Theses

All degrees conclude with a supervised written paper called a thesis. The following is a list of theses at UEF:

• Bachelor’s Thesis (Bachelor’s degree)
• Master’s Thesis (Master’s degree)
• Licentiate Thesis (Licentiate’s degree)
• Doctoral Dissertation (Doctoral degree)

The students get support to their thesis writing process in the form of seminars in which the participants typically present their work and comment on each other’s thesis plans at various stages. This way all participants receive feedback and support for their own writing process from both the thesis supervisor and the other seminar participants.

Instructions on the accessibility of theses have been prepared as a base file (Word template file and PDF-file), which is applied in theses made at the university. The student is responsible for the accessibility of his / her thesis. In addition to the thesis instructions to be achieved, the student must follow the thesis instructions given by each faculties. See more about accessibility in studies (contain also word instructional video).

• Please, watch here how to import a template layout into a document you’ve already created.

The goals, form, language, and grading criteria of theses are defined in the curriculum of the respective faculty and/or academic subject. More information can be found in syllabuses and Study Communities. For extended information about licentiate theses and doctoral dissertations, please check the Doctoral Education site at Kamu.

Examination and grading of theses

The examination and grading process vary depending on the level of thesis. A Bachelor’s thesis is graded by the teacher of the study module. Master’s theses are graded by the head of department, and their examination process is uniform throughout UEF.

The examination process and instructions for licentiate theses and dissertations can be found on the Doctoral Education site at Kamu.

As per the decision (18.12.2014) of the UEF rector, the originality of all theses is to be verified via the plagiarism detection system.

Should the student be dissatisfied with the grading of his or her thesis, they may appeal for a revision. Instructions for the appeal are included alongside the grading decision.

Publicity and publication of theses

Theses written by degree students are principally public on the basis of the Constitution of Finland (731/1999 12,2 §) and Act on the Openness of Government Activities (621/1999 1§). The guide of the Ministry of Education states that universities are obligated to ensure that theses do not include confidential material and that they become public immediately upon approval (Ministry of Education guidelines: Publicity of theses 28.1.2004 Jnl No. 3/5000/2004).

A university degree prepares students for scientific research, one key principle of which is openness. The University of Eastern Finland is committed to supporting the principles of open science and research, and strongly recommends Master’s theses and licentiate theses to be published with Open Access. Dissertations are always published, and a publishing agreement is made for dissertations that are published as a part of the UEF publication series.

Every year, UEF Library raffles off a grant worth EUR 100 among UEF students who have made their master’s thesis publicly available. Sign up by submitting this electronic form once your master’s thesis has been published online.