Examination arrangement

Course content

The student shall choose a specific problem of relevance to the master's programme. The topic must represent a challenge within the specific area and must require that the student adheres to practices that are common within the area. The topic must be pre-approved by the supervisor.

Learning outcome

After successfully completing the master's thesis, the students have obtained knowledge, skills and general competencies as:

Knowledge:

- Possess specialized insight into a research and development area and relevant research and development work. - Possess knowledge of theories and methods being used in the area of ​​specialisation.

Skills:

-Are capable of defining a significant and complex research and development (R&D) problem relevant to the master's programme, clearly and independently, but with guidance from a supervisor. -Are capable of analyzing existing literature, theories, methods, and interpretations. -Are capable of critical thinking. -Are capable of planning and conducting necessary studies or experiments, organizing and analyzing data acquired, drawing defensible conclusions, and making recommendations based on these. -Are capable of documenting the results achieved in a research and development project, mastering the terminology of the field.

-Are capable of presenting the results in written and oral form.

General competencies:

-Are capable of independently acquiring new knowledge.

Learning methods and activities

- Project work

-Seminar(s)

- Tutoring

Additional information: The seminars will be held on campus Gjøvik during Spring semester.

Further on evaluation

Students are expected to do programming and writing documentation by their own. In case AI platforms/softwares are used this should be done only for efficient production of code. Students are expected to have a critical evaluation and customization of autogenerated code and only use assistive development tools focused on quality and efficiency. A section dedicated to the use of AI should be included at the end of the first chapter of the thesis.

During the master thesis period the academic supervisor is responsible for evaluating the progress of the student. Failing to receive an approval of progress for two (2) consecutive months or three (3) non-consecutive months will result in the failure of the master's thesis.

The draft of the Master Thesis should be formally approved by the academic supervisor at least two (2) weeks prior to the submission date of the Master Thesis. Failure to do so will result in the failure of the master's thesis. The draft approved by the academic supervisor can be modified by the student after approval.

The COSI Consortium organizes the Master Thesis defense during the COSI Days. Members of the jury are:

a. COSI academic coordinator;

b. Two independent reviewers validated by the AMB;

c. Host company / institution supervisor;

d. One member from the AMB;

The examination of the Master Thesis is based on:

a. a public defense of the work realized during the internship (20% of the mark). This is evaluated by the Jury.

b. a written report which is evaluated by two independent reviewers validated by the AMB (40% of the mark).

c. the ability of the student to work in a team on a defined topic and to reach the initial objectives (evaluated by the Academic Management Board) in consultation with the supervisor (40% of the mark).

The grading of Master Thesis is performed and validated by the Academic Management Board.

In case of failure, the student can take this course again the next time the course is run.

Appeal process

• Students have three weeks to appeal the master's thesis grade from the time the grade was announced. 
• Students will not receive specific grades for each part of the assessment and the final average letter grade is the only grade that can be provided. 
• Students do not have a right to appeal parts of the assessment elements of the master thesis and if appealed the whole master thesis would need to be re-evaluated.
• Upon the appeal of the master thesis grade:

• Two new reviewers will be assigned to evaluate the thesis report 
• The supervision team will be contacted again to provide a new evaluation form.
• A QAB member will be assigned to the project to provide a review of the work and chair the new presentation session. 
• A new presentation session will be held in order for the new reviewers to evaluate the thesis presentation. 

• Although we would prefer to have the presentation done in person, digital presentations could also be possible in special cases.  

• The new grade given after the appeal process will replace the initial grade given.
• In cases that there is a gap of two grades or more (higher or lower) between the grade after the appeal and the initial grade, a third assessment will be conducted by another reviewer.

Specific conditions

Recommended previous knowledge

According to COSI Learning Agreements as agreed within the Consortium.

Only students who are admitted to the COSI programme can sign up for this course.

Required previous knowledge

According to COSI Learning Agreements as agreed within the Consortium.

Only students who are admitted to the COSI programme can sign up for this course.