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Thesis Preparation Module

Vak
2020-2021

Title course: Thesis Preparation Module

Coordinator(s): Dr. L.M. Kamp and Dr. H. Ward
Other involved teachers: -

Entry requirements

This course is obligatory for students of the MSc Industrial Ecology (joint degree TU Delft and Leiden University).

Short description course

Students will orient themselves on a (thesis) subject; do literature a literature review; will critically review scientific papers in order to discover an academic knowledge gap. On the basis of this, students will write a research proposal; formulate research questions; select a suitable research approach; select research methods; design a plan of action; develop a research flow diagram and make a thesis project planning. During the course the student will read and analyse at least 15 scientific articles, and peer-review all elements/assignments of draft research proposals.

Learning goals:

After completing this course, students are able to:
o write a research proposal, that demonstrates:
o societal relevance
o scientific relevance, based on state of the art literature review
o coherent and consistent scientific argumentation
o program specific research(able)questions and research approach
o a do-able research plan including a conscious and justifiable choice of research methods and an accompanying time schedule
o design research typical for the MSc Industrial Ecology
o do serious and high quality peer reviewing

Education format

Online learning in combination with several workshops. Peer review is an important learning activity in this course. It is obligatory to meet the deadlines: if not, students can be excluded to continue the course.

Assessment forms

All assignments need to be fulfilled. The grade will be based on the final versions of

  • a research proposal - 3500 words (grade)

  • peer assessment of reviews of formative assignments (plus or minus 0.5)

Final grades are expressed by means of a figure between 1 and 10, rounded to the nearest half. The grade 5,5 cannot be granted. Grades between 5,01 and 5,49 are rounded to 5,0 and grades between 5,50 and 5,99 are rounded to 6,0.

Class schedule

There will be five workshops during the course. Most communication and feedback will go via Brightspace and the Great Library.

Literature

Relevant literature will be made available via Brightspace and the Great Library.

Brightspace

This course uses Brightspace. Course documents, the course manual, announcements etc. can be found via Brightspace. To get access to the Brightspace page of this course, you first need to register via uSis.

Registration

This course is only open for students of the MSc Industrial Ecology (joint degree TU Delft and Leiden University). These students can register for the course and exam via uSis.