ACIT5900 Master's Thesis Course description

The master's thesis is a specialized individual research project.

To begin the thesis project, the student must have completed the three specialization courses in addition to the alternative specialization course. Both common courses need to be completed. The program council can allow for an alternative course to count as one specialization course and a common course to be interchanged with a similar course in the case of a stay at another institution or a modified study plan.

A student without completed 90 ECTs should not begin the Master's thesis project.

Knowledge

Upon successful completion of the course, the student should:

• have specialized knowledge on the specific areas of a master thesis

Skills

Upon successful completion of the course, the student:

• can clearly define and limit a problem area
• can connect his/her own project to relevant literature
• can plan and carry out limited research or development projects
• can identify types and scopes of results which are required to ensure the claims and conclusions are scientifically valid
• can reflect on the decisions made and their consequences for the project

General competence

Upon successful completion of the course, the student:

• can apply knowledge and skills in new areas and carry out advanced projects
• can carry out comprehensive independent study
• can contribute to the innovation of their field
• can discuss their work in an the context of interdisciplinary engineering and ethics

The 30 ECTs thesis will consist of a compacted research project where focus is on identifying and investigating a problem or challenge in the specialization area and to display good scientific craftsmanship in the pursuit of an answer. Throughout the semester, a thesis is written which will be submitted at the end for assessment.

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

• The student will submit a report of about 10 +/- 5 pages consisting of drafts of the introduction and background chapter, including an assessment of potential ethical issues in their research.

The thesis project consists of four deliveries:

• A written Master thesis (Length 65 pages +/- 15 pages using one of the available document templates)
• Any physical or digital artefact that has been developed by the student as part of the research project
• Individual oral presentation (30 minutes).

The final grade will be based on the thesis, artefact and presentation, with the following weight:

Thesis document with artefact: Thesis 80%, artefact 10% and oral presenation 10%

Thesis document without artefact: Thesis 90% and oral presenation 10%

If the student wishes to submit an artefact, the mode of submission must be approved by the supervisor beforehand and the artefact must be made available in such a way to be inspected by the examiners. In the case of a physical artefact, video and images may be used to document the properties of it, eliminating the need for a physical inspection.

There will be one grade for the thesis and artefact and one for the oral presentation. The oral presentation cannot be appealed. The final grade will be based on the two grades.

All exams must be passed in order to pass the course.

New/postponed exam

In case of failed exam or legal absence, the student may apply for a new or postponed exam. New or postponed exams are offered within a reasonable time span following the regular exam. The student is responsible for applying for a new/postponed exam within the time limits set by OsloMet. The Regulations for new or postponed examinations are available in Regulations relating to studies and examinations at OsloMet.

All aids are permitted.

For the final assessment a grading scale from A to E is used, where A denotes the highest and E the lowest pass grade, and F denotes a fail.

Two external examiners will be used for the assessment.

Professor Pedro Lind