Preparation Master Thesis

Summary

This module aids you in designing a novel, rigorous, and feasible research study that is relevant to the EPA MSc program. You demonstrate achievement of the learning outcomes through a research proposal that you develop during this course. We coach you in this endeavor by steering the process, providing educational material, sharing our research experience, facilitating peer learning, and giving you feedback on your work. In principle, the research proposal you develop in this module can serve as the foundation for a kick-off document that you use to officially start the thesis. Whether you do so in practice is, of course, up to you and your thesis committee.

The key deliverable for this module is a research proposal in a standard format. The research proposal should not exceed 4500 words, excluding the abstract, references, and appendices. The research proposal will be graded based on a fixed set of criteria.

To support you in the preparation of this deliverable, a mid-term assessment is included in this module. The deliverable for the mid-term assessment is a working draft of the research proposal. The specific requirements from this deliverable will be made available on BrightSpace. While this deliverable will not be graded, you will receive feedback on it from a member of the coaching team.

As part of this module, you will submit 'and receive' elements of the research proposal for peer review. Your participation in the peer review process (specifically, the sufficiency of your proposal and the quality of your reviews) will be assessed and will also contribute to your overall grade. More information about this process will be made available on BrightSpace.

To test your understanding of the course contents, the module will also include periodic quizzes. These will be available digitally and will not be graded. More information about this process will be made available on BrightSpace.

The final grade for this course is the sum of the grade on the peer review process (15%) and the final proposal (85%). You need a minimum grade of 4.675 (out of 8.5) or above on the final proposal and 5.8 overall in order to pass this course. You will have an opportunity to revise the final proposal and submit a re-take if and only if your grade on the final proposal is less than 4.675 or your overall grade is less than 5.8. After reparation, the maximum grade for the module will be capped at 6.0.