In the seminar, students working on their MSc thesis write and present their own work, review and discuss each others' work, and learn scientific writing and presentation skills. Participants must have an advisor and a thesis topic by the start of the seminar (see below). The students should be committed to work actively on their thesis during the seminar.

Finding a MSc topic and advisor

Some available MSc thesis topics are listed at http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/en/studies/thesis-subjects. Another channel to find an advisor and a topic is to talk with a professor, lecturer or researcher in the area you are interested in. Courses and seminars you have taken and scientific papers you have read can be good sources of inspiration and provisional topics for the MSc work. If you have a provisional topic in mind before talking to a potential supervisor, you are more likely to find an agreement. You can also contact the head of the area, Prof. Jyrki Kivinen for help in finding a supervisor.

Once you have found an advisor (with a PhD degree) and a rough topic, the first task is to write a two-page description of the topic, goals, methods, and key literature. Work on this with your supervisor until he/she is satisfied, and then proceed to formally ask for approval of the topic from Prof. Jyrki Kivinen.

General instructions on MSc thesis work, including a form for applying for approval of a thesis topic, can be found at http://www.cs.helsinki.fi/en/studies/msc/general.