18 ECTS credits
490 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4017178ENW for working 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 Management', students must be enrolled in the final year of their study programme, and must effectively be able to graduate in that year. ​
Taught in
English
Faculty
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Department
Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool
Educational team
Filip Van Droogenbroeck
Dirk de Slegte
Promotor . (course titular)
Activities and contact hours
8 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
482 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

The master's thesis must be a self-contained scientific work according to the prevailing scientific standards. In the master's thesis, the student demonstrates analytical and synthetic skills. The student demonstrates the ability to apply theoretical insights and the various skills and competences of research, acquired throughout the programme, to a concrete social science problem. In other words, with the Master's thesis, the student demonstrates the ability to go through a scientific process in order to deliver scientific added value. The master's thesis is evaluated by a jury.

Additional info

The administrative and substantive procedures for the Master Thesis go digitally though the ‘Master Thesis Information System’ (MaThIS). The student takes the initiative in this.

The Master Thesis is written in the language of instruction of the programme.

A manual with additional information (on deadlines, manner of submitting, evaluation, conditions for the possibility of duo-mastertheses,…) can be found on the course space in Canvas and is regarded as an integral part of the course description.

The faculty regulations concerning the Master Thesis are also included in the supplementary faculty regulations, chapter V, of the Teaching and Examination Regulations.

This course is a final paper completing a Master’s programme and cannot be taken as part of a credit contract.

Teaching Methods

- Lecture: collective contact-dependent moments during which the lecturer engages with learning materials
- Seminar, Exercises or Practicals (Practical): collective or individual contact-dependent moments during which the students are guided to actively engage with learning materials
- Independent or External Form of Study (Self): independent study

This description of the teaching methods is indicative, in order to assess the expected study load.

The master thesis stands for 18 ECTS-credits and represents an expected study load of 490 hours. On a yearly basis (35 weeks) this means that each week the student will be expected to work for 14 hours on his/her thesis. These 14 hours include the independent work, but also regular contacts with the promotor and possible participation in individual and collective counseling activities.

  • Practical: 8 hours (meetings/contacts with the promotor and/or assisting team)
  • Self: 482 hours (independent work for the master thesis)
Learning Outcomes

Algemene competenties

GENERAL COMPETENCIES

Cognitive skills

  • The student knows how scientific research is structured and planned, how literature can be searched for, processed and reported;
  • The student knows the relevant concepts of international social science theory-building relative to the topic his/her choice;
  • The students understand that it is important to reduce the complexity of a research topic into a practically researchable research question;
  • The students are able to phrase a relevant research question for the research to be conducted;
  • The students are able to construct a relevant and realistic research plan for their research question and execute it;
  • The student is able to synthesize the main findings of his/her research and frame these findings within the relevant state-of-the-art scientific knowledge;
  • The student can evaluate and describe the strengths and weaknesses of the conducted research;
  • The student has the ability to analyze the defined research problem making use of the chosen research methodology;
  • The students can critically describe the social and business economic relevance and added value of their research;
  • The students can report the results of the conducted research in an adequate and clear manner according to the applicable scientific standards (e.g. structure, referencing,...);
  • The students are able to assess the progress and problems surrounding their research and formulate solutions and further steps.

Reactive skills

  • With the master thesis the student shows that he/she possesses a general critical and reflective research attitude.

Interactive skills

  • The students are able to present their results to a broader audience in a brief and appealing way.

Grading

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

Within the Master Thesis category, the following assignments need to be completed:

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

Additional info regarding evaluation

The following applies to both examination sessions:

  • The student is obligated to upload his/her Master Thesis electronically on the antiplagiarism server indicated by the faculty.
  • The student who submits a Master Thesis agrees with the rules regarding plagiarism. See also specifically the rules regarding generative AI in the Education and Examination Regulations with faculty additions, article 118.
  • The evaluation of the Master Thesis is done in accordance with the evaluation form that can be found on the digital learning platform Canvas.
  • It is not mandatory to defend the Master Thesis in Management orally, except for the duo-Master Thesis.
  • The student who would like to request an oral defence must notify the department secretariat on this at the latest three days after the publication of the result in Mathis.
  • On the basis of a reasoned report, a public defence may be imposed on the student.

In case you submitted the master thesis but receive a non-pass grade, when resubmitting a reworked version of the master thesis (in second session or in the next academic year) it is obligatory to submit a separate ‘revisions made’-document discussing in detail what changes have been made. This document needs to respond in detail to the jury feedback on the earlier version as well as discuss all other changes made compared to the earlier version. Failure to submit this document implies that submission of the new version of the thesis will be considered inadmissible. The quality of the responses to the jury’s comments will be taken into account in the evaluation of the new version of the thesis.  More details about the requirements of this document can be found in the guidelines for the regular master's thesis of the programme in which the student is enrolled.

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 Management: Standaard traject