- Thesis outline
- Practical requirements
- Guidelines for the use of Generative AI in the master thesis
- Submitting the thesis
The Master thesis is a report on your research during the research internship. All Master students will have to write a thesis.
Master thesis outline
1. Title page: apart from the title, state your name, ID number, master specialisation, date, location of internship, and the name and affiliation of each supervisor/assessor. Furthermore, provide a total word count (excluding title page, table of contents, reference list, notes and appendices).
2. Table of contents (note that this is unusual for a research article, but given that the master thesis comprises a larger writing assignment, much larger than a typical article, this table of contents is considered useful)
3. Summary/Abstract
4. Introduction
5. Methods
6. Results
7. Discussion and/or Conclusions
8. References
9. Notes (if any) and/or appendices (if any)
Handbooks for writing a master's thesis
We provide two handbooks to guide you through the process of writing a master's thesis. These manuals mention different formats, so you can choose to follow either the FPN format or the APA 7 format.
Whichever you choose, please ensure consistency throughout your thesis.
APA cookbook v001 of 10 Dec. 2020
Practical thesis requirements
Minimum length of the thesis: If you do only one internship (= the research internship) | ||
| There is no official maximum word limit. Given that the thesis is supposed to be in the form of a submittable paper, lengthy theses with many appendices etc. are discouraged. Eventually, content and completeness are important. The word count includes abstract, tables and in-text references but excludes the list of references. You may use large parts of the research proposal for the introduction and method section of your thesis. | ||
| MSWord formatting: 1.5 line spacing, font size 12 Times New Roman or 11 pts for Arial, margins of about 2.5 cm all round. | ||
| The thesis must be written in English, either in British English or in American English. Be consistent! | ||
| Use APA guidelines for referencing. | ||
| The thesis must be written individually. | ||
| File name according to file naming convention >> | ||
File size for upload: max. 5 MB. | ||
Guidelines for the use of Generative AI in the master thesis
The use of generative AI can sometimes be a valuable tool in the writing process for your master thesis. For example, for refining your English phrasing, or for clarifying/simplifying complex sentences. However, it is crucial that your master thesis remains your own work, contains your own ideas and original reasoning. Here it is important to realize that generative AI have important limitations, for instance they may overgeneralize findings, and are often limited in the accurate reflection and accurate use of original sources (e.g. copying sentences or parts from existing sources without giving a reference). We therefore, suggest using such tools with caution, ensuring your work reflects your own reasoning. Furthermore, it is important to always refer to original sources that you have read to make sure you correctly use them to support your argumentation.In other words, in using generative AI, it is essential to make sure that you hold the intellectual ownership of your master thesis, that the content of your master thesis is based on original sources and that you correctly apply them in your academic reasoning. You should also adhere to the privacy rules of the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, which means you will NOT enter any confidential, privacy-sensitive or personally identifiable information. When you keep these pros and cons in mind and adhere to the rules, generative AI might be a valuable aid in the writing process.
You will disclose the use of generative AI in the writing process by adding a disclosure at the end of your thesis, before the References list. The disclosure should be placed in a new section entitled ‘Disclosure of Generative AI in the writing process’.
This disclosure does not apply to the use of basic tools for checking grammar, spelling, references etc. If there is nothing to disclose, there is no need to add a disclosure.
In case you did use Generative AI, please do copy the text in the box below to your master thesis and fill out the fields between brackets.
In short:
Generative AI is NOT allowed to alter, create or generate content.
Generative AI is allowed to refine your English phrasing, or for clarifying/simplifying complex sentences.
When you use Generative AI:
- Do not use Generative AI to alter, create or generate content;
- Keep the limitations in mind;
- Make sure you do not commit plagiarism;
- Refer to original sources that you have read;
- Adhere to privacy regulations as set by the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience;
- Disclose your use of Generative AI using the indicated text in the textbox above, put this disclosure at the end of your thesis, before the reference list.
Please note: developments regarding Generative AI go fast and therefore the guidelines mentioned on this page are subject to change. When, in the future, new regulations related to the use of Generative AI in education are set in place, we will inform you about these new regulations and their impact on the guidelines. Any updated guidelines will then “overwrite” the current guidelines.
Assessment of your thesis
See Assessment & Supervision for practical information.
See Assessment Criteria Thesis and Assessment Internship for the assessment criteria.
Submitting the thesis
The final version of the master thesis must be uploaded in an electronic copy (PDF) via Collent, for which you can log in from this page. On the My internship(s) page you can use the Cloud icon with the up arrow in the column "Document(s)" to upload your final version of your thesis. This final version will be graded by your supervisors who will automatically receive an e-mail including a link to the final version of your thesis.
This digital copy:
- is required to award credits to your work,
- will be used to check for plagiarism, and
- is archived for future reference.
Please note that the final version of your thesis must be uploaded in a correct way before the final credits will be awarded.
- There is a 5MB size upload limit. See the tips above.
- In case the name of your electronically submitted thesis is not correct (i.e., not according to the all important formatting rules), it will be removed and you’ll have to hand in your thesis again.
Insufficient grade?
What to do in case your master thesis is graded insufficient and you need to take a resit:
· Decide together with your supervisors within what timeframe you will submit your resit thesis
· Reregister as a student in ‘Studielink’ and pay intuition fee
· The final resit version of your thesis needs to be uploaded in https://collent-fpn.maastrichtuniversity.nl/. Don’t forget to add ‘resit’ to the title
· Both assessors will grade the resit version.