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MDP in Space Sciences

The International Master’s Degree Programme in Space Sciences (MScSS) is organised jointly by the Department of Astronomy and the Department of Physics. The goal of the programme is to give the students the outstanding skills they need both in postgraduate studies and in many other – often international – careers in space sciences or related fields.

Your personal study plan can emphasise experimental or observational work or it can focus on the methods for data analysis or theoretical studies. The study plan always includes basic courses and a number of special modules. These may be selected from an extensive syllabus, including lecture courses, laboratory exercises, observational work, data analysis, or computer simulations. You can also include in your personal study plan courses in space technology and remote sensing offered by Helsinki University of Technology. While the personal study plans may be different, all students participate in shared seminars for reporting on topics they have studied individually. The goal is to complete the Master’s Programme in two academic years.

In the final term, students write their Master’s Thesis. Theses’ topics are closely tied in with advanced research in Astronomy or Space Physics. Thesis students can also make use of the ongoing research projects of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) or the European Space Agency (ESA), or other international space research programmes.

In addition to the Department of Astrnomy and the Department of Physics, the Space Research and Earth Observation Groups of the Finnish Meteorological Institute provide supervision and suggest challenging Master’s thesis topics for the students. As a rule, the theses topics are based on work the students have started as summer trainees between the first and second year of the programme.

More information is available on the Space Sciences website.

More information on the application process is available through admissions@helsinki.fi.