MSC THESIS REQUIREMENTS AND SUPERVISION

MSc Thesis Requirements and Supervision

The standard requirement of the MSc thesis is that the student has undertaken a piece of research which demonstrates a thorough understanding of existing research in the field and has made original contribution in enhancing our understanding of the subject of the research. The student must demonstrate competency in the research methods relevant to his/her field and present and orally defend the thesis in a viva to the satisfaction of the examiners.

Details related to thesis requirements at the institution are provided in the Thesis Handbook: Graduate School. Students are therefore required to read carefully the Thesis Handbook in order to familiarize themselves with the applicable regulations.

As far as supervision of MSc thesis research is concerned it is to be noted that the thesis supervisor generally looks at the scientific work being prepared by the student, supervises it, and is committed to ensuring that quality standards of the work are being met. The supervisor is a person with the requisite academic qualification and experience in the chosen field of the thesis research. The supervisor has expert knowledge of the field in which the student is carrying out his/her research. The supervisor’s task is to guide the MSc student from commencement of the research through the oral presentation and defense of the completed research work (MSc viva). The time required for processing the MSc thesis is 12 weeks for a full-time student.

The thesis supervisor has to ensure that the MSc student takes initiatives and is creative. The supervisor has the duty to inform the Academic Coordinator on all matters related to the supervision of the student. The Academic Coordinator, in turn, informs the Dean and Graduate Program Committee on all matters related to the Master’s program.

The MSc thesis supervisor is required to sign the Thesis Approval Form. Additionally, the Academic Coordinator for the MSc program is required to sign the thesis approval form. The signature of the Academic Coordinator is an assertion of the authenticity of the supervisor’s signature and of the acceptability of the thesis to the Graduate School. Therefore, this signature must be original. All required signatures must be submitted to the Graduate School on the same form in support of the thesis deposit.