Education overview

The education in the Helsinki University of Technology is planned in the form of degree programme. A degree programme is a multidisciplinary entity aimed at a certain profession, a certain field of technological expertise and its development. The degree programmes consist of general studies, subject studies and advanced studies plus practical training at work.

Within the framework of the degree programme, the student is given the opportunity to specialize thoroughly in two (or several) special subjects. Special subjects of the Laboratory of Software Technology are described in the following subsections.

The laboratory gives both basic and specialized instruction to the students of the Helsinki University of Technology. The introductory courses serve all departments and the number of students enrolled each year is about one thousand. The more advanced courses are intented for those who select their special subject among subjects of the laboratory.

The basic degree at the university is the degree of Master of Science in Engineering (M.Sc.). It requires courses with a total of 160 credit units plus a thesis of 20 credit units, where one credit unit corresponds to 40 hours of effective study. The typical time needed to earn the Master's degree is roughly 5-7 years.

A graduate student can carry on with postgraduate studies aiming at the degree of Licentiate in Technology (Lic.Tech.) or Doctor of Technology (Dr.Tech.). The licentiate is no longer a prerequisite for obtaining the doctor's degree. The licentiate includes writing of an extensive scientific thesis and the degree of Doctor of Technology requires the writing of a doctoral dissertation and defending it successfully in a public debate. Graduation with the degree of Licentiate takes 2-3 years and with the doctor`s degree an additional 1-3 years.