About this course

The master’s thesis is an independent research project carried out during the final semester of the programme. It may be written as a monograph or as a scientific article with an accompanying summary chapter.

The course is compulsory in the master’s degree programme.

The work is based on the project plan developed by the student in the course FHV353 (Project Plan for the Master’s Thesis in Public Health Science).Written material from the student’s own project plan may be reused without referencing the project plan.

The student receives supervision from one or more supervisors, with a total allocation of 40 hours. The supervision is intended to provide academic support throughout the entire process, including guidance on relevant literature, practical advice related to data collection when applicable, and adherence to research ethics guidelines. Supervision can be provided in English.

The main supervisor must be an academic employee at NMBU. In addition, it is possible to have a co-supervisor from other educational or research institutions.

A written contract for the master’s thesis must be completed using the designated form. The Faculty must review and approve the contract before the student begins work on the thesis

The examination consists of two parts: submission of the master’s thesis and a public presentation followed by an oral discussion with the examiners. The presentation and subsequent discussion may affect the final grade awarded for the thesis. The examination results are published in StudentWeb

Learning outcome

After a completed master’s thesis, it is expected that the student should:

Knowledge

  • Have specialized insight into the topic of the master’s thesis.
  • Have advanced knowledge of scientific methods.
  • Have advances knowledge of the research process.

Skills

  • Be able to formulate a clear research objective/question.
  • Be able to critically assess and apply relevant research methods and theories as tools in the research process to elucidate a research objective/question.
  • Be able to process and analyze data used in the master’s thesis.
  • Be able to interpret and discuss results in light of existing empirical evidence and theory.
  • Be able to draw conclusions from an independent research project.
  • Be able to master use of literature sources and referencing.

General competence

  • Be able to plan and conduct research independently and in accordance with ethical norms and guidelines, as well as guidelines for handling personal data in research.
  • Be able to communicate extensive independent work in an orderly and clear manner both written and orally.

  • Learning activities

    Independent research carried out under supervision. The supervision takes place both individually and in groups.

  • Teaching support

    A total of 40 hours are set aside for student supervison, including examination.

  • Syllabus

    The course material is developed individually.

  • Prerequisites

    The course is reserved for students whom attend the master programme in Public Health Science. The courses FHV315, FHV320 and FHV330 must be passed before any work on the master's thesis can commence. The course FHV353 Project plan for the master's thesis in public health must be passed before the thesis can be submitted.

  • Assessment method

    The written thesis and the oral exam counts for 100 % of the grade. Graded A-F.

    Master thesis with oral defence Karakterregel: Letter grades Master thesis Karakterregel: Letter grades

  • About use of AI

  • Examiner scheme

    An internal examiner (internal supervisior) and an external examiner will participate in the assessment of the written thesis and the oral presentation/examination.

  • Notes

    Supervision can be provided in English.

    The main supervisor must be one of the scientific staff at NMBU. Staff from other educational- and research institutions may be used as co-supervisors. If there is to be such an agreement, this must be approved by the main supervisor and the institute. The hours set a side for supervision will then be divided between the supervisors, and this must be described in a supervisory agreement.

    About reuse of own written work in the master’s thesis: As a general rule, it is not permitted to reuse of one’s own written work/assignments in the master’s thesis. However, this rule does not apply for the project plan submitted to fulfill the requirements for the course FHV353. Written material from your own project plan can be reused without referring to the project plan.

  • Teaching hours

    40 hours of supervision individually and in groups.

  • Preferential right

    The course is reserved for students whom attend the master programme in public health (M-FOL and M-FOL-DEL)