Master's Programme in Electronics and Nanotechnology

Required prior knowledge

For admission to the Electronics and Nanotechnology programme, a high‐quality Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, in physics, or in a related field is required. Excellent candidates with degrees in other fields such as information systems, engineering, natural sciences, or mathematics, will be considered if they can show to have acquired sufficient skills and knowledge.

Background requirements depend on the chosen study field within the programme. Recommended background includes sufficient skills in

• electronics
• physics
• mathematics
• basic programming skills

Students chosen to the programme may be required to complement their earlier degree with complementary studies. The admission letter will provide information on any such requirements. The complementary studies cannot be included in the Master's degree but will be required for graduation.

In addition to the mandatory application documents, applicants to the Electronics and Nanotecnology programme are requested to provide the following additional documents:

• curriculum vitae*
• motivation letter*
  • The motivation letter should be written in English. The maximum length of the motivation letter is about 4000 characters. There are no specific instructions for the content of the motivation letter except for the general advise that you should write a separate motivation letter for each study option you apply to.

* the lack of these two application documents will adversely affect the evaluation of your application

• at least one original recommendation letter (preferably academic)
• work certificates and certificates of other relevant achievements
• copies of any publications
• the official transcript of records for other university studies which are not included in the mandatory part of the application

The application should fully explain the educational history of the applicant. If the applicant has started or completed other studies in addition to the Bachelor's degree mentioned above, he or she should also provide the respective official transcripts and other possible (degree) certificates. If the applicant has work experience or other activities or achievements to support their application, certificates or other proof should be included in the application. If the applicant has publications, copies or permanent web links to the publications should be provided. The CV and the motivation letter should be used to provide a summary of one's personal history, achievements, objectives and other points that one considers important for the application.

General instructions on study-option-specific documents

All additional application documents described above should preferably be submitted in English. If some other language than English, Finnish or Swedish is used in them, the applicant must provide precise, word-for-word translations of them.

Upload the documents to your online application form in pdf-format. Name the file(s) according to format: Name of the document-Lastname-Firstname (e.g. CV-Lastname-Firstname.pdf). Maximum file size is 1.0 GB.

The study-option-specific documents must be uploaded for each study option separately, even if you use the same document (e.g. CV). Please check carefully the study-option-specific document requirements for each study option you apply to.

The deadline for the study-option-specific application documents to be uploaded to your application form is 10 January 2020 at 15:00 (GMT +2).

Applicants to the programme must meet the general eligibility criteria and language requirements at Aalto University.

The application process is competitive. First, the applicant’s suitability for the programme is evaluated. The applicants are then ranked, and the best applicants are granted admission to the programme.

The evaluation of the applicants is based on the following criteria:

Content of the previous degree

The applicant should have a Bachelor’s degree (minimum 180 ECTS credits or equivalent) in electrical engineering, in physics, or in a related field. Excellent candidates with degrees in other fields such as information systems, engineering, natural sciences, or mathematics, will be considered if they can show to have acquired sufficient skills and knowledge. Background requirements depend on the chosen study field within the programme.

Applicants with a previous Master’s degree of comparable quality and content in the fields of the Master’s Programme in Electronics and Nanotechnology or who intend to complete one, or who have a valid study right in this application target will not be accepted to the programme except for special reasons, which the applicant must explain in the application. The Master’s programme should provide genuinely new knowledge and further the career of the applicant.

Recognition and quality of the home university

The applicant’s previous degree will be evaluated based on the international reputation and academic quality of the university and the programme.

Study success

The degree programme is looking for applicants with excellent success in their previous studies. This will be evaluated on the basis of the Grade Point Average (GPA) and results in key courses. The grades will be evaluated in relation to how demanding the studies have been. The time spent on the previous studies will also be taken into account.

All the applicant’s previous university studies, including incomplete degrees and non-degree studies, will be taken into consideration when evaluating study success. Applicants who have previously studied at Aalto University, e.g. as exchange students, are also evaluated according to the grades, the number of credits obtained, as well as on the time spent on these studies.

Motivation and commitment

The applicant should be motivated to study the chosen subject and committed to full-time studies with a plan to complete the Master’s degree in two years.

Other relevant achievements

The applicant’s other relevant achievements may be considered if documented in the application. These may include, for example:

• experience in demanding work where the Master’s degree would be necessary

• participation in scientific research leading to publications

• special achievements in one's previous career or as an entrepreneur, prizes in competitions, or published writings

Recommendations

At least one recommendation letter should be attached to the application. It should preferably be from a university professor, lecturer or a thesis instructor who has supervised the applicant’s studies at the university. The recommendation should comment on the applicant’s suitability to the specific Master’s programme and major.

Language proficiency

The applicant must meet the mandatory language requirements. In addition to this, it is critically important to be able to use English as a working language. The studies are conducted fully in English.

The minimum GPA for applicants from Finnish universities of applied science is 3.8. Applicants with a GPA below the 3.8 limit will not be admitted unless they have other exceptional merits. Meeting the minimum GPA does not guarantee admission to the programme.

Previously, all admitted students whose previous degree was from a Finnish university of applied science were required to take a selection of complementary studies. This is no longer required, and complementary studies are assigned only in individual cases. Therefore, it is important to demonstrate the depth of the required prior knowledge in the application. This can be achieved, for example, with excellent grades in the relevant Bachelor courses and by completing a small number of demanding courses in the areas of required knowledge. A limited number of seats for non-degree students are available in the Bachelor-level courses in Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Programming at Aalto University, and similar courses may be available through the Open University.