During the third and last trimester students will complete their Masters' Thesis (30 ECTS). During the second trimester students need to have their thesis proposal approved by the RES Academic Board. The third trimester starts with a short module detailing research methods and practical skills in thesis writing.
The student's Thesis Advisor has the responsibility to assist and guide the student in conducting the thesis research, and try to make sure that the student will satisfactorily complete the proposed thesis project on time.
The student Specialization Coordinator has the responsibility to assist and guide the student on academic standards, rules and regulations regarding the master thesis, and quality issues of conducting research at a graduate level. Coordinator works closely with the Thesis Advisor.
The excepted final thesis (manuscript) needs to be of near publishable quality for a scientific journal. The student's thesis committee, composted of the Specialization Coordinator, the
student's Thesis Advisor, and an External Examiner will all evaluate and come to a consensus on a single grade for each sudent's thesis report and oral presentation. Each student will
present his/her findings with a formal presentation at RES (thesis defense; 30 min PPT presentation and 20 min Q&A session) and possibly also at a foreign partner institution involved
in the project.
Evaluation & Grading of Students' Thesis Reports and Oral Presentations
The following factors will be evaluated and graded:- Does the thesis address in sufficient detail the original project goals/objectives (research questions)? Are the research methods being used justified (methodology)? Is the project focused and
designed to address the research questions?
- Is the theoretical background strong as well as the quality of background discussion? How about the use of available resources and published reference works?
- What is the academic level of project analysis and data gathering (i.e., very high-high-medium-low)? Is the research methodology described in sufficient detail? Does the student discuss the
limitations of his/her chosen research method?
- Are data and other information assessed or analyzed correctly? How relevant are suggested project ideas and thesis discussion; how well is this discussion backed up by the student own
research?
- Are the project conclusions presented in a clear manner? Are the conclusions back up by data provided by the student own research? Are the original research questions being answered? The overall
significance of the project conclusions?
- How is the layout and content structure of the thesis report? Is the report logically build-up? What about the clarity of the presentation? How about use of figures, tables, and appendixes? How about editing and English?
