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The student should be able to
· Formulate a well-defined problem, argue for the relevance and usefulness of this problem
statement and argue how the problem can be analyzed using quantitative economic methods
· Identify relevant literature, describe the essence of it and argue for its relevance, and reflect on its
strengths and weaknesses related to the problem statement
· Identify and apply relevant quantitative methods and explain their relevance and limitations for the
problem statement
· Apply quantitative economic tools and methods to analyze the economic issues and evaluate the
results in a comprehensible manner
· Reflect on the obtained results in relation to the problem statement, the methodology used and the
literature and derive the most important conclusions of the analyses
· Apply a scientific, clear and concise English language to present the analyses, both in the thesis
and at the defense
· At the defense, argue for the main premises and results in the thesis, and reflect on the comments
made by the examiners
The IMSQE thesis is the most independent part of the master's programme. It may consist mainly of empirical analyses, it may concentrate more on theoretical modeling or it may be a mixture of empirical and theoretical work. In any case, the ability to formulate and solve independent research questions using quantitative economic methods is an important element in writing an IMSQE Master's thesis.
The IMSQE master's thesis must comply with the following rules:
1. The thesis subject and statement of the problem must be approved by a faculty member at the School of Economics and Management. The thesis can only be supervised by a faculty member at the School. The Study Board for Economics and Management determines the submission date.
2. After the supervisor has made the approval, a supervision plan must be made. The supervision plan includes an outline of the thesis contents and an assessment of the availability of suitable material. The supervisor approves the subject matter and at the same time, a deadline for submission of the thesis is stipulated and a plan of supervision is made. The supervision plan includes an outline of how the supervision will take place while the student is writing the thesis.
3. The size of the thesis may not exceed 100 standard pages, see the study regulations for the definition of a standard page. Normally, a thesis is between 60 to 100 standard pages. The total number of pages may be lower than 60, say, down to 40 pages, if the thesis focuses on analyzing independent research questions that aim at extending the existing literature. That could be done by specifying and solving new theoretical models or doing empirical analyses combing data and econometric methods in novel fashions.
4. The thesis must only be made available to the general public if the author has accepted this by a special declaration. If the author has used material which has been obtained through trainee work in a private company or similar, the company must also accept the publication in writing.
5. The grading of the master's thesis is done with reference to the learning objectives. It also reflects the linguistic clarity and confidence used to present the subject matter of the thesis. In extreme cases, the linguistic clarity and confidence may count as a separate factor in the grading.
6. Before the grade for the thesis is given, a public defense must take place with the external examiner present either in person or as a video conference. At the defense, the student presents the main premises and findings in the thesis. There are 20-25 minutes for the presentation and around 30 minutes for questions from the examiners. The public defense counts towards fulfillment of the learning objectives and, thus, is an integral part of the final assessment of the thesis.
7. Upon written request to the supervisor, the author is entitled to a brief written statement on the thesis and the fulfillment of the learning objectives. This statement is prepared by the supervisor and is not binding on the external examiner.
8. According to sec. 19, subsec. 5 of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation's Order no. 814 of 29 June 2010 on bachelor and master's programmes (candidatus) at universities, the master's thesis must document skills in applying academic theory and methods to a specific academic subject. The thesis completes the programme.
9. The submission deadline and the time to the defense are stipulated in the guidelines for the thesis procedure on the school homepage.
10. If the student does not comply with the stipulated deadline for the submission of the thesis or fails the master's thesis, i.e. has been given the grades -3 or 00, the University will approve a modified problem formulation within the same subject area and at the same time stipulates a new deadline for the submission of the thesis. If the student does not hand in the thesis within the stipulated time limit, a third examination attempt is granted, cf. the Ministerial Order on Examinations, on the same conditions that apply to a second examination attempt (see thesis procedure).
11. When the University has stipulated a deadline for the submission of the thesis, cf. the Ministerial Order on bachelor and master's programs at universities, the thesis cannot be deregistered, and an axamination attempt has been used if the thesis is not submitted within the stipulated time limit.
12. A thesis is considered as submitted when it has been handed in to the office of the Study Board for Economics and Management.
Group thesis:
The Study Board for Economics and Management may approve the submission of a joint IMSQE master's thesis from two or more students. An exemption to hand in a joint thesis will be allowed on the recommendation of the supervisor, and the application for such an exemption must be submitted to the Study Board before the thesis work is started.
An exemption to hand in a joint thesis will only be granted if the nature and scope of the paper make it particularly suitable for this purpose. The contribution of the individual students to the joint thesis must be distinguishable from that of the other(s),
which means that it must appear from the paper who is the author of its various parts. The size of a thesis may not exceed N times 100 standard pages, where N is the number of students.
It is not possible to satisfy the requirement for the written course work to obtain a master's degree by only joint papers.
The IMSQE Master's thesis is to be the last study activity in the IMSQE programme.
Take-home assignment and oral exam, 7-point grading scale, with external co-examiner
