Admission requirements
Not applicable.
Description
A Master's Thesis Research Project is the final stage of the Master’s programme that deals with research and innovation. In the Master's Thesis Research Project, the student is expected to conduct original research that contributes to an area in computer science the student studied during the programme. The project can be conducted either completely at the university, or a part can be done as internship at a company or organisation. When the research project is done at the university, the research is related to the supervisor’s research activities at LIACS and the student is typically embedded in their research group.
The student needs to write 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 defense. A high-quality Master's Thesis can result in a joint publication of the student and their supervisors, including the possible opportunity to present the work at a scientific conference.
The Master's Thesis Research Project is executed under the supervision of a scientific staff member (assistant/associate/full professor) at LIACS. Potential topics are provided within the Master Class, as well as directly by speaking with individual supervisors. A second supervisor providing an opinion independent of the first supervisor is mandatory for the Master’s Thesis Research Project. A Master’s Thesis Research Project can only be done as an internship if the LIACS supervisor(s) approve the topic, which has to be clearly research-focused to qualify for a thesis topic.
Course Objectives
By means of the Master's Thesis Research Project, the student learns to:
make an independent analysis of scientific problems, analysis of relevant specialist literature, formulate verifiable hypotheses, and set up and carry out research and critical reflection on one’s own research and that of others;
contribute to an unsolved problem;
present clearly, verbally as well as in writing, one’s own research results;
communicate with colleagues;
write a scientific thesis;
optionally: present his/her research results as a contribution to a congress or as (part of) a scientific publication.
Timetable
The most recent timetable can be found at the Computer Science (MSc) student website.
You will find the timetables for all courses and degree programmes of Leiden University in the tool MyTimetable (login). Any teaching activities that you have sucessfully registered for in MyStudyMap will automatically be displayed in MyTimeTable. Any timetables that you add manually, will be saved and automatically displayed the next time you sign in.
MyTimetable allows you to integrate your timetable with your calendar apps such as Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and other calendar apps on your smartphone. Any timetable changes will be automatically synced with your calendar. If you wish, you can also receive an email notification of the change. You can turn notifications on in ‘Settings’ (after login).
For more information, watch the video or go the the 'help-page' in MyTimetable. Please note: Joint Degree students Leiden/Delft have to merge their two different timetables into one. This video explains how to do this.
Mode of instruction
Writing a Master’s Thesis;
Giving a Master's Thesis Presentation (including defense);
Mandatory participation in the Master Class.
Overall schedule
The student starts their thesis research project at the start of their third semester. In the third semester, the student finds a thesis topic, a first supervisor, submits a signed thesis project contract to the Master Class coordinator, performs a literature study, and writes a research proposal (together worth 12EC, but not separately graded).
In the fourth 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.
Course load
Hours of Study: 1176
Practical work/Research: 1028
Report writing: 120
Participation Master Class: 28
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 defense (20%). The thesis grade must be a 6 or higher to be able to pass the thesis research project.
Reading list
Not applicable.
Registration
The thesis research project should only be conducted after handing in a signed thesis research project contract to the Master Class coordinator.
Contact
The first thesis supervisor of your choice and the coordinator of the Master Class.
Remarks
Potential topics can be found through the Master Class (which has a course page in Brightspace). The final draft of the thesis needs to be submitted for a plagiarism check via the Brightspace course titled LIACS Bachelor and Master Thesis.