Project „Zintegrowany Program Rozwoju Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego 2018-2022” co-financed from the European Union funds under the European Social Fund
MSc thesis is a kind of research paper, based on the results of experiments carried out by a student during 3 semesters of her/his studies (2nd-4th semester).
10 steps – what needs to be done:
The 1st step is to choose a topic of your degree project
LIST OF MSc TOPICS for 2023/2024
If you are particularly interested in a certain area and/or techniques, you should check ongoing research in the Faculty departments/laboratories and contact in advance the group leaders with a request to join the group. If s/he agrees, you can discuss the topic, which will be included in the list of topics, as selected by you.
If you want to be supervised by the researcher from outside The Faculty of Biotechnology you have to submit an APPLICATION in accordance with the RULES FOR PERFORMING/WRITING DIPLOMA THESIS OUTSIDE THE FACULTY OF BIOTECHNOLOGY.
The 2nd step is to submit your decision on topic choice to the Dean’s Office (unless you have selected topic before announcement of the list of topics and your name is already listed). Students are informed about the way and deadline of such submission while the list of topics to be chosen is announced.
You may be asked to submit an APPROVAL OF THESIS TITLE, which has to be signed by your supervisor.
The 3rd step is to discuss with the supervisor on the aim(s) of your degree project, principles of your cooperation, as well as requirements regarding the rules in the laboratory and your weekly schedule.
The 4th step is to start your laboratory activity. Please remember that you are joining the research group and it is necessary to follow its laboratory rules. Both, ability to work independently and in a team are crucial at this stage of your education. During your project work you will be continuously supervised, and your performance will be evaluated.
The ability to work independently, as well as the ability to implement supervisor suggestions and comments is assessed (by the supervisor) as part of the Degree project (Specialization laboratory) subject at the end of each semester.
The 5th step is writing…
The aim of writing the MSc thesis is to verify student’s ability to clearly describe and present materials, methods and results, to critically analyse the results and to correctly conclude.
The ability to look for relevant scientific literature and to discuss one’s own results in relation to the literature is also assessed.
Even if you’re planning your defence in September, do not delay your writing until summer. Remember that your supervisor also has right for summer vacation.
FORMAL REQUIREMENTS REGARDING THE LAYOUT OF THE THESIS
- Title page in Polish (template)
- Title page in English (template)
- Abstract in Polish (Streszczenie)
- Abstract in English
- Table of content
- Introduction
- Materials and Methods
- Results
- Discussion/Summary
- References
EDITORIAL REQUIREMENTS:
- Font: Times New Roman or Arial
- Font size: 12 pts.
- One-and-a-half line spacing
- text aligned to both left and right margin
- pages numbered at the bottom
REFERENCES: complete list of sources cited in the text, organized alphabetically by (first) author. The internet sources, if present, should be also cited and listed.
Useful link for referencing and in-text citations.
TABLES: should be numbered; short, descriptive title and source should be placed above; all tables must be referenced within the text and appear as near to where mentioned as possible; should not span more than one page, if possible.
FIGURES: should be numbered, centre-aligned and fit within margins; short, descriptive caption and source should be placed below; all figures must be referenced within the text and appear as near to where mentioned as possible; landscape images should be rotated with their top to the left.
The 6th step is to agree the final version of your thesis with the supervisor and to start DIPLOMA AWARDING PROCEDURE (please read it carefully). Dates for diploma exams are announced in May and you should discuss the possible dates with your supervisor. The application for the diploma exam must be submitted 21 days before the planned date of the defense at the latest. At this point, the supervisor appoints a reviewer among the Faculty of Biotechnology academics.
The application should be accompanied by the Notice signed by the supervisor.
APPLICATION FOR A TRADITIONAL EXAM
Dates of diploma exams in the academic year 2022/2023:
JUNE: 30
JULY: 4, 6, 11, 14, 21
SEPTEMBER: 1, 8, 11, 29
The 7th step is to enter data into Archive of Diploma Theses (APD): Instruction for registering diploma thesis is available upon logging into the APD system: DOCUMENTS-STUDENT.
At this step it will be also required to approve the declaration about the authorship of the diploma thesis.
Then the supervisor submits your work to an anti-plagiarism examination. If the result is acceptable, s/he approves the thesis and submits it for review. The review and evaluation are uploaded in APD by both, the supervisor and the reviewer.
The 8th step is to submit to the Dean’s Office…
At least 3 working days before the date of diploma exam Students are obliged to submit to the Dean’s office the following documents:
a. request for additional information to the supplement,
b. statement that s/he verified all grades and ECTS credits earned required by the appropriate study programme,
c. library card,
d. clearance slip.
Prior to submitting to the Dean’s Office the above set of documents, a fee of 60 PLN must be paid on the individual student’s account which can be found in the USOS system (applies only to students who started education at UWr before the 2018/2019 academic year).
e. REQUEST FOR THE DIPLOMA IN ENGLISH. In accordance with applicable law, diplomas are issued only in Polish. Diplomas in English are issued upon request, so if you need one, submit an application and pay a fee of PLN 40 (the charge applies only to students who started education at UWr before the 2018/2019 academic year). The application for a diploma in English may also be submitted later but not more than 30 days from the date of the diploma examination.
The 9th step is the diploma exam.
Please be prepared for short (3 minutes) presentation of your master/bachelor thesis during the diploma exam.Please note that you will not be able to use any visual materials during this presentation.
The diploma examination is an oral exam in front of a three-person examination board. The commission includes the chairman, your supervisor, and the reviewer. Each member of the committee asks one question and independently evaluates your answer. THE TOPICS FOR THE MSc DIPLOMA EXAMINATION are available.
The final grade for the diploma consists of the average grade from the studies, the grade for the BSc diploma thesis and the grade for the diploma examination. The average of grades from studies is of the greatest importance.
The final grade for second-cycle studies is calculated on the basis of the following formula:
A/2+(B+C)/4.
A: the arithmetic mean of the grades for the whole course of study;
B: grade for the diploma thesis;
C: grade for the diploma examination.
The 10th step is to receive your diploma.
You will be notified when your diploma is ready for collection. You will be asked to give back your student ID.
Last but not least: celebrate!