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Clear and respectful messaging ensures that whatever you are emailing about gets handled effectively. Effective emails can also get you answers much faster. This page gives guidelines and tips for students on how to communicate via email during your studies at Aalto. 

In short, you should always write from your Aalto email and include a signature with relevant information. The rest of the page provides instructions for these as well as gives tips regarding style and structure of the email with example emails at the end.

Adding a signature 

• Use your Aalto University email address – it verifies your identity.
• Use concise email signature with your full name, study program/track, and student number.  (See instructions )
  • Firstname Lastname
  • Student number: 1234567
  • Study program/major: CCIS/Computer Science

Style and tone 

• Often no formal titles are needed, but if uncertain, use appropriate academic titles such as professor and lecturer (instead of “Mr” or “Ms”). If you don’t know the recipient’s academic status, it’s usually safe to address them as “teacher“ in emails related to teaching.
• Finnish teachers typically prefer emails that get straight to the point and formal email greetings (e.g., I hope this email finds you well) can be skipped.
• An email isn't a chat message. Write full sentences and make it easy for the receiver to reply to your email by introducing yourself and providing context about the situation, because each reply asking for more information slows things down.

• Follow the same etiquette online as you would in person. Maintain politeness and professionalism, even in disagreements. Avoid insults, provocations, or threats, and always respect others' opinions.

Content and structure 

• Use clear and concise subject lines.
• Introduce yourself and the matter at hand shortly in the first sentence. In case your email is long, it is recommended to start with a summary including key information.
• Try to avoid mixing quick questions with long, complex ones
• Avoid sending unnecessary information to large groups.
• Don’t expect replies in a business day, unfortunately sometimes it takes a week.
• If this is a matter that relates to earlier conversation or communication, it's good to refer to it shortly. Teachers can have hundreds of students and it's impossible to remember all prior communications. 

Course related matters

• Read course instructions before asking questions. Repeating questions shows a lack of attention to the instructions given.
• Make sure you are using the right communication channels for the course. Email is not always the right option. Many courses use other communication channels for typical issues (e.g. Zulip, ticketing system, etc.).
• Include the course code in the subject line. 

• If there is more than one responsible teacher, address your email to one teacher and carbon copy (cc) the other teachers. 

Master’s thesis and contacting potential supervisors

• Get familiar with master’s thesis process: in MyCourses.
• When emailing a potential supervisor,include your study track + looking for MSc thesis position in the subject line.
• Briefly introduce yourself, your knowledge and background, and interest in the potential topic you are proposing. Give a short description of your ideas related to thesis. Inform about your planned schedule for the thesis work and other possible relevant details.

• Also see the example email at the end of this page. 

Example emails 

Course-related email

Dear Lecturer NN,

I’m a first-year master’s student in the CS major. I was in your course [coursecode] last autumn and I found the topic very interesting and would like to study more. Can you recommend courses or further reading that I could use to learn more?

Best wishes, Sam

--
Sam Student
Student number: 1234567
Study program/major: CCIS/Computer Science

Master’s thesis topic for a thesis conducted at a company

Topic: SSE student looking for supervisor for master’s thesis done at company X

Dear Professor NN,

My name is NN and my major is Software and Service Engineering. I’ve been working half-time during my studies in the company X developing company’s …. The company offered me a possibility to do my master’s thesis as a full-time thesis worker under my team leader’s NN advision. The preliminary topic of the thesis is …  I could start the work on the thesis at the beginning of next month.

I’m very interested in doing the thesis in the company as the topic is already familiar to me. Collaboration with my advisor is smooth and I thrust that I will get enough support and guidance with practical work. What I would still need is a supervisor, who could supervise the work and give guidance on quality and academic requirements. I would highly appreciate it if you could consider supervising my master’s thesis. If yes, could you please reply and let me know when we could meet to discuss more about the work and the arrangements needed?

Best regards, Oliver

--
Oliver Opiskelija
Student number: 1357913
Study program/major: CCIS/Software and Service Engineering

Master’s thesis email with own topic

Topic: CCIS/Macadamia student looking for MSc thesis position on topic X

To: your first-choice supervisor

Professor NN,

I'm a master’s student in the CCIS/Macadamia program, and I'm looking for a master’s thesis position. I'm interested in your topic because of REASON.

My interest started with _____, because some of my most interesting courses have been ____ and ____.  I in particular enjoyed NAMEs.  I've found some of your recent papers and …  (more background about why you are interested). I’m currently on courses X, Y, and Z and I have completed the relevant courses YYY, ZZZ, XXX.  (More background about my current position and experience).

I would appreciate it if we could meet and discuss the possibility of doing my thesis work under your supervision. My schedule is flexible, so please suggest a meeting time and place. If you are not able to supervise me, could you please suggest another supervisor who works on this topic? Or forward my email directly to them.

Best regards, Oona

--
Oona Opiskelija
Student number: 7654321
Study program/major: CCIS/Macadamia