Duration
Number of credits
| Master in oceanography (120 ECTS) | 27 crédits |
Lecturer
Collégialité
Coordinator
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
All year long
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The Final Thesis of the master in Oceanography consists on a scientific research assignment realized by the student. It must be original and is realised individually by the student. It represents 25 credits of the second bloc and finalises the master. The students must realise the final thesis in a research unit or laboratory, either at the ULiège or elsewhere (in Belgium or abroad). The final thesis cannot be done out of a research group, unless exceptionally approved by the jury of the Master in Oceanography. The final thesis is realised under the supervision of (i) an ULiège supervisor or (ii) an ULiege supervisor and co-supervisor. If the final thesis is realised outside of the ULiège, a supervisor or co-supervisor from ULiège must be associated with it. A "young collaborator" can be also guide the student, in addition of the supervisor and co-supervisor.
Examples of final thesis subjects are given by the supervisors. They will provide a potential list during Spring in the first year of the master (Bloc 1) to the secretary of the Board of Studies. This list will contain a brief description of the topic, used technique and pre-requisites. This list will be provided to the students, but as it is not exhaustive, the students are invited to propose other oceanography subjects after discussion with the supervisor. The students can visit the labs and talk to potential supervisors in order to obtain more information.
The final thesis topic is chosen during the first year of the Master in Oceanography, and will be realised during the second semester of the second year. The student will propose, in agreement with the supervisor: name of supervisor (and co-supervisor), provisional title, proposed board of reviewers (including their e-mail addresses) and the courses chosen. This document must be sent at the beginning of the second year, and latest before the first meeting of the Jury, to the secretary and president of the Jury (with a copy to Mariella Lunetta: m.lunetta@uliege.be).
All proposals must be approved by the Jury of the Master in their first meeting.
The Final thesis must be presented during one of the exam sessions. A presentation out of the session periods is only possible for exceptional reasons, and only with the approval of the Faculty of Sciences and the Jury.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The final thesis is a personal work that calls upon the skills acquired throughout the various courses of the Master in Oceanography. It aims at developing the independence, as well as the critical and scientific spirit of the student. This allows the student to discover the work of a scientist.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
The course of the Bloc 1 provide a first basis for the realisation of a final thesis in oceanography. Once the subject of the final thesis is established the student will choose, with the agreement of the supervisor, the optional courses necessary for the successful completion of the thesis.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
These will depend on the subject chosen, and can consist of field work, laboratory analysis, computer analysis and simulations, etc.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Certain activities (field work, laboratory analyses...) will need the presence of the student. The student is encouraged to inform the supervisor on a regular basis about the progress of their work, and to discuss any relevant scientific question with the supervisor. The supervisor can establish at the beginning of the academic year a calendar and/or a list of specifications defining the goals of the thesis work.
Recommended or required readings
The supervisor can recommend reading scientific articles or books allowing the student to improve his/her knowledge of the subject.
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam AND oral exam
Other : Master thesis report
Additional information:
The final thesis must be clear and to the point. It will have a maximum length of 50 pages, with the following sections: Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussion, Conclusions and Perspectives. A table of contents will be place at the beginning and a full list of bibliographic references will be placed at the end (bibliography that will allow finding the cited references: a complete reference is needed including authors, complete title, journal, volume, pages, DOI or web address if no DOI is attributed), before annexes (if present). The table of contents, the list of abbreviations, the references and the annexes do not count towards the 50-page limit. A 1-page abstract in French and English will summarise the main results and conclusions, and will be placed at the beginning of the thesis. The introduction (and or discussion) section must frame the study in an oceanographic framework, reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of oceanography as seen during the Master courses. The following text will be also placed in one of the first pages: "According to the rules imposed by the jury of the Master in Oceanography, this document must not exceed 50 pages in Times 12 or an equivalent font".
The cover page will contain: the ULiège logo, name or logo of the research group, the title, name of student, academic year, and any other information that the supervisor requests.
The font used will be large enough (Times 12 for example, line spacing of 1.5).
The final thesis can be written in English.
Annexes cannot contain data necessary for a correct understanding of the work. Annexes can only contain information like raw data tables, which may allow a better understanding of the text or a verification of certain calculations.
The board of reviewers is composed by 4 or 5 persons (including the supervisor) with a PhD or equivalent degree. There will be no more than 2 persons from the same research group or more than 3 persons from 2 research groups.
The final assessment is established as follows:
- Work realised during the year =10%
- Written report = 40%
- Oral defense 50% = 20% oral presentation and 30% response to question
Criteria
The evaluation guide applied by the board of reviewers is available for students (for both the written report and oral exam). For the written report, the criteria include the quality of the document (orthography, grammar, readability, general structure), knowledge of the state of the art in the field of study (adequate bibliography, critical view, formatting of references, completeness) , the presentation of the objectives of the work, the methodology and results (clarity, precision), interpretation of results (structure, relation with objectives, use of bibliography, critical thinking, framing the study in the broad oceanographic framework). During the oral presentation the following will be evaluated: style (figure, orthography, clarity of the oral presentation), content (knowledge of the subject, precision, objectives), and the response to the questions (reasoning, relation with other subjects, precision, knowledge of the subject)
Work placement(s)
Not foreseen, but depending on the subject traveling might be necessary. This will be discussed with the supervisor.
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
When submitting the final document to the supervisor, the student must provide as well the pdf version of the manuscript, the raw data, code and programs used and necessary for the continuation of the work. All material used by the student must be given back at the moment of submission.
The student will send a copy of the final thesis document to each member of the board of reviewers and will ask them if the wish to receive a paper copy (which will be provided to them at their office).
The pdf of the manuscript must be uploaded to the ULiègeg website MatheO at the time of submission. Only manuscripts submitted there will be evaluated.
Oral defenses will take place in a room with an overhead projector. The students will bring a computer with their presentation loaded in it. The dates of the presentations will be defined by the Faculty of Sciences during the second semester, and the order of the presentations will be fixed 5 days before the presentation.
The dates for the final submission and the oral defences will be announced by the board of studies, and will be displayed in the website of the Faculty of Sciences.
Contacts
Mme Aida ALVERA AZCARATE
a.alvera@uliege.be
Mme Mariellla LUNETTA
M.Lunetta@uliege.be