Master’s thesis
The goal of the Master’s thesis is to produce an academic thesis of the student’s own original work and may not exceed 26 EC or 100 working days of full time study. The topic may be on a different topic and location than the internship, but this is not obligatory. Because the topic of the Master’s thesis must be of an academic level, the thesis should be potentially publishable, meaning that, possibly with additional work, the thesis could be submitted to a scientific journal.
A student may start the Master’s thesis when the following conditions are met:
the student must have scored at least 70 EC of obligatory courses
the Master thesis internship agreement form should be completed and signed by the scientific coordinator, first supervisor and a second supervisor.
During the Master’s thesis the student must produce a midway report in week 10 of the Master’s thesis. This report should be sent to the scientific coordinator, first supervisor and second supervisor. The coordinator and second supervisor may invite the student for more detailed information if deemed necessary.
Before the end of the 20th week or the 100th workday of the Master’s thesis the student should hand in the final version of the thesis with the scientific coordinator. The first and second supervisor should agree within two weeks if the thesis is acceptable to allow the student to enter the graduation procedure.
The student will be assessed based on the following criteria:
Thesis including the appendices
General working attitude
Presentation of the research group at the location of the Master’s thesis
Final presentation at the Mathematical Institute
The final grade for the thesis will be determined by the graduation committee after the final presentation at the Mathematical Institute. The Master’s thesis must be a representation of the student’s ability to acquire knowledge on any topic covered by the Statistical Science programme and to process this knowledge in a sound manner at academic level.
The Master’s thesis topic and location must be accepted by the scientific coordinator of our program Prof. dr. J. J. Meulman
Issues concerning both the internship and Master’s thesis
During the Master’s thesis and Internship the student should on average have 1 contact hour per week with her of his first supervisor. If the first-supervisor is not available during a period of time, the first supervisor is responsible for finding a temporary well informed replacement. The student should have at least 3 contact hours, during the whole project, with her or his second-supervisor.
The student needs to inform the first supervisor and scientific coordinator about courses or retakes of exams that need to be taken during the time of the internship and these should be indicated on the relevant agreement form.
If there are good reasons for extending the duration of the Master’s thesis beyond the 20 weeks and the Internship beyond the 8 weeks limit, this should be communicated to the scientific coordinator at least three weeks before the end of the internship. The decision for granting a prolonged period of time is with the scientific coordinator.