Thesis

The Master's Thesis Project is an individual in-depth research or expert design assignment in the specific field of expertise chosen by the student. The nominal duration of a thesis project is approximately 30 weeks (42 ECTS). For students the master programme in September 2022, the Thesis will have nominal study duration of 45 ECTS.

The thesis can roughly be divided into 5 phases. Below, you can find an overview of these phases with a short description. For a more detailed overview what all the phases are about, please refer to the ‘Master Thesis Aerospace Engineering’ Brightspace page. For track related specifications, please contact the Track Coordinator. 

All information on the forms that have to be used during the Thesis project, can be found here.

• Orientation

Together with staff and fellow students, discuss thesis possibilities and pick a supervisor.

• Kick-off meeting

Discuss your thesis subject and your approach with your supervisor and get your subject formally approved.

• Midterm meeting

Here the thesis progress is discussed and the research goals re-evaluated.

• Green-light review

The Green-light meeting is deciding whether you are ready for graduating or not. Here your draft thesis should be ready and checked for plagiarism. 

• Graduation Day (Defence, Assessment and Graduation ceremony)

Your last day of studying will consist of a presentation for friends, family etc. and afterwards a defence with just the committee. After you defence, the committee shall determine the assessment. When they are ready, you will officially graduate your MSc degree and receive your diploma.

Note: a student is expected to have finished all the MSc courses. A student may not start the final graduation phase (thesis project) before having successfully completed the BSc programme and the first year of the MSc programme. Deviation from the second requirement is possible, but only if approved by the thesis supervisor (article 10.2 Implementation Regulations).

Combining the Literature Study with the course Research Methodologies is essential (time-wise and contents-wise), as the course helps you to set-up a good thesis proposal. As of September 2022, the Literature Study is incorporated into the Thesis and is the course Research Methodologies no longer mandatory.

It is possible to do your thesis at a company. There are guidelines applicable which can be found on Brightspace. Here you can also find more information on confidentiality regulations, as some companies may request this.