22 ECTS credits
660 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 4024189FNR for all students in the 1st and 2nd semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.
The data generated during the Research Internship (see course Research Internship/Journal & data club, 010903), the statistical processing of the data, the relevance of the obtained data with regard to the state of the art and the overall conclusions of the performed work are written down in a thesis/dissertation. This thesis must be written in English and should be in the form of a scientific article, including an abstract, introduction with objectives, material and methods, results, discussion and references. Detailed guidelines on how to write the Master Thesis are available on Canvas.
Students must submit an Internship Plan signed by the promoter for approval to the Educational Council Biomedical Sciences before 1 September for students who passed the first exam period and before 1 October for students who passed in the second exam period. This Internship Plan contains the original scientific research question and workplan, thereby formally establishing the subject/topic of the Master Thesis. A change in either the topic of the Master Thesis and/or the host lab or promotor must be reported to the chairperson of the Educational Council Biomedical Sciences before 1 November at the latest.
To prepare for the public defense, students will also need to give a prepresentation, summarizing the rationale and positioning of their work with regard to the state of the art, the research objectives, the obtained results and the overall conclusion(s) so far, during the Biomedical Research Week (end of March/beginning of April). The prepresentations are mandatory for all students, except for those students that are doing their Research Internship abroad. Absence is only justified with a doctor's certificate. In the event of a non-legitimate absence, the student will be excluded from the exam.
All practical information about the Research Internship & Master Thesis is given during an info session before the start of the Master Program. The presentation used during this info session and all related documents are available on Canvas.
The Master Thesis is an important part of the final assessment of the student in the Biomedical Sciences Program and should be regarded as a "graduation work". This course contributes to the following Program-specific learning outcomes:
The Master in Biomedical Research has in-depth knowledge and insight into:
The Master in Biomedical Research can:
The Master in Biomedical Research has:
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Master Thesis determines 100% of the final mark.
Within the Master Thesis category, the following assignments need to be completed:
The deadlines for submission of the Master Thesis will be communicated on Canvas at the beginning of the academic year.
To submit the Master Thesis successfully, the following actions should be completed in due time:
Students who do not submit the required Master Thesis documents on due time (being it either the hardcopies or the pdf-version) are automatically referred to the next exam period.
The Master Thesis is assessed as follows:
Master Thesis text/manuscript: 40% of the final mark
The evaluation of the written text is done by the 2 independent readers (the commissioners) and a panel of 2 jury members (consisting of 2 ZAP members). Readers will be scoring on the following aspects/criteria: 1) layout, referencing and language, 2) processing of the obtained results (including tables, graphs, statistics) and 3) discussion and conclusion. The 2 independent readers will be appointed by the internship coordinator based on expertise and indicated preference no later than the last business day before March 25.
Presentation and defense: 60% of the final mark
The student will defend the Master Thesis publicly in the presence of the 2 independent readers, the panel of 2 jury members and the promotor (or representative). To this end, the candidate will hold a 10-minute live, on-campus oral presentation in English, summarizing the rationale and positioning of the work with regard to the state of the art, the research objectives, the obtained results and the overall conclusion(s). The presentation will be followed by a 20-minutes scientific discussion with questioning by the readers, the jury panel and, if time allows, also the audience in English. In the exceptional circumstances concerning confidentiality and/or intellectual property issues, the promotor is entitled to request an oral presentation and defense behind closed doors.
The final score of the Master Thesis is determined as the sum of the scores given per category (taking into account the above weighting percentage) by the promotor, 2 independent readers and 2 jury members, and reduced to 20. The jury panel and promotor reserves the right to upgrade or downgrade this final score based on the overall performance of the candidate. The jury panel, readers and promotor will deliberate on this at the end of each presentation.
Students that obtain a final score of less than 10/20 must submit a new version of the Master Thesis in the next exam period.
ATTENTION: if an exceptional admission has been granted for enrollment in the Master Thesis, it can only be defended if the enrollment conditions have been fully met.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Biomedical Research: Standaard traject