30 ECTS credits
750 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4013279ENR for all students in the 1st and 2nd semester at a (E) Master - advanced level.

Semester
1st and 2nd semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Enrollment Requirements
In order to enroll the ‘Master Thesis Mathematics’, students must be enrolled in the final year of their study programme, and must effectively be able to graduate in that year. 
Taught in
Dutch
Faculty
Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences
Department
Mathematics
Educational team
Philippe Cara
Mark Sioen
Promotor . (course titular)
Activities and contact hours
750 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

 

Regulations Master Thesis

 

Master of Science in Mathematics, VUB

 

·     The Master Thesis in Mathematics consists in 30 ECTS

·     FORMS: website of “vakgroep Wiskunde”

http://we.vub.ac.be/nl/vakgroep-wiskunde

·     Fill in the form carefully, have it signed by your supervisor and hand it in at the Secreatry’s Office (room G.6.315).

·     DEADLINES:

o  Choice of supervisor: 1st week of the academic year

o  Submission of the thesis form: 1st Monday following 15 May (for examination in 1st period) and  1st Monday following 1 December (for examination in 2nd period) + Extra copy for Secretary’s Office. 

o  Submission of the thesis: 1st Monday following 15 May (for examination in June), 1st Monday following 15 August (for examination in September) – at least 3 jury members (incl.  supervisor)

o  If one of the dates above is on a holiday, then we take the first working day that follows it.

·     THESIS: tekst in Dutch or English with summary in the other language

o  In (la)tex format (incl. Summary, table of contents, references, index)

o  Number of copies: number of jury members + 2

o  To be submitted: digital version to the supervisor (via email, in pdf format), bound version at the departemental Secrtary’s Office)

o  The definitive Master Thesis   (in Pdf-format) has to be uploaded electronically  onto the website of the plagiarism-server Turnitin: https://turnitin.com/static/index.php. This has to be done before the hardcopy of the thesis  is submitted  at the Departemental Secretary’s office.

o  Jury: a suggestion by the supervisor has to be submitted tot he Exam Committee, deadline 1 June (June examination) or 22 August (September examination). The jury exists, besides the supervisor, of 2 jury members. In case of co-supervision, the (co)-supervisors together complete one evaluation form. In the text below, the group consisting of all (co)supervisors will be denoted by “the supervsior”.

o  If one of the dates above is on a holiday, then we take the first working day that follows it.

·     THESIS DEFENSE:

o  Date: in the last exam week  (Thursday or Friday)

o  Oral presentation (20 minutes), followed by questions from the jury memebers or audience. The student answers the questions without help of the supervisor.

o  Audience: the defense is open to the public, so everybody is wellcome. Alle students and professors are encouraged to be present.

·     EVALUATION:

o  The following aspects are evaluated: contents of the thesis (a.o. the following aspects are important: achievement of goals, motivation, personal contribution); the text (a.o. the following aspects are important: clarity of the text, description of the context, completeness of argumentation); oral presentation (a.o. the following aspects are important: clarity of the pdescription of the goals, personal contribution in the thesis, language, … ).

o  We use our evaluation form. Parts 1 and 2 are to be completed before the defense; part 3 after the defense. The scales mentioned only serve to give direction/help to determine the total score for this part. The total score of a particular member for a particular part is therefore not a weighted average of subscores. Thes scores must always be motivated. A score of 0—9 (unsatisfactory) or (18—20) (excellent) on a part has to be extensively motivated.

·     The chair of the Exam Committee calculates the individual scores of the students, using the proposed weight factors. The weightfactors are:

§  Part 1 (Evaluation of the scientific work and process): 60% of the final mark; only judged by the supervisor.

§  Part 2 (Evaluation of the text): 20% of the final mark; to be judged by the supervisor and the 2 jury members, each for 1/3 of this 20%.

§  Part 2 (Evaluation of the presentation and the defense): 20% of the final mark; to be judged by the supervisor and the 2 jury members, each for 1/3 of this 20%.

·     After all the theses have been defended, the chair of the Exam Committee and the union of all the promotors and jury members deliberate. For each student the feedback form, which they will recieve later, is completed. For each of the subscores on the Part 1, 2 and 3 the supervisor and the other jury members agree on a global motivation which is noted on  the feedback form. During deliberation, possible comments w.r.t. Part 3, of all members of the union  are taken into account.

·     A student cannot pass his Masterthesis requirement if the oral presentation is unsatisfactory.

·     The length of each oral presentation  is 20 minutes, followed by questions.

·     All teaching staff of the Mathematics program are expected to be present at the thesis defenses. The audience is stimulated to ask questions. The supplementary jury members (i.e. the jury members except the supervisors) each pose at least 2 questions.

·     Both in the written tekst and during the defense, the sudent is expected to comment on the process he/she followed to complete his/her Masterthesis.

·     The Departemental Secretary’s Office  draws up a schedule fort he defenses, based on the submitted forms. Students who will not participate must let this know in time by email to secrdwis@vub.ac.beand the chair of the Exam Committee Master of Mathematics (mark.sioen@vub.be).

·     Questions or comments:  mark.sioen@vub.be 


 

 

 

Additional info

None.

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

During the Master thesis, the student shows that he/she is able to dliver an original contribution by combining material from different sources and process them into a coherent entity.

The student works in cooperation with his supervisor and the material is either closely related to the research performed in one of the research groups, or to a more pedagogical theme. A very thorough immersion and insight in a specialised topic is expected, a.o. a good knowledge of the state of affairs of the current research in the domain of study. The student is expected to show independanncy and originality.

Written and oral communication skills are very important. The student shows that he/she can transfer his/her knowledge about the topic in a mathematically exact, correct and clear way; if need be in an international context. Moreover, the student must be able to interact with proffesional peers as weel as with non-specialists. During the oral presentation of the work performed for the Master thesis, the student will be tested with respect to all of these aspects, as well as on his/her ability to argument his work. The audience during the oral presentation consists of poressors and master students.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Other Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Examen andere with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

None.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Mathematics: Financial and Applied Mathematics (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Mathematics: Fundamental Mathematics (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Mathematics: Education (only offered in Dutch)