Supervising a Master's or licentiate thesis

The new thesis with a scope of 30 credits is more limited than the 40-credit master’s thesis (pro gradu) in old programmes. 

Find out how your faculty and degree programme have chosen to implement the change from the 40-credit master’s thesis to the 30-credit thesis.There may be new general instructions on the scope of the research data, the extent of a literature review or the number of pages required for the thesis.

It is likely that the students you are supervising include both those working on the old master’s thesis and those working on the new, more limited thesis. Your supervision of each student should be based on their respective degree programme requirements.

Students can write their theses independently, in a team, as a part of a wider research project, or as a commission. A collaborative thesis should nevertheless include a clearly defined independent part that can be assessed. In any case, the student must write the thesis independently, unless otherwise decided by the degree programme. 

Through thesis work, the students learn more about their discipline and subject matter and get to develop their scientific thinking, use of research methods and academic communication. As a thesis supervisor, you are supervising an extensive process that allows the student to demonstrate the competence they have gained through university studies. Supervising a master’s thesis is also about supervising and supporting the student’s project management. The workload of a thesis worth 30 credits corresponds approximately to full-time studies of one term. This covers both collecting and processing the data related to the thesis as well as writing the actual text.

The supervision of a master’s thesis often takes place at a master’s thesis seminar. In some degree programmes, the thesis supervisor cooperates with the teacher in charge of the master’s thesis seminar. At the seminar, the student gets support and guidance from the teacher, but also from discussions among the peer group. You should require attendance and active participation from your seminar students in accordance with the regulations of your faculty and degree programme.

As the teacher in a seminar group, you are in charge of guiding the discussion and peer feedback. Request the students to provide constructive, clear feedback that tangibly helps others make headway with their thesis. Encourage students to talk about their difficulties. Discussing solutions together can help the whole group with their thesis work. Often enough, some of the seminar classes can be replaced with individual supervision meetings.

Tell students to come to their supervision sessions prepared and having completed specific thesis work. Focus on what is most important for making progress, take the students’ questions seriously and thank them for their progress.

Focus on offering clear, practical advice on the key areas of thesis work.

Divide the thesis project into steps and create a schedule paced and supported by the seminar meetings. The thesis will be completed step by step as the seminar advances. Process writing instructions for you and the students will be published soon (link to be inserted here). The supervisor plays a dual role by supporting a goal-oriented general process while supporting each student’s individual activity. Starting from the choice of topic, a thesis is often a personal assignment for students. At best, the resulting motivation and sense of capability spread to all areas of study and life in general. 

As the thesis and seminar work advance, students learn many generic and expert skills (a link to the new table published by the Centre for University Teaching and Learning table). As a supervisor, you can help students identify the expertise they accumulate during their studies by pointing out the generic and expert skills honed in your class and under your guidance and by paying attention to the students’ evolving expertise. You can encourage the students to consider how it may be possible for them to utilise the expertise they have gained through their thesis project in working life and the society as a whole.

Sometimes students need a lot of support. Supervision situations can be challenging at times. If necessary, discuss your workload with your colleagues and supervisor. If you are concerned that any problems a student is clearly struggling with during the thesis process are related to reasons beyond your control, encourage the student to seek help.

You can find the timetable on this page.

These instructions are available only in Finnish. For more information, please change the language of this page to Finnish.

Maisteri-/pro gradu –tutkielmia koskevat ohjeet löytyvät Kasvatustieteellisen tiedekunnan opinnäytetyöt moodlealueelta.

Theses in the Master's Programme in Urban Studies and Planning (USP) are supervised according to the USP thesis process, which is described in these Instructions for students -pages. Also check these pages about the duties for a thesis supervisor in USP.

Necessary documents related to the thesis process can be found below:

• Thesis Supervision Plan: download here (pdf)
• Thesis Evaluation Form: download here (pdf) (Adobe Acrobat Reader should be used when filling in the form instead of a Web browser!)
• Thesis Assessment Criteria: download here (pdf)

Dates for approving USP theses in the programme steering group are updated on these Instructions for Students pages.

If you have questions about the process, please contact USP education coordinator or programme director.

See the process descriptions in the Instructions for students and in the Teacher’s Guide (maintained by the Department of Computer Science).

Instructions for Students

• Thesis instructions for students of the Master's Programme in Data Science 

• The Data Science MSc Thesis Moodle

Starting the supervision and making the thesis topic description

The MSc thesis process starts by that the student tries to find a suitable supervisor and agree on a topic with the supervisor. In the MSc thesis Moodle we have lists of possible supervisors for master's theses in Data Science, and students can contact the potential supervisors directly, for example, by e-mail. Students can also contact the programme in the MSc thesis Moodle and get help in finding a suitable supervisor.

When the student has found a supervisor and agreed on the topic, then the student should prepare a topic description of about 1-2 pages in collaboration with the supervisor. The topic description should indicate the general problem area, the particular research questions you plan to focus on, methodologies (literature survey, experimental, …) and provide a few key references. A template for the plan can be found here.

The student sends the final version of the topic description to the supervisor, who will upload it to the PreThesis system, which is a system for monitoring the progress of the master's theses. When the topic description is submitted to the system, within two weeks the student will get a confirmation by e-mail that the supervision arrangements and the topic description itself are fine, and that s/he can continue with working on the thesis.

When the thesis topic description is submitted to the PreThesis system, it would be good to know, who will be the examiners of the thesis. If the supervisor is a professor (full, associate, or assistant), a senior university lecturer, a university lecturer or a research director associated with the Master’s Programme in Data Science (from the Faculty of Science), s/he can be one of the examiners. The second examiner must have a doctorate, so if the supervisor is not a professor,  a university lecturer, or a research director associated with the Master’s Programme in Data Science, s/he will then be the second examiner. In this case, the supervisor and the student should agree on which professor, university lecturer or research director associated with the Master's Programme in Data Science will be the first examiner of the thesis.

Writing the thesis

There are no official checkpoints during the thesis writing process. However, it is good that you agree with the student at the beginning of the process on the schedule for completing the thesis and the planned steps during the process. It is also good to agree on how often you will meet and what other communication between you two is expected. 

When writing the thesis, the students should use a programme-specific template for master’s theses in Data Science. The template is available in the MSc thesis Moodle.

Assessment of the thesis

The whole thesis assessment process is handled through the E-thesis system. The process begins, when the thesis is ready to be assessed (agree on this with the student). Before the e student submits the thesis to the the E-thesis system, the supervisor must inform the Kumpula Student Services on who will be the examiners of the thesis. See details on this at Grading of master's and licentiate theses.

Note the following:

• A thesis can have many supervisors (ohjaaja), but exactly two examiners (tarkastaja)! One examiner needs to be a professor (full, associate, assistant), a senior university lecturer, a university lecturer or a research director associated to the Master’s Programme in Data Science (from the Faculty of Science), and the second examiner must have a doctorate. These must be decided at latest before the student submits the thesis to the E-thesis system.
• The supervisor often acts as one of the examiners and finds the second examiner for the thesis. The supervisor of the thesis informs the names of the examiners of the thesis using this Forms form to Kumpula Student Services. The information from the form is transferred to the E-thesis system.
• In the grading, the examiners must use the evaluation matrix for master's theses in Data Science.

The whole thesis assessment process is handled through the E-thesis system. The process begins, when the thesis is ready to be assessed (agree on this with the student). Before the e student submits the thesis to the the E-thesis system, the supervisor must inform the Kumpula Student Services on who will be the examiners of the thesis. See details on this at Grading of master's and licentiate theses.

Note the following:

A thesis can have many supervisors (ohjaaja), but exactly two examiners (tarkastaja)! One examiner needs to be a professor (full, associate, assistant), a senior university lecturer, a university lecturer or a research director associated to the Master’s Programme in Data Science (from the Faculty of Science), and the second examiner must have a doctorate. These must be decided at latest before the student submits the thesis to the E-thesis system.

In the grading, the examiners must use the evaluation matrix for master's theses in Data Science. 

Eläinlääketieteen lisensiaatin tutkintoon kuuluva tutkielma

Eläinlääketieteen lisensiaatin tutkintoon kuuluu 20 opintopisteen (op) laajuinen eläinlääketieteen lisensiaatintutkielma. Jos tutkielma sisältää alkuperäistutkimuksen, opiskeijalle kirjataan lisäksi valinnaisiin eläinlääketieteen opintoihin 5 op:n laajuinen Eläinlääketieteen tutkimusprojekti -jakso. Kyseessä on noin 3–4 kk päätoimista työskentelyä vaativa suoritus.

Eläinlääketieteen lisensiaatintutkielma tehdään pääsääntöisesti 4.–6. opintovuoden aikana. Opiskelija voi kuitenkin aloittaa työn jo aikaisemmin edellyttäen, että hän on tehnyt eläinlääketieteen kandidaatintutkielman hyväksytysti ja hänellä on riittävät perustiedot aiheesta. Opiskelija suunnittelee itselleen parhaan ajankohdan tutkielman tekoon ja laatii aikataulun yhdessä ohjaajan kanssa siten, että tutkielman tekeminen on mahdollista lisensiaattiopintojen aikana. 

Tutkielmatyöskentelyyn sisältyy ohjaussopimuksen ja työsuunnitelman laatiminen yhdessä ohjaajan kanssa, tiedonhaku ja kirjallisuuteen perehtyminen, mahdollinen alkuperäistutkimus (kokeellinen osa), tutkielman kirjoittaminen, seminaarityöskentely ja kypsyysnäyte. Kypsyysnäytteenä toimii tutkielman tiivistelmä.

Tutkielman aihe

Tarjolla olevia tutkielmien aiheita tai aihepiirejä voit ilmoittaa opiskelijoille tämän listan avulla.

Opiskelija voi myös tiedustella sopivaa aihetta tai esittää omaa aihetta ottamalla yhteyttä sen oppiaineen vastuuhenkilöön, jonka alaan kuuluvasta aiheesta hän haluaisi tehdä tutkielman.

Opiskelija voi hakea myös tutkielman tekijäksi vuosittain järjestettäviin Elintarvikehygienian ja ympäristöterveyden osaston Kesäkouluun tai pieneläinsairauksien, hevossairauksien, mikrobiologian ja epidemiologian oppiaineiden yhteiseen Tutkielmatyöpajaan. 

Ohjaussopimus ja työsuunnitelma

Tutkielmatyöskentelyn aluksi tulee laatia opiskelijan kanssa ohjaussopimus. Samassa yhteydessä on hyvä tutustua ohjaussuhteen pelisääntöihin.

Ohjaussopimuksessa tutkielmalle nimetään ohjaaja(t) ja johtaja. Johtajan on oltava tiedekuntaan palvelussuhteessa oleva professori tai dosentti ja ohjaajan vähintään ylemmän korkeakoulututkinnon suorittanut henkilö. Ohjaussopimuksessa sovitaan myös tutkielman aiheesta ja kielestä. Tutkielma kirjoitetaan vain poikkeustapauksessa muulla kuin suomen tai ruotsin kielellä.

Ohjaussopimuksen työsuunnitelmaosuudessa kerrotaan työn tavoitteet sekä rajataan aihe. Lisäksi yksityiskohtaisemmassa toteuttamissuunnitelmassa kuvataan työvaiheet, niiden toteuttaminen ja aikataulu sekä sovitaan, miten perehdyttämisesi tutkielman teossa tarvittaviin menetelmiin toteutetaan. Ohjaussopimuksen laatimisen yhteydessä on hyvä keskustella opiskelijan kanssa myös hänen arvosanatavoitteestaan. Tässä yhteydessä on hyvä tutustua myös tutkielman arviointimatriisiin.

Opiskelija palauttaa ohjaussopimus ja työsuunnitelmalomake lisensiaatintutkielman Moodle-alueelle.

Kirjoitusohjeet

Eläinlääketieteen lisensiaatintutkielmassa tulee noudattaa kirjoitusohjeita.

A thesis plan and supervision agreement are drawn up at the start of the thesis. Thesis plan template in Word.

The template of the thesis in Word should comply, where applicable.

Thesis guide of the degree programme in PDF.

Oikeustieteen maisterin tutkielmaa ohjataan syventävien opintojen projektissa, joka kestää kaksi lukukautta. Opiskelijalla on siten oikeus saada tutkielman ohjausta projektin keston ajan.

Opettajan harkinnan mukaan ohjausta voidaan mahdollisuuksien mukaan tarjota myös projektin kestoa pidempään. Opettaja ei ole kuitenkaan velvollinen, eikä opiskelija ole oikeutettu, tutkielman ohjaukseen projektin kestoa pitempään.

1.8.2024 alkaen tiedekunnan dekaani hyväksyy maisterintutkielmat. Hyväksymisen aikataulut ja muut käytännön ohjeet päivitetään Opetustyön ohjeisiin mahdollisimman pian!

 

Starting from 1.8.2024, the Dean will approve the master’s theses. The approval schedule and other practical instructions will be updated to the Instructions for teaching/students as soon as possible. 

The thesis takes about 5-7 months to complete (30 credits - 5-6 months or 30+15 credits 6-7 months), which includes both the research component and the writing of the thesis. The duration of the actual research component is about 3-4 months, including a possible research project (MATR344/MATR363). To ensure graduation in two years, students are advised to start the research part of the thesis in the autumn of the second year. Students are advised to apply for a research group position at the end of their first year or in the summer before the start of their second year.

The student has been advised to discuss with their supervisor if they are thinking about completing other studies during the thesis.

If the thesis is done outside the department

If the thesis is done outside the department, the student must always have two supervisors. One of the supervisors will be an external supervisor and the other will be an (assistant) professor from the Department of Chemistry or Physics who will provide guidance on behalf of the Master's programme (e.g. on writing the thesis). The preparation of a supervision plan is particularly important in this case, as it will outline e.g. on joint meetings and on the use and publication of the data collected during the research. If the thesis is commissioned (e.g. by a company), see here for further guidance.

A template for supervision plan can be found below. 

The plan is sent to the steering group of the Master’s Programme by emailing it to kumpula-student@helsinki.fi (message title: Master’s thesis plan/Master’s Programme in Materials Research).

Writing the thesis

The abstract of the thesis uses the abstract form and is added right after the cover page. The actual abstract (text) should be at most 250 words.

The thesis must be accessible, but there are no strict rules for the layout of the thesis (besides the cover page and the abstract). As a template the student can use the template for the Bachelor's Programme in Science (physics study tracks) or the thesis guide for chemistry (chemistry study tracks). If LaTeX is used to write the thesis, additional information can be found here on making your thesis more accessible.

The thesis takes about 6-7 months to complete (30+10/15 cr), which includes both the research component and the writing of the thesis. This period includes roughly 4-5 months of research which also includes the Research project. To ensure graduation within two years, the student is advised to start the research phase in the fall term of their second year. It is recommended to inquire about a master’s thesis position in a research group at the end of the first year or during the summer before the start of the second academic year.

The student has been advised to discuss with their supervisor if they are thinking about completing other studies during the thesis.

If the thesis is done outside the department

If the thesis is done outside the Department of Chemistry, the student must always have two supervisors. One of the supervisors will be an external supervisor and the other will be an (assistant) professor from the Department who will provide guidance on behalf of the Master's programme (e.g. on writing the thesis). The preparation of a supervision plan is particularly important in this case, as it will outline e.g. joint meetings and the use and publication of the data collected during the research. If the thesis is commissioned (e.g. by a company), see also related guidance.
 

A template for supervision plan can be found below. 

Writing the thesis

The Department of Chemistry has its own thesis guide, which provides instructions on thesis writing and formatting. For students using LaTeX to write their thesis, there is additional information on making the thesis more accessible. 

The thesis supervisor will provide support with the writing of the thesis. Additionally, the university offers support for thesis writing, for example courses on writing the thesis and scholarships. 

The thesis does not include a compulsory seminar presentation for everyone. However, depending on the research group a student can be required to present their research at the research group's own seminar (this is considered to be a part of the master's thesis).

Plan for thesis supervision

Master's Programme in Chemistry and Molecular Scienceselma

Thesis supervisor shall archive the signed plan.

Master's Programme in Materials Research

Thesis supervisor shall archive the original signed plan and forward an electronic copy for the master's programme by sending it to kumpula-student@helsinki.fi (Message header should be Thesis plan/MATRES).

Considerations for Supervision
 

New guidance for theses and assessments. This presentation can be used in seminars and supervision and can be updated with your program's guidelines in addition to the faculty's common instructions.

Framework for Supervision Discussions

Supervision is an interaction between the supervisor and the supervisee, where different perspectives on supervision, research, and learning meet. For the smoothness of the thesis process, it is important to discuss the duties and expectations of both the supervisor and the supervisee at the outset of the process.

The framework can be used for one-on-one discussions between the supervisor and the supervisee or for group discussions in the thesis seminar.

Reflect on expectations and obligations related to supervision using the following questions and/or the attached table. Framework for Discussion on Suprevision

The Use of AI in Theses
 

University's common guidelines for reporting the use of AI in assignments: Using AI to Support Learning.

Note that the use of AI must be reported, even when AI has not been used!

Specific Guidelines from the Faculty of Social Sciences for Using AI in Theses:

Permitted uses

Ideation and Delimitation

• Clarifying the research problem and brainstorming sub-questions.
• Mapping relevant theories related to the topic.

Planning Search Strategies

• Keyword alternatives, synonyms.

Transcription and Translation

• Transcribing using tools recommended by HY. Note! Handling of data must always comply with data protection notices and research permissions.
• Translating foreign language materials.

Drafting Visualizations

• Ideas and drafts for diagrams and figures that the student will finalize and to which the thesis author has rights.

Support for Using Analytical Methods

• Clarifying the basic principles of the methods for oneself, creating analysis code, compiling tables. Note! The actual analysis, scientific interpretation, and conclusions are the student's own work.

Structure and Writing Support

• Suggestions for the structure of the thesis (draft of the table of contents).
• Light support for language refinement in one's own text: clarity, fluency, grammar suggestions.
• Note! The student writes, edits, and approves the final text and checks the accuracy of translations, considering copyright.

Project Management

• Coaching on scheduling the work plan and setting intermediate goals.

Prohibited Uses

Manipulating Data

• Manipulating or altering research data in a way that jeopardizes the authenticity of the data.

Inventing References and Content

• Using non-existent sources or accepting references and sources without checking the original publication (comparable to relying on second-hand sources). Sources must always be verified.

Producing Text

• Writing the research report with AI in such a way that it replaces the student's own writing and academic contribution.

Analysis

• Actual analysis and interpretation of the data, as well as making conclusions.

Data Protection and Security

• Inputting personal data, identifiers, or confidential/sensitive research material into unprotected or unapproved services.
• Transcribing or analyzing using tools that do not meet HY's data protection requirements.

Maturity Test

• The use of language models for preparing the maturity test is prohibited.

Use Against Guidelines or Concealed Use

• Using AI in a manner that contradicts the supervisor's instructions or concealing its use is considered fraud and will be dealt with according to HY's regulations.

Use of AI in theses_VALTTDK 2026.pdf

These instructions are available only in Finnish. For more information, please change the language of this page to Finnish.

Organisaatioosykologian maisterintutkielmaprosessi on kuvattu Opiskelu-palvelun ohjeen Tutkielma ja kypsyysnäyte maisteri- ja lisensiaattiohjelmissa koulustuohjelmakohtaisessa osuudessa.