MSc and MA degree studies in International Design Business Management consist of the following study modules: Major studies, Specialisation/Minor studies, Thesis and Electives studies. The extent and content of modules varies between different fields and tracks, kindly check more details as per your targeted degree and school.

In addition to the goals stated in Government Decree on University Degrees (794/2004) 7 §, the aim of the Master of Science and Master of Arts degrees in International Design Business Management is to provide students with

• deep overall knowledge of the area of the specialised master’s degree programme, and very good knowledge of the specialisation/minor subject or corresponding study entities included in the degree;
• the knowledge and skills required in challenging managerial positions or positions demanding a high level of expertise, or as entrepreneur;
• the ability to independently produce and apply knowledge in their own field , and preparedness for demanding international postgraduate programmes;
• the ability to address ethics, sustainability, and international context; and
• excellent communication and team working skills.

The International Design Business Management (IDBM) is a joint master's programme between all the Schools of Aalto University: School of Arts, Design and Architecture, School of Business, School of Chemical Engineering, School of Electrical Engineering, School of Engineering and School of Science. IDBM educates students with arts, business and engineering backgrounds to make better business with meaningful innovations and design, providing a strategic view into design-intensive businesses management. Graduates of the IDBM programme will be able to drive creativity and innovation and lead initiatives to undertake new business ventures within global environments.

Academically rigorous and practice-oriented IDBM programme prepares students to lead and collaborate in interdisciplinary teams. The objective is to gain knowledge in multiple disciplines and to learn to connect one's own disciplinary expertise to a wider interdisciplinary design business framework. During a real-life industry project students explore and develop innovative product, service, and business concepts. Projects are coached by interdisciplinary faculty and expert industry tutors.

The global approach of IDBM program prepares students to work in multi-cultural settings and collaborate across national and cultural boundaries. On the practical level, the global aspect refers to the continuous development of international networks through student selection, industry cooperation, research activities and study exchange. Additionally, students of IDBM master's programme studying Master of Science in Economics and Business Administration degree at Aalto School of Business are offered an opportunity to extend their studies to a double degree with ESADE Business School in Barcelona Spain.

Learning outcomes: 

Graduates of the IDBM programme will be able to drive design-oriented innovation and lead development initiatives within global environments.

This includes the ability to:

• use a design approach in product, service and business development
• lead and collaborate in multi-cultural and interdisciplinary teams, deepening and connecting one’s own disciplinary expertise to a wider business context
• lead radical creativity in interdisciplinary teams
• drive change and development activities in organizations
• co communicate concepts and ideas both verbally as well as visually at an operative (tactical) and strategic level
• understand and utilize academic research in defining and approaching problems in systematic and systemic manner

Please see field specific degree requirements for details and more information

^{*The course is recommended to be completed in period IV during 1st year of studies or period II during the 2nd year of studies. The course is parallel to 26E04903 IDBM Capstone: Global Virtual Teamwork.}

Code: ARTS216
IDBM ARTS programme director: Prof. Anna Valtonen

Degree requirements

Education Content

Studying consists of the IDBM major studies, compulsory and alternative design studies, master's thesis and elective studies. Compulsory and alternative design studies give the student the chance to deepen the student’s knowledge in design discipline. 

Compulsory studies in Department of Design

Programme alternative studies 8 ECTS (in HOPS in SISU 8–10 ECTS flexibility)

Code: BIZ223
Credits: 120 ECTS
Programme Director: Ville Eloranta

In addition to IDBM major studies IDBM MSc Econ students are expected to complete compulsory BIZ minor and Master's thesis and Master's thesis seminar as part of their degree. 

Minor studies 24 ECTS

Compulsory BIZ minor, choose one

Master's thesis 36 ECTS

Credits: 120 ECTS
Programme Director: Ville Eloranta

In addition to IDBM major studies IDBM MSc Tech students are expected to complete compulsory TECH minor from their home school and Master's thesis as part of their degree.

School of Chemical Engineering

Code: CHEM27
Responsible professor at Aalto School of Chemical Engineering: Professor Lauri Rautkari

CHEM Minor 25 ECTS

At the School of Chemical Engineering (CHEM) a student can specialise in Chemical, Biochemical and Materials Engineering including subjects of Biomass Refining, Biotechnology, Chemical and Process Engineering, Chemistry, Fibre and Polymer Engineering, Functional Materials and Sustainable Metals Processing.

The minor studies aim to

• Form solid foundation of students’ expertise in their specialised field.
• Provide profound engineering basis for working in an international, competitive and highly innovative environment.
• Deepen students’ theoretical and practical knowledge base in specialisation area.

Compulsory CHEM minor, choose one
Choose the minor subject with aim to deepen the core competence acquired at Bachelor’s level

Master's thesis 30 ECTS

School of Electrical Engineering

Code: ELEC28
Responsible professor at Aalto School of Electrical Engineering: Professor Jaan Praks

ELEC Minor 25 ECTS

Studies at IDBM ELEC provide you with great opportunity to deepen your core competence in technology achieved at bachelor’s level and combine it with wider design and innovation framework. The minor studies at Aalto School of Electrical Engineering include Automation and Electrical Engineering, Computer, Communication and Information Sciences and Electronics and Nanotechnology providing the full range of core competences to excel in modern electrically driven developments.

The objective of these specialisation area studies to

• Provide specialisation and engineering skills for working in an international, competitive and highly innovative environment
• Understanding of modern electrical or electronic technologies and developments
• Establish solid foundation of students’ selected expertise field in electrical engineering
• Deepen students’ theoretical and practical knowledge base in their specialisation area.

Compulsory ELEC minor, choose one
Choose the minor subject with aim to deepen the core competence acquired at Bachelor’s level

Master's thesis 30 ECTS

School of Engineering

Code: ENG31
Responsible professor at Aalto School of Engineering: Professor Kalevi Ekman

ENG Minor 25 ECTS

ENG IDBM minor studies include Civil and Structural Engineering, Energy Technology, Geoengineering, Geoinformatics, Mechanical Engineering, Real Estate Economics, and Surveying and Planning.

The objective of these specialisation areas is to

• Form solid foundation of students’ expertise in their specialised field
• Provide profound engineering basis for working in an international, competitive and highly innovative environment
• Deepen students’ theoretical and practical knowledge base in their specialisation area

Compulsory ENG minor, choose one
Choose the minor subject with aim to deepen the core competence acquired at Bachelor’s level

Master's thesis 30 ECTS

School of Science

Code: SCI31
Responsible professor at Aalto School of Science: Professor Patrick Rinke

SCI Minor 25 ECTS

SCI IDBM minor studies provide students with the opportunity to deepen core competence achieved at the bachelor’s level. The specialisation areas at the School of Science include Engineering Physics, Mathematics, Systems and Operations Research, and Computer Science (including Computer Science, Software and Service Engineering, and Human-Computer Interaction minors). Students need to complete a 25 cr minor in one of these areas.

The objective of these specialisation areas is to

• Build a solid foundation of expertise in the students´ specialised field.
• Provide profound engineering or natural/computer science basis for working in an international, competitive and highly innovative environment.
• Deepen the students´ theoretical and practical knowledge base in their specialisation area.

Compulsory SCI minor, choose one
Choose the minor subject with aim to deepen the core competence acquired at Bachelor´s level

Master's thesis 30 ECTS

Students are highly recommended to undertake courses from schools or departments other than their own discipline, area of expertise or competence as elective studies.

The aim of the elective studies is to widen student's perspective and t-profile by providing understanding, knowledge and skills to design, business and engineering. The list of recommended courses can be found from the link below. Please note that for some of the courses, there might be eligibility and acceptance restrictions. In addition, students need to ensure that they fulfil all the pre-requirements set for the courses.

Elective studies 30 ECTS

Students choose 30 ECTS of elective studies. As elective studies, students can complete minor studies and/or take individual courses from other programmes at Aalto University or other Finnish universities, participate in an international student exchange programme, do an internship in Finland or abroad

University Wide Studies:
https://www.aalto.fi/en/uwas

Studies at other Aalto schools or in Finnish universities:
https://www.aalto.fi/en/other-studies/studies-at-other-aalto-schools-or-in-finnish-universities

Minors in Aalto 2022-2024: 
https://www.aalto.fi/en/minors

Courses about entrepreneurship:
https://avp.aalto.fi/avp-courses/

Personal Impact courses:
https://www.aalto.fi/en/study-at-aalto/personal-impact?check_logged_in=1

Courses according to Schools:
https://courses.aalto.fi/

Aalto University Summer School:
https://www.aalto.fi/en/aaltosummer

Language study requirements Master of Arts 2022–2024

The courses available are listed at Language Centre's page.

Students educated in Finnish or Swedish

For students educated in Finnish or Swedish language studies are designed to be completed as part of the Bachelor of Arts (Art and Design) or another Bachelor’s degree. Students who have not completed the required language studies before starting to pursue the master’s degrees specified above must complete them either as elective studies or in addition to the studies required for the degree. In such cases, the language requirements are as follows:

Master of Arts (Art and Design):

• 9 credits: 3 cr in written and oral communication, 3 cr in the second national language of Finland, and 3 cr in one foreign language.

Courses fulfilling language requirements for Master of Arts (Art and Design)

Note! If you are planning to graduate with older (before 1.8.2020) degree requirements, the requirement for foreign language is 6 cr. The studies need to include an oral and a written component (o+w).

Students educated in other languages than Finnish or Swedish

For students who have been educated in a language other than Finnish or Swedish or who have been educated abroad the language requirements are:

• Master of Arts (Art and Design): 3 cr

Students in this category may fulfil the language requirement for their Master of Arts (Art and Design) degree by completing courses that support their studies or their stay in Finland. Students who have been educated abroad are recommended to take Finnish courses as well as English courses that focus on the field-specific language of arts and fulfil the language requirement of the degree. Students may also choose to fulfil the language requirement by completing courses in another foreign language of their choice. All courses counted towards the requirement must be taken in the same language. Language studies may either be counted towards the electives of the degree or completed in addition to the studies required for the degree.

Elective studies 20 ECTS

You can choose elective studies to your Master's degree so that the scope of the degree (120 credits) is fulfilled. You can exceed the scope of the degree by one course maximum.
Elective studies can include basic, intermediate or advanced level courses. You can use the module e.g.

• To complete a second minor
• To broaden your skills and knowledge via multidisciplinary studies:
  • select courses in the field of technology or art
  • select courses in other universities via JOO study right
  • Select gender studies via Hilma network or other Aalto networks
• To gain entrepreneurial skills
• To deepen your language and communication skills
• To deepen or broaden your skills and knowledge in the field of business
  • select additional courses in your degree programme or major
  • select courses from other degree progarmmes or majors in the School of Business
  • select additional courses in your minor
  • complete the Customized Student Business project BIZ-E0100 (read more here)
• To gain work experience and working life skills via internship
• To gain skills in self leadership and finding meaningfulness via Personal Impact courses
• To complete courses in Aalto University Summer School

Mandatory language studies

If you have mandatory language studies in your master's degree, they are included in the elective studies module. You have received information about these in the beginning of your studies, if this applies to you. If you are uncertain of whether you need to demonstrate language proficiency in the master's degree, please contact your programme's planning officer to get further information about the matter. 

• If you have completed your bachelor's degree in Finland (in Aalto or in another higher education institute), you have fulfilled the compulsory language requirements in the respective degree or received the exemption. You do not need to complete language studies in the master's degree.
• If your language of education is Finnish or Swedish and you have completed your bachelor’s degree outside of Finland, you must demonstrate proficiency in national languages by writing the maturity test in your language of education (Finnish or Swedish) and complete the language proficiency tests in the other national language. Read more about the language of education here. You may also apply for an exemption of demonstrating proficiency in national languages. See also the following bullet.
• If you have completed your bachelor’s degree outside of Finland, you must complete minimum of 3 ECTS in English including both oral and written proficiency. Courses on a sufficient level and including both oral and written proficiency are marked with ‘o’ and ‘w’ in the course name. You can choose any course on B2 level or higher. Students, whose language of education is not Finnish or Swedish, may alternatively complete an elementary course in Finnish or in Swedish. The courses in national languages can be at any level on CEFR scale.

Language studies are included in students’ elective studies and are agreed in the personal study plan (HOPS). Language center offers the language studies.

Elective studies 25 ECT

Students are highly recommended to undertake courses from schools or departments other than their own discipline, area of expertise or competence as elective studies.

The aim of the elective studies is to widen the student’s perspective and t-profile by providing understanding, knowledge and skills to design and business. The list of recommended courses will be updated under the Planning your studies section. Please note that for some of the courses, there might be eligibility and acceptance restrictions. In addition, students need to ensure that they fulfil all the pre-requirements set for the courses.

Practical training

• School of Chemical Engineering: 3-5 cr
• School of Electrical Engineering, 2-5 cr
• School of Engineering, 1-5 cr
• School of Science, 1-10 cr

Compulsory language studies

If you have mandatory language studies in your master's degree, they are included in the elective studies module. You have received information about these in the beginning of your studies, if this applies to you. If you are uncertain of whether you need to demonstrate language proficiency in the master's degree, please contact your programme's planning officer to get further information about the matter. 

• If you have completed your bachelor's degree in Finland (in Aalto or in another higher education institute), you have fulfilled the compulsory language requirements in the respective degree or received the exemption. You do not need to complete language studies in the master's degree.
• If your language of education is Finnish or Swedish and you have completed your bachelor’s degree outside of Finland, you must demonstrate proficiency in national languages by writing the maturity test in your language of education (Finnish or Swedish) and complete the language proficiency tests in the other national language. Read more about the language of education here. You may also apply for an exemption of demonstrating proficiency in national languages. See also the following bullet.
• If you have completed your bachelor’s degree outside of Finland, you must complete minimum of 3 ECTS in English including both oral and written proficiency (marked with ‘o’ and ‘w’ in the course name). Students, whose language of education is not Finnish or Swedish, may alternatively complete an elementary course in Finnish or in Swedish. The courses in national languages can be at any level on CEFR scale.

Language studies are included in students’ elective studies and are agreed in the personal study plan (HOPS). Language center offers the language studies.

Please find a list of recommended elective courses below. For more topics and courses kindly check https://courses.aalto.fi/ or https://mycourses.aalto.fi/

Aalto ARTS

Aalto ELEC

Aalto ENG

The approval of the master’s thesis and the master’s thesis evaluation are handled in the IDBM Programme Committee meeting. Please follow the deadlines of your own school.

For instructions on writing and handing in the thesis please see the page Completing your Master's thesis.

The programme study module includes a Master's thesis. The thesis must demonstrate readiness for scientific thinking, command of research methods, conversance with the topic of the thesis, and ability for scientific communication.

In many programmes, the students also take part in a thesis seminar, which is designed to help the students to prepare their thesis work. The seminar commonly consists of meetings, completing thesis, presenting the research topic to the seminar group and acting as an opponent for a fellow student’s thesis. Seminar lasts usually the whole semester, and it is organised during both autumn and spring semesters.

Seminar practices vary depending on the degree programme: please see the instructions for each programme in Sisu or MyCourses. For instructions on writing and handing in the thesis please see here.

At the end of their studies, students are required to complete a master's thesis corresponding to 30 credits. The thesis is ideally written on a topic combining the knowledge from major and specialization studies. The topic is agreed between the student and the thesis supervisor. The supervisor must be a professor at Aalto University and have a relevant expertise in the topic, whereas the thesis advisor(s) can be from the university, company or another university. Thesis advisor(s) must have at least a master’s degree. Master’s thesis work includes a seminar or equivalent presentation. The master’s thesis is a public document and cannot be concealed in any part.

Both the approval of the master’s thesis topic and the evaluation and approval of the master’s thesis are handled in the IDBM Programme Committee meetings. Please see the page Applications for application deadlines.

For instructions on writing and handing in the thesis see the page Thesis for your own school's instructions.