A thesis is a academic paper on research related to a degree. It also involves taking a maturity test. The maturity test is for demonstrating that the student is familiar with the discipline of the thesis.
Bachelor’s thesis
For a bachelor’s degree, a student must prepare a bachelor’s thesis as part of the intermediate studies of his/her major subject. The student prepares the thesis independently.
The bachelor’s thesis is written in Finnish. For a special reason, however, a student may write the bachelor’s thesis in English by written permission of a person in charge of the academic subject in question.
Maturity test required for the bachelor’s degree
The Government Decree on University Degrees of 19 August 2004 stipulates that for a bachelor’s degree, a student must complete a maturity test to demonstrate his/her knowledge in the field of the thesis and his/her proficiency in Finnish or Swedish.
When the student has received formal education in Finnish, the maturity test will be completed in Finnish.
The abstract of the bachelor’s thesis will then be accepted as a maturity test.
- A thesis supervisor accepts a Finnish abstract of a bachelor’s thesis as a Finnish maturity test when a student who has received formal education in Finnish writes his/her bachelor’s thesis in Finnish, Swedish or a foreign language.
- A thesis supervisor reviews the abstract with regard to both grammatical accuracy and content. The student will have an opportunity to edit the abstract based on feedback before submitting the bachelor’s thesis for a plagiarism check and to the thesis supervisor for final assessment.
- If you have received formal education in a language other than Finnish, read the faculty’s instructions on the maturity test (see the content below).
- If a student completes a separate maturity test for the bachelor’s degree (see the faculty-specific instructions below), the thesis must be submitted for assessment in good time before the maturity test.
Master’s thesis
For a master’s degree, a student must prepare a master’s thesis as part of the advanced studies of his/her major subject. The student prepares the thesis independently. The master’s thesis is written in a language specified in the curriculum. For a special reason, however, a student who has received education in Finnish may write their master’s thesis in English by written permission of the person in charge of the academic subject in question.
The originality of a completed master’s theses must be checked. The system currently in use is the Turnitin plagiarism detection tool.
Maturity test required for the master’s degree
If a student has completed a maturity test in connection with a previous bachelor’s or master’s degree, they can demonstrate their understanding of the subject of their master’s degree with an abstract of their master’s thesis. For a master’s thesis written in Finnish, an abstract in Finnish and English has to be provided.
In master’s degree programmes that are lectured in English, a maturity test will be completed in the manner confirmed in the curriculum.
If a student completes a separate maturity test for the master’s degree (see the faculty’s instructions below), the thesis must be submitted for assessment in good time before the maturity test.
See Thesis submission and evaluation
Faculty-specific instructions concerning theses
You should first check if your Study Community has more detailed instructions.