ACIT5900 Master's Thesis Course description

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

In addition to the research and thesis work, there will be a series of workshops on the academic writing and effective communication of the thesis project. Students will develop an awareness of the conventions of academic writing and the writing process and use a range of analytical tools and methods to develop their writing and writing practices as part of writing their thesis.

This course covers contemporary topics in smart energy systems such as smart power grid, smart buildings, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and communication technologies for and network security in smart energy systems, including emerging approaches towards energy intelligence such as machine learning and blockchain.

The course will be offered once a year, provided 5 or more students sign up for the course. If less than 5 students sign up for a course, the course will be cancelled for that year

Knowledge

Upon successful completion of the course, the student should:

• have specialized knowledge on the specific areas of a master thesis
• understand scientific writing as a process of both constructing and communicating meaning.
• be able to explain the main stages of the writing process
• understand the role and methods of peer learning and peer review, particularly the "summarize, evaluate, suggest" structure for commenting
• understand the role of revision in writing

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
• can effectively articulate scientific problems through writing
• can give and receive peer-feedback
• can effectively revise writing 

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
• can apply their research and writing knowledge and skills in other contexts 
• can independently conceptualize, delineate, and execute other academic writing processes that result in effective discipline-appropriate texts.

The 30 ECTs thesis will consist of a condensed 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.

In addition to the project work, there will be a series of workshops during which students will be provided with a range of analytical tools and methods to help develop their writing skills. Students will also receive formative feedback on draft versions of their texts from the course instructor and their peers, with a focus on the final thesis. 

Knowledge

On successful completion of the course, the student:

• is at the forefront of knowledge about smart energy systems, both at the system level and at the specific component/application level.
• understands what different technologies can be used at what level in energy generation, transmission, distribution and consumption networks.
• knows about communication technologies and their performance limits for enabling energy intelligence in smart energy systems.

Skills

On successful completion of the course, the student can:

• solve resource optimisation problems for the energy information network.
• apply optimisation techniques and machine learning-based approaches for residential demand response management and vehicle-to-grid.

General competence

On successful completion of the course, the student can:

• communicate and collaborate with experts from other disciplines on larger interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research projects.
• Recognise and assess a project's potential and value
• participate in debates and communicate results through recognised international channels, such as academic conferences.
• can construct and develop relevant models and discuss the model's validity.
• Disseminate knowledge to broader audiences

Individuell skriftlig eksamen under tilsyn, 4 timer, eksamensoppgave er knyttet til psykisk helsearbeid

None.

The results for the project assignment, process description, and the code will be assessed by the course leader. The exam can be appealed.

Gradert skala A-F