Master's Programme in Chemical, Biochemical and Materials Engineering
Planning your studies
On this page you can find information on planning your studies in the Master's Programme in Chemical, Biochemical and Materials Engineering.
Changing to a new master's programme
The Master's Programme in Chemical, Biochemical and Materials Engineering is being discontinued as a result of a redesign of master's studies at the School of Chemical Engineering. You can find more information on the renewal on the Master's portfolio renewal - Student information page.
The information page offers information on transferring from one of the old master's majors to a new master's programme until the end of the transition period on 31 December 2025. The page will eventually also include the transfer application form.
Guidelines for written reports
The guideline for report writing instructions for students of the School of Chemical Engineering. It is recommended that it be applied on the courses of the School of Chemical Engineering. However, since different areas of chemical technology may have varying practices, instructions deviating from this guideline or supplementing it may be given on the courses.
Practical training
Students at the School of Chemical Engineering can include one of the two professional training courses into their master's degree:
Remember to carefully read the information in MyCourses.
Please make sure to agree about the course with the professor responsible for your major in advance of completing it. The general rule is that the professional training is not part of your major but is included in your free electives.
Aalto University wants to support students' internationalisation and work experience, and internship grants are available for students who meet the criteria. You can apply for a grant for an internship abroad or in Finland. Make sure to first discuss including the internship in your degree with the responsible persons in your own degree programme at Aalto University.
Course substitutions
Course substitutions in the School of Chemical Engineering can be found in the PDF table linked below. You can easily search for courses by downloading and/or opening the table in a PDF viewer.
As courses do not always have a direct substitute (e.g. there might be courses partly substituting an older course), please check with the planning officer of your programme or major for more details (see Contact section). Please note that you’ll need to include all requested substitutions in your study plan and depending on how old the course you're using for substitution, get them approved.
If you are looking for course substitutions in the new CHEM master's programmes, you will find them on the portfolio renewal student information page by the beginning of April.
Academic advising
The school appoints an academic advisor to each new student. Academic advisors are mainly professors and lecturers. An academic advisor is appointed for the duration of the whole degree, meaning two years for the master's programme. The Learning services support and coordinate the academic advising.
The aims of academic advising are to integrate students into the university community, facilitate the interaction between students and academic staff, increase students’ motivation and study progress as well support students at every stage of their studies. For students, academic advising is a good opportunity for discussion about studies and career options, getting opinions and ideas from an experienced person, discussing different possibilities and to give and get feedback.
Each new student meets their academic advisor already during the orientation week. Thereafter, the academic advisor usually invites the student for an individual meeting at least twice every year: each autumn and each spring. It is possible to organize more individual meetings, if needed. Academic advisors often arrange group meetings as well.
Academic advisors encourage the students in their studies and career plans. They follow the study progress, motivate, and offer support and advice. The student’s goals and study plan (HOPS) are a good basis for an individual meeting.
Topics for an academic advising discussion are e.g.:
- student’s life, wellbeing
- learning goals, study plan
- general study matters (course selection, minor, elective studies, etc.)
- progress of studies
- master’s thesis
- future plans, career options
- other matters the students are interested in
Academic advising is a part of a proactive safety net at the School of Chemical Engineering. In other words, the academic advisors report the meetings that have taken place to the Learning Services. If a student does not meet their academic advisor, the Learning services will contact them.
If you are not sure, who is your academic advisor, please, check the information in MyStudies or contact your planning officer.
Why should I earn my degree within the target time?
Graduating within the target time, i.e. within the statutory duration of studies, requires that you earn an average of 60 credits per year. This means that you earn the bachelor’s degree in three years and the Master of Science (Technology) in two years. Earning the degree within the target time shows your potential future employers that you are able to commit to your studies and work, and able to acquire a wide spectrum of new knowledge while keeping to an agreed schedule. To help our students graduate within the target time, we have invested in helping our students’ academic progress by, for instance:
- developing the academic advising
- gathering feedback on courses and on studies in general
- making use of feedback in the curriculum design (e.g. contents of courses, order of teaching course topics, even distribution of workload over teaching periods)
- checking bottlenecks and making changes to both courses and their timetables to better balance workloads
- organising extra exams
- investing in student wellbeing, for instance with the help of the AllWell? Project
The Finnish government encourages you to earn you degree within the target time by offering student loan compensation for those who graduate within the target time:
The School of Chemical Engineering wants to reward students who earn their degree within the target time, i.e. the normative duration of studies defined by law. The scholarship is awarded in the cases described below.
- Students admitted to the School of Chemical Engineering to pursue both a Bachelor’s and master’s degree:
The scholarship for bachelor’s students is awarded to those who have completed all studies (180 credits) and graduated within a period of three academic years. The reward is awarded based on the number of terms you have enrolled as attending in the study programme.
The scholarship for master’s students is awarded to those who have completed all studies (180 + 120 credits) and graduated within a period of five academic years. The reward is awarded based on the number of terms you have enrolled as attending in the study programme. - Students admitted to the School of Chemical Engineering to pursue a Master’s degree:
The scholarship for master’s students is awarded when all studies (120 cr) have been completed and graduated within a period of two academic years. The reward is awarded based on the number of terms you have enrolled as attending in the study programme.
Please note that this scholarship is not granted in programmes where the students receive a scholarship for living costs.
Changing master's programme or master major during master studies
According to the School of Chemical Engineering admission criteria, students who continued their studies from any Aalto technical school bachelor’s programme to a master's programme in the School of Chemical Engineering have the possibility to change the programme or major once during their master’s studies.
In the Chemical, Biochemical and Materials Engineering programme the same criteria are applied as in continuing from Bachelor’s programme to Master’s programme but that the required supplementary courses may be completed even outside the Bachelor's degree.
Students who have been accepted via Aalto Master’s admissions to the Master's Programme in Chemical,
Biochemical and Materials Engineering can only change the major by taking part in the Aalto Master’s programme admission process.
Students whose study right includes both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree are under certain conditions allowed to change the master's programme or major during their master studies. In most cases this change is possible once during the master studies. Changing programmes or majors is possible mainly within your school. Changing major subjects is also possible between schools within some of Aalto’s joint programmes.
Changing the programme or major is allowed if all the following conditions are fulfilled
- You have started your studies on August 1, 2016 or later.
- You fulfil all programme and school level requirements.
- You are able to complete all of the required studies of your new programme (or major subject) during your remaining study time.
- Your study right includes both bachelor's and master's degree. If your study right is only for the master's degree, changing the programme is possible only by applying again through master's admissions.
Application procedure:
- Create a new personal study plan in Sisu for the new programme.
- Contact the administrative contact person of the major or programme (planning officer or coordinator) and submit a free-form application for changing the programme or major.
If you fulfil all the criteria, your study right will be changed based on this approval.