The special feature of this programme is that you can combine the above disciplines into a comprehensive syllabus by tailoring a suitable combination according to your plans and existing knowledge in cooperation with the programme professors. However, this requires also a genuine commitment from you to develop your own skills and plan your degree.
The strong scientific emphasis of the programme makes it a natural gateway to further studies in physics, mathematics, chemistry, and computer science.
The Master’s Programme in Theoretical and Computational Methods has an exceptionally great scope. The programme consists of several course packages in physics, mathematics, chemistry, and computer science.
Upon completing the Master’s Programme in Theoretical and Computational Methods, you will:
As a graduate of this Master’s programme, you can work as an expert in many kinds of scientific jobs across the private and the public sectors. The employment rate in this field is good.
The programme’s particular scientific emphasis makes it a natural gateway to further studies in physics, mathematics, chemistry, and computer science. This will usually take place within one of the research groups working on the Kumpula campus.
The programme is multi-lingual. Instruction is given in English, but the courses and assignments can also be done in Finnish or Swedish.
The scope of the programme is 120 credits (ECTS), and it is possible to complete the degree in two academic years. The degree includes:
You can find
The programme consists of several course packages in physics, mathematics, chemistry, and computer science. Your studies are based on
In addition, the other studies could include
Studying in this programme requires a genuine commitment from you to develop your own skills and plan your degree. You can tailor your studies according to your existing knowledge and interests in cooperation with an academic mentor, one of the programme professors. Your personal study plan will ensure that your courses form a functional and coherent combination.
The special feature of this programme is its great scope; it consists of several course packages in physics, mathematics, chemistry, computer science and data science:
See
The courses include group and lecture instruction, exercises, literature, and workshops. Most courses also include exams or project assignments. In addition, you can complete some courses independently by taking exams.
Instruction is given in English, but the courses and assignments can also be done in Finnish or Swedish.
You can check out courses in the online course catalogue for University of Helsinki students. Please note that some courses are not taught every academic year. Finnish courses are offered for international students.
The degree contains a Master’s thesis that will demonstrate your:
The scope of the Master’s thesis is 30 credits. It is often written in one of the research groups of the Faculty, so you will become familiar with top research during your Master’s studies. Thesis projects are a natural gateway to postgraduate studies.
Below is a list of recent MSc theses of the degree programme. You can find them in the University of Helsinki's
| Zhilkin, Alexander | Enhancing Bayesian Network Discovery by Sampling Markov Equivalent DAGs |
| Jokiniemi, Anna Elise | NIST’s Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism and its security |
| Kiuru, Julius Onni Tapio | Computational study of claudin-15 strand and branch architecture |
| Seppälä, Mikko Toivo Johannes | One-Loop Gluon Emission In Light Cone Perturbation Theory |
| Kiuru, Olavi Armas Matias | Compton scattering in ultra-strong magnetic fields |
| Karjalainen, Netta Karoliina | Hamiltonian parameter learning in one-dimensional spin chains with machine learning |
| Jylhä, Anna-Sofia Margaretha | Mesoscale fluctuations in interplanetary coronal mass ejections at 1 au |
| Nyström, Ron Carl Kristian | Generation of magic by interaction with bosonic systems |
| Reiman, Heidi Maria | Optimizing approaches for reducing the computational cost of configurational sampling of flexible organic molecules |
| Tirkkonen, Nils Andreas | Modeling the effect of additives on glass transition and chain dynamics in PHBV |
| Hyvönen, Arttu Oskari | Linear interpolation method for the calculation of spherical average of momentum density profiles |
| Vappula, Hetta Loviisa | Practical Techniques for Accurate Measurements on Noisy Quantum Systems |
| Atli, Sena | Impact of extragalactic compact binary foreground on LISA’s sensitivity to phase transitions |
| Piirilä, Reino Juha Olavi | Effects of irradiation on Al2O3 and Ga2O3 glass structure |
| Granados Escartin, Elba Sofia | Cyclone Effects on Sea Ice Concentration in the Southern Ocean |
| Linho, Ville-Vertti Ilmari | Waves and their nonlinear interactions in ultra-magnetized plasmas |
| Rindell, Tom Oskar | Approximate State Preparation for Noisy Quantum Computers |
| Vartiainen, Matias | Existence of the second acceptor level of the phosphorus E-center in Si-Ge alloys |
| Huhtasalo, Joonatan Jere Antero | Adaptive basis set method for ab initio electronic structure calculations |
| Mäkynen, Antti Jaakko | Enhanced interpretation of reverse micelle X-ray scattering through molecular dynamics simulations |
| Satola, Saku Viljami | PPT entanglement and entanglement harvesting with three qubits |
| Nguyen, Dinh Trung | Kinetics of hydrogen-enhanced decohesion at the Σ5 symmetric tilt boundary in α-Fe |
| Haapala, Jani Allan Antero | Baryon Acoustic Oscillations |
| Palmu, Miro Matias | Relativistic Beam Instabilities with GPU-Accelerated Particle-in-Cell Method |
| Öhrnberg, Ronja Riina Karoliina | Search for doubly charged Higgs boson in hadronic tau lepton final state |
| Mukkula, Olli Antero | Optimizing coherence and anharmonicity of superconducting qubit |
| Lempiäinen, Hanna Hirut Adamu | Vector dark matter as an SU(2) extension of the Standard Model |
| Poltto, Lotta Amanda | Singlet Fermion Dark Matter |
| Tuokkola, Mikko Juhani | Suppression of leakage errors during single-qubit gates by destructive interference in multimode driving |
| Ruosteoja, Tomi Valtteri | Soft gluon self-energy at NLO in cold quark matter |
| Nummi, Vilhelmiina Sanni Aurora | QCD outcomes in e-e+ -collision in collinear factorization |
| Borg, Mikko Erik | Information theoretical analysis of ULF Pc5 waves and electron fluxes at the Earth’s radiation belts |
| Edwards, Ethan Wesley | Velocity Profile Relaxation Times in Phase Transitions |
| Prasad, Ayush | Supervised dimensionality reduction for molecular data |
| Haavisto, Konsta Mikael | Chern–Weil theory of characteristic classes of complex vector bundles |
| Zheng, Ruoxin | Deep Learning-Based Damage Detection in Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer |
| Nilsson, Rasmus Väinö Erik | An investigation of hydration layer structures on K-feldspar surfaces using atomistic simulations |
| Haarti, Aaron Benjamin | Pure SU(N) gauge theory with a twist: measuring interface tension in SU(4) |
| Simsive, Luka | Proton Transfer through the E Channel of Respiratory Complex | Probed by Hybrid QM/MM MD Simulations |
| Nikzad, Daniele | Sampling Directed Acyclic Graphs Using Dynamic Parallel Tempering Schemes |
| Karhu, Otto Akseli | Bubble nucleation in finite-density gauge theory using the AdS/CFT correspondence |
| Ripatti, Julia Emilia | Warm-start techniques for solving portfolio optimization in finance with VQE |
| Stepanoff, Teemu Oskari | Comparative study of Variational Quantum Eigensolver for small molecules |
| Zverev, Alexei | First principles parametrization of electron-phonon interaction in swift heavy ion irradiation |
| Nyman, Aino Ilona | The activation mechanism of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 |
| Sharma, Urvi | Addressing Barren Plateaus in QAOA using layer-wise and adaptive optimization |
| Painilainen, Eetu Sakari | Quantum Monte Carlo Study of Positron-Molecule Binding |
As a Master’s degree student, you can select studies both from your own faculty and from the other faculties at the university. Thanks to the contracts for cross-institutional studies, you can also take certain courses at other universities in Finland, so it will be easy to tailor your degree to your own interests and career goals.
The Master’s Programme in Theoretical and Computational Methods has a special educational collaboration with
You can also participate in research projects in your field while you are studying. Writing your Master’s thesis in cooperation with a corporation or research organisation is also a good way to improve your working-life skills or get first-hand experience of working in an international research project. The programme has close collaboration with the
The programme maintains contacts with its alumni within the corporate sector. You can develop your own business concepts at the university’s entrepreneurship courses and at
Student life and especially the student organisation culture is exceptionally rich and diverse in Finland.
At the University of Helsinki, more than 250 student organisations operate within the Student Union of the University of Helsinki (HYY), ranging from faculty and subject organisations to political and societal organisations, and from choirs and orchestras to sports and game clubs. Their activities include anniversary celebrations, academic dinner parties, cultural events, get-togethers and excursions.
Students in Finland are also entitled to many benefits and services. For example, affordable student housing, low-cost sports services and student-priced meals. You also get numerous discounts, for example, on public transport fees across the country.
As a student in this Master's Programme, you will spend most of your time at the Kumpula Campus, one of the four campuses at the University of Helsinki, and the home of the Faculty of Science.
Kumpula Campus, dedicated to research and teaching in the exact natural sciences, comprises one of the largest clusters of scientific competence in the Nordic countries. The broad nature of the disciplines and vibrant international connections offer an inspirational atmosphere, a solid basis for interdisciplinary collaboration and an active and creative scientific community of researchers and students.