Tallinn University of Technology

School of Information Technologies

Table of Contents

Thesis and graduation

This website provides general information about graduation and the deadlines set out in the university’s academic calendar. Further information can be found on the curriculum webpage.

Read also the Procedure for supervising, reviewing and defending graduation thesis at the School of Information Technologies

AUTUMN SEMESTER 2026/27, deadlines 

  • The deadlines for submitting the thesis task specification and the graduation thesis can be found on the curriculum webpage.
  • September 7, 2026 - deadline for submission of the semester’s individual study plan, including declaration of thesis/ a final exam in the study plan.
  • December 14, 2026 - deadline for submitting the application for defense of graduation thesis (in Study Information System).
  • January 5, 2027 - approval of the applications for defense by the supervisor (in Study Information System).
  • January 24, 2027 - end of the autumn semester.  

SPRING SEMESTER 2026/27, deadlines

Deadlines for submission of thesis task specification:

The exact deadlines, requirements, and instructions for submitting the thesis task specification can be found on the curriculum webpage.

Declaration of thesis in the individual study plan:

  • February 8, 2027 - deadline for submission of the spring semester’s individual study plan.

Deadlines for submission of applications for defense:

  • May 10, 2027 - deadline for submitting the application for defense (in Study Information System).
  • May 21, 2027 - approval of the applications for defense by the supervisor (in Study Information System).

  Thesis defense deadlines:

  • June 3, 2027 - for graduates of joint master´s study programs;
  • June 7, 2027 - for graduates of master´s studies;
  • June 11, 2027 - for graduates of bachelor´s studies,

NB! These are not dates of thesis defenses (although they may concord).

  • June 13, 2027 -  end of the spring semester;
  • June 16 - June 28, 2027 - period of graduation ceremonies;
  • June 29, 2027 - end of the academic year.

Submission of application for establishment of restrictions to the publication of the graduation thesis

  • The application for a restriction on access to the thesis (including closed defense) shall be submitted together with the thesis task specification/project or when the need for such restriction becomes clear.
  • As a rule, the defenses of the thesis at the School of IT take place in public meetings, a closed defense is only permitted in justified exceptional cases.
    • The application should be addressed to the Dean, and submitted to the assistant to the program manager.
    • The application shall be drafted in a free format and shall include the following: an explanation from the institution/company of the need for the restriction (preferably a formal letter), the term of restriction on access and permission to publish a summary of the thesis in the digital collection of the library. An application may consist of several documents.
    • The application must be signed by all parties involved, i.e. the author, the supervisor of the thesis and the representative of the institution/company.

Submission of a thesis Defense application

  • Ensure that the title of the thesis is correctly written in both English and Estonian. In case of changes, contact the Dean's office.
  • When submitting the application for thesis defense, complete the fields for keywords, the CERCS code, and the language of the thesis.
  • The study level is added automatically to the keywords field. In addition, add keywords describing the content of the thesis so that it can later be searched for in the library.
  • Indicate the actual language of the thesis. If a thesis is written in English within an Estonian-language curriculum, select English as the language.

Submission of thesis

  • Information about the deadlines for submission can be found on the curriculum webpage.
  • Persons to whom thesis is to be submitted, shall by determined by program managers. Information can be found on the curriculum webpage.
  • Thesis, which has restrictions in regards of publication, is forwarded directly to the assigned person (i.e. not uploaded to any website).
  • Thesis must be formatted in accordance with the thesis formatting requirements of the School of Information Technologies.

Check the fulfillment of graduation criteria

  • Contact the Dean's office and make sure that all the criteria for graduation are fulfilled (all the courses have been completed and grades received, internship recognized, the curriculum has been completed according to the specialization, bills paid etc.), so that there are no obstacles for defending the thesis.

Thesis defenses

  • Thesis defenses will take place on the dates set by the defense committees. Information about defense dates can be found on the curriculum website.
  • As a rule the defense of the thesis is public, this means that third parties can also participate in defense, and the defense can be broadcast online.

After thesis defense

  • Before the graduation ceremony, give a signature to the register book of diplomas in the Dean´s office.

When choosing a thesis topic, try to identify a field that interests you, explore the topics proposed by the department(s), and consult potential supervisors.

If you decide to choose the thesis topic yourself, you must find a supervisor who works in the selected field. A thesis may have up to two supervisors: a principal supervisor and a co-supervisor. The principal supervisor must be a member of TalTech’s academic staff, including doctoral students. If the supervisor is from outside the School of Information Technologies or outside the university, the supervisor and the thesis topic must be approved by the programme director before you begin writing the thesis.

When choosing a thesis topic, it is recommended that you review theses written by previous students to gain an understanding of their content, structure, and level of complexity. The TalTech Library’s digital repository is a useful resource for this purpose.

Where to start?

Start by outlining the structure of your thesis and then develop each section. Leave the introduction and conclusion until the end. You can change the thesis title up until you submit your application for thesis defense, so there is no need to worry too much about the wording of the title at the outset.

Time Management

It is useful to create a schedule with milestones, for example:

X: thesis submission deadline
X−1 week: buffer time for unexpected circumstances
X−2 weeks: final draft submitted to the supervisor for review
X−1 month: first draft

Remember that you will always be one day short! Plan to complete your thesis at least one day before the actual deadline. Then forget that you have an extra day, because when the day arrives, it will not really be available.

During the writing process, make a list of the problems that need to be solved and note the estimated time required for each one (e.g. write the introduction to Chapter X (2 hours), implement Function Y (1 hour), etc.). This approach helps you get started, monitor whether you are keeping to schedule, and recognize time as a resource.

Reviewing the Material

When you find suitable and interesting material, immediately write a summary in the relevant section of the final document. You can turn it into coherent text later. Such notes can always be rearranged, supplemented, or omitted as needed. At the same time, do not forget to update the reference list. Finding and properly referencing an article later may prove more difficult than it initially seems.

Finding Sources

To search for scholarly articles, use CiteSeer, Google Scholar, and the databases accessible via the TalTech network. If you are outside the TalTech network, you can use the remote access options provided by the TalTech Library. 

Also pay attention to the references at the end of articles, as they often lead to useful materials related to your topic.

Make Regular Backups

Make sure that you keep regular backups of your thesis.

When Writing Stalls

If your task list keeps growing while your writing makes no progress and you start to feel discouraged, you may find some tips useful.

Go and watch another defense before your defense date. Being aware of how the whole process looks like makes you calm and increases your self-confidence.

Course of the academic defense day

First the floor will be taken by the chairman of the defense committee, who will give a brief overview of the upcoming day and introduce the members of the committee. The chairman of the committee will introduce each defense speech separately.

Each student's defense procedure includes the following:

  • Defense speech (presentation) - 10 - 15 minutes in case of master´s thesis (length of the defense speech is set by the department).
  • Questions to the defender - 5-10 minutes
    • Questions of the reviewer (in case of master´s thesis)
    • Questions of the committee
    • Questions from the audience
  • Supervisor´s opinion
  • Closing remarks by the defender (as a rule, gratitude is expressed to the supervisors and everyone, who provided assistance in writing the thesis).

The Defense Committee Deliberates

After the final defense presentation, the committee withdraws to deliberate. The results are generally announced on the same day.

Thesis formatting

The School of Information Technologies has uniform requirements for the formatting of bachelor's and master's theses (approved on 11 August 2025):

School of Information Technologies "Guide to using sources"

Slide templates: