Thesis and maturity test in master's and licentiate programmes

Thesis and thesis plan

As part of the advanced studies in the Master's Programme, you will prepare a written thesis of 30 credits in scope. If you study in the fields of medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine, your written thesis is 20 credits in scope.

In the thesis, you must demonstrate your familiarity with the thesis topic, mastery of the necessary research methods, the ability to think scientifically and proficiency in academic writing. The thesis workload, including the collection and processing of the research material as well as the writing process, corresponds approximately to one term of full-time study.

Before embarking on the thesis project, or at its initial stages at the latest, you must draft a thesis plan, which will be discussed and approved in the manner specified in the degree programme curriculum. The plan must also indicate the supervisor(s) of the thesis.

You can complete the thesis independently or in a group or a wider research project, provided that your independent input can be clearly demonstrated and easily assessed. You can also complete the thesis as a commission. However, write your thesis independently. You can write the thesis as pair work with a fellow student only if your degree programme has separately decided to allow this. In such cases, the independent contribution of both students must be clearly demonstrable. 

You should write your thesis in academic language.

Please select your degree programme to see the schedules for submitting and assessing your thesis. Please note that if you submit your thesis for assessment and your graduation request latest on 31st of July, you will graduate retroactively during the spring term. If you are liable to pay for tuition you will not need to be attending or pay for tuition for the following autumn term.

Thesis template and abstract

To ensure the accessibility of the thesis file, you can use the text styles contained in the University of Helsinki template and follow the instructions provided in the template. However, make sure your faculty and degree program's thesis guidelines before using the template. When the Word file is in order for accessibility, you can also easily create an accessible PDF file. Ensure that the name of the thesis file is in the format Lastname_Firstname_Mastersthesis_Year (with no Scandinavian letters or special characters).

If using the LaTeX typesetting system for your thesis file, the PDF file created will not be accessible. This is because of a current lack of code entries. Consequently, we recommend that you save in the publication repository not only a PDF file, but also the thesis source code.

The thesis includes an abstract written in the language of the thesis. In addition, students who have completed their secondary education in Finnish or Swedish must write an abstract in the language of their secondary education if the abstract also serves as a maturity test with which the student demonstrates their proficiency in Finnish or Swedish. You can use the University's abstract document (a word document). Fill in the needed information on each line and write your abstract at the end. The length of the abstract is usually 1 page. The degree programmes and/or faculties can give more detailed instructions in the matter, please see also the degree programme-specific instructions. Attached is also a model document as a pdf. If needed, you can write the abstract also in other word processing programmes with the help of the model document. Include your abstract in the thesis file.

If you give permission to publish your thesis in the University's open publication repository, please make sure the document is in an accessible format. See instructions on how to create accessible documents.

Assessment

Your thesis will be assessed on a scale of 0–5. The assessment is conducted in Finnish, Swedish or English. Your thesis will be assessed by two examiners. The dean approves your thesis and assess it based on the opinion given by the examiners. The date of completion of your thesis is the date on which you submitted your thesis for assessment.

If you are dissatisfied with your grading, you can lodge an appeal with the University’s Academic Appeals Board. Read more on the page Legal protection of students.

The master’s thesis is assessed by a University of Helsinki professor, associate or assistant professor, senior university lecturer, university lecturer or research director, together with a person who has at least a doctoral degree. The supervisor of the thesis can also act as an examiner. The thesis does not require examiners from outside the faculty.

For master's programme specific detailed instructions on appointing the thesis supervisor and examiners, see below on this page.

Do you have difficulties in starting the thesis? Isn’t the writing proceeding? Study psychologists provide both individual and group guidance in minor and major study dilemmas. More information on the study support topic. 

If there is a conflict with your thesis supervisor, where you cannot reach an agreement through discussion, you can contact the director, deputy director or education coordinator of your master’s programme.  

If you are dissatisfied with the proposed grade for the master's thesis, you can request in writing that the assessment of the thesis is suspended before the dean makes a decision on the matter. The suspension request must be submitted by e-mail to kumpula-student@helsinki.fi no later than 12:00 on the day before the dean's decision.

If you are dissatisfied with the grade decided by the dean, you can submit a request for administrative review of this decision to Academic Appeals Board. Instructions for submitting a request for administrative review.

If the examiners of the master's thesis disagree on the grade of the thesis, the director of the master’s programme discusses with the examiners and, if necessary, appoints a third examiner to the thesis. If the director of the master’s programme is disqualified, the deputy director of the master’s programme appoints a third examiner.

Limited or delayed publication (embargo)

Before submitting your thesis for evaluation, you should check with your supervisor whether you need to limit the publicity of your thesis or delay its publication (embargo). The embargo requires a decision by the Dean, but you can decide on the limited publication yourself. For both options, please note that the thesis is a public document and an electronic copy must always be provided on request.

Start by looking at the options above. If an embargo is still desired, the thesis supervisor should contact the Dean to discuss the embargo with the Dean. If the Dean will grant an embargo, the following steps are taken:

• If the assessment is done in e-thesis:
  • Request an embargo or grant a limited permission to publish when you submit your thesis for assessment.
• If the assessment is not done in e-thesis (during fall term 2024):
  • Upload your thesis to the old e-thesis only after your supervisor has discussed the matter with the Dean and it is known whether an embargo will be granted or whether limited publication will suffice.

Schedules for submitting, assessing and approving master’s theses during the 2025–2026 academic year are as follows: Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Theology

The completed thesis must be submitted for assessment by 23.59 (Finnish time) on the submission deadline. The schedules do not apply to master’s theses completed in international joint degree programmes. 

No supervision and feedback are provided in July, unless required in a given faculty or master’s programme. 

If the thesis is the only uncompleted component of your studies, you can submit a graduation request on the same date. The submission date for the graduation request appears as the date of the degree certificate. If you submit your graduation request during the weekend or holiday, the graduation date will be the next working day.

• If you submit your thesis after the last submission deadline in December 2025 and before 1 January 2026, the date of thesis completion will be recorded as 1 January 2026. Your thesis will be assessed and approved in accordance with the first schedule for 2026. You cannot graduate in 2025, even if you have submitted a graduation request in 2025. You must register for attendance in connection with your right to study for the spring term 2026 as well as pay the Student Union fee and the FSHS healthcare fee for the spring term 2026.
• If you submit both your completed thesis for assessment and a graduation request by 31 July 2026 you can graduate during the 2025–2026 academic year. However, if you submit your thesis after the final submission deadline in June 2026 but before the end of the academic year (31 July 2026), your thesis will be assessed and approved according to the first schedule for the autumn term 2026.

For instructions on how to submit a graduation request, see the graduation instructions.

Schedules for submitting, assessing and approving master’s theses during the 2026–2027 academic year are as follows: Faculty of Pharmacy, Faculty of Humanities, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Theology

The completed thesis must be submitted for assessment by 23.59 (Finnish time) on the submission deadline. The schedules do not apply to master’s theses completed in international joint degree programmes or commissioned training programmes. 

No supervision and feedback are provided in July, unless required in a given faculty or master’s programme. 

If the thesis is the only uncompleted component of your studies, you can submit a graduation request on the same date. The submission date for the graduation request appears as the date of the degree certificate. If you submit your graduation request during the weekend or holiday, the graduation date will be the next working day.

• If you submit your thesis after the last submission deadline in December 2026 and before 1 January 2027, the date of thesis completion will be recorded as 1 January 2027. Your thesis will be assessed and approved in accordance with the first schedule for 2027. You cannot graduate in 2026, even if you have submitted a graduation request in 2026. You must register for attendance in connection with your right to study for the spring term 2027 as well as pay the Student Union fee and the FSHS healthcare fee for the spring term 2027.
• If you submit both your completed thesis for assessment and a graduation request by 31 July 2027 you can graduate during the 2026–2027 academic year. However, if you submit your thesis after the final submission deadline in June 2027 but before the end of the academic year (31 July 2027), your thesis will be assessed and approved according to the first schedule for the autumn term 2027.

For instructions on how to submit a graduation request, see the graduation instructions.

As of 1 August 2025, before submitting your master’s thesis, you must register for the submission of the thesis and the maturity test in Sisu. If you have registered for more than one, select those for the current academic year. This ensures accurate recording of completed credits in Sisu.

You can then submit the final version of your master’s thesis into the new E-thesis. Check the submission deadline from the schedules for supervising, submitting, assessing and approving master’s theses.

When you have saved your thesis in E-thesis, it will be passed on for assessment. Your thesis will no longer be editable. You will receive confirmation of a successful submission by email and you can track the progress of the assessment in the system.

Read the user instructions for the redesigned E-thesis.  

A maturity test is a scholarly text related to the field of your thesis, such as a part of the thesis or its abstract, or another piece of written work defined in the curriculum of your degree programme.

The maturity test demonstrates your familiarity with the field of your thesis.

Maturity tests are graded on a pass–fail basis. The person marking and approving a maturity test is usually a teacher in the degree programme (e.g., your thesis supervisor). The person approving a maturity test must be proficient in the language of the test.

A maturity test is an independent study attainment, but it is recorded in the student information system as having a scope of 0 credits.

Please note that the use of artificial intelligence in maturity tests is never allowed. Read more on the page Using AI to support learning.

The language of your maturity test depends on whether you completed one for your bachelor’s degree and on the language of your secondary education.

The language of your secondary education was Finnish or Swedish:

• If the language of your secondary education was Finnish or Swedish and your bachelor’s degree included a maturity test completed in that language, you can complete your maturity test at the master’s level in Finnish, Swedish, English or the language of your thesis. If you are studying in an English-language master’s programme or in a multilingual master’s programme so that your degree language is English, you must complete a maturity test in English. You no longer need to demonstrate your language skills through the maturity test, but must demonstrate your familiarity with the field of your thesis.
• If the language of your secondary education was Finnish or Swedish, but your bachelor’s degree included no maturity test in that language (e.g., you completed your bachelor’s degree outside Finland), you must complete a maturity test in the language of your secondary education. In doing so, you demonstrate both your language skills and your familiarity with the field of your thesis. This also applies to those studying in an English-language master’s programme or pursuing an English-language degree in a multilingual master’s programme. In the above cases, see the other language studies required for your degree.

The language of your secondary education was not Finnish or Swedish:

• If the language of your secondary education was not Finnish or Swedish or you completed your secondary education in a country other than Finland and are studying in a Finnish- or Swedish-language master’s programme or in a multilingual master’s programme in Finnish or Swedish, you can complete a maturity test in Finnish, Swedish, English or the language of your thesis. In doing so, you demonstrate your familiarity with the field of your thesis.
• If the language of your secondary education was not Finnish or Swedish or you completed your secondary education outside Finland and are studying in an English-language master’s programme or in a multilingual master’s programme in English, you must complete a maturity test in English. In doing so, you demonstrate your familiarity with the field of your thesis.

If the master’s thesis abstract is used in your master’s programme as a maturity test, you can find out with the help of this web application the language in which you must or may complete the maturity test and the language or languages of the abstract(s) that you are required to include in your master's thesis.

USP THESIS PROCESS

As part of their advanced studies, USP students write a thesis of 30 credits in scope. The thesis is recommended to be completed during the second year of studies. Thus, we suggest that you start your thesis process in the autumn of your second year. Below we have listed instructions for the Master’s Thesis process for all USP students at the University of Helsinki. Please read them carefully.

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

• Thesis Supervision Plan: download here (pdf)
• Thesis Assessment Criteria:
  • Evaluation matrix in English (pdf)
  • Evaluation matrix in Finnish (pdf)
  • Evaluation matrix in Swedish (pdf)

1.  AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR THESIS PROJECT

Getting started

You are free to contact USP teachers in both Universities directly to discuss your potential ideas. You can also contact the Urbaria (Helsinki Institute of Urban and Regional Studies) to ask what kind of research needs cities and other organizations have at the moment. It hosts the Urbaria Thesis Market -website for this purpose, which is a good venue to find ideas for your thesis. As soon as you have a preliminary idea about the topic of your thesis, approach the thesis contact person in your target degree faculty and tell them about your initial ideas. Below is the list of thesis contact persons in each faculty:

• Faculty of Arts: Florencia Quesada
• Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences: Johan Kotze
• Faculty of Science: Petteri Muukkonen
• Faculty of Social Sciences: Jani Vuolteenaho

Finding a supervisor and approving the supervision plan

If you already have a potential supervisor in your mind, you may contact them directly and ask about possibilities to supervise you. You can also ask the thesis contact person or USP teachers to help you find a supervisor. Your main supervisor must hold a PhD degree in one of the fields in Urban Studies and Planning.  The supervisor does not need to be from your own faculty, but the supervision plan must be approved by the thesis contact person of your faculty. It is important that the faculty from which you will graduate accepts your supervision plan (see next paragraph). You may also have additional supervisors/advisors guiding your thesis. It is recommended that one supervisor comes from the University of Helsinki but it is not a requirement.

Once you have a nominated supervisor(s), discuss with them about your thesis content, supervising arrangements and timetable in detail. Fill in and sign the USP thesis supervising plan (see separate document) together with your supervisor(s). Send the signed supervision plan to the thesis contact person of the faculty from which you will graduate. Once your plan has been approved by the thesis contact person, send the plan also to the USP education coordinator.

Read more about the thesis and find possible supervisors in the programme webpage.

Having trouble?

If you don’t know where to begin with your thesis process, you can contact the thesis contact person in your home faculty and/or the USP education coordinator.

2.  WORKING WITH YOUR THESIS
 

The first and a crucial step of your thesis process is to start writing a more detailed research plan. The plan explains what are your main preliminary research questions, how you will approach them (theory, data and methods) and what is the scientific and societal relevance of your topic.

The forms of supervision may vary, but at the University of Helsinki the main platform is usually the Master’s seminar and discussions with your supervisor. You may participate in the USP thesis seminar, but you can also find other thesis seminar options with the thesis contact person of your faculty. The master's thesis seminar is a compulsory course in the USP programme, and USP students include a seminar in their studies. It is highly recommended to participate in the seminar already on the spring term of the first year of studies. This helps you to plan earlier the thesis topic and to start considering how to gather the data and material or, e.g. how to access open access data sets.

There is no ruling on the required number of pages in a Master’s Thesis, but rather a requirement on the quality: through the Thesis the student should show that he/she is able to use the concepts and methods of his/her own discipline in solving a problem he/she has set. The assessment of the thesis is based on the importance of the problem, the soundness and quality of the logic, and the scientific quality of the answer, not on the length of the thesis. The preferred length is between 40-60 pages, but exceptions are possible, with good grounds based on the substance of the thesis. (See separate criteria for grading). Use the University of Helsinki thesis template when you write the final version!

However, keep in mind that even though your thesis is supervised, it should also be an independent research work. It should show your ability to seek, collect, analyze and interpret information, use applicable methods and report your findings according to scientific practices. Thesis work should deepen your understanding of the field of your expertise.

3. SENDING THE FINAL VERSION OF YOUR THESIS FOR EVALUATION AND MATURITY TEST

1. Make sure you've used the UH thesis template.
2. Register for the thesis (USP-389) and the maturity test (USP-390) in Sisu before submitting your master’s thesis.
3. You can then submit the final version of your master’s thesis into the new E-thesis. Check the submission deadline from the schedules for supervising, submitting, assessing and approving master’s theses. Follow the University of Helsinki general instructions and Faculty of Science timetables. Please remember, that DL's are strict!
4. Read the user instructions for the redesigned E-thesis. 
5. When you have saved your thesis in E-thesis, it will be passed on for assessment. Your thesis will no longer be editable. You will receive confirmation of a successful submission by email and you can track the progress of the assessment in the system.

6. Book a time at the Examinarium and take the maturity test. Please check the language requirements from this link: https://studies.helsinki.fi/instructions/article/thesis-and-maturity-test-masters-and-licentiate-programmes#paragraph-816

    

4. ACCEPTANCE AND REGISTRATION
 

Your thesis will be evaluated by two examiners. Your main supervisor, together with the thesis contact person of your own faculty, will nominate the examiners. They will evaluate your thesis in e-thesis. The minimum requirement for thesis examiners is a doctoral degree. At least one of the two examiners must come from the University of Helsinki. Your main supervisor is usually one of the examiners.

You'll get a message from e-thesis when your evaluation is ready (this process is described in detail in general instructions above).

5. GRADUATION
 

Once all your studies are registered (120 credits), you can apply graduation in SISU. Please see instructions for study module compilation and instructions for graduation.

In all USP degrees at the University of Helsinki, your degree consists of two study modules:

• USP-300 Urban Studies and Planning, advanced studies (90-120 credits)
• USP-500 Other studies (0-30 credits)

If you need help with finalizing your SISU study plan for graduation, you can contact USP education coordinator via email or book an appointment from Vihta.

You are welcome to attend the Graduation Ceremony of the Faculty Science (even if you graduate with a degree from another faculty), which is held twice a year in December and June. See the next date from instructions for graduation.

CONGRATULATIONS FOR COMPLETING A MASTER’S DEGREE!

Public access to theses

Master’s theses included in second-cycle (master’s) degrees are public documents. Their public access is based on the Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999). This means that the University must grant access to theses to anyone upon request.

Public access to theses includes their abstracts.

Secret material and theses

Theses must not include any confidential information, as they are made available to the public immediately following assessment and approval. You can include secret information in the background material, which is not part of the thesis to be assessed.

The Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999) contains provisions on secret official documents. Secret information includes information on private business or commercial activities or a private individual’s health, assets, political convictions or family life.

You cannot include secret material in thesis appendices or abstracts. The thesis supervisor can gain access to secret background material, but must ensure that such material is excluded from the thesis itself. The thesis examiner conducts their assessment based on the student’s written thesis, which must not include secret information. The examiner is not entitled to access secret background material.

Publication of theses

The University of Helsinki recommends the open publication of theses. The abstracts of master’s theses are always public and published in the University’s open Helda repository.

If you permit the publication of your thesis, it will be published in Helda, where it will be available to the general public. Search engines will display resources contained in the publication repository prominently in search results.

If you do not permit the publication of your thesis, it will be available for viewing only on the library terminals of Helsinki University Library.

You must use the E-thesis system, currently available in two versions, to accept or reject the publication of your thesis. 

• If your degree programme uses the old version, you will receive a message about publication permission from the E-thesis system after the approval of your thesis.
• If your degree programme uses the new version, you must accept or reject the publication of your thesis when submitting it for assessment.

If your thesis includes an article published in a journal, or an article based on your thesis is in preparation, it is possible that your thesis cannot be published openly as such. If your article is published in a scholarly journal or other scholarly publication, often its publisher can provide information on the terms and conditions of open publishing. If you require further information on publishing your thesis in the open repository, please send a message to the following email address: e-thesis(at)helsinki.fi.

Delayed publication (embargo)

As a student, you may request a delay in the publication of your thesis in the Helda repository. A need for delayed publication (embargo) may arise, for example, if a thesis has been written in a research group and is closely related to research to be published later. 

Please note, however, that a thesis whose publication has been delayed is still a public document, and access to it must be given to anyone requesting it. Description data (including the abstract) are always public and openly available in Helda. 

An embargoed thesis cannot be viewed in full on the library terminals. If you give permission to publish a thesis which has been embargoed, it will become available in the open repository on the date the embargo ends. Otherwise, your thesis will be available only on library terminals after the end of the embargo.

If the publication of your thesis requires delay, please report this need on the E-thesis form under the item ‘Other notes/Embargo’ when submitting your thesis for assessment. The dean may grant a delay of one year. If studying at the Faculty of Science, please contact the education coordinator for information on embargo needs.