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    Iterature Hesis Rotocol

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    Hana Tsukushi
    This document outlines the guidelines for a literature thesis required as part of an MSc program at the University of Amsterdam. It details that the thesis allows students to study literature in depth on a topic of their choice. Students must write a structured summary and critical evaluation in English under the supervision of a faculty member within a 2 month period. The thesis is intended to improve students' skills in writing scientific papers and developing their own perspective through critical analysis of existing literature. The document provides instructions on selecting a topic, forming a supervision committee, submitting required paperwork, thesis structure and formatting, and assessment criteria.

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    Iterature Hesis Rotocol

    Uploaded by

    Hana Tsukushi
    41 views4 pages
    This document outlines the guidelines for a literature thesis required as part of an MSc program at the University of Amsterdam. It details that the thesis allows students to study literature in depth on a topic of their choice. Students must write a structured summary and critical evaluation in English under the supervision of a faculty member within a 2 month period. The thesis is intended to improve students' skills in writing scientific papers and developing their own perspective through critical analysis of existing literature. The document provides instructions on selecting a topic, forming a supervision committee, submitting required paperwork, thesis structure and formatting, and assessment criteria.

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    literature-thesis-protocol

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    This document outlines the guidelines for a literature thesis required as part of an MSc program at the University of Amsterdam. It details that the thesis allows students to study literature in depth on a topic of their choice. Students must write a structured summary and critical evaluation in English under the supervision of a faculty member within a 2 month period. The thesis is intended to improve students' skills in writing scientific papers and developing their own perspective through critical analysis of existing literature. The document provides instructions on selecting a topic, forming a supervision committee, submitting required paperwork, thesis structure and formatting, and assessment criteria.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    41 views4 pages

    Iterature Hesis Rotocol

    Uploaded by

    Hana Tsukushi
    This document outlines the guidelines for a literature thesis required as part of an MSc program at the University of Amsterdam. It details that the thesis allows students to study literature in depth on a topic of their choice. Students must write a structured summary and critical evaluation in English under the supervision of a faculty member within a 2 month period. The thesis is intended to improve students' skills in writing scientific papers and developing their own perspective through critical analysis of existing literature. The document provides instructions on selecting a topic, forming a supervision committee, submitting required paperwork, thesis structure and formatting, and assessment criteria.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4

    LITERATURE THESIS PROTOCOL

    University of Amsterdam
    Faculty of Science - Graduate School of Life and Earth Sciences

    LITERATURE THESIS PROTOCOL

    1. LITERATURE THESIS
    The literature thesis is a compulsory part of the MSc in Biological, Biomedical and Life Sciences.
    The mandatory amount of credits for the literature thesis differs per master programme and is
    indicated in the box below. Writing of the literature thesis is planned in the second part of the
    first year, but other periods may also be chosen after agreement with the track coordinator.
    Total Credits
    Biological Sciences 10 EC
    Biomedical Sciences 12 EC
    Life Sciences 12 EC

    2. OBJECTIVE OF A LITERATURE THESIS


    Writing a literature thesis has a number of objectives:
    o The student is challenged to make a detailed study of the literature on a chosen subject. In this respect
    it broadens and/or deepens certain knowledge gained earlier in the master programme.
    o The student is expected to collect scientific information on a specific subject in a short period
    (approximately two months), to formulate a clear question, to write a structured summary and report
    and to give critical evaluation. It is, therefore, important that the period available for writing a thesis is
    used to the full but also that this period is not exceeded, since this may cause delays in your study
    planning.
    o A critical evaluation entails that, in addition to classifying known data, the student develops his/her
    own perspective in the literature. This usually amounts to a consideration of the shortcomings of
    existing knowledge and a suggestion as to how new insights might be obtained in the future.
    o The student will improve his/her skills in writing a scientific paper in English in a coherent and
    reflective way. The supervisor is expected to give the student constructive support in acquiring this
    skill. The paper may be written in Dutch only in exceptional circumstances e.g. if the subject concerns
    a research area that is only applicable in The Netherlands, such as policy making and education. In
    those cases, the supervisor and track coordinator have to agree with the change of language.

    3. TOPIC OF A LITERATURE THESIS


    Students usually choose a topic within the scope of the programme in which they have a special
    interest. However, the content should be sufficiently different from the issues addressed in the
    student’s research projects. The choice of subject is of paramount importance: the topic must be
    broad enough to justify writing a thesis on it (10 or 12 EC), but not so broad that the existing
    knowledge on the subject cannot be summarized in the time available. The supervisor is
    requested to justify this estimation when the choice of topic is finalized by writing (or approving)
    a Literature Thesis outline.

    4. SUPERVISION (SUPERVISOR AND EXAMINER)


    Students need a supervisor and an examiner for their literature thesis. In case the examiner is not
    a permanent staff member of the faculty of Science (FNWI) of the UvA or when the examiner
    and supervisor are the same person, an FNWI co-assessor has to be involved in the assessment.
    The supervisor/examiner and student select the co-assessor together (see paragraph 8 for
    assessment criteria).

      1
    LITERATURE THESIS PROTOCOL

    The supervisor is the first point of contact for questions regarding the literature thesis. The
    supervisor should have expertise in the subject matter of the thesis topic and is a permanent staff
    member, a PhD student or postdoctoral fellow at the faculty, institute or company where the
    project is performed. The supervisor supports the student in writing the outline and planning in
    the beginning of the thesis, gives feedback during the writing process and discusses the
    assessment of the literature thesis with the examiner. Supervision occurs at regular intervals. The
    supervisor and student should meet at least three times during the course of writing:
    o To discuss the outline of the thesis
    o To discuss the first draft version of the thesis
    o To discuss the final version on the thesis (as part of the assessment)
    The student is responsible for making these appointments.

    The examiner is responsible for the literature thesis project and is a permanent staff member at the
    research institute or is appointed as an examiner by the Examination Board. The examiner can
    mediate between student and supervisor if necessary. The examiner grades the project as a
    member of the assessment committee in consultation with the supervisor.

    5. APPROVAL PROCEDURE
    The student has to request permission from the Examination Board and track coordinator.
    Students should submit their Literature Thesis Approval Form (http://www.student.uva.nl;
    choose your programme) including approval of the track coordinator to the Examination Board
    prior to the start of the writing process. The student should hand in these forms at the Service
    Desk of the Education Service Centre at least 4 weeks before the planned starting date. After the
    plan for the literature thesis has been approved the student, supervisor, examiner, co-assessor and
    track coordinator will receive the signed forms.

    6. OUTLINE AND PLANNING OF THE LITERATURE THESIS


    The student should write an outline of the thesis subject on a maximum of one A4 in
    consultation with the supervisor at the start of the project. In this outline at least the following
    aspects should be covered:
    o Title of the paper
    o Subject and hypothesis of the literature research
    o (Sub)questions
    o Initial literature
    o Time schedule for the whole period, including time necessary for
     Collecting and reading literature
     Making an outline
     Interim Evaluation
     Writing draft version
     Writing definitive version including revisions according to supervisors’ feedback

    IMPORTANT
    If you have problems with your schedule, we expect you to get in touch with your supervisor to discuss
    how to finish your paper. If you are encountering problems with contacting your supervisor, we expect you
    to contact the examiner or your track coordinator.

    When the literature thesis exceeds the planned deadline the examiner and co-assessor may grade the project
    as “unsatisfactory”. 

      2
    LITERATURE THESIS PROTOCOL

    7. LAY-OUT OF THE LITERATURE THESIS


    The literature thesis typically shows the following general lay-out
    o Introduction, including the question which is studied
    o Overview of studied literature
    o Critical discussion of the studied literature, including a personal perspective on the literature
    represented
    o Conclusion
    o List of references
    Please note that this is a general lay-out and this may be subject to changes depending on the
    contents of the thesis. The length of a literature thesis depends on many things, including writing
    style, formatting and breadth of the treated topic, but on average it is about 25 pages long,
    excluding the references, figures and tables and based upon roughly 40 scientific papers.

    The following information should be stated on the front page of the literature thesis:
    o Title of the thesis
    o Name of student and student ID
    o Master programme and track
    o Name of supervisor and examiner (and FNWI co-assessor, if applicable)
    o Date
    The final version of the literature thesis has to be uploaded to UvA Dare by the student and to
    Ephorus by the supervisor in order to be checked for plagiarism. An explanation of the upload
    procedure for UvA-Dare can be found on the website of the master programme
    (http://www.student.uva.nl; choose your programme) under graduation.

    8. ASSESSMENT
    The literature thesis will be assessed by an assessment committee consisting of at least two
    persons:
    o Supervisor,
    o Examiner,
    o FNWI co-assessor, in case the examiner is not a permanent staff member of the faculty of Science
    (FNWI) of the UvA or when the supervisor and examiner are the same person.
    The FNWI co-assessor is a permanent staff member of the Faculty of Science of the University of
    Amsterdam (preferably from a different - but related - discipline than the supervisor). The FNWI co-
    assessor reads and assesses the final version of the literature thesis and determines if the grade given is
    according to FNWI standards. The FNWI co-assessor is only necessary when the examiner is not a
    permanent staff member of the Faculty of Science of the UvA or when the examiner and supervisor are
    the same person.

    The Literature Thesis Assessment Form (provided by the Examination Board to Examiner/co-
    assessor) should be used as a guideline for supervision and assessment and should be filled in
    halfway through writing the thesis and on completion of the thesis. The Assessment Form states a number
    of criteria used in the assessment of the thesis:
    o clear and relevant formulation of academic question/hypothesis ○ scientific originality
    o correct interpretation of the literature ○ readability/use of language
    o context ○ structure
    o initiative/ability to work independently ○ effective use of time
    o elaboration of the main line of argument

    The assessment of the research report is based on the draft and final version of the report and is
    being discussed with the student in the presence of the supervisor, examiner and, if possible, with
    the FNWI co-assessor. The final reports will be tested for plagiarism using Ephorus. The grade
    for the thesis is decided by the assessment committee and is explained to the student. The
    Assessment Form has to be signed by examiner (and FNWI co-assessor) and sent to the
    Servicedesk of the Education Service Centre.

      3
    LITERATURE THESIS PROTOCOL

    9. QUESTIONS, REMARKS, OR PROBLEMS


    Try to solve a complaint or conflict with the person in question, if necessary with the track
    coordinator or student advisor present as an independent third party. Problems that cannot be
    solved in this manner may be submitted to the Examination Board.

    January 2012

      4

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