SUM4091 – Master's Thesis in Development, Environment and Cultural Change

After completing the course, you will have:

• learned how to plan and complete an extensive research project on sustainable development
• learned how to gather and critically systematize and analyse a substantial amount of information on your selected topic
• increased knowledge of relevant interdisciplinary theory and research methods
• gained academic writing skills in English

Admission to the masters programme Development, Environment and Cultural Change and passing grades in the compulsory courses:

• SUM4100 – Research Methods and Project Design (continued)
• SUM4200 – Advanced Introduction to Development and Environment (continued)
• SUM4300 – Text Lab

For students who started their CES Master`s degree before Autumn 2012:

• SUM4000 – Development and environment: Theory and policy challenges (discontinued)
• SUM4100A
• SUM4011B – Research Methods (II)
• SUM4012 – Cross-Cultural Perspectives on the Environment

Mainly individual supervision (or supervision in groups). The students are assigned a supervisor after the completion of SUM4100 – Research Methods and Project Design (continued).

As a general rule, the scope of the supervision relationship should encompass from 10 - 15 hours, beginning with an initial meeting in the student’s second semester and ending with the thesis submission. Meetings between advisor and student are more effective when both agree beforehand on the subject of the meeting and the issues/questions to be discussed. In the final writing phase, the subject will usually be drafts of sections of the thesis, which should be submitted to the advisor in advance of meetings.

Beginning in autumn 2020, the course will encompass not only individual supervision and writing the thesis itself but also participation in Masterlab sessions. The sessions will be divided unequally between the autumn and the spring semesters. Read more about regulations regarding compulsory activities.

Practical information about master`s thesis template, layout, fieldwork and grant, sensitive data reading room seat, etc.

Starting Autumn 2025: The final Master`s degree exam consists of an individual Master`s thesis (24000-36000 words - approx. 80-100 pages, front matter, appendix, and bibliography not included) and an oral examination. A commission consisting of one internal and one external examiner assesses the thesis, and the oral examination may adjust the final grade. The oral examination will only be held if the Master`s thesis is given a passing grade.

Until Spring 2025: The final Master`s degree exam consists of an individual Master`s thesis (90-130 pages, front matter, appendix, and bibliography not included) and an oral examination. A commission consisting of one internal and one external examiner assesses the thesis, and the oral examination may adjust the final grade. The oral examination will only be held if the Master`s thesis is given a passing grade.

For practical information, please read more about Submitting the Master's Thesis at GLOBE.

Assessment guide

A master’s thesis that is not passed may be resubmitted only once, and then within the agreed time and in revised form. A master’s thesis that is passed may not be resubmitted in revised form.

If you withdraw from the exam after the deadline, this will be counted as an examination attempt.