Tips for drafting a charter with agreements for the Master's thesis

Every Master's thesis student should obtain the final competences related to the Master's thesis in
order to pass the course unit (see study guide). These final competences are evaluated on the basis
of various evaluation criteria for process/progress, thesis, poster and oral
defence.

The student has to meet the generic deadlines following the given instructions and to complete the
administration associated with the Master's thesis in a timely manner.
The student executes the tasks for the Master's thesis seminar and respects deadlines.

In addition, a charter with agreements can be drawn up between the student and the supervisory
team so that the expectations are clear to all parties. In the course of the Master’s thesis, this charter
can be adjusted if necessary.

Content-related agreements

• Is the student aware of the final competencies to be achieved?
• Is the student aware of the website www.masterproef.be, which contains genera information, deadlines and instructions? 
• Is there a clear description of the research project?
• Have concrete objectives been formulated?
• Does the student search for appropriate literature? Does (s)he use sufficient sources? Are
  sources made available to him/her?
• Does the student first need to master certain tools or software?
• When does the supervisory team expect which content to be delivered? It is advisable to
  coordinate these expectations with the deadlines of the Master's thesis seminar and the
  general deadlines for the submission of the thesis and poster.
• May the submitted pieces be draft versions or is preference given to finished chapters?
• How is feedback delivered?
• In which way should the student communicate modifications to an already proofread text?
• ...

Practical arrangements

• Does the student know the members of his/her supervisory team? To whom can (s)he turn for which type of guidance? Who is the first point of contact?
• Which channel of communication is preferred?
• Should all members of the supervisory team be in CC in e-mail communication?
• Should the student make a short report of each consultation? To whom should (s)he deliver this report?
• Are progress reports expected? At specific times? Delivered to whom and how? Should these reports be drawn up according to a specific format?
• ...

Formal agreements

The basis for the formal agreements regarding the thesis, poster and presentation is provided in the
Master's thesis seminar and in the Vademecum.

Specific agreements can still be added, e.g. about design drawings, calculations, etc.