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SISU credit plan is one part of the doctoral personal study plan (DPSP) including also; 2) research plan; 3) supervision plan; 4) financing plan; and, 5) career plan. The other parts will be done in another system next autumn when that system is ready to be taken into use.

Why do I need SISU Credit Plan? 

SISU credit plan (in the system study plan) enables study planning, registration for courses and is the basis for degree certificate and graduation. You can register for teaching from 9.8.2021 in Sisu. Graduation will be applied for in Sisu as of 25.5.2021. If you are graduating after 25.5.2021 you need to create make SISU credit plan in Sisu first even if your study plan has been confirmed and courses completed earlier. 

The degree certificate is formed on the basis of SISU credit plan, so it is not possible to apply for graduation without Sisu credit plan.

How to create SISU Credit Plan? 

Step 1. Log in to Sisu at sisu.aalto.fi

Step 2. Open Structure of studies at the top of the page 

Step 3. Create a new SISU Credit Plan

Create a new study plan by clicking New study plan button 

and under "My educations" choose your doctoral programme. 

• you can choose from the existing educations you have study right to
• curriculum period: choose the academic year you have started or more recent one
  • notice that your research field may not be available in most current structure
• You can name your plan as you like 

Basis for your plan looks like this. 

I have both licentiate and doctoral study right in Sisu, how to find the correct one for SISU credit plan ?

Step 4. Choose study modules to your degree 

In doctoral programme there are two parts: Degree studies and Extracurricular studies.

Degree studies

Under Degree studies you can find only compulsory study modules. Sisu guides what you need to choose. 

In this example there are three study modules: Studies in Scientific Practices and Principles, Research field studies and Doctoral thesis. 

• The selection assistant shows the made selections (tapped to blue in this case)

Extracurricular studies 

In many cases doctoral students want complete other than degree studies to complement their degree. These studies can be included under Extracurricular studies. These studies need to be in your study plan so you can register for the courses. 

NOTE! Remember to delete these studies from your study plan before submitting the Request for graduation, these studies are not included to the degree certificate. 

Step 5. Choose courses to study modules

In doctoral degree most of the study modules require approval for the module content. In study module there can be compulsory, optional and free choice courses. Sisu guides you to make the choices in the selection assistant window (on the right). 

The research fields are in the degree structure by curriculum period, and since the research fields have varied from academic year to another, it is important to choose the period in which the right to study has begun as the basis for your plan. The degree structure is the same in all curriculum periods, but research fields may vary. 
For example, if your study right has begun in April 2018, you can choose curriculum period 2017-2018 or later one. However your research field may not be available in the more recent degree structure. 

Courses with varying scope

If a course in your HOPS has a varying scope in credits (e.g. 1–10 ECTS credits), you can confirm the scope you have selected on the Completion methods tab of the course info sheet. Please see more detailed instructions. 

When to use study draft

If you are in planning to do course/study outside Aalto or some individual study attainments (book exams, summer schools, conference presentations...) you can include them in to the plan by making a study draft(s). Study drafts can then be conditionally accepted to your SISU credit plan. 

Credit transfer/ custom course credit can be applied when the course/summer school/other learning has been attained. Instructions for credit transfer. 

If you have already studies/course registered, you do not need to make a study draft but to add the completed study/course to your plan. 

Individual study completed

If the individual studies are already completed and registered, you can see them in the register and add them to your plan. At this point do not use study drafts if the course is completed.  

You can add the completed courses as follows: 

• If you can add a set of courses free of your choice to the study module, you will see Add to the plan button in the Selection assistant on the right. You can also use Add to the plan tab on the left side.
  
  

• If you do not find the course(s) under Add to the plan, switch to Free edit mode.

If the structure on the module is pre-set, you can chance it by using the Free edit mode (in the selection assistant, next to the module's name).

This allows you to include any courses you want and request for approval. Also your completed courses (custom credit courses too) can be added this way. 

Study drafts / custom credit courses (formerly Individual study attainments ) and needed information

When making study drafts or applying for custom credit course (individual study attainments), the application should include certain information in order to be approved and later registered.

Step 6. Free edit mode

Free edit mode is a stage where you can suggest changes to your SISU credit plan (e.g. if you have received an exemption ). Changes always require approval.

If you wish to use Free edit mode, first open a study module by clicking on it in the selection assistant. In addition to the study modules, you will find the Free edit mode at every hierarchy level of the plan. Next, click the three dots in the selection assistant to open the Free edit mode.

Now you can add any courses, study modules or already completed studies or you can delete courses or study modules. In the Free edit mode, you cannot add a course if it is compulsory somewhere else in the structure.

Finally, apply for approval and include your justifying reasons for the changes.

Step 7. Approval for study module

When all the choices are made correctly, the button Approval for module content approval activates if the approval is required. 

You can send the study module for approval. The application requires some grounds for the application. Contents of the study modules should be discussed beforehand with the supervisor. 

After the approval application has been sent, it shows in the plan as "approval requested".

After the study module has been approved, it shows like this 

In the selection assistant (right side window) you can see the approved content by clicking "Show" 

Step 8. If you need to change the module content after approval

Sometimes the plans change. If you change the content of approved module, Sisu gives you notifications of "Selections against the rules" and "differs from the content of the approved application". It also notifies what is the content that does not correspond to approved content (marked yellow in the example). 

If the changes are necessary, first give up the approval of the study module before you can request approval again.

All applications are saved, so you can check previous ones later if needed. 

Step 9. Choose Doctoral thesis / licentiate thesis

Choose thesis according to your research field. Usually the thesis and research field codes are formed on same basis, in this case ELEC002Z refers to acoustics also in thesis. 

Extracurricular studies (NOT included in the degree)

Sometimes there are courses recommended to doctoral students to complete that are considered as extracurricular studies. In order to register for these courses they need to be in your SISU credit plan.

Since the doctoral degree does not contain any free choice studies, there will be a study module "Extracurricular studies/tutkintoon kuulumattomat opinnot" in the degree structure. 

1. Choose the module as part of your plan. 
2. Add course(s) to your plan (here added Basic Japanese)
3. Before graduation request remember to delete this module of your plan! 

This study module does not need approval nor is it evaluated. Completed courses will show on your study transcript but not in your degree certificate nor in its attachments. 

What if I already have licentiate degree and need only doctoral thesis to complete the doctoral degree? 

How to update Sisu credit plan if it is invalid?

Sisu is a developing system and some adjusting is done to degree structures from time to time. Unfortunately this might some times "break" plans made earlier and make them invalid. Sisu gives notifications when your plan does not match the current structure due changes or choices made in the plan (see the notifications below).

How to update the plan? 

When Extracurricular studies study module was added to the structure on 26.3.2021, plans created before that are in invalid state "Selections against the rules". 

Start by creating a new plan (do not copy!)  and choose first the degree studies.  

Choose then study modules. In this example the research field content in acoustics and signal processing had already been approved so choosing the same courses changes the status to valid again. You can find the approved content by clicking open the Show.

Study drafts cannot unfortunately be found again but you need to create them again and send for approval. 

In this plan the other modules were already completed so they show up by choosing them in selection assistant.