session where you will create a study plan and enrol for first period courses.

All our programmes are full-time programmes that run mainly on campus. We do not recommend working full-time during the studies.

The amount of compulsory attendance depends on the course. You can find the links to the course descriptions under Curriculum 2024–2026 (link to be added). In the course list, the link in the course code will take you to the course description in the student information system Sisu.

Yes, it is possible to transfer credits completed elsewhere to your degree at Aalto University. It may be possible to substitute a specific Aalto course, or to include completed courses to the degree e.g. as elective studies. Please read more about credit transfer. 

The suitability of previously completed studies for credit transfer is evaluated taking into consideration the learning outcomes of the degree at Aalto University.

We recommend that you apply for credit transfer of previously completed studies as early on in your bachelor’s studies as possible. You will receive further information about credit transfer through the newsletters and during the orientation week. 

You will register for courses in the student information system Sisu through your study plan. Please read the instructions here. You will receive instructions and assistance on how to register for the first period courses during the orientation week. 

Personal Study Plan (sometimes referred to with the Finnish abbreviation HOPS) is a plan for the courses you are going to include in your degree. It also includes a schedule for your studies over the planned study time.

HOPS is used for e.g. course registration and graduation, but primarily it is your planning tool that helps you plan your studies. You will create your study plan in the Sisu system. You will create your first study plan (basic studies, language studies, major studies) during the orientation week and will add contents to other modules on your study plan during your first year of studies. 

Yes, you can. We ask you to make your personal study plan first and foremost to help you plan your studies. You are allowed to change your plans during your studies, but if you make changes, remember to keep your study plan updated. If you are unsure whether the changes made are suitable for your degree, please contact the programme staff.   

Please note that there are specific modules on your study plan, such as basic studies and major studies, which have compulsory contents for the degree. You can make more individualized choices with minor and elective studies modules.

You can find general instructions under During your studies > Planning your studies.

The scope of the bachelor’s degree is 180 credits or as close to it as possible. The minimum requirements is 180 ECTS. Plan your studies to meet 180 credits. 

No, they won't. The final degree certificate will only include the courses that are part of your degree. You can, however, download a transcript of records from Sisu that will show all the courses you have completed at Aalto University. 

This is not possible. You cannot hide or delete courses from the study register. However, if you fail a course, it is not shown on your transcript of records. 

You will need to complete 5-6cr of language and communication studies for your degree. These language studies will be included in the compulsory foreign language and second national language of Finland modules on your study plan.

Compulsory foreign language module 
You can include maximum 3cr of language studies in a foreign language (foreign language from the perspective of the Finnish educational system, no courses in Finnish or Swedish can be included in this module). The recommended course is LC-1117 Integrated Oral and Written Skills. Alternatively it is possible to include a course in another foreign language, but you need to check that the course you have selected fulfills the criteria for compulsory foreign language.

Second national language of Finland module
You can include 2-3cr of language studies in this module depending on the requirements in your specific situation. Requirements are determined based on your previous studies and language of education. Students who have either Finnish or Swedish as their language of education based on earlier studies, will need to complete oral and written tests (2c) in their second national language (Swedish or Finnish). International students can complete language studies (2-3cr) in any language, the recommended course is e.g. LC-7210 Finnish 1. 

You will receive further information about language requirements during the orientation week and at the start of your studies. You can read more about compulsory language studies on your curriculum page. 

To make sure that your compulsory language studies fulfill the degree requirements, both language study modules on your study plan need to be approved by the programme staff. 

You can study more language and communication courses than those required for your degree. If you are studying more language courses, please place them in your elective studies module. 

In the recommended schedule for your bachelor’s studies, the Bachelor’s Thesis and Seminar is scheduled for the spring semester of the third year of bachelor studies. The following prerequisites are listed for the Bachelor’s Thesis and Seminar: 

• A minimum of 90 ECTS credits of BSc degree studies completed with an emphasis on basic and major studies
• A valid personal study plan approved before entering the seminar
• Strongly recommended to have already taken the written (w) skills components of the mandatory foreign language credits

Bachelor’s Thesis and Seminar is offered three times a year: in the autumn semester, in the spring semester and during the summer. 

Please note that if you intend to graduate by the end of your third academic year (according to the normative duration of studies for bachelor’s degree), you cannot participate in the summer seminar of your third year, because in this case your graduation will be delayed for the following autumn semester. 

Read more about the thesis process.

You can view a recording from an information session on Bachelor’s Thesis and Seminar, where the teacher responsible of the seminar goes through the key contents of the seminar and answers frequently asked questions about the seminar and writing the bachelor’s thesis. The recording is available here.