Master's Programme in Circular Economy
Lahti, Finland
MSc
DURATION
2 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
31 Mar 2027*
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2027
TUITION FEES
EUR 13,500 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
* For international applicants: 1 October 2026 – 31 March 2027
** EUR 5,000 early bird discount
Key Summary
About: This Master's programme at LUT University combines business, technology, and social sciences to teach circular economy principles: resource efficiency, product‑service systems, sharing‑economy solutions, product life‑extension, lifecycle assessment, and sustainable business models. You’ll learn to measure environmental and social impacts and apply strategies like replacing goods with services and closing material loops. The programme suits professionals: face-to-face teaching occurs mainly in intensive periods.
Career Outcomes: Graduates enter roles across industry, consultancy, government and NGOs. Typical careers include environmental specialist, sustainability specialist, urban planner, environmental manager, sustainability officer, researcher, and policy or supply‑chain advisor; you're also prepared for further doctoral study.
A common belief is that increasing economic growth produces enough surplus to deal with arising adverse environmental impacts. The system, however, keeps alive only if sufficient resources are available and the economy has a sustainable foundation.
A circular economy aims to keep products, materials, and other resources at their highest utility and value. It is a regenerative system that minimizes waste and emissions by slowing down, closing, and narrowing material and energy loops. The ultimate aim is to decouple economic growth from the consumption of finite natural resources. Ideally, the system in which resources are endlessly circulated into goods and services is waste-free and organized in a socially fair way.
In this Master's program, you will learn how to save resources in different situations by, for example, replacing goods with services, creating sharing economy-based solutions, and extending product life cycles. You will also learn how to measure the environmental and social impacts of different activities. The role of business is central in a circular economy, and you will also learn about the dynamics of sustainable business models.
The program is well suited for people already in the working world because its face-to-face contact instruction mainly consists of intensive periods.
The Master's program in Circular Economy takes two years. It leads to the degree of Master of Science in Technology, M.Sc. (Tech.), which is 120 ECTS credits.
The program includes core, advanced specialization, minor and elective studies as well as a Master's thesis. Read more in the study guide.
Core studies, 35 ECTS credits
Introduce the concept of circular economy in different contexts and provide a good understanding of global sustainability challenges.
Advanced specialization studies, 29 ECTS credits
Deepen students' advanced-level capacity to manage technical and biological materials and other resources in individual sectors and industries according to the principles of the circular economy. Students will also carry out a project aiming to solve a real-life sustainability challenge.
Minor studies, min. 20 ECTS credits
Can be selected from any minor subjects offered by LUT Master's programs. Minor studies in energy technology or industrial engineering and management are recommended.
Elective studies
Recommended studies include e.g. Air Pollution Control (6 ECTS credits), Introduction to Business and Sustainability (3 ECTS credits), Introduction to Sustainable System Transition (3 ECTS), or Sustainable. NoW (3/5 ECTS credits).
Master's thesis, 30 ECTS credits
An advanced research project during the program's fourth semester. The Master's thesis is a part of the advanced specialization studies and requires approximately six months of full-time work.
Improving resource efficiency is an important step toward a circular economy. Courses of this Master's program explain how the principles of a circular economy can be applied in different contexts and situations.
You will learn how circularity can provide added value to companies, how more efficient material cycles can be designed and implemented and how individuals and communities can be included in the development of solutions.
You will acquire:
- Professional skills in the circular economy: you will understand the requirements of a system-level change to minimize environmental impacts
- Competence to apply theories to enable the shift from a linear model to a circular economy
- Knowledge to introduce new operational models into society and to innovate new technical and organizational solutions to sustainability challenges
- A capacity to understand the complex interdependencies between local and global developments
- Skills to utilize multidisciplinary approaches at work.
Early Bird discount / First academic year
When required to pay a tuition fee, you are offered
- an Early Bird Discount of EUR 6 000
for the first academic year if confirming your place and paying the rest of the tuition fee of EUR 7 500 within 21 days from the date of having received your Certificate of Admission.
LUT Scholarship / Second academic year
When required to pay a tuition fee, you are offered
- LUT Scholarship of EUR 6 000
for the second academic year if having completed a minimum of 60 ECTS credits of studies included in the personal study plan during the first academic year.
With LUT Scholarship the tuition fee is EUR 7 500 for the second academic year.
The required ECTS credits will be automatically checked for and they must be included on your Transcript of Records by the end of the first academic year i.e. by 31 July.
The Master's program prepares you to work as a professional in the circular economy in a wide range of jobs focusing primarily on sustainable business and production.
As a graduate, you may find jobs in the industry, consultancy, regulatory agencies, and governmental and non-governmental organizations, where growing interest in sustainability has created new job opportunities.
Graduates from this program are typically employed as environmental specialists in consulting companies, sustainability specialists in product or business development, experts in urban planning, environmental managers or officers in industry or government administration, sustainability or safety specialists in the industry, and researchers in research institutes or universities.
You will also have a firm basis to continue your studies in doctoral programs.