The extended project description must include a concrete description of the problem addressed in the master’s thesis, as well as background literature and a work plan. The text may be reused as part of the final master’s thesis.
The extended project description may have the following structure:
- Introduction
- Overall, what the thesis is about
- Motivation for the thesis/research question
- Brief description of the research question, without technical details
- Background, literature review, and clarification of concepts
- What does one need to know in order to understand the research question?
- Review of relevant literature and related work
- Detailed description of the research question
- What is the problem the thesis is to solve/explore?
- Concrete examples
- Preliminary work plan
- Describe what needs to be done (write a program, collect data, carry out tests, etc.)
- Choice of methodology and methods, and what these entail
- How and when to carry out the work (how to analyse the data, order of tasks, etc.)
- Ethical reflections (if relevant)
After having the extended project description approved, the student should be ready to start work on the thesis itself, possess the necessary background knowledge and skills for this, and have a solid plan for the academic work and the writing. For example, after having the extended project description approved, the student should have:
- good familiarity with the tools the student plans to use to write the master’s thesis (LaTeX, Word, etc.), and, on a purely technical level, be able to produce a scientific text with references, quotations, figures, formulas, source code, etc.
- good familiarity with tools, programs, services, frameworks, and systems that are relevant to working on the thesis
- good familiarity with the basics of writing a scientific text within their field (citation style, document structure, norms, terminology, etc.)
- familiarity with the guidelines for the use of generative AI and similar relevant tools in the master’s thesis
- a good understanding of the research question in their own thesis
- familiarity with some literature relevant to the thesis’s research question
In addition, the student and supervisor should have established good routines for the supervision itself, including:
- a regular meeting schedule that works for both the student and the supervisor
- a preferred way of sharing ideas, suggestions, text, and feedback (for example via email, UiO’s GitHub, Overleaf, Teams)
The extended project description is a compulsory part of the master’s thesis and must be passed at the beginning of the second semester of the master’s thesis work. The extended project description must be submitted in Devilry. The submission deadline for the final version is then as follows:
- for students who start with a 10-credit master’s thesis in the second semester (10+20+30 structure), the deadline is 1 June of that semester
- for students who begin the master’s thesis in the third semester (30+30 structure), the submission deadline is 1 October in that semester
The default deadline will always be 1 June in Devilry. Those who want an extension must notify us, including those who are planning a 30+30 structure. When you request an extension, you must specify the date you expect to submit.
The supervisor (internal) has 3 weeks to approve the extended project description after it has been submitted.
Note: Working on the extended project description and having it approved does not in itself yield any credits, but is included as part of the 60 credits for the master’s thesis.