Aalto University

Aalto University is a Finnish public university based mainly on the Otaniemi campus in Espoo, next to Helsinki. It was formed in 2010 by merging the Helsinki University of Technology (1849), the Helsinki School of Economics (1904), and the University of Art and Design Helsinki (1871), bringing engineering, business, and art and design into one institution.

Teaching and research sit in six schools: Arts, Design and Architecture; Business; Chemical Engineering; Electrical Engineering; Engineering; and Science. Graduate work is concentrated in information and communications technology, electrical and mechanical engineering, industrial design, architecture, and technology management. Students use the Design Factory, Aalto Studios, Otaniemi laboratories, and research links with VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland on the same peninsula.

The university enrolls about 20,000 students, many of them in master's and doctoral programs. International students are about 20 percent of enrollment and come from more than 100 countries. Academic and research staff number in the thousands when doctoral researchers are counted. Figures associated with the predecessor schools include Nokia chairman Risto Siilasmaa, Supercell founder Ilkka Paananen, and industrial designer Harri Koskinen.

Graduate study is organized as two-year master's degrees, many taught in English, and doctoral education inside research groups and university doctoral programs. The calendar is two semesters. Doctoral candidates are usually employed on research contracts or grants. Otaniemi is a compact campus of student housing and laboratories, with a metro connection into central Helsinki.

In the Grad School Navigator directory, Aalto University lists 13 graduate programs across 7 subjects: 12 master's programs and 1 doctoral program, with the widest choice in computer science, electrical engineering and architecture. Aalto University holds rank 130 in the GSN Overall University Ranking.