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MSc Thesis | Students - Studies and Regulations

MSc Thesis

MSc Thesis Research Plan Guidelines

The first page will include the following details:

At the top of the page: “MSc Thesis Working Plan Submitted for Approval”

Below the title:

  • Date of submission of research plan
  • Student's full name
  • Student ID number
  • Academic department
  • Research supervisor's full name
  • Thesis title
  • Animal testing declaration (see paragraph g below)
  • Research plan approval: include the date and signatures of the student, research supervisor and head of department.

The next pages will include the thesis plan in the following format:

  1. Presentation of the research topic: this section briefly describes the topic the student is requesting to research. The presentation must be clear to a professional who is not involved in the specific topic. It will include a supporting literary survey.
  2. Research objectives: describes the research hypotheses and objectives.
  3. Research plan and stages: briefly describes the research stages and methods the student will employ during the course of the research, including an estimated timeline of the different stages (including stages that were completed during the first two semesters).
  4. Preliminary findings: briefly describes the preliminary results of the research including charts and/or illustrations.
  5. Bibliography.
  6. The student will specify which part of the research he/she will conduct.
  7. A student planning to conduct human and/or animal testing as part of the thesis must comply with Ethical Use of Laboratory Animals in Research and receive formal authorization, as per the Animal Welfare Law.

The research plan is to be typed in 11/12 font size, 1.5 line spacing, up to 8 pages including bibliography.

The research plan is to be submitted in PDF format to the head of the academic department signed by the student and the supervisor, The plan is to be submitted by August 31 during the second semester of studies (or by December 31 if the studies began in the spring semester). The head of the academic department will distribute the copies among the teaching committee members.

Within two months from the submission date the teaching committee will review the plan, transfer the approved copy to the Student Affairs Office and will obtain the second copy in the academic department secretariat, no later than the registration period for the third semester of the studies. Any delay in the process will disable the online registration to the second year. Implementing part of the thesis before approval will not obligate the teaching committee.

The teaching committee may obligate the student to provide (in writing or orally) a process report.

 

Thesis

4. The thesis will be submitted as PDF - in Hebrew. Special care must be taken to use Hebrew terminology inasmuch as possible; alternatively, terms may be written in English. The thesis will include a printed abstract in English of 2-3 pages. The thesis may be submitted in English, subject to the supervisor's consent, with an abstract in Hebrew. In order to ensure the linguistic quality of the thesis, the quality of writing will be scrutinized; poorly written work will be returned to students and they will not be examined on their work until it is up to standard. It is therefore highly recommended to use professional editing services before submitting the thesis.

5. The thesis should be set out as follows:

Page 1: external cover – the front cover of the thesis should be printed in Hebrew, and the back cover in English, in accordance with the example in the next section, "sample of cover page".

Page 2: inside cover, identical to the external cover.

Page 3: "This Master's degree thesis was carried out under the supervision of…"in accordance with the example in the next section.

Page 4: acknowledgements

Page 5: Hebrew abstract, 2-3 pages long.

List of Contents

List of Abbreviations

Introduction – scientific background, motivation for research, research objectives and the tested hypotheses.

Materials and Methods: a list of the materials used for the research and the companies from which they were acquired (company name, city, country); specification of the methods and detailed explanations (written as text). A detailed specification of the equipment used, including the company name and its location.

Results: description of trends in the results, with references to figures (in the form of graphs, photographs, diagrams etc.) and tables labeled with detailed titles (below the figure and above the table). Axes must be precisely labeled (in Hebrew or English). Figures and tables will be numbered consecutively (1, 2, 3,…) according to the referencing in the body of the thesis.

Discussion: either as one section or divided to sub-sections.

Bibliography: Adhere to a single citation method which includes the names of all authors, year of publication, title of the paper, complete title of the journal, volume number and page numbers. Maintain uniformity throughout the bibliography. The list of sources will be in alphabetical order of the first author's surname. Hebrew sources will be cited first.

English Abstract: will be a true translation of the Hebrew abstract.

English Cover Page: identical to the Hebrew cover page. Pages in English will face the back cover.

6. The thesis will not exceed 60 pages (excluding appendices of expanded tabular and raw data).

7. The thesis will be submitted to the supervisor for review and evaluation. The supervisor must approve the thesis (or return it for corrections) within a month of submittal.

8. Following the supervisor's approval, 1 PDF copy will be submitted to the department's secretary. The head of the teaching program will appoint 2-3 referees in addition to the supervisor.  If the supervisor/s are from other institutions, at least one referee must belong to the faculty staff. If no such referee is found, the head of the teaching program will justify the appointment of referees in a letter to the Teaching Committee.

9. Immediately after appointing the referees, the head of the teaching program will distribute copies of the thesis among them with an evaluation questionnaire.

10. Each referee will review the work, fill out the evaluation questionnaire, and return it discreetly to the head of the teaching program before the exam (the oral exam will not be held before all grades for the thesis have been submitted). The thesis grade will be determined jointly by the supervisor/s (50%) and the referees (50%). In the case of a difference greater than 10 points between the supervisors' average grade and one of the referees' grade, the grade will be the average of each of the referees' grades and the supervisors' average grade. The grade "excellent" will only be given if all the judges give a grade of 95 or above, otherwise, the maximum grade possible is 94. The exam will be held within 30 days of the submittal date.

 

11. Confidentiality: a thesis can be defined as "confidential" and kept temporarily unpublished according to the following rules:

a. The initiative to define the thesis "confidential" shall be the supervisor's, following the approach of the commercial body funding the research, and/or due to findings of security or commercial significance discovered in the thesis.

b. The supervisor will file a request to the chairperson of the Teaching Committee through the secretariat.

c. Should the request be approved, the student, the head of the teaching program and the referees will sign a confidentiality/non-disclosure statement.

d. The student will submit as many copies as there are referees, and will receive the copies back after the exam.

e. After the exam, the student will submit one copy of the final thesis to the head of the teaching program, and two copies to the supervisor.

f. The head of the teaching program will pass his graded copy to the secretariat to be kept there.

g. The confidentiality will be removed when the student or supervisor will notify the secretariat of its expiry. The supervisor will pass his two copies to the secretariat to be distributed as customary.

Please note: Students whose only remaining requirement is submitting their thesis will enroll as usual to "Thesis" – 71100. Students who submit a confirmation to the secretariat given by the head of the teaching program, that their thesis has been submitted for evaluation no later than December 31, are exempt from enrollment. Any deviation from this timetable will necessitate enrollment and tuition for "Thesis".