Master s thesis workshop

Transcription

1 19. April 2016 Master s thesis workshop Oecon and Soc. students 2016 præsen TATION

2 Agenda The supervisor s view Alexander Koch, Professor, The Department of Economics and Business Rules and procedures for the master s thesis Student counsellor Litterature search Lars Lund-Thomsen, Research Librarian, AU Library 2

3 Rules and procedures Rules for the thesis contract and formalities Supervisor Postponement and leave of absence Submission Grading Failed thesis Cheating and plagiarism Cooperation with a company Group thesis Work spaces 3

4 Important! The following rules only apply for students that have been enrolled in the master degree programme before 1st of September All rules can be found at the study portal Keep yourself updated regarding changes to the rules!! 4

5 Rules for the thesis contract Registration: You will be registered for the thesis if you have been registered for all your remaining exams, even if you have not passed all your exams. This also applies if you have been registered as absent for those exams. Exemption: If you have failed courses and wish to have passed all your courses before starting writing your master s thesis you have to apply for exemption via mit.au.dk 5

6 Timeline 15 November/15 May: Automatic registration for the master's thesis 1 December/1 June: Deadline for submission of master's thesis contract including suggestion for supervisor Start December/start June: Allocation of supervisors 15 January/15 August: Deadline for submission of problem statement to supervisor 1 February/1 September: Approval of master's thesis contract and start of thesis writing period. 14 August/14 March: Deadline for submission of master's thesis 6

7 Rules for the thesis contract Registering before having attempted all 90 ECTS points: If you want to start writing your thesis before you are automatically registered you have to fill out an exemption form. Registering at other dates than 1 st of September and 1 st of February As a general rule you cannot do so BUT you can apply for an exemption 7

8 Formalities Maximum 100 standard pages (typically pages) A standard page 2400 keystrokes incl. spaces The following parts of the thesis are NOT parts of a standard page: Title page Table of contents Illustrations and graphs Bibliography/References Appendix The title page should state: Title (in Danish and English) Degree programme (cand. oecon or cand. soc.) Name of author Student registration number Name of supervisor Deadline for handing in Specification of whether the thesis is to be publicly available Always align with your supervisor! 8

9 Formalities The following parts of the thesis DO count towards the maximum 100 pages: Equations Tables Table notes Figures Figure notes You do not have to count the keystrokes of these items, but instead count the actual number of pages with equations, tables, table notes, figures and figure notes. The actual number of pages taken up by these items in total is denoted Y. The remaining available keystrokes amount to (100-Y)*2400 keystrokes including spaces 9

10 Suggestion for supervisor All members of faculty at the Department of Economics and Business Economics (ECON) and the Department of Management (MGMT) PhD s can also act as supervisors, if they have a master s degree. You can also apply for an external supervisor, but only in areas not covered by faculty members To apply for an external supervisor, fill out an exemption application at mit.au.dk 10

11 Change of supervisor You can apply for a new supervisor by sending in an application for exemption Requires that a new thesis contract is approved by the new supervisor No new deadline 11

12 Postponement and leave of absence Postponement You can apply for postponement of the deadline, if special circumstances have occurred under the thesis period For example severe illness; your own or in the close family Leave of absence Apply via the self-service facility the deadline is postponed with the length of the leave of absence by min. 2 months No supervision during the leave of absence Cannot submit the thesis in the semester you have leave of absence! For example leave of absence from 1. Jan 1. Mar => first hand in date = 1. September 12

13 Submission Electronic copy of the thesis (pdf file): One copy to - Please state the title of your study programme in the mail subject field. Wiseflow (pdf file) Upload one pdf file with thesis and appendix After submission it is not possible to withdraw your thesis 13

14 Exceeding submission deadline You have used an exam attempt and will automatically be registered for 2 nd attempt You have to submit a revised problem statement within 2 weeks of the original deadline date. New deadline 3 month and 2 weeks from original deadline. Problem statement has to be within same area and discussed with supervisor In total you have three exam attempts to pass the master s thesis Same procedure for 3 rd as 2 nd attempt. 14

15 Grading The qualification description is in the course catalogue! The grading must be announced no later than 2 months after the thesis is handed in July does not count Before the grade is given, there is a public defense in which an external examiner participates Presentation of the main areas and results 15 min. to presentation and 40 min. to the examiners questions Counts in the total grading 15

16 Failed thesis Your supervisor will invite you to a talk, where the reasons for the grade are explained A new plan for the thesis is drawn up in cooperation with the supervisor No later than 14 days after the grade is announced a new contract must be made New deadline is 3 months and 14 days after receiving the not passed grade 16

17 Cheating and plagiarism Do not cheat! If you are in doubt read: Remember: Self plagiarism is just as bad as plagiarism. 17

18 Cooperation with a company It is also possible to write the thesis in cooperation with a company or organisation The procedure is the same as an ordinary thesis procedure AU offers a template for a confidentiality contract -> can be found at the study portal 18

19 Group thesis By recommendation from a faculty member, you can apply for writing a thesis in a group Fill out an exemption form at mit.au.dk Conditions The thesis form and extent should correspond to a group paper You must have handed in at least one individual written assignment (project course/ topic (P) / 10 ECTS (P)) on your master s programme The defence will take place individually 19

20 Work spaces Application for master thesis work spaces takes place twice a year: End of July End of December Find application form on Blackboard. Sign up for the group BSS_ECON_Thesis Work Space (Specialelæseplads) Send the application form to Thomas Stephansen tstephansen@econ.au.dk, building 2632, room

21 Questions 21

22 Concluding Enjoy the rest of your time as students Good luck!! 22