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Water and environmental engineering is essentially about making the world work: we look for practical ways of developing our society in a sustainable manner. The Master's Programme in Water and Environmental Engineering combines a strong technical basis with a sound understanding of the broader societal context. The emphasis in the programme is on water-related aspects, including their relation to the environment.

Programme is student-centered, making use of our students’ varied backgrounds. Our field is diverse and you have several possibilities to pursue your career. To ensure that you will study things that you are thrilled about, you can design your own study path. Our personal portfolio process helps you to recognise your strengths and interests together with your mentor and peers.

Master’s Programme in Water and Environmental Engineering is based at the Aalto University School of Engineering, and it focuses on what engineers do: applying theory to practice to solve critical challenges of our society. Programme provides you with competences in three complementary fields: Knowledge, Skills and Professional Identity. Our Knowledge competences include e.g. hydrological cycle and water and environmental services as well as resource use and management systems and their linkages to sustainability, while Skills competences relate e.g. to technical methods, data analysis and measurement, analysis and impact assessment as well as project work skills. Professional Identity competences particularly relevant in our programme include desire for problem-solving, comprehensive and critical thinking, multidisciplinary and multisectoral view, interaction and team work skills as well as promotion of sustainable and functioning society.

The studies in the Master's Programme in Water and Environmental Engineering are divided into four components: common studies, advanced studies, elective studies, and the Master's thesis.
The courses are organized according to three study themes that correspond our research themes: water resources management and environmental hydraulics; water and wastewater engineering; and water and development. You can focus on some of the tracks or choose courses even from all three themes.

The structure of the programme is designed so that you are able to complete your common and advanced studies during the first year. Our courses are mainly 6 ECTS, meaning you are intended to take two courses per period, totaling in 60 ECTS per year. This leaves your second year for elective courses and the master’s thesis. It also makes it easy for you to go for student exchange during the second year. Alternatively, you can further build your expertise by taking more of our advanced courses or other Aalto courses as elective courses.

The final component, the Master's thesis, is written during the spring term of the 2nd year of studies. However, students are encouraged to start planning their thesis and its topic starting from the beginning of their studies.

Code: ENG29
Scope: 60 ECTS 
Programme Director: Professor Marko Keskinen
Name in Finnish:Vesi- ja ympäristötekniikan maisteriohjelma
Name in Swedish: Magisterprogrammet i vatten- och miljöteknik

Compulsory studies (12 ECTS)

Optional studies (select 48 cr from courses below)   

The master’s thesis is written on a topic related to the advanced studies of the programme, agreed upon by the student and the supervisor, who is specialised in the thesis topic. Professors from the programme provide master's thesis topics, which are connected to their current research activities. Alternatively, students can propose their own topics to their chosen supervisor. The recommended time for the thesis project is the second-year spring semester. Students are advised to start searching for a thesis topic well before this period.

At Aalto School of Engineering, the master’s thesis supervisor may be a Professor (any rank), Adjunct Professor, Professor of Practice, Senior University Lecturer, or Principal University Lecturer. The thesis advisor must hold at least a master’s degree. The master's thesis includes a seminar presentation and a maturity test. 

Detailed instructions for the master's thesis at the School of Engineering are available in the Master’s Thesis Guide on the MyCourses platform.

For your free elective studies, you can study courses offered by Aalto University or by other universities as it is possible by Aalto internal and inter institutional agreements and procedures and course specific prerequisites.

Elective studies must be university level studies that fulfill the degree requirements and, in general, studies that are offered as degree studies at the university in question. Universities also offer courses that are targeted for a larger audience. The suitability of these studies is evaluated taking into consideration the learning outcomes of the degree that the courses are planned to be included in.

Alternatively, you can deepen your expertise by taking more of our advanced courses as elective studies or broaden your expertise by choosing courses from Aalto’s other programmes or from different universities.
Completing a minor is not compulsory in your programme. If you want to include a minor (20-25 ECTS) into your degree, please note that it needs to be an advanced level minor or one of the following minors: [to be updated: List of the new minors offered by language center, for example, “S2 – Finnish as a second language”.] Please see the list of all advanced level minors offered by Aalto University under Minors.

You can also include max 5 ECTS of practical training (ENG-E1010 Practical training) in your elective studies.You can find more information on practical training from MyCourses. 

 
The choice for elective studies is yours: the most important thing is that your elective studies complement your major studies and provide you with expertise that you personally feel important and inspiring for your career.

Examples for elective studies from Aalto (WAT programme)

There are many types of courses that suite well our field also here in Aalto. For examples, it is worth checking the courses from following AaltoENG’s Master’s Programmes:

• Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering
• Real Estate Economics (incl. law)
• Geoinformatics
• Civil Engineering
• Geoengineering

Similarly relevant to our field are more methodologically-orientated courses available at Aalto’s Systems Analysis Laboratory (http://sal.aalto.fi/en/teaching), sustainability-focused Creative Sustainability courses (http://acs.aalto.fi) as well as business and entrepreneurship-focused courses provided by different programmes at Aalto.

The choice for elective studies is yours: the most important thing is that your elective studies complement your major studies and provide you with expertise that you personally feel important and inspiring for your career. We recommend that you choose Master’s-level courses for your elective studies. If you plan to include courses from outside Aalto University, we strongly recommend consulting Learning Services first. All credit transfers from other universities must be approved by the Programme Director.

Apply for Exchange studies!

Our Master's Programme has been planned so that it enables you to leave easily for exchange studies during your second year. We strongly encourage you to make use of this opportunity, and select your exchange study place so that it complements the expertise you have gained during your studies at Aalto.

You can find more information about exchange studies (incl. application deadlines) from here Exchange studies for Aalto students.

According to , student shall demonstrate proficiency in Finnish and Swedish language that is required of central government staff in bilingual public organisations under subsection 1 of section 6 of the Act on the Knowledge of Languages Required of Personnel in Public Bodies (424/2003) andt hat is necessary for their own field; and proficiency in at least one foreign language that enablesstudents to monitor progress in their own field and operate in an international setting.

Student's bachelor's degree completed in Finland
Compulsory language studies are included as part of the Finnish Bachelor’s degree.

Student's bachelor's degree not completed in Finland
Students are required to complete 3 ECTS in one foreign language, including both oral and written proficiency. Relevant courses (marked with ‘o’ and ‘w’) are offered by the Aalto University Language Center.

Students who already have excellent command of English (for example, English as their first language) may choose 3 ECTS of Finnish or Swedish (basic level) courses instead, hence not covering the requirement of oral/written proficiency but meeting the language requirement of the degree.

In cases where student have received their pre-university education in a language of Finnish or Swedish, the language requirements are following: the student must take 2 ECTS in the second national language and 3 ECTS in one foreign language, including both oral and written proficiency. In these cases contact Learning Services.

Language studies are included in students’ elective studies and are agreed in the personal study plan.

Please find more information about language courses and information about learning languages from the Language Centre of Aalto University.