SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

                             Washington, D.C. 20549
                   -------------------------------------------

                                    FORM 8-K

                                 CURRENT REPORT


                       Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
                       the Securities Exchange Act of 1934




                                 Date of Report

                       (Date of earliest event reported):


                                February 27, 2003

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                           THERMO ELECTRON CORPORATION
             (Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)



                                                                                          
Delaware                                              1-8002                                    04-2209186
(State or other jurisdiction of                     (Commission File Number)                  (I.R.S. Employer Identification
incorporation or organization)                                                                                        Number)


                         81 Wyman Street, P.O. Box 9046
                        Waltham, Massachusetts 02454-9046
               (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

                                 (781) 622-1000
                         (Registrant's telephone number
                              including area code)





Item 8.  Change in Fiscal Year

     On February 27, 2003,  the Board of  Directors of the  Registrant  voted to
change the  Registrant's  fiscal year from the Saturday  nearest  December 31 to
December 31 effective  for the 2003  fiscal year and  beyond.  By adopting  this
change, the Registrant's fiscal year 2003 will commence on December 29, 2002 and
end on December  31, 2003  instead of January 3, 2004.  The  Registrant  did not
change its fiscal quarter ends and will continue to use the Saturday nearest the
end of the quarter for  determining its quarter end for the first three quarters
of a fiscal year. As such, its next periodic report will be its Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q for the period December 29, 2002 through March 29, 2003.


                                       2



                                    SIGNATURE

     Pursuant to the  requirements  of the Securities  Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant  has duly  caused  this  report  to be  signed  on its  behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized, on this 7th day of March 2003.



                                        THERMO ELECTRON CORPORATION



                                        By:     /s/Kenneth J. Apicerno
                                                ----------------------------
                                                Kenneth J. Apicerno
                                                Treasurer