Admission criteria for Biorefineries

Read more about the programme at Master's programme in Biorefineries.

University

• Bachelor of Science in Technology 
  Tekniikan kandidaatti, kemiantekniikka
• Bachelor of Science in a field other than Technology
   

Applicants who have completed or are completing a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering (kemiantekniikan diplomi-insinööri) before starting LUT studies are not eligible to apply.

Applying with a Master's degree in a field other than Chemical Engineering is only accepted if it was completed before the two-tier degree, when no separate Bachelor's degrees were awarded.

University of Applied Sciences

• Bachelor of Engineering 
  Insinööri (AMK)
• Bachelor's Degree in a field other than Engineering  
   

Applicants having completed a Master's Degree (YAMK) are eligible to apply but only with the Bachelor's Degree (AMK). However, if you have completed or are completing a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering in a university (kemiantekniikan diplomi-insinööri) before starting LUT studies, you are not eligible to apply.

Applicants with a Master's Degree (YAMK) whose prior degree was completed on a secondary or higher secondary level are not eligible to apply.

University (all countries)

• Bachelor of Science in Technology or closely related to Technology 

Applicants having completed a Master's Degree are eligible to apply but only with the Bachelor's Degree. If you have completed or are completing a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering in a university in Finland (kemiantekniikan diplomi-insinööri) before starting LUT studies, you are not eligible to apply.

You can only apply with a Master's degree if you have a higher university degree that does not include a lower university degree (no separate Bachelor's degree awarded). 

Applying with a combination of a 2-year Bachelor's + 2-year Master's Degree completed in certain countries is accepted when the combination of these two degrees is equivalent only to a Finnish Bachelor's Degree. 

University of Applied Sciences (EU/EEA countries and Switzerland) 

• Bachelor of Engineering   

Applicants having completed a Master's Degree at a university of applied sciences are eligible to apply but only when applying with the Bachelor's Degree. However, if you have completed or are completing a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering in a university in Finland (kemiantekniikan diplomi-insinööri) before starting LUT studies, you are not eligible to apply.

Applicants with a Master's Degree whose prior degree was completed on a secondary or higher secondary level are not eligible to apply. 

Requirements for the Bachelor's Degree

• The degree must be equivalent to a corresponding Finnish Bachelor's Degree by the number of academic years and ECTS credits.
• The degree must provide eligibility to apply to university level Master's studies in the country where the degree was awarded in.

Requirements for the degree-awarding university

• The university must be recognized by the national education system of the country in question.
• The university must be listed on the World Higher Education Database WHED by International Association of Universities.

To be eligible to apply, you must have completed following studies by the application deadline

• a minimum of 24 ECTS credits of previous studies supportive to Biorefineries; Chemistry, Development of Chemical Processes or Processing of Biomass
  • These studies are typically taken as part of a degree in Chemistry, Technical Chemistry, Wood Processing Technology, Environmental Technology, or closely related.

If you have not listed the required studies on your application form as requested, your application is incomplete and will not be forwarded for academic evaluation.

These studies must be completed in one or two of the following groups of universities:

• a University, all countries
• a University of Applied Sciences, EU/EEA countries and Switzerland

The programme Admissions Committee reserves the right to decide whether the studies completed qualify the applicant to apply to the programme.

Requirements for the programme-related studies 

The arithmetic GPA will be first checked and verified by LUT University. In case the original grading scale not being on a scale of 1.00 - 5.00, the arithmetic GPA will be converted by LUT University on this scale during the evaluation process. Finally, the arithmetic GPA with two decimals will be evaluated.

The grading scale must include at least two different grades for passing that together form a clear range of passing grades so that an arithmetic GPA can be calculated.

If the completed courses having been evaluated by using verbal or letter-based grades, these grades will be converted on a numerical scale of 1.00-5.00 by using linear conversion.

The arithmetic GPA evaluated in the LUT selection process is

• an arithmetic average of grades for all the individual courses and for the grade for the Final Thesis included in the degree you have to apply with 
  • that have been completed at the time of applying
  • that are listed on an official Transcript of Records

What is excluded from the arithmetic GPA?

• Courses evaluated with 'pass' or 'fail' 
• Courses evaluated with a grade corresponding to a failed grade
• Courses without a related study unit such as ECTS credit, credit, credit hour etc. 
• Combined modules including only a single grade for all the courses included in the module unless the individual courses having been evaluated separately
• Courses not included in the degree you have to apply with
• Courses not included in the degree you have to apply with that have been credited or compensated unless the degree-awarding university having evaluated them on a numerical, verbal or on a letter-based grading scale

You must prove your proficiency in English with one of the following:

• one of the accepted language tests
• a higher education degree completed in English from an EU/EEA country or from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, or the United States of America
• a higher education degree completed in Finnish or in Swedish in Finland

More information: How to prove your proficiency in English

Before starting your application process, have a look at the basics on applying at

• Applying to Master's Programmes through Regular Admission
  
  >> Application process

where all the important information regarding to applying in general is given.

Filling in your application form

In your application form, you must indicate the cumulative number of original study units completed for your Bachelor's degree.

If you are applying with an unfinished Bachelor's degree, you must indicate the cumulative number of original study units that you need to complete in order to graduate. 

If you have completed a combination of degrees that together correspond to a Bachelor's Degree, you must indicate the cumulative number of original study units for all these degrees.

Requirements for the Transcript of Records

The Transcript of Records for your Bachelor's degree must include the cumulative number of original study units (credits, credit hours, etc.).

If the cumulative number of original study units is not indicated, you need to upload to your application form one of the following documents in English:

• an official statement from the university indicating the cumulative number of original study units, or
• an official programme brochure indicating the cumulative number of original study units.

In your application form, you must list the programme-related studies in ECTS credits for each course under the related field of study and indicate the total number of ECTS credits for all the courses listed.

Studies not originally in ECTS credits >> Conversion needed

If the courses are not originally listed in ECTS credits on your Transcript of Records, you are responsible for converting the original study units (credits, credit hours, etc.) into ECTS credits according to the following conversions.

What elements are required for the ECTS conversion?

For the conversion, the transcript must include the following:

• Original study units for each course (credits, credit hours, etc.)
• Original cumulative study units for the degree (credits, credit hours, etc.)

What to do if the required elements are missing?

If one or both of these requirements are missing from your transcript, you need to upload to your application form one of the following documents in English:

• an official statement from the university indicating the cumulative number of original study units, or
• an official programme brochure indicating the cumulative number of original study units.

Conversion factors for ECTS credits

Studies on a Bachelor's level

1. Divide 180 ECTS credits (=cumulative ECTS credits for a LUT Bachelor’s degree) by the cumulative number of original study units (credits, credit hours, etc.) you have completed for the Bachelor’s degree that you are applying with.
2. As a result, you will get a factor to convert your Bachelor's studies.
3. Multiply the original number of study units for the courses listed by this factor.
4. Now you have the result in ECTS credits. Do not round up the result for the converted ECTS credits. If the result is 2.25367 ECTS credits, you must list the course with exactly same number of ECTS credits.

Studies on a Master's level

1. Multiply the original number of study units for the courses listed by 1.5, which is a fixed factor for Master's studies.
2. Now you have the result in ECTS credits. Do not round up the result for the converted ECTS credits. If the result is 2.25 ECTS credits, you must list the course with exactly same number of ECTS credits.

Case examples

Bachelor's studies

The total study units completed for your Bachelor's degree is 160 credit hours and you need to convert a course with 2 credit hours to ECTS credits.

• Divide 180 by 160 credit hours = the conversion factor is 1.125
• Multiply 2 credit hours by 1.125 = 2.25 ECTS credits

Master's studies

You have completed 60 credits of Master's level studies and you need to convert a course with 3 credits to ECTS credits.

• Multiply 3 credits by 1.5 = 4.5 ECTS credits

You have completed 95 credits of Master's level studies and you need to convert a course with 2 credits to ECTS credits.

• Multiply 2 credits by 1.5 = 3 ECTS credits

Bachelor's Degree is a combination of several degrees

Example 1: 2-year Bachelor's degree + 2-year Master's degree = Bachelor's degree (16 years of education).

You have completed 

• a 2-year Bachelor's degree of 90 credits and 
• a 2-year Master's degree of 80 credits. 

Together they correspond to a Bachelor's degree of 170 credits in total. The conversion factor is therefore the same as for the Bachelor's studies.

You need to convert a course with 3 credits to ECTS credits.

1. Divide 180 by 170 credits = the conversion factor is 1.05882353 
2. Multiply 3 credits by 1.05882353 = 3.17647059 ECTS credits

Example 2: National Degree + Higher National Degree + top-up degree = Bachelor's degree

You have completed 

• a 2-year National Degree of 85 credit hours and
• a 1-year top-up for a Higher National Degree of 50 credit hours and
• a 1-year top-up for a Bachelor's degree of 30 credit hours.

Together they correspond to a Bachelor's degree of 165 credit hours in total. The conversion factor is therefore the same as for the Bachelor's studies.

You need to convert a course with 2 credit hours to ECTS credits.

1. Divide 180 by 165 credit hours = the conversion factor is 1.09090909 
2. Multiple 2 credit hours by 1.09090909 = 2.18181818 ECTS credits

What is an unfinished Bachelor's Degree?

• You have not yet graduated = you have not been awarded your Degree Certificate or the Provisional Degree Certificate

Having completed all your studies does not mean that you have graduated unless having been awarded the Degree Certificate or the Provisional Degree Certificate.

If not being able to upload your Degree Certificate or the Provisional Degree Certificate by the supplementary deadline, you must identify your status on the application form as "not yet graduated".

When applying

• Indicate the estimated date of graduation on your application form
  • No official statement from the awarding university is required for the date.
• Upload your latest Transcript of Records to your application form
  • plus the official translation (when required)
  • The Transcript of Records must include the name of the degree to be awarded.
    • If not included, you must upload to your application form an additional statement of the name of the degree from the awarding university.

If admitted

You must be able to

• Graduate by 31 August 2025
• Provide us with the following documents by 31 August 2025 at 15:00 (UTC+3)
  • Scan for your original Degree Certificate
  • Scan for your original Transcript of Records
• Provide us with the following documents by 5 September 2024 at 15:00 (UTC+3)
  • Scans for the official translations in English for both documents (when applicable)
  • Official translations required if the original documents are not in English, Finnish or Swedish.

The documents must be provided according to the instructions given, no matter in which country the degree was awarded.

If you are not able meet both requirements by the given deadlines, your right to study in the programme will be automatically cancelled and you will lose your place without a possibility to claim it back.

The programme Admissions Committee reserves the right to decide whether the degree and studies completed qualify the applicant to apply to the programme. 

The Admissions Committee checks the academic eligibility regarding to the previous programme-related studies. The applicants who meet the requirements and have submitted a completed application will proceed to the academic evaluation.

The final selection of applicants is based on their educational background and work experience. The evaluation will be based on the information provided on the application form and the required application documents.

There is no interview in this programme.

Only a limited number of applicants will be admitted.
 

Academic Success, max. 5 points

Arithmetic GPA for the degree you must apply with is scored as follows:

• 2.50 - 2.99 = 1 point
• 3.00 - 3.99 = 3 points
• 4.00 - 5.00 = 5 points

For further information, please see Arithmetic GPA evaluated in the process under Admission Criteria.

Studies supportive to Biorefineries, max. 8 points 

Previous relevant studies related to Chemistry, Development of Chemical Processes or Processing of Biomass are scored as follows:

• 24 - 39 ECTS credits = 2 points
• 40 - 54 ECTS credits = 4 points
• 55 - 69 ECTS credits = 6 points
• 70 ECTS credits or more = 8 points

Studies in Mathematics and/or Physics, max. 4 points

• 20 - 39 ECTS credits = 2 points
• 40 ECTS credits or more = 4 points

For further information, please see Previous programme-related studies under Admission Criteria.

Work experience relevant to the programme and the field will be considered in the selection process. Employment valid until further notice will be considered until the application deadline. 

Work experience is scored as follows:

• 1 - 3 years = 1 point
• 3 - 5 years = 2 points
• over 5 years = 3 points

Calculating work experience

When calculating work experience, part-time work is considered by a coefficient corresponding to the part-time nature of the work (e.g. 80% part-time work = 0.8 x duration of employment).

For each listed work experience, you must indicate separately whether it is full-time or part-time and indicate the percentage of part-time work as a percentage of full-time work (100%).

In your application form, you must indicate the duration of each work experience and the total duration.

Certificate of Employment

Applicants must include their certificates of employment to the work experience they have listed. The certificates must indicate whether the job was full-time or part-time and the percentage of part-time compared to full-time (100%).

Certificate of employment is an official document from your employer specifying

• the starting date of your employment,
• the date of termination of your employment, or an indication if employment is continuing,
• the nature of your work, e.g. job description, duties, and responsibilities.

It must also include the name and contact details of the employer and be signed or electronically authenticated by the employer.

An employment contract or pay slip is not valid.