Introduction
The Master program in International Relations and Diplomacy requires the writing of a thesis (20 ECTS points), in addition to the successful completion of the required courses. Theses will be in the area of international relations, international organisation and/or diplomacy.
Students are free in the selection of topic for the thesis, but must do so in consultation with potential thesis supervisors. It is advisable that the student starts thinking about the topic of his/her final Master’s thesis at an early stage. During the course ‘Political Science Methodology’, offered in block 1 of the first year, students are trained in how to develop a research design and how to plan research for a thesis. The several courses offered in this Master program help students focus on a challenging and relevant topic to be explored in theses. In several cases, it may be profitable to link the topic of the thesis with insights gained during the internship, or topics especially relevant to the student’s own career plans. Master’s theses can, for example, deal with questions of international conflict resolution, international organization, diplomacy, European integration, international political economy, governance or negotiation analysis.
The thesis is written under the supervision of two members of the departmental faculty. One of these two faculty members is the primary supervisor. The second faculty member co-decides about the approval of the thesis proposal and about the thesis assessment and grade, and can be consulted during the process of research and writing. The student is free to choose his/her first thesis supervisor out of the list of faculty members who are experts in the field of study and who are available and amenable. The 2nd supervisor is assigned by the educational coordinator Dr. Frits Meijerink.
During the first semester of the second year of studies, the student is expected to start work on the thesis and, by the end of the semester, to submit a thesis proposal to the primary supervisor. This proposal must include a problem statement, theoretical foundation, conceptualization and, if applicable, operationalization of key variables, and the methodology and techniques for data collection and analysis. Students get an opportunity to work on, develop and present their thesis proposals during the ‘Thesis laboratory’ course offered in the second half of the first semester (second year of studies), in order to obtain further relevant input and feedback for their research. The thesis work should be completed in the fourth block of the second year of the MA program. In general, the thesis should be no shorter than 40 pages (ca. 16.000 words) and no longer than 60 pages (ca. 24.000 words), including tables and footnotes.
Generally, the MA thesis needs to comply with high standards of academic research and writing. In various courses offered in this program, the student will learn how to write academic papers and how to conduct research in topics relevant to international relations, international organization and political science more generally. Among the criteria used to evaluate the thesis are its originality, consistency, academic (and if applicable, societal) relevance, the choice of an adequate theoretical framework, the correct application of analytical methods, the quality of data collection, and presentation of the text. It is important that the thesis is consistent, clear and original in the sense of constituting a contribution to ongoing research.
Procedure
Each thesis is supervised by two faculty members of the Department of Political Science at Leiden University. One of the supervisors may be a faculty member of Clingendael teaching in this program. First, the student draws up a thesis proposal that needs to be approved by both supervisors before actual work on the thesis can begin. Regular supervision is in the hands of the first supervisor. The second supervisor approves the proposal, together with the first supervisor, in the beginning of the supervision process and co-evaluates it with the first supervisor once the thesis is completed.
Actual supervision starts with the first supervisor discussing the thesis proposal with the student in depth, possibly leading to improvements. Generally, several rounds of discussion and revision are needed until the proposal can be accepted. During the first meeting in which the proposal is discussed, the student is reminded of the Department’s quality criteria regarding Master’s theses as contained in the thesis evaluation form.
Once the first supervisor accepts the thesis proposal, it is submitted to the second supervisor. If the second supervisor considers the outline still to be inadequate, he or she communicates to the first supervisor which improvements are needed. The first supervisor discusses the requested improvements with the student. Once both supervisors agree with the outline, a meeting is scheduled with the student in which the first supervisor, and if possible also the second supervisor, participate. A copy of the thesis proposal, signed by both supervisors, is submitted to the Political Science secretariat by the first supervisor in order to place it into the student’s dossier of academic records.
The student and the first supervisor agree on a schedule and the ways in which supervision is to take place. Supervision may vary from frequent meetings, e.g. on a weekly basis, to discussion of individual chapters, to (in exceptional circumstances) a rare number of meetings only in the beginning and at the end of the thesis process. The second supervisor may be consulted in crucial stages of the research, by the first supervisor or in a discussion in which the student also participates.
The final version of the thesis is submitted to the first supervisor. A number of meetings and subsequent revisions may be needed before the thesis is considered to meet the required standards. Once the first supervisor considers the thesis to meet all basic requirements, it is submitted also to the second supervisor for evaluation. If the second supervisor considers the product to be insufficient, he or she informs the first supervisor and the student about further revisions needed. These suggestions are then discussed with the student by the first supervisor. Once the suggested revisions have been implemented, the first supervisor hands the revised version to the second supervisor. If the second supervisor accepts the product, the thesis evaluation form is filled in by both supervisors and the final grade is assigned.
Subsequently, if the student is still present in the Netherlands, the two supervisors schedule a final discussion or meeting with the student. This meeting results in the completion, and signing, of the ‘thesis grade form’ by both supervisors. Subsequently, the first supervisor hands the completed grade form, together with the thesis evaluation form, to the Political Science secretariat in order to have it added to the student’s dossier of academic records.
Students should take into account that supervisors may take up to three weeks to make an assessment of the final version of the thesis and that supervisors are not available for consultation and assessment through July-August. More information on the graduation procedures can be found on the website of Political Science.
Deadlines
Thesis proposals need to be approved by January 31, 2009.
June 15, 2009 is the deadline for students to hand in the final version of their thesis