PSY4090 - Master Thesis
Course content
The students choose their own research topic for their thesis in the 2nd semester. The students are themselves responsible for finding their topic. The research and writing of the thesis takes place in the 3rd and 4th semester. By the end of the 3rd semester the students will be invited to a writing seminar.
Learning outcome
The aim of the course is to enable the student to do independent scientific work.
Please consult the guidelines for the master thesis
Admission
Students at UiO must apply for courses in StudentWeb.
International applicants, if you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.
The examination in this course is not available for external candidates. Only students admitted to the course may sit for the examination.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisite knowledge
The courses in the 1st and 2nd semesters must be passed in order to enrol in the master thesis course. If you have failed one course in the first two semesters, you can enrol in the master's thesis course, but the thesis will not be graded until all courses are passed.
Teaching
All students appoint their own supervisor. An agreement needs to be filled out by both the supervisor and the student. A copy of the agreement can be found on the semester page. Please see the supervision guidelines for details.
Writing seminar:
The students are invited to a writing seminar that takes place over two days late in the semester. The writing seminars are obligatory.
Master Thesis plan:
All students must hand in a master thesis plan that is written in collaboration with the supervisor. A signed copy is to be handed in to the administration by 1 October.
This is a working document where the student is able to show how he/she is planning to develop the thesis, where dates/milestones may be set and meetings and deadlines with the supervisor may be agreed upon.
Examination
The deadline for the submission of the thesis is the beginning of May (medio November if you are 1 semester late). The deadline can be found on the semester page. The compulsory master thesis plan in the third semester has to be approved in order to submit the thesis.
Students failing to meet the standard deadline will be able to submit their thesis in the following semester by the specified deadlines. Please note that, apart from cases where a student has been granted an extension by the administration, delaying submission of your thesis ends your right to supervision and also your right to have the thesis evaluated.
Examination support material
The master thesis is an independent work and all references must be listed according to APA norms.
Language of examination
English. Students are allowed to write the thesis in Norwegian.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
The thesis will be marked by one internal marker and one external marker.
They are required to write a report as to why the grade is given.
The grading may take up to 8 weeks but normally it takes 3 weeks.
The department may use the acknowledged plagiarism filter, Ephorus, for all written assignments when in doubt there may be a case of plagiarism in the submitted work.
For more info, see: sitat og kildebruk
For more information regarding the grading scale, see:
Norwegian
English
Explanations and appeals
You may request an explanation of your grades, and you may also appeal against your grades or make a complaint about formal examination errors. Read more about explanations and appeals.
A master thesis that has been given fail (F) as a result can be submitted only once in an altered form. The Master's Degree Programme will set a new date for submittal (§ 5.6.1 in Forskrift om studier og eksamener ved Universitetet i Oslo).
Justification of examination results and appeals
Grade appeal form (in Norwegian)
A master thesis that has been given a pass (A - E) as a result cannot be submitted again in an altered form (§ 5.6.2 in Forskrift om studier og eksamener ved Universitetet i Oslo).
Resit an examination
The only valid reason for not meeting the deadline is documented illness and/or justified, unforeseen problems in gathering/analyzing of data or likewise. Illness must be documented by doctors declaration and unforeseen problems must be documented by supervisor. Eksample on unforeseen problems may be that data is supposed to be collected from a source that is now no longer existing or such.
Note: Delaying submission of your thesis ends your right to supervision unless the administration has confirmed otherwise.
Evaluation
Feedback from our students is essential to us in our efforts to ensure and further improve the high quality of our programmes and courses. All courses are subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students on a particular course to participate in a more comprehensive, periodic evaluation of this course.