F2024

Environmental Biology *

Thesis

English

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Registration through STADS-Selvbetjeningwithin the announced registration period, as you can see on the Studyadministration homepage.

Master Thesis 30 ECTS / 810 hours

• Master Thesis Seminar: 4 hours

• Exam and assessment: 1 hour

• Supervision: 7 / 15 hours (theoretical / experimental)

• Report writing: 200 hours

• Literature search: 150 hours

• Practical project work (laboratory, model design, analysis, field work): 400 hours

• Exam preparation: 40 hours

Per Meyer Jepsen (pmjepsen@ruc.dk)

INM Registration & Exams (inm-exams@ruc.dk)

Per Meyer Jepsen (pmjepsen@ruc.dk)

30

• Knowledge and understanding about the underlying theory and state of the art of the chosen topic at a high scientific and academic level

• Knowledge and understanding about how the thesis research fits into its academic context

• Knowledge and understanding about the academic genre and the academic target group to which the master’s thesis is addressed

• Skills to identify relevant, scientific research questions

• Skills to master scientific theories and methods related to the chosen topic

• Skills to select, adapt, improve and/or design relevant experimental methods and apply such methods in the research process

• Skills to analyze, evaluate and discuss the obtained data in a scientifically sound manner

• Skills to critically view and select scientific sources, literature, theory and methods and include those in the discussion of the results

• Skills to discuss and participate in academic argumentation

• Skills to communicate in writing according to academic norms and for an academic target group

• Competences to independently initiate, manage and complete a long-term academic research and communicate the findings in a proper and professional fashion to other experts and to a broader public

• Competences to take responsibility for own professional development and specialization

The master’s thesis is an interdisciplinary thesis based on the academic/professional intersection between the programme’s two disciplines. The exemplary nature of the master’s thesis ensures that students acquire knowledge, skills and competences that can be used in a broader context than the master’s thesis itself. Students choose the topic of the master’s thesis within the framework of the study regulation and its objectives. The ability to critically assess the quality of their efforts and their own acquired knowledge in relation to a given research question is an important objective of the problem-oriented thesis work. In the thesis report, the student must document knowledge and skills in using scientific theories and methods while working with a well-defined, academic research question. The student must document skills in analyzing, categorizing, discussing, arguing, evaluating and reflecting on a scientific basis as well as being able to choose and relate critically to sources, literature, theory and methods used in the master’s thesis. The master’s thesis must demonstrate proficiency in communicating an academic subject to colleagues and demonstrate competences in initiating, managing and completing a long-term academic study.

Master's thesis

The master thesis can be written individually or in a group. Permitted group size: 2-4 students.

The student(s) can choose whether the assessment should be based on solely the written product or on both the written product and the oral exam.

The character limits of the master thesis are:
for 1 student: 48,000-192,000 characters, including spaces.
For 2 students: 48,000-192,000 characters, including spaces.
For 3 students: 48,000-214,200 characters, including spaces.
For 4 students: 48,000-211,200 characters, including spaces.

The character limits include the cover, table of contents, summary, bibliography, figures and other illustrations, but exclude any appendices.

The master thesis must include a summary. The summary can either be written in English or Danish.
The summary is included in the overall assessment with a weighting of 5 percent.

Before submitting a master thesis written by a group, that have chosen an assessment solely based on the written product, each member of the group must clearly indicate which part(s) of the thesis they are responsible for.
All group members are responsible for the introduction, conclusion and summary.

The oral exam is individual for students that have written the thesis alone, or students that have requested an individual exam. All other oral master thesis exams are conducted as group exams.

The oral exam, if relevant, will be based on the master thesis. The students begin the exam with a presentation (10 min per student), followed by a dialogue between the student, examiner and external examiner.
There may be posed questions related to the subject area(s) that the master thesis covers.

Time allowed for exam including time used for assessment for:
1 student: 30 minutes.
2 students: 60 minutes.
3 students: 75 minutes.
4 students: 90 minutes.

There will be an individual assessment of each student’s performance.
The assessment is an overall assessment of the master thesis and, where relevant, the oral performance.

Writing and spelling skills in the thesis are part of the assessment and will count for 10 percent.

Permitted support and preparation materials at the oral exam: Outline on maximum one A4 size-page and presentation material.

Assessment: 7-point grading scale.
Moderation: External examiner.

Samme som ordinær eksamen / same form as ordinary exam