30 ECTS credits
780 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4005939FNR for all students in the 1st and 2nd semester at a (F) Master - specialised 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', 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
Partnership Agreement
Under interuniversity agreement for degree program
Faculty
Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences
Department
Bio-Engineering Sciences
Educational team
Geert Angenon (course titular)
Activities and contact hours
780 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

Students of the MSc Program in Molecular Biology are required to undertake a research project under the guidance of a promotor, resulting in a Master’s thesis, which will be defended in public before a jury. Any topic is potentially acceptable as long as it offers a real contribution to molecular biology. The thesis research can be done in any research group, which not necessarily has to belong to one of the three organising universities. In the second semester of the first year, the students get an exhaustive list of research topics for the thesis. The topic of the thesis has to be approved by the Program Director.

Additional info

Registration for the thesis is allowed if one has acquired at least 48 ECTS of the MSc Molecular Biology program at the start of the academic year.

Learning Outcomes

General compentencies

Students can plan and perform experiments and critically interpret the results obtained. They are able to report both orally and in written, prepare powerpoint presentations and retrieve and summarize literature data. They can discuss their results obtained in the context of existing litarature.They can present their work in public and answer questions from a jury and the audience.

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:

  • Promoter with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 33.3% of the final mark.
  • Reader 1 with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 33.3% of the final mark.
  • Reader 2 with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 33.3% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The use of generative AI tools is only permitted to a limited extent for writing the Master’s thesis i.e. for language corrections and brainstorming purposes. Other uses of AI will be considered an 'irregularity' (same as plagiarism) and will be reported to the dean. The structure of the thesis, the ideas, concepts and arguments described in it, and the final text are the sole responsibility of the student, and should be based on consultation by the student of the scientific literature and on the execution and analysis of original scientific investigations. Students should explicitly state in the thesis text which generative AI tools were used for what purpose. Specific instructions will be communicated via the e-learning platform.

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 Molecular Biology: Standaard traject