MSc thesis examination FAQ
The below Q&A summarises information that I regularly have to provide to prospective or active MSc thesis students. It is mainly ordered chronologically over the degree project.
BEFORE STARTING:
Q1 Projects: I am interested in doing a MSc thesis project with you as examiner, can you propose a project? A: Start by checking the KTH thesis portal, https://kth-exjobb.powerappsportals.com/sv-SE/. We announce projects regularly. If there is no fitting proposal there, do send an email and we will try to find a suitable project.
Q2 Eligibility: I have not completed all the courses required to be eligible for the MSc thesis course, but I have this really cool project offer; can't you make an exception and accept to examine it? A: No, examiners have no mandate to overrule eligibility criteria. Any exception requests are to be handled by the education adminstration.
Q3 Proposal: I would like you to examine my project, can you do that? A: I examine a very large number of MSc theses each year and while I try to accept projects of interest within my areas of expertise, I do need to prioritise, as follows:
- Projects supervised by TMH faculty or PhD students
- Projects closely aligning with my research (see my profile), e.g., social human-robot interaction, speech technology, technology-enhanced learning.
- Projects within NLP, including the application of LLMs
- Projects focusing on medical imaging
- Projects from students in the MAIG and IAVN tracks of the CINEK/TIEMM program
Q4 Examiner in proposal: Do I have to have an examiner (and supervisor) before submitting my proposal? A: No. The majority of proposals get an examiner after submission, based on the match with the proposal title, keywords and proposal description. However, to attract an examiner and supervisor, it is important that the title and keywords clearly indicate the area of the project and that they can be generally mapped to research carried out by researchers at EECS.
Q5 Time to get examiner-supervisor: I have been waiting very long to be assigned an examiner/supervisor; why? A: If you submit a proposal without any examiner/supervisor indicated, it will go into a sign-up list, asking for examiners/supervisors to volunteer to take on the proposal. If your proposal is, e.g., not within the area of interest for any examiner or submitted late (so that many examiners have filled their quota), you may have to wait longer. You can be proactive and contact relevant examiners yourself – but do so with discernment; mass emailing will not work.
Q6 Assigning supervisor: You have agreed to be my examiner, will you assign a supervisor? A: No, in general. If the project is within HRI, TEL or speech technology, I will probably be able to connect you with a supervisor at TMH, but since I examine MSc theses in many areas with supervisors from many different departments, I cannot find supervisors for all the projects that I am examining.
Q7 Examiner-Supervisor division: How involved will you be as examiner in my project? A: Students mainly interact with the supervisor during the thesis project. The examiner should be an objective assessor at the end of the project (and only have 6h in total for all tasks related to the project). This means that the examiner will a) Provide feedback on your Individual plan, b) Assess your presentation and final reports, c) Host your oral presentation, d) Handle reporting. If there is a specific need (e.g., a non-responding supervisor), you can request intervention by or a meeting with the supervisor.
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BEGINNING + CANVAS:
Q8 Individual plan: What is the next step after my proposal has been accepted? A: The individual plan is written as a more thorough version of the proposal, made in agreement with the supervisor. Do not send/submit an individual plan that has not been approved by the supervisor.
Q9 Canvas submissions: Why have I not received feedback on my plan/report submitted in Canvas? A: No notifications are sent to the examiner (or supervisor) when their thesis students submit an assignment in Canvas. Notify the examiner by email in order to get the submission assessed (alternatively, send the plan/report directly by email).
Q10 Canvas grading: Is there a problem that my assignments have not been marked as completed in Canvas?A: No (Except for Active Listening and Opposition), Canvas is only for internal book-keeping and is not connected to the actual grade reporting. If you have communicated with the examiner and have received approval outside Canvas, that is sufficient.
Q11 Pre-study: Will you assess my prestudy? A: No, the pre-study is assessed by the supervisor only. The examiner instead reads it as part of the presentation report.
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PRESENTATION, ACTIVE LISTENING AND OPPOSITION:
Q12 Presentation report: My supervisor has not yet approved my presentation report, but I really want to present soon; can you assess it? A: No, all presentation reports must first be approved by the supervisor. The examiner-supervisor scheme relies on both assessing the work and the examiner cannot bypass the supervisor.
Q13 Presentation timing: How long in advance do I need to send you the report to present on day D? A: The opponent should get one week for the review (D-7) and the examiner normally also needs one week (D-14). Note that during the period middle of May to middle of June, many reports are submitted at the same time and the examiner may hence need additional time (D-21). Before this, the report needs to be approved by the supervisor, which may require several iterations. Count on submitting the report to the supervisor at least one month ahead of the presentation.
Q14 Presentation scheduling: How do I book a presentation slot? A: Presentations are scheduled together with the examiner. Contact me by email. Presentations are held throughout the year, except during July.
Q15 Presentation period: When are you available for presentations at the end of the spring term? A: I can generally take presentations until the end of June. Since most students are ready to present around week 2-3 of June (c:a 3–14 June), it is advisable to plan for presentation either at the end of May or later in June.
Q16 Presentation format: I would like to present online, is that possible? A: Yes, both zoom and physical presentations are allowed. For logistic reasons (and since online presentations often attract more listeners), I prefer online presentations. Do indicate well in advance if you would like to present in a seminar room, so that this can be booked.
Q17 Presentation audience: My supervisor at the principal is interested in joining the presentation, is that possible?A: Yes, representatives from the principal are most welcome – as are family members, friends etc – the presentation is open to the public.
Q18 Getting an opponent: How do I get an opponent for my presentation? A: Check in Canvas and/or with the Director of degree projects, since it differs depending on course.
Q19 Presentation announcement: How is my presentation announced? A: The examiner announces the presentation via Canvas. To do so, the following information is required:
- Date and time:
- Title:
- Presenter:
- Opponent:
- Examiner:
- Zoom link: [Create one so that you are host of the meeting]
- (Room: If applicable)
- Abstract:
Q20 Active listening timing: I have just started my thesis project, can I attend as active listener? A: YES! The intention is that active listeners should get insights regarding scopes of MSc theses, and presentation and opposition procedures and it is hence better the earlier in the project you attend as active listener (and in particular better to do it before your own presentation).
Q21 Active listening registration: Do I need to pre-register to be an active listener? A: No, you are welcome to just show up. If you have sent an email about being an active listerner, you are welcome even if I did not have time to confirm your participation.
Q22 Active listening reporting: What do I need to do in order for my active listening to be reported? A: After the presentation,
a) send an email to engwall@kth.se with the following information:
- Presentation details (name of presenter, title and date)
- Year in Canvas "Degree Projects at EECS 20XX"
- Active listening 1 or 2
- Question asked
b) Copy and paste the above information into the corresponding assignment in Canvas.
Q23 Opposition: I have heard that you required other students to redo their written opposition; how do I avoid that? A: While it is very rare that the opposition is marked as failed, it is not uncommon that I have to ask the opponent to revise the written opposition to be more complete and thorough. This almost often happens when the opponent has provided brief (1–3 sentences) answers using the Q&A structure in the opposition template (NB, these are guiding questions and the report is often better when writing a coherent text for each area of the opposition template). Note the instruction in the template that the written opposition should both demonstrate the opponent's understanding of the work and allow the author to improve the report for the final version. If either the thorough understanding or concrete comments, advice and questions to the presenter is missing, a revision of the written opposition will be required.
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FINISHING UP:
Q24 Final report preparation: After my presentation, what do I need to do before submitting the final report?A: For the final report, you should take comments by the opponent and examiner into account and consider if and how these could improve the report. Together with the final report, you should hence provide a Rebuttal/Change letter in which you specify each more substantial comment from the opponent or examiner and an explanation what you did to address the comment. If you deem that the comment is either not possible to address (e.g., for lack of time or ressources) or would not improve the report (i.e., you do not agree with it), you should nevertheless specify the comment and justify why you did not make a corresponding change.
Q25 Final report first page: I should specify topic in "Degree project in..."; is this my master programme? A: No, it is the main subject area, Computer Science and Engineering (or Electrical Engineering).
Q26 Final report submission: What do I need to do before or after submitting my final report? A: To report the degree project as completed, the following needs to have been completed:
- Final report + Change letter (send by email to examiner)
- Opposition
- Active listening 1 & 2
- Self-evaluation
Either you make sure that Opposition, Active listening and Self-evaluation are marked as complete before sending the final report to the examiner;
Or, if Opposition and/or Active listening is done after submitting the final report, notify the examiner by email when the tasks have been completed (no notifications are sent from Canvas).
Q27 Final grade reporting: How long will it take to get my final grade reported? A: Count on 1-2 weeks, depending on the examiners and the administrations workload. After checking the final report, the examiner sends it to the administration, where the result is manually entered into Ladok and the examiner is notified to certify the result. These manual steps signify that reporting is not immediate. Note, for DA231X, an additional step is required, since PRO1-3 first need to be certified before the course grade can be entered, introducing an additional delay.
Q28 DiVA publication: My report has not been published in DiVA; can you help me with that? A: No, publication in DiVA is made by the education administration. Please send an email to student-support@eecs.kth.se if your report has still not been published after a number of months.
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Q29 [DA235X] Pair-wise projects: a) How are the instructions in Canvas modified for projects in pair?
b) Can I do the project together with a student following another track (e.g., FMIB) in TIEMM/CINEK?
A: a) The project is carried out and presented together (report and oral presentation), but otherwise the instructions apply. Specifically, the individual plan (parts may be written jointly, but the plan should detail the individual student's background, eligibility, project responsibilities), self-evaluation and opposition should be carried out individually.
b) No, unless the inter-track pair is between MAIG, IAVN or PUET, students at different tracks are registered on different courses with different requirements and different examiners. All submissions must therefore be individual, but you may nevertheless collaborate on the project itself.
