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Students must present their thesis as a part of the thesis process. The presentation must be done before submitting the thesis. The deadlines for the thesis submissions are in accordance with the graduation schedule. 

Presentation schedule

Presentation practicalities

When you are ready to present your thesis, book your timeslot and register for the event in MyCourses. (Link to the workspace will be added shortly.)

The presentations are done face-to-face on campus. In exceptional cases, a hybrid option can be arranged. You must perform your presentation “live” which means that pre-recorded videos or audio recordings do not qualify as presentations. 

Every student will have a 10-minute time slot to present their thesis. After that, a 5-minute time slot is reserved for questions and answers. The course instructors will also give brief feedback about the presentation. You can decide freely if you want to use a PowerPoint presentation or conduct your presentation in another manner. 

Structure of the presentation

Presentation should include the following elements: 

1. Motivation for and introduction into the topic  
2. Research Question  
3. Theories the thesis relied on 
4. Methods used  
5. Findings 

FAQ

• Why is presenting your thesis important? 
  • Proof of authorship. By presenting your thesis and being able to answer questions about the topic, you showcase and proof that you are the author of your work. 
  • Feedback and Interaction. Presenting to a diverse audience allows students to receive constructive feedback from peers, and faculty, which can provide new insights or perspectives. 
  • Skill showcase. The event is an opportunity for students to showcase their skills, knowledge, and research capabilities to others who may be influential in their future careers or academic pursuits. 
  • Preparation for future endeavors. You gain experience in public speaking, helping to develop confidence and improve communication skills. This is critical for future academic or professional presentations, such as conferences, job talks, or project pitches. 
• How do I handle confidential data in my thesis presentation?  
  • Presenting a thesis that includes sensitive or confidential data requires careful consideration and specific strategies to protect this information while fulfilling your presentation requirements. Here’s how you can effectively manage this situation. 
  • Identify confidential data. Start by clearly identifying which parts of your data are confidential, compared to those that are publicly available or can be disclosed safely. 
  • Highlight only non-confidential results. Structure your presentation to focus on results and analyses derived from publicly available data. This allows you to demonstrate the rigor and depth of your work while safeguarding sensitive information. Ensure your presentation tells a compelling story that can be understood without divulging confidential details. 
  • Get to know Aalto's practices. Explore the protocols for confidential information and ensure you follow any guidelines or legal requirements concerning confidentiality in academic work. 
• What happens if someone does not follow the format, or fails to invest at least a minimal amount of effort into the presentation? 
  • The thresholds for successfully presenting are already very low. If someone cannot professionally talk about their master thesis for 10 minutes, there is a chance that they might not have written their thesis themselves. In such a case, we will inform the supervisors to investigate the matter. 

To start the thesis process in MyStudies, you must apply for supervisor approval in MyStudies. You can send the application only after you have your preliminary thesis topic and you have been assigned a thesis supervisor.

How to apply:

• Go to  ()
• Fill in the needed basic starting information in MyStudies Thesis –tab: thesis supervisor (+advisor if any), thesis topic and the language of your thesis.
• Finally, select "Submit for Supervisor Approval”.
• Your supervisor will automatically receive a notification of your application and will approve the thesis for supervision, please wait patiently for the approval.
• Your programme’s planning officer will check the right course code for the thesis and whether you need to demonstrate language proficiency in the maturity essay. These will be marked in MyStudies within few weeks. 

What if supervisor and/or topic change during the thesis work?

• Contact your programmes planning officer and they will help you.

• Submit your thesis as a single PDF/A file containing the cover page and thesis abstract.
• Use the. The first page of the submitted file should be the cover page, while the next should be the thesis abstract page.
• The cover page and the abstract are written in the same language as your thesis and depending on your language of education the abstract may need to be written in other language(s) as well.
• The abstract of your thesis acts as your maturity essay. Read more about the maturity essay and what languages it needs to be written in further down on this page under The maturity essay at the master's level.
• Save your file as an archival PDF/A file. Suitable formats: PDF/A-1a, -1b, -2a and -2b. Do not use any other file format.

Instructions for converting a file to PDF/A compliant version here

Please note that the supervisor must be approved in MyStudies before you can submit the thesis for evaluation. You can apply for supervisor approval in MyStudies () >> Thesis-tab. 

Submitting the thesis

1. Submit the final version of your thesis for evaluation, grading, and archiving in MyStudies () >> Thesis-tab
2. Check and complete all the thesis basic information and metadata, save the thesis as one PDF/A file, and append the file to your application.
3. A Turnitin similarity report will be generated based on the final thesis file you submit in MyStudies.
4. Track the progress of your master’s thesis evaluation and approval process in MyStudies. Once the thesis has been approved, you will also find its final grade and evaluation statement in MyStudies.

After submitting the thesis

• If the thesis and maturity essay are the last study attainments you need to complete to graduate, you can then request for graduation as a Master of Science (Economics and Business Administration). Read more on the page Graduation.
• Your supervisor will evaluate and grade the thesis.
• Once the grade has been approved, the final grade is marked on MyStudies and thesis is registered to Sisu. You can view the final grade in Sisu and MyStudies and download the evaluation statement from MyStudies. Additionally, you will receive an email to your aalto.fi email address containing the final grade, statement, and instructions on how to appeal the thesis grade decision (if needed). Your thesis will be archived in AaltoDoc.
• Follow your Aalto email as we will use it to contact you if we need additional information

The master's thesis is graded according to common criteria at the School of Business. Read the grading rubric when you are planning and writing your thesis. You can access the rubrics in the pages of the School of Business (login to view the files).

1. If you notice an error before the thesis has been evaluated:
   • Suspend the thesis evaluation process by sending an email to the planning officer of your programme or to programmes-biz@aalto.fi.
2. If you wish to correct an error in your thesis after its evaluation, you can append an errata document to your thesis as instructed below.

Write your thesis abstract in the same language as the thesis and in translation as necessary (see below):

• If the language of your thesis is Finnish,
  • write its abstract in Finnish and English.
  • If your language of primary and secondary education is Swedish, write it also in Swedish.
• If the language of your thesis is English,
  • write its abstract in English and
  • in your language of primary and secondary education (if that language was Finnish or Swedish).

Note that the translations must be written regardless of whether you show language proficiency in your master’s degree.

Demonstrating language proficiency

Students who completed a bachelor’s degree in Finland

In principle, if you completed a bachelor’s degree at Aalto University or at another Finnish university or a Finnish university of applied sciences, you have already demonstrated your language proficiency in that degree or you received an exemption. Therefore, you do not need a demonstration of language proficiency in your master’s degree; instead, your master’s level maturity essay demonstrates your conversance with the subject area of your thesis. Approval of your thesis means approval of your maturity essay as well.

Students who completed a bachelor’s degree abroad

If you completed a bachelor’s degree abroad and your language of primary and secondary education is Finnish or Swedish, you must demonstrate your proficiency in your language of primary and secondary education by a master’s level maturity essay or by a translation of it. You don't need to submit a separate maturity essay: your thesis abstract (or a translation of it) will serve as the maturity essay. The language of the essay will be checked by a representative of the Language Center. The planning officer of your programme will take care of the practicalities so no special measures are required from you. 

If you completed a bachelor’s degree abroad and your language of primary and secondary education is not Finnish or Swedish, your maturity essay demonstrates your conversance with the subject area of your thesis. Approval of your thesis means approval of your maturity essay as well.