Admission criteria for Circular Economy

Read more about the programme at Master's programme in Circular Economy.

• Bachelor of Science in Technology 
  Tekniikan kandidaatti 
  Completed in a University
• Bachelor's Degree in a field other than Technology  
  Completed in a University  

Note: Degree-related points in the academic evaluation only given for degrees in the field of Technology, Natural Sciences, Business Administration or Social Sciences.

Applicants who have completed or are completing a Master's Degree in Environmental Technology (ympäristötekniikan diplomi-insinööri) before starting the LUT studies are not eligible to apply. 

Applicants who have completed a Master's Degree in a University in a field other than Environmental Technology are eligible to apply but only when applying with the Bachelor's Degree. 

Applying with a Master's Degree in a field other than Environmental Technology completed in a University is accepted only if the Master's Degree having been completed before the two-tier degree system when there were no separate Bachelor's Degrees awarded. 

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

Note: Degree-related points in the academic evaluation only given for degrees in the field of Engineering, Business Administration or Social Sciences.

Applicants who have completed or are completing a Master's Degree in Environmental Technology in a university (ympäristötekniikan diplomi-insinööri) before starting the LUT studies are not eligible to apply. 

Applicants who have completed a Master's Degree in a University of Applied Sciences are eligible to apply but only when applying with the Bachelor's Degree. 

Applicants who have completed a Master's Degree in a University of Applied Sciences with no prior Bachelor's Degree while the prior degree having been completed on a higher secondary or secondary level are not eligible to apply. 
 

Admissions Committee making the final decision on eligibility 

The Admissions Committee for the programme reserves a right to decide whether the degree and the completed studies provide the applicant with eligibility to apply to the programme.

• Bachelor of Science in Technology 
  Completed in a University - All countries
   
• Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences 
  Completed in a University - All countries
   
• Bachelor of Science in Business Administration 
  Completed in a University - All countries
   
• Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences 
  Completed in a University - All countries

Applicants who have completed a Master's Degree in a University are eligible to apply but only when applying with the Bachelor's Degree. 

Applying with a Master's Degree completed in a University is accepted only if the Master's Degree having been completed before the two-tier degree system when there were no separate Bachelor's Degrees awarded. 

Applicants who have completed or are completing a Master's Degree in Environmental Technology in a university in Finland (ympäristötekniikan diplomi-insinööri) before starting the LUT studies are not eligible to apply. 

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. 

• Bachelor of Engineering  
  Completed in a University of Applied Sciences - EU/EEA countries and Switzerland

Applicants who have completed a Master's Degree in a University of Applied Sciences are eligible to apply but only when applying with the Bachelor's Degree. 

Applicants who have completed or are completing a Master's Degree in Environmental Technology in a university in Finland (ympäristötekniikan diplomi-insinööri) before starting the LUT studies are not eligible to apply. 

Applicants who have completed a Master's Degree in a University of Applied Sciences with no Bachelor's Degree while the prior degree to the Master's having been completed on a higher secondary or secondary level are not eligible to apply. 
 

General requirements for the Bachelor's Degree

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

General requirements for the degree-awarding university

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

Admissions Committee making the final decision on eligibility 

The Admissions Committee for the programme reserves a right to decide whether the degree and the completed studies provide the applicant with eligibility to apply to the programme.

There are no previous programme-related courses required for the programme.

In the academic evaluation however, degree-related points are only given for degrees completed in the field of Technology, Natural Sciences, Business Administration or Social Sciences.

Furthermore, higher points for the degree are given if having completed a degree in one of the fields mentioned above with a major related to sustainability or environmental issues.

There is no minimum arithmetic GPA required for the programme.

The arithmetic GPA will be 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 onto this scale with two decimals during the evaluation process and 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.

What is included in the arithmetic GPA?

• Grades for all the individual courses
• Grade for Final Thesis 

for the degree you must be applying with. 

The courses and the Final Thesis must have been completed at the time of applying and they must be 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 degree in higher education completed in English in an EU/EEA country or in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom or the United States of America
• a degree in higher education completed in Finnish or in Swedish in Finland

More information: How to prove your proficiency in English

It is not possible to get another right to study in a Master's programme that is included in the same study programme i.e. in the same main field of study for the programme that the student already has a right to study in at LUT University.

Should this be the case, the study right obtained later will be revoked. 

The restriction also means that it is not possible to change the Master's programme to another one in the same field of study by applying again.

Example

Student already has a study right in the Master's programme in Circular Economy in the field of Environmental Technology at LUT University so s/he is not able to get another study right in another Master's programme in the field of Environmental Technology. 

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.

When filling in your application form

You must indicate the cumulative number of original study units completed for the Bachelor's Degree you are applying with. 

If applying with an unfinished Bachelor's Degree, you must indicate the cumulative number of original study units expected to be completed for being able to graduate. 

If having 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 the related degrees.

Requirements for the Transcript of Records 

The Transcript of Records for the Bachelor's Degree you are applying with must include the cumulative number of original study units (credits, credit hours etc.).

If the cumulative original study units not included on the Transcript of Records, an official statement on them issued in English by the related university must be uploaded. 

You may also upload an official brochure for the programme issued by the university instead of the official statement if the cumulative original study units indicated in the brochure. 

What to do if there are no credits available for the completed courses?

What is an unfinished Bachelor's Degree?

• You have not yet graduated 
  = You have not been awarded a Degree Certificate 
      or a Provisional Degree Certificate

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

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

A Provisional Degree Certificate is a predetermined form of an official document awarded by the university that looks formally similar to the final Degree Certificate, but is provisional because the final document has not yet been awarded at the official graduation ceremony.

A Provisional Degree Certificate is not a statement provided by a staff member of the university confirming that you have completed your studies - such a document will not be accepted as a Provisional Degree Certificate.
 

When applying

• Indicate the estimated date of graduation on the application form
  • No official statement for the date required from the home university
• Upload your latest Transcript of Records on the application form
  • + the official translation when required
• The Transcript of Records must include the title of the degree to be awarded
  • If the title is not indicated on the Transcript of Records, an additional statement issued by the awarding university for the title of the degree must be uploaded to the application form.
     

If admitted

You must be able to

• Graduate by 31 August 2026
• Email the following documents to admission@lut.fi by 31 August 2026 at 15:00 (UTC+3)
  • Scan for your original Degree Certificate or Provisional Degree Certificate
  • Scan for your original Transcript of Records
• Email the following documents to admission@lut.fi by 7 September 2026 at 15:00 (UTC+3)
  • Scans for the official translations in English if the original documents not issued in English, Finnish or Swedish. 

The documents must be provided according to the given instructions despite of the country the degree was awarded in.

If not being able to meet with both the requirements by the given deadlines, you will automatically lose your place without a possibility to reclaim it.

Only complete applications will be forwarded for academic evaluation done by the Admissions Committee for the programme. 

The Admissions Committee first verifies the academic eligibility regarding to the degree you are applying with. If the academjc eligibility is met with, the academic evaluation begins. 

The academic evaluation is done in two different stages while only a limited number of applicants will go forward to the second stage in the order of the points scored on the first stage. 
 

Stage 1: Educational background

The applicant's educational background will be evaluated according to the elements included in the evaluation and based on the application documents. 

Stage 2: Interview

A limited number of applicants will be invited to an interview and the final selection will be completed among the interviewed applicants based on

• Total points for stages 1 and 2

To get admitted, the applicant must score at least 7 points out of 10 for the interview.

Only a limited number of applicants will be admitted.

Previous studies, max. 10 points
 

10 points for the following degrees
with a major related to sustainability or environmental issues
 

• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Technology, Natural Sciences, Business Administration or Social Sciences
  Degree completed in a university - All countries.
• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in the field of Engineering
  Degree completed in a University of Applied Sciences - EU/EEA countries and Switzerland.
• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Business Administration or Social Sciences
  Degrees completed in a Finnish University of Applied Sciences.
  Holders of a Finnish degree diplomi-insinööri, ympäristötekniikka are not eligible to apply.

Even if having completed a Master's Degree, you must apply with your Bachelor's Degree.

If your Master's Degree is the degree with the programme-related major, you must also upload the Degree Certificate and Transcript of Records for the Master's Degree to prove of having such a major for your degree.

6 points for the following degrees
 

• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Technology, Natural Sciences, Business Administration or Social Sciences
  Degree completed in a university - All countries.
• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in the field of Engineering
  Degree completed in a University of Applied Sciences - EU/EEA countries and Switzerland.
• Bachelor's or Master's Degree in Business Administration or Social Sciences
  Degrees completed in a Finnish University of Applied Sciences.
  Holders of a Finnish degree diplomi-insinööri, ympäristötekniikka are not eligible to apply.
   

Even if having completed a Master's Degree, you must apply with your Bachelor's Degree.

Requirements for the programme-related studies
 

Academic Success, max. 5 points

Arithmetic GPA for the degree you must apply with:

• 2.50 - 3.49 = 1 point
• 3.50 - 4.49 = 3 points
• 4.50 - 5.00 = 5 points

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

On the second stage of the admissions process, a limited number of applicants are invited to an interview in the order of the highest total points on stage 1.
 

Elements evaluated in the interview

• Motivation
• Suitability for the programme
• Possibilities for successfully completing your studies in two years
• Language skills in English regarding fluent communication and professional terminology

To possibly get admitted, the applicant must score at least 7 out of 10 points for the interview.