Admission requirements
Students should enrol and participate in the Master Class prior to starting the Master’s Thesis Research Project. The Master’s Thesis Research Project starts after submitting the completed Thesis Project Contract to the Master Class coordinators.
Description
The Master's Thesis Research Project is an important part of the Master’s programme in Computer Science, and constitutes the final stage of the programme. In the Master's thesis project, the student is expected to conduct original research that contributes to a research field in computer science that the student studied during the programme. All aspects of scientific research, from reading relevant literature and formulating a research question up to reporting on and presenting the results will be addressed.
As part of the research project, the student writes a scientific report, the Master’s thesis, and gives an oral presentation explaining the results of the research project, which is followed by a discussion known as the defence.
Where
The project can be conducted completely at the university, or a part can be done as an internship at a company or organisation. Either way, the research is typically related to the LIACS supervisor’s research activities and the student is typically embedded in their research group. If you consider doing an internship, please consult the rules and guidelines provided on Brightspace -> Master Computer Science -> Internships.
Supervision
The Master's thesis project is executed under the supervision of two supervisors. When completed, the thesis must be assessed by at least two examiners. The first examiner is the main supervisor of the student. At least one of the supervisors needs to be a member of the scientific staff (assistant/associate/full professor) of LIACS. The other supervisor can be an external supervisor. An external supervisor should have a PhD degree. An internship can only constitute part of a Master’s thesis project if the LIACS supervisor approves the internship project, which has to be clearly research-focused to qualify for a thesis topic. The Master Class supports students in finding a thesis topic and supervisor.
Timeline
Computer Science and Education students typically do the thesis research project in the second semester. For CS and SCS students this depends on whether they started the programme in September or February: September starters typically do the thesis research project in the second semester, while February starters typically do it in the fourth semester.
Since the thesis research project concerns one semester, make sure to find a thesis topic and supervisors on time, so that the project can fully start once the thesis semester starts. Submit a signed thesis project contract to the Master Class coordinator (via Brightspace) when you start.
In the thesis semester, the student conducts the research, writes the thesis, and gives the thesis presentation. The thesis presentation is the final activity of the thesis research project; the final version of the thesis should be submitted to the supervisors prior to the thesis presentation, so that the presentation and defense always concern the final thesis.
Defending in July, August or January
If a student plans to give their thesis presentation in July, August, or January (i.e., in the last months of each of the respective semesters), they must be able to show sufficient progress prior to these months. Specifically, they must submit 1) a thesis draft and 2) a timeline for the remainder of the project to their supervisors no later than December 13th (defence in January) or June 13th (defence in July or August). The supervisors jointly decide whether the student gets the opportunity to defend in January respectively July or August, within two weeks after receiving these documents. Further, the student discusses plans for defending in these months with their supervisors as early as possible; supervisors may not be always available throughout these months.
Course objectives
At the end of the Master's Thesis Research Project, the student is able to:
Apply knowledge, insights, and skills to work independently as a computer science researcher with a professional and responsible academic attitude;
Identify and reproduce scientific developments and conduct literature research in a selected research field;
Make an independent analysis of a scientific problem in the selected research field, formulate verifiable hypotheses, and critically interpret and reflect on one’s own research and that of others;
Contribute new ideas to and execute methods, algorithms, theory, and/or experiments in the selected research field;
Write a coherent, well-argued, and logically structured scientific report about his/her research, including introduction, problem definition, methodology, data acquisition and analysis (if applicable), interpretation, and discussion;
Report publicly on their research project and findings to other CS Master’s students and LIACS scientific personnel via an oral presentation;
Provide appropriate and to-the-point answers to questions on their research from an audience following an oral presentation.
Timetable
A high-level timeline for the thesis research project is given above, under ‘Description’ .
Mode of instruction
Conducting research supervised by supervisor(s);
Writing a Master’s Thesis;
Giving a Master's Thesis Presentation (including defence);
Mandatory participation in the Master Class.
Course load
Hours of Study: 840
Practical work/Research: 644
Thesis writing: 120
Presentation and defence: 56
Participation Master Class: 20
Assessment method
The final grade is the weighted average of the grades for 1) the Master’s thesis (50%); 2) project execution (30%); and 3) the thesis presentation and defence (20%). The thesis grade must be a 6 or higher to be able to pass the thesis research project. The final grade is established by two examiners, following the guidelines and rules as set by the Board of Examiners (see https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/science/computer-science/organisationfolder/board-of-examiners).
Reading list
Dependent on research field and thesis topic.
Registration
Enrol in the Master Class of the Computer Science Master’s programme.
Contact
The Master Class coordinators and your thesis supervisor(s).
Remarks
The final draft of the thesis needs to be submitted for a plagiarism check via the Brightspace course titled LIACS Bachelor and Master Thesis. More information about this and other practical aspects of the graduation procedure can be found on Brightspace -> Master Computer Science -> Graduation.