Start your thesis

In the academic year preceding the master's program, around the Easter vacations, a list of possible master's thesis topics will be made available by the program.  You should then indicate your preferred topics, including a motivation for your choices.  

In addition, you can also submit your own proposal for a master thesis via Proposal topic master thesis IIW. In that case, the topic of the master's thesis must be approved by the coordinator, in consultation with the OMT chair. 

A topic is then assigned to each student based on motivation and study progress.  For each master thesis, a supervision team is also designated. This team consists of one or more (co)promoters and supervisors from the program and, if applicable, one or more external (co)promoters and supervisors from the company or institution being collaborated with. It is the student's responsibility, after assigning their subject and supervisory team, to make initial contact with them.

You know the topic of your master’s thesis and are ready to get started. But first, you need to complete some important administrative steps in order to:

• be insured as a student during all activities related to your master’s thesis throughout the entire period;
• continue receiving all further communication about the procedures and deadlines for the master’s thesis, and to gain access to the master’s thesis application for your defense.

Therefore, you must complete the administrative formalities no later than 10 days before the start of your master’s thesis, following the step-by-step plan below. This also applies to master’s theses carried out abroad.

Each master’s thesis is assigned a supervisory team, which consists of one or more (co)supervisors and advisors from your program. These are your INTERNAL (co)supervisors and advisors.

In addition, if applicable, you may also have one or more (co)supervisors and advisors from the company, institution, or another faculty involved in the collaboration. These are your external (co)supervisors and advisors.

It is the student’s responsibility, after being assigned the topic and supervisory team, to make the first contact with them and to complete the required administrative steps.

Which contracts are needed for study research?

Attention

Due to GDPR legislation, it is important to consider the use of data in your master’s thesis. For example, you may use background information from UHasselt, KU Leuven, or an external organization, or you might use a dataset, and/or collect and process personal data in your research (more information in the preamble).

• If you are doing your master’s thesis in a UHasselt research group and you do not collect or process personal data, you only need to use the documents: ‘Declaration on Honour’ and the ‘Risk Items Form’ (which is both in Eng/Dutch).
  
  
• If you are doing your master’s thesis at an external organization (e.g., a company or other institution) and you do not collect or process personal data, you need to use the documents: ‘Research Agreement for Bachelor’s, Master’s Thesis, or Project Work’ (fill in Annex 1 only) and the ‘Risk Items Form’ (which is both in Eng/Dutch).
  
  • There can only ever be one agreement and one Risk Items Form concluded between the parties (so not: one from the joint programme and one from the company). Always propose the agreement from the joint programme first. If the company wants to modify it or use its own internship contract, you must always email it for approval to fiiw@uhasselt.be before it is signed by the parties.
    
    
• If you are doing your master’s thesis in a KU Leuven research group, you provisionally use the same documents as for an external organization.
  
  
• If more than one external party is involved in your master’s thesis (e.g., 2 companies or a company and a research group), email fiiw@uhasselt.be. They will provide you with the correct contract for more than 3 parties.
  
  
• The Risk Items Form must always be completed by the company/ institution/ research group and signed by both you and the company/ institution/ research group (unless you are doing purely desk work). If medical research is required, consult the important section below.
  The Risk Items Form from the joint program may also be replaced by the standard Risk Items Form of the company/institution. This does not need prior approval from fiiw@uhasselt.be.

Attention: If, in addition to using background information from UHasselt, KU Leuven, or an external organization, you also collect personal data yourself:

• You must additionally use the documents ‘Consent form 2.0 bachelor and master theses.docx’ and fill in the ‘GDPR Checklist for Students NL/ENG’ (if this has not already been completed via your supervisor).

If you PROCESS personal data:

• You must fill in the ‘GDPR Checklist for Students NL/ENG’ (if this has not already been completed via your supervisor).
• You must also fill in Annex 2 in the ‘Research Agreement for Bachelor’s, Master’s Thesis, or Project Work’ (filling in Annex 2 alone is sufficient).

Click on the situation that applies to your master’s thesis and download the agreements. You can always choose between an English and a Dutch version. If you are doing your master’s thesis in pairs, each student must fill in a separate agreement.

I am doing my master’s thesis in:

Flanders

• Master’s thesis at a UHasselt research group
• Master’s thesis at a KULeuven research group 
• Master’s thesis at an external company or institution  

Wallonia or abroad

If you are not sure which of the situations below applies to your exchange, check your UHasselt/Exchange student file or ask karine.evers@uhasselt.be before having the contracts signed. 

• Master’s thesis abroad without a scholarship 
• Master’s thesis in Wallonia or Europe with an Erasmus+ Traineeship grant Consult the internationalization coordinator (karine.evers@uhasselt.be) for help with completing and approving the forms.  
• Master’s thesis outside Europe with a Traineeship grant (e.g., VLIR-UOS) 
• A Walloon or European university with an Erasmus+ STUDY grant: no internship documents from UHasselt/KU Leuven are required. Go to Step 3. You only need to complete the necessary administration via the Exchange portal. More information from the internationalization coordinator (karine.evers@uhasselt.be).
• A university OUTSIDE Europe with a STUDY grant: no internship documents from UHasselt/KU Leuven are required. Go to Step 3. You only need to complete the necessary administration via the Exchange portal. More information from the internationalization coordinator (karine.evers@uhasselt.be).

Continuation of master's thesis from the previous academic year

• Continuation of the same master’s thesis as last year

My situation is not listed in the options above. Email fiiw@uhasselt.be.

Declaration on Honour

Here you find the document for Declaration on Honour

Confidentiality Agreement

Here you find the document for Confidentiality Agreement.

Fill in and sign

Complete the required agreement(s) for your situation and ensure that they are signed by the respective parties:

• yourself as the student; and
• the company/institution (company manager or someone from HR); and/or
• your external supervisor at the company; and/or
• your internal supervisor at UHasselt.

So, all involved parties must have signed the contract before you upload it, except the dean. 

The dean’s signature will be added after Step 3.

Have the Risk Items Form filled out by the person responsible for the research group or by the company/institution, and make sure it is fully signed by all parties before you upload it. The dean does not sign this document. 

Scan your signed agreement(s) and Risk Items Form (in PDF format) as seperate documents.

Name the files as: LASTNAME_Firstname_MP_ABBREVIATION OF YOUR PROGRAMME (CE, BK, EM, EN, EA-ICT, INF, or NT)_Contract name (e.g., Declaration of Honor, MP Agreement, Risk Items Form, Addendum, …).

*Only for the 'Erasmus+ Traineeship contract' do the contract and Risk Items Form form a single document.

• Fill in all administrative information in the Administration MP form. First, review the full questionnaire on the form so you know which information you need to collect from the company and supervisors. All contracts can only be submitted digitally through this form. No contract can be sent by email or on paper.
• If you are doing your master’s thesis in pairs, each student must fill in a separate form.
• Attach the scans of your contract(s) and Risk Items Form as separate PDFs. Only the Erasmus+ traineeship contract is a single document to be uploaded.
• The internship documents will then be digitally signed by the dean.
• You and your master’s thesis site will receive a fully signed copy by email after approval.
• You will also receive a link by email to your completed form so that during your master’s thesis you can still update information such as names of (co)promotors or supervisors, and the final title. Documents cannot be re-uploaded or added later.

Contract End Date

To be on the safe side, it is best to set 15/09/2027 as the end date of your master’s thesis contract. This way, if you are unable to defend your thesis in June, you will still be covered for the second exam period. The start date should, of course, reflect the actual start date of your master’s thesis.

Medical Examination

If the company requires a medical examination or vaccinations in the Risk Items Form, the examination must always be carried out by the occupational physician of UHasselt. The company can optionally also indicate that an examination may be conducted by an occupational physician of the company itself.

The consultation with the UHasselt occupational physician is completely free. To schedule an appointment, send an email from your UHasselt email address to uhasselt@securex.be, and include fiiw@uhasselt.be in CC.

In your email, provide:

• Full name
• National registry number and/or date of birth
• Current study programme
• All possible dates and times when you are available for the examination

If a medical examination is required by the company’s occupational physician, it will be handled by the company.

These medical examinations must also be completed before the start of your master’s thesis activities.

If you wish to graduate early and defend your master’s thesis in February, you must submit a formal, motivated request to the chair of the examination committee using the form Request for Early Examination, before 30 November (see also the Examination Regulations). You should, of course, first discuss this with your internal and external promoters.

For the meetings and tasks related to the master’s thesis seminar, make the necessary arrangements with the seminar instructor in a timely manner.

Separate deadlines apply for the submission of your master’s thesis. See Master’s Thesis Deadlines.