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2012/2013  KAN-BIO_THESIS  Master's Thesis

English Title
Master's Thesis

Course information
Language English
Exam ECTS 30 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Course period Spring
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Study board
Study Board for MSc. in Business Administration and Bioentrepreneurship
Course coordinator
  • Finn Valentin - Department of Innovation and Organizational Economics
Main Category of the Course
  • Innovation and entrepreneurship
Last updated on 21-08-2012
Learning objectives
The subject of the thesis must be within the programme profile’s particular academic identity
and theoretical field(s). After having completed the Master’s thesis, students should be able to:
  • Demonstrate ability to independently produce a qualified piece of research applying
  • Document in-depth knowledge of the subject of the thesis
  • Formulate a research question that steers and structures the research process
  • Explain and evaluate the choice of methodology used to answer the research question
  • Explain and evaluate the choice of theory used to answer the research question
  • Select and process primary and secondary sources used as documentation in the analysis
  • Discuss the quality of these sources, including their appropriateness in terms of providing answers to the research question
  • Explain and evaluate the overall correspondence between: the research question, selection and use of theory, collection and strength of empirical data the analysis, conclusion, and generalizability of the findings
  • Discuss the findings regarding their implications for the practical issues of its context, i.e. the entrepreneurship project and its business plan (BBIP 5) and the internship (BBIP 6).
  • The grade 12 is awarded in cases where the Master’s thesis meets the above criteria requirements to an excellent degree, i.e. with no or only few deficiencies
Prerequisite
To be allowed to start the Master's Thesis, the students must have finished the 3 months Internship, as it is part of the Master's Thesis. Moreover, for the BBIP Entrepreneurship Project students must have handed in their mini-project. The mini-project is part of the master thesis even if it does not have a separate exam.
Examination
Master's Thesis:
Type of test Thesis
Marking scale 7-step scale
Second examiner External examiner
Exam period Spring Term
Aids Without preparation
Duration 60 Minutes
Examination
The master’s thesis must not exceed 80 standard pages (one standard page consists of 2275 characters including spaces) in length for one student and 120 standard pages for a joint thesis submitted by two students.

The examination in the Master’s thesis takes the form of an oral defence of a written thesis. The duration of the oral exam is one hour including grading.

The assessment is carried out by the supervisor (if there are more supervisors, then only the primary supervisor) and one external examiner. The grade awarded will take into account the thesis (including its abstract), the oral defence, and the student’s spelling and style – although more emphasis will be placed on the academic content. Students may write the thesis either on their own or in collaboration with another student. The oral defence is individual.

In the event a student has not passed the regular examination in his or her master’s thesis, he or she should hand in a renewal of the contract with a reformulation of the research question. If a student does not hand in the master's thesis within the deadline, he or she also will have to hand in a renewal of the contract. In both cases, the student will use an exam attempt.

Deadlines for submitting Master’s thesis is normally 7 months after the supervisor has signed the contract, but as the students are writing their master's thesis during the internship ( the internship is an integrated part of the master's thesis), we expect the students to hand in their master's thesis in May/June. The oral defense will take place within 4 weeks after the master's thesis has been handed in. Regular exams are not held in July.
Prerequisites for attending the exam
All other elements of the programme must be completed before the thesis is handed in.The Study Board may grant a dispensation from this rule in cases of special circumstances.
Before being allowed to register for the exam on the master thesis, all other exams on the programme must have been passed. This means that
a) the grade point average for the exams in the 1st academic year is 02 without rounding up,
b) all elective courses have been passed, and
c) all exam grades included in the grade point average are 02 or above.
Course content

The master thesis addresses selected analytical issues encountered during the BBIP Entrepreneurship Project course and the internship. These two courses are concerned with practical problems in commercializing bio-innovations, and results are presented in terms of practical answers. Although advanced analytical tools and concepts were applied to reach those answers, they were not explicitly considered and accounted for e.g. to develop its business plan the BBIP Entrepreneurship Project must  carefully analyze how to identify most effective business models for innovation, or its most adequate form of market entry. The business plan presenting these answers is not intended to present or reflect upon this analysis from an academic perspective.

The main idea of the thesis is to revisit one or several such analytical challenges so as to examine and reflect upon them in depth, from an academic perspective. That means situating the problem in the academic literature, applying advanced theoretical and methodological tools, critically considering the strength of conclusions etc. These reflective revisiting of previous practical problems may be undertaken in papers which in combination meets the requirements for the thesis while they separately refer to the BBIP Entrepreneurship Project and to the Internship. In terms of volume roughly 1/3 of the thesis refers to the Entrepreneurship Project, while 2/3 refer to a topic emerging from the internship. In terms of topics
The two components of the thesis may address different, mutually unrelated issues.
 
Teaching methods
A thesis advisor from the BBIP faculty is allocated to each student. With the advisor the student agrees on topics for both components of the thesis, and supervision is offers regarding all learning objectives for the thesis. The host company assigns a mentor to the assignee. A contact between student, mentor and CBS-supervisor before and during the internship secures that in the internship the student works with issues, and in a context, facilitating the completion of a thesis by the end the internship.
If a student writes alone, he will receive 21 supervision hours and two students writing together will receive 32 supervision hours.
Last updated on 21-08-2012