SASK14300E Master thesis Animal Science 30 ECTS

Volume 2015/2016
Education

MSc in Animal Science - compulsory

Content

The purpose of the thesis is to allow students to demonstrate their ability to work independently with an academic topic which is an important part of the individual student’s academic profile.

Learning Outcome

A student who has completed his/her thesis has acquired the following competencies:

 

Knowledge that allows the student to:

  • Identify scientific problems within the study programme’s subject areas.
  • Summarise a suitable combination of methodologies/theories based on international research for use in his/her work with the problem formulation.
  • Discuss theories/models on the basis of an organised value system and with a high degree of independence.

 

Skills that allow the student to:

  • Apply and critically evaluate theories/methodologies, including their applicability and limitations.
  • Assess the extent to which the production and interpretation of findings/material depend on the theory/methodology chosen and the delimitation chosen.
  • Discuss academic issues arising from the thesis.
  • Draw conclusions in a clear and academic manner in relation to the problem formulation and, more generally, considering the topic and the subject area.
  • Discuss and communicate the academic and social significance, if any, of the thesis based on ethical principles.

 

Independently writing a master thesis under the supervision of a supervisor from the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences or at the Faculty of Science at the University of Copenhagen.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Exam
  • 2
  • Guidance
  • 15
  • Project work
  • 808
  • Total
  • 825
Credit
30 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written assignment, .
Oral examination, 1 hour
Participation in the oral thesis defence may be made conditional upon a midway seminar being held in the thesis period with a view to preparing the student for the oral defence. The date for the midway seminar, if any, is to be stated in the thesis contract.

Theses may be completed by groups of no more than 3 students. The thesis contract must specify whether the thesis is to be completed as group work.

When the thesis is prepared by a group, the thesis report may either be a joint report or a report stating the contribution of each student. Irrespective of the type of report prepared, the report must be included in the oral exam and thus form the basis of the individual assessment. The report type must be specified in the thesis contract.

If the group has prepared a report stating the contributions of the individual students, the students will be examined on the content of the entire report at the oral exam, taking into account the academic capabilities of the individual student. The assessment will be based on the individual student’s contribution to the report and the oral presentation

When the thesis is written by a group, the oral defence may either take the form of a group exam or an individual exam. The exam type must be specified in the thesis contract.

If the oral exam is held individually, only students who have already sat the exam may be present at the exams of the other students in the group.

Irrespective of report form and exam type, the students will always be assessed individually, and differentiated grades may therefore be given to the members of the same group.

Exam form
The thesis is concluded with an oral defence lasting approx. 60 minutes, including a presentation and questions lasting approx. 30 minutes. In connection with a group exam, if any, the duration of the oral defence must be extended to allow for individual assessments. The oral defence is to take place no more than four weeks after submission of the thesis report; however, the month of July is not included in the calculation of the four-week deadline.

An exam date must be fixed and an external examiner appointed at least three weeks before the submission of the thesis. A supervisor from an external institution, if any, may not act as external examiner in respect of the thesis.

The oral defence is public, and the supervisor announces the time and place for the defence.
If the thesis includes a confidential component, this part of the thesis may be considered behind closed doors in connection with the oral defence. Only the student(s), internal examiner and external examiner participate.

The entire thesis may not be considered behind closed doors. In exceptional cases, however, the dean may grant an exemption from this provision.

Thesis and articles
Manuscripts for articles and finished articles may only be attached to the thesis report as appendices. However, this does not apply to works where the individual student or the thesis students who are to take the group thesis exam together are exclusively responsible for production of the articles in question.

Assessment
The thesis is assessed by an external examiner, and a grade is given. A single grade is given for the thesis report and the oral defence. In addition to assessing the academic content of the thesis, where the abstract is included on a par with the other components, the examiners will also assess the student’s spelling and writing proficiency. This applies regardless of which language the thesis is written in, as capacity to communicate the subject matter is included in the overall assessment.

The grade must be awarded on the same day as the thesis defence is held.

If the student requests such, the main supervisor and the external examiner are, in connection with the assessment, to prepare a written academic and methodical evaluation, which is to be presented to the student no more than seven working days after publication of the grade.

Re-examination
If the student fails to submit the thesis within the set deadline and is not accorded a deadline extension, the student must enter into a new contract that is to be approved by the head of studies and the head of department. This new contract is required to contain a revised thesis outline which falls within the same subject area and corresponds to a workload of three additional months, irrespective of the ECTS credit size of the thesis. Only in extraordinary cases can the student be required to carry out additional experimental work. Furthermore, a new three-month deadline for submission must be fixed.

If the student fails to submit the thesis within the new deadline for submission fixed, the student may be granted a third exam attempt according to the same rules as those applying to the second exam attempt.
Exam registration requirements

Requirements for sitting the exam
For the oral thesis defence to be held, a thesis report must have been handed in by the agreed deadline. The thesis report is to be submitted to the department in accordance with the agreement regarding the number of paper copies and/or electronic submission in CURIS.

Aid
All aids allowed
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
Criteria for exam assesment

On complection the students should have the competencies described in "Learning Outcome""