Duration
900h AUTR
Number of credits
| Master in architecture, professional focus in architecture and urban planning | 30 crédits |
Lecturer
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
General description
The master thesis (TFE) is a personal and original work carried out during the Master's years and presented at the end of the cycle. It constitutes an introduction to research in the broadest sense of the term (fundamental, exploratory, applied, etc.).
Ideally, it produces knowledge and contributes to the deepening of knowledge in the field of architecture. At least, it requires the student to show that he is able to mobilize concepts, theories and know-how taught during the course to grasp an architectural issue, as an exercise or case study. In both cases, he participates in disciplinary development.
The TFE is based on the work carried out by the student in the course Initiation à la Recherche en Architecture 1 : Principes de Base (ARCH0562-1) et Initiation à la Recherche en Architecture 2 : Principes avancés (ARCH0563-1).
You must choose a topic from a set of proposals from the teachers of the thematic workshops of the Master or the research laboratories of the faculty. As part of the Initiation à la Recherche en Architecture 2 : Principes avancés (ARCH0563-1), you will have chosen and developed a TFE's topic and theme, in consultation with your promoter and the seminar teacher.
Specificities of the Master thesis "Project"
The matser thesis "Project" is a large-scale scientific research work, combining "theoretical" and "project" type production.
The articulation between the "theoretical" and the "project" part must be explained at the end of the IRA2 course (Initiation à la Recherche en Architecture 2: Principes avancés) and in the final manuscript.
The "theoretical" part is presented in the form of a manuscript and the "project" part in various forms, left to the choice of the supervisors and promoters, depending on the subject studied.
The master thesis is conducted and supervised by:
- an Master Design studio (Q2 or Q4) of the Faculty of Architecture
- a research laboratory of the Faculty of Architecture
Content ans structure of the master thesis
The master thesis must strictly comply with the scientific requirements of a university level. It is built on and around a strictly circumscribed research problem, a state of the art built in depth, providing a precise insight; and a structured methodological approach consistent with the research objectives pursued. These three key elements are the subject of the work carried out in the course Initiation à la Recherche en Architecture 2 : Principes avancés (ARCH0563-1).
The thesis "Project" must take the form of a manuscript and a set of deliverables dedicated to the "project" part, with traces being compiled into an associated folder. Both parties must report on the research approach taken to achieve the objectives pursued.
Form of the master thesis
The thesis is to be delivered in the form of a typed and bound manuscript comprising between 100,000 and 250,000 characters, including spaces, excluding footnotes, preface, bibliography, annexes, indexes and tables. The manuscript includes all the graphic documents necessary for proper communication and understanding of the research.
Bibliography, notes, citations and captions must be written in accordance with current scientific standards.
The structure of the manuscript follows the main line of the approach and includes at least the following elements:
- An abstract or summary
- A description of the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- An introduction presenting the problem
- The state of the art: a full chapter presenting in a synthetic and cross-section way the knowledge related to the subject, allowing to situate the work and its problematic in the landscape of the knowledges, to highlight outstanding questions, and to build an informed, critical and reflective attitude towards the subject.
- The body of work is composed of chapters in an order showing the progression of the reflexion
- A conclusion
- A bibliography mentioning all the sources used, presented strictly in accordance with scientific conventions of referencing
- A table of contents and a table of illustrations and figures.
- Any annexes.
Any work that does not respect this structure will be considered inadmissible.
For more information, please refer to the TFE Rules published on eCampus
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
Through this work, the student demonstrates his/her ability to carry out a personal, methodical and rigorous approach to a research question in architecture: to construct a relevant thought process, to seek, evaluate and cross-reference information, to identify, understand and deconstruct the obvious, opinions and commonplaces by adopting a critical stance, etc.
He also demonstrates the ability to organize and structure their thinking, to maintain an informed, critical and reflective position, to problematize architectural practice and to communicate the results of his or her research process in a well-argued manner.
For the thesis "Project" supervised by a design studio, we invite you to also read carefully the "learning outcomes" section of the studio that welcomes you.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
The development of your EFT can be based on:
- The set of skills and knowledge acquired during your entire course, and more specifically in the field covered by your EFT;
- The know-how and tools specific to the architectural project;
- Skills and knowledge related to scientific research, acquired in the courses of Initiation to Research in Architecture 1 - Basic Principles and Initiation to Research in Architecture 2 - Advanced Principles.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The TFE is developed over two years, covering the entire Master's course:
- The Initiation to Research in Architecture 1: Basic Principles (ARCH0562-1) (Q1, 5 ECTS) course allows students to acquire the fundamentals of research and scientific writing.
- The Initiation to Research in Architecture 2: Advanced Principles (ARCH0563-1) (Q2, 5 ECTS) course that will allow you to structure and write a scientific notice explaining the research problem to be developed in your TFE.
- The development of TFE itself (Q3 and Q4, 30 ECTS)
Both supervisors are academic or scientific members of the University of Liège:
- TFE Project in Design Studio: one has the profile "Teacher in Design Studio" and the other has the profile "Scientific expert in the field". The «teacher in Design Studio» profile is necessarily an academic or scientific permanent member of the Faculty of Architecture, active in the workshop concerned.
- TFE Projet Research Lab: one has the profile «researcher in a Lab» and the other the profile «Scientific expert in the field" The profile «researcher in a Lab» is a permanent academic or scientific member of the Faculty of Architecture. The latter can only supervise one TFE project per year.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Blended learning
Further information:
During the Master 2 (Q3 and Q4), you benefit from the educational offer of the design studio or the research laboratory as well as a work space within it.
You work on average 2 days a week, according to a schedule and terms defined by the supervisors. You are obliged to participate in the laboratory's workshop/research activities.
Your two supervisors define and explain the terms of exchange at the beginning of the coaching. Exchanges between promoters and students can take place both on-site and off-site, depending on the periods and availability of each. Minimum of eight meetings must take place over the two quadrimestres
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus
- Microsoft Teams
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam AND oral exam
Written work / report
Further information:
Composition of the TFE jury
The TFE jury must be composed of:
- Two supervisor;
- A minimum of two readers chosen by the student in consultation with the two supervisors. At least one of the readers is an academic or scientific member of the Faculty of Architecture
- The workshop or laboratory team, if desired by the student and/or promoters.
The student is solely responsible for deciding to submit his or her work. However, it is strongly advised to make this decision in consultation with the supervisors.
The TFE must be submitted in accordance with the schedule and procedures. These procedures are communicated by the Faculty on eCampus. They are set up in three stages, all sessions combined:
Submission of supervisor's selection/choice:
The choice and agreement of the promoter must be submitted at the time of the deposit of the scientific notice, at the end of the course Initiation to Research in Architecture 2: Advanced principles (ARCH0563-1) (Q2 - eCampus)
If the promoter fails, the management agreement is not automatically renewed. The student must then apply for a new application for the following year.
Submission of the composition of the jury and title of the TFE:
The composition of the jury and the final title of the TFE must be submitted on eCampus, at the date proposed by the Faculty (Q3 - eCampus).
The composition of the jury is reviewed by the Chair of the Master's Jury and the TFE coordinator and then approved by the Faculty Council.
Submission of the final manuscript:
The manuscript of the TFE must be deposited on the portal for access to the final study work of the Master's degree of the University of Liège, MatheO.
All sessions combined, students who do not comply with the procedures and deadlines for filing are automatically postponed
Evaluation procedure
Within the framework of the TFE Project, at least one evaluation is organized during the academic year. The schedule and expectations are set between the coaching team and the student. The weight of this intermediate test will represent 20% of the overall course score
The TFE is assessed by the jury members in an oral defence. The student is informed by the faculty of the schedule (date and time) a few days after the deposit on Matheo.
Oral defence is open to the public.
After the jury's defence and deliberation, it assigns a collegial grade to the work which is then announced to the student.
Evaluation criteria
The evaluation grid and criteria details are available on the eCampus area of the course.
For the TFE project developed in a Design Studio, we also invite you to read carefully the evaluation criteria of the studio concerned.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
The student is invited to read carefully the TFE regulations posted on eCampus. It will answer the vast majority of his questions.
Contacts
Master thesis coordinator: Sophie TRACHTE: sophie.trachte@uliege.be
Administration: tfe.archi@uliege.be