Master Thesis Preparation
Objectives
The Dissertation Preparation allows the student to apply, in an integrated manner, the skills acquired throughout the course, complementing them through the attendance of seminars on important topics for carrying out scientific or technological work. This unit is intended for the preparation of the realization of the original R&D work and preparation of the Dissertation, so the main objective is the successful completion of the Master''''s Dissertation. This includes the development of capacity to carry out bibliographic research, leading to the preparation of a report containing the state of the art in the area of work to be developed, followed by research activity, supervised by the supervisor and in autonomy, applying appropriate research methodologies, and the ability to initiate work with a significant degree of originality.
General characterization
Code
10537
Credits
6.0
Responsible teacher
Carla Maria Quintão Pereira , Maria Isabel Simões Catarino
Hours
Weekly - 2
Total - 65
Teaching language
Português
Prerequisites
The student should only register for the Dissertation Preparation if he is able to complete the Master''''s Dissertation in the 2nd semester of the same academic year or in the 1st semester of the following academic year.
Bibliography
Students will be provided with bibliography on each of the topics covered in the training. Regarding the specific theme of each student''''s dissertation, the bibliography to be used will be dependet on the theme to be investigated and recommended, case by case, by the advisors.
Teaching method
The training provided in this unit is given in the form of seminars. Throughout the semester, students start their research and develop the work plan with their supervisor.
The assessment is made by the supervisor, the teacher responsible for this course unit and the course coordinator, based on a written report and an oral presentation.
Evaluation method
This curricular unit is of the type "Project" and includes assessment with components of various types.
COMPONENTS:
- Test (10%): evaluation of the type "Theoretical-Practical", focuses on the bibliographical references, from the research to its correct use;
- Participation (15%): “Summative” assessment that focuses on the exercises proposed in the seminars given; - Student report (30%); evaluation of the "Laboratorial or Project" type, carried out by the UC faculty, after hearing the advisor;
- Performance (20%): evaluation of the "Laboratory or Project" type, carried out by the advisor;
- Oral presentation (25%): evaluation of the type "Seminar", carried out by the faculty of the UC.
DEADLINES:
The deadline for submitting the Report is one week after the end of the exams period.
The supervisor should assign his / her Performance rating until the last working day of February.
The oral presentation will take place in the begining of March. Special cases will be handled individually by the UC faculty.
SPECIFICATIONS:
The written report, which should have a maximum of 4000 words (excluding indexes and bibliography) must contain:
- contextualization of the work to be carried out, with a description of the problem to be addressed and its importance;
- summary of theoretical concepts important for understanding the work;
- revision of the relevant bibliography that presents the state of the art in an appropriate way;
- specific objectives of the work to be carried out and its contribution to the problem under study;
- experimental procedure (materials, when relevant, and experimental methods - of production, characterization, validation, etc. - or computational);
- work plan for the dissertation semester, including a work schedule.
The report format is free, but it is suggested that the FCT / UNL''''s formatting rules for dissertations are followed.
The oral presentation will have a maximum duration of 6 minutes and should reflect clarity in the definition of the problem, its importance and challenges, the approach to be adopted and the objectives to be achieved.
Subject matter
In this unit, each student must begin their R&D work according to the objectives in the dissertation proposal, approved by the Scientific Committee of the course. In general, the work developed by the students can be structured according to the following set of activities:
-Bibliographic Research.
- Preparation of a report with the state of the art, in the field of work to be carried out and with the planning and description of the tasks to be carried out.
- Start the development of the work.
To support students in this work, training is given through seminars to be held throughout the semester and covering the following topics:
- Databases of bibliographic references;
- Management of bibliographic references;
- Scientific communication: written and oral - good practices and typical errors;
- Structure and writing of a dissertation - good practices and typical errors;
- Good scientific writing practices in Word and LaTeX