Course code M0-BIOEC

M0-BIOEC Planning the Master's Thesis

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Showing course contents for the educational year 2022 - 2023 .

Course responsible: Frode Alfnes
Teachers: Thore Larsgård
ECTS credits: 0
Faculty: School of Economics and Business
Teaching language: NO
(NO=norsk, EN=Engelsk)
Teaching exam periods:
This course has teaching and evaluation in the Autumn semester. There will be a self-study variant of the course in the spring semester.
Course frequency: Annually
First time: Study year 2022-2023
Course contents:

The course will lead to a project description for the master's thesis in business administration. The master's thesis is an independent and scientific research work where the students will go in-depth on a problem. It is important to get started early with the processes of finding a writing partner, a topic for the thesis, and possibly a company to work with.

The course covers the following topics: guidelines for writing a master's thesis, formulation of a problem statement, writing a project description, handling research data, privacy and research ethics, and references, citation and plagiarism. Together, this should provide a good basis for planning a master's thesis in line with research ethics norms.

After submitting a preliminary project sketch in the middle of the semester, everyone will be assigned a supervisor for the master's thesis.

Learning outcome:

When the course has been passed, you should have the following knowledge, skills and general competence.

Knowledge

  • You will have knowledge of guidelines for writing master's theses at NMBU.
  • You will have knowledge of handling research data, privacy and research ethics, and references, citation and plagiarism.

Skills

  • You should be able to write a project plan for a research study.
  • You should be able to find relevant scientific articles and previous master's theses.

General competence

  • You should be able to identify research issues within business administration.
  • You should be able to plan a social science research study.
Learning activities:

M0-BIOEC runs over one semester. In the autumn semester, there are lectures, a seminar with student presentations of issues, assignments of supervisors, meetings with supervisors, and writing of project descriptions.

For those who plan to write a master's thesis in the autumn and have not already taken the course, there will be a self-study variant of the course in the spring semester, which uses recordings of the autumn lectures.

The master's thesis shall mainly be written by two students jointly. To write alone, you must get approval from the course coordinator. The project description for the master's thesis to be submitted in this course must also mainly be written by the same two students jointly.

Teaching support:
There will be lectures once a week in the first half of the semester. The lectures will be recorded. It is mandatory to attend a seminar where students give a presentation of their planned research problem and data collection about halfway through the semester. For exchange students, the presentation can be delivered as a 10-minute Zoom film. In the second half of the semester, it is recommended to have two meetings with the assigned supervisor.
Syllabus:

Recommended literature:  

Forskningsmetode for økonomisk-administrative fag (2020) by Asbjørn Johannessen, Line Christoffersen and Per Arne Tufte (or equivalent book in the social science method). 

Masteroppgaven - hvordan begynne - og fullføre (2020) and Inger Furseth og Euris Larry Everett (or equivalent book on writing a master's thesis).

Prerequisites:
The course is reserved for students who have been admitted to the master program in bioeconomics at the School of Economics and Business at NMBU, and who have completed several of the most important courses in the master's degree.
Recommended prerequisites:
Mandatory activity:
Participation in a workshop on topics and issues where students present their master's thesis ideas.Completion of a canvas quiz

 

The mandatory activity is valid only for one semester, i.e., if a student would like to retake the course, the mandatory activity also need to be retaken. The mandatory activity must be approved in order to be assessed in the course.

 

A signed contract between student and supervisor is submitted to the faculty by post-hh@nmbu.no by 1 December for the master's thesis in the spring.

Exceptionally, students can choose to write a master's thesis in the autumn. Then the signed contract between student and supervisor must be submitted to the faculty by post-hh@nmbu.no by 1 May.

Assessment:

Pass or fail based on the project description.

The project description is assessed by the course coordinator based on the template for the project description.

Nominal workload:
M0-BIOEC and M30- BIOEC are combined 750 hours.
Entrance requirements:
Masters students at the NMBU Masters Degree Programme in Bioeconomy - Biobased Value Creation and Business Development
Note:

Submission of a signed master's contract to the supervisor and study administration at the Norwegian School of Management.

A signed contract between student and supervisor is submitted to the faculty by post-hh@nmbu.no by 1 December for the master's thesis in the spring.

Exceptionally, students can choose to write a master's thesis in the autumn. Then the signed contract between student and supervisor must be submitted to the faculty by post-hh@nmbu.no by 1 May.

Examiner:
The quiz and project description will be evaluated by the course coordinator.
Examination details: Project description: Passed / Not Passed