Space Sciences
The Master’s Degree Programme in Space Sciences is a new programme starting in the fall of 2007 at the University of Helsinki. It is organized jointly by the Department of Astronomy and the Department of Physical Sciences. The goal of the programme is to educate students with outstanding skills needed both in post-graduate studies and in many other, often international, careers in space sciences or related fields.
Each student has a personal study plan that can emphasize experimental or observational work, methods for data-analysis, or theoretical science. The study plan includes fundamental courses and a number of special items. These may be selected from an extensive menu, including lecture courses, laboratory exercises, observational work, data-analysis, or computer simulations. The student can also include in his/her personal study plan courses in space technology and remote sensing at the Helsinki University of Technology. While the individual study plans may be different, all students participate in joint seminars, where they report on topics which they have studied themselves. The goal is to complete the Master’s Programme in two academic years.
During the last semester of the programme the student writes a Master’s Thesis. Its topic is closely tied with state-of-the-art research in Astronomy or Space Physics, which may be related with 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 University departments, the Space Research and Remote Sensing Units of the Finnish Meteorological Institute provide supervision and challenging Master’s thesis topics for the students. Often the thesis topic is based on work that the student has started as a summer trainee between the first and second year of the programme.
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Tuition fees
no tuition fees for regular degree students
Start dates
August-Septmeber
Length
Two academic years
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Area of study
Aerospace, Aeronautical & Marine Engineering
Last update
2008-08-01
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Course content
The Master's degree programme in Space Sciences consists of 120 ECTS-compatible credits leading to a Master of Science degree. The target schedule for completing the degree is two years, and the language of the degree programme is English.
The degree consists of three main parts:
Major subject studies (minimum 80 credits)
Minor subject studies (10-38 credits)
Other studies (2-20 credits)
MAJOR SUBJECT STUDIES
The major subject studies cotain a minimum of 80 credits. These consist of compulsory studies and of studies freely choosable from the list of advanced studies in Space Sciences.
Compulsory courses
* Seminar exercises (10 cr)
* Master's Thesis (40 cr)
* Maturity test
* Advanced studies in Space Sciences
* Celestial mechanics (7 cr)
* Solar system physics (4 cr)
* Space astronomy (7 cr)
* Light scattering by small particles I (7 cr)
* Multiple light scattering by small particles (7 cr)
* Inversion methods for astronomy (7 cr)
* High energy astrophysics (7 cr)
* Introduction to plasma physics (5 cr)
* Space applications of plasma physics (5 cr)
* Advanced space physics (10 cr)
* Cosmology I & II (5+5 cr)
* General relativity (10 cr)
* Hydrodynamics (10 cr)
* Planetary geophysics (5 cr)
* Space geodesy (5 cr)
* Satellite positioning (5 cr)
* Instrument and measurement techniques (10 cr)
* Radiation detectors I (5 cr)
* Radiation detectors II (5 cr)
* Physics of semiconductor components (10 cr)
* Laboratory exercises / training (10 cr)
* Radiation protection (3 cr)
* Scientific computing III (10 cr)
* Tools of high-performance computing (5 cr)
Each student has a personal study plan, that can emphasize experimental or observational work, methods for data-analysis, or theoretical science. The study plan includes fundamental courses and a number of special items. These may be selected from an extensive menu, including lecture courses, laboratory exercises, observational work, data-analysis, or computer simulations. The student can also include in his/her personal study plan courses in space technology and remote sensing at the Helsinki University of Technology. While the individual study plans may be different, all students participate in joint seminars, where they report on topics which they have studied themselves.
MINOR SUBJECT STUDIES
The minor subject studies contain studies giving credits between 10 and 38. Depending on the extent of studies in the main subject, a student may choose courses in one or several categories below (all to be approved in the personal study plan):
a) Master's level courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry, meteorology, geophysics, or computer science.
b) Space technology
It is recommended that the study plan contains 10-20 cr from the space technology courses of the Helsinki University of Technology (TKK). Suitable courses are, for example
* Space instrumentation techniques (5 cr)
* Laboratory exercises in space technology (4 cr)
* Satellite communications (3 cr)
* Remote sensing (5 cr)
* Propagation of radio waves (5 cr)
* Modelling and interpretation methods of remote sensing observations (5 cr)
* Optical remote sensing (3 cr)
* Microwave remote sensing (5 cr)
* Radio astronomy (3 cr)
* Practical remote sensing (6 cr)
* Positioning and navigation methods (3 cr)
OTHER SUBJECT STUDIES
The other subject studies include
* Personal study plan (HOPS), 1 cr
* Advanced internship or vocational orientation studies, 1-3 cr
The maximum total extent of other studies, not listed above, is 18 cr. These may include studies in topics close to the subject of the degree, and they will be approved as a part of the study plan (HOPS).
Intake per year
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