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2018/2019  KAN-CBIOO2000U  Master's Thesis

English Title
Master's Thesis

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 30 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Spring
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for MSc. in Business Administration and Bioentrepreneurship
Course coordinator
  • Palle Høy Jakobsen - Department of Strategy and Innovation (SI)
Main academic disciplines
  • Innovation
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 13-07-2018

Relevant links
Learning objectives
The subject of the thesis must be within the programme profile’s particular academic identity
and theoretical field(s).
  • Develop a research problem by which an actual challenge in biobusiness is productively connected to extant literature and to available data.
  • Select and adapt theories
  • Assess strong and weak point of methods and research design
  • Often the business challenge adressed in the thesis is affected by its bio-Scientific Foundations. In this case the thesis must demonstrate the student's ability to relate bio-scientific aspects to their business implication
  • Provide consistency and coherence in the relationships between problem statement, analysis and conclusion
  • Explain and discuss the implications of research results for practices and problems in biobusiness relevant in relation to business practice within the program's field of study
  • Communicate the content of the thesis to peers.
Course prerequisites
To be allowed to start the Master's Thesis, the students must have finished the 10 weeks' Internship, as it is part of the Master's Thesis.

If the number of students outnumbers the number of internship places offered by the industry partners in the program companies, the student will be given the possibility to write a theoretical master’s thesis or a case-orientated master’s thesis.

It is very important that all core courses are passed before the internship starts as it may have an influence on the performance of the tasks in the company. If one student has not passed the core course before the start of the internship, the study programme may reserve the right to cancel the internship.

The Internship does not have a separate exam but is part of the master’s thesis. Midway into the internship students write a short report on the contents of the internship in terms of its specific objectives, activities, application of specific tools, learning opportunities and relevance for the master’s thesis. The midway report is discussed at a joint meeting with the company mentor and the BBIP advisor. The student, the BBIP advisor and the company mentor must all approve the midway report shown by approved signatures. Their approval is a precondition for handing in the master’s thesis.
Examination
Master's Thesis:
Exam ECTS 30
Examination form Oral exam based on written product

In order to participate in the oral exam, the written product must be handed in before the oral exam; by the set deadline. The grade is based on an overall assessment of the written product and the individual oral performance.
Individual or group exam Individual oral exam based on written group product
Number of people in the group 2-3
Size of written product Max. 120 pages
The master’s thesis must not exceed 120 standard pages for a joint thesis submitted by two students. For a joint thesis submitted by three students, the max. number of pages is 160.
Assignment type Master's thesis
Duration
Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
45 min. per student, including examiners' discussion of grade, and informing plus explaining the grade
Grading scale 7-step scale

The student’s spelling and writing skills are taken into consideration in the overall assessment of the examination performance, but the academic content is given the highest weight.
Regulations regarding the summary The resumé ( max. one page) must be written in English. The resumé is included in the assessment of the thesis.
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and external examiner
Exam period Spring
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
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.
Description of the exam procedure

Deadlines for submitting the Master’s Thesis: First part (1/3) of the thesis  has to be handed in February (the first week) and the second part (2/3) has to be handed in no later than June 1st. This distribution (1/3 (first part) and 2/3 (second part) is also reflected in the grading of the thesis.

 

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.

 

All other elements of the programme must be completed before the thesis is handed in.


 
Course content and structure

The master’s thesis consists of a “reflection and analysis” paper including a problem statement for the master thesis and a written report based on the analytical challenges examined during the internship.

 

The master’s thesis addresses selected analytical issues relevant for the challenges examined during the internship. These two courses are concerned with practical problems in commercializing bio-innovations, and results are presented in terms of practical conclusions. In the “reflection and analysis” paper, the students must carefully analyse how to identify most effective business models for innovation, or its most adequate form of market entry.

 

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 Internship.

 

The bio-science behind the innovations considered in the Internship project matter for their commercialization e.g. by having implications for innovation alternatives (and hence risks for imitation), or for the rate of technological change etc. These factors matter significantly for commercialization of science-based innovations. The thesis must bring out these relationships between the science, the innovation and implications for commercialization, demonstrating the student’s ability to span and connect issues in bio-science with its business potentials and limitations.

 

Master thesis part 1

As one of its two components the master’s thesis requires a “reflection and analysis” paper on important issues and challenges relevant for the internship. This paper should include a problem statement for the master thesis. This paper constitutes the first component of the two components of the master’s thesis.

 

Start of Master thesis work

 

The master thesis work starts at the first working day of January.

 

The first master thesis period includes the following activities.

Study trip for the BBIP students in January (optional)

 

1st master thesis workshop: Problem formulation

Workshop responsible: Palle Høy Jakobsen

 

2nd master thesis workshop: Qualitative methods, data collection and data analysis

Workshop responsible: Sof Thrane

 

3rd  master thesis workshop: Quantitative methods incl. coding

Workshop responsible: Valentina Tartari

Description of the teaching methods
Thesis supervision from the BBIP faculty is allocated to each student. Thesis Parts I and II may be supervised by the same C.M. (Bio) faculty member if the two parts draw mainly on the same discipline. If not, two supervisors are allocated. The advisor for Part II is the main supervisor, while for Part I he/she is referred to as the secondary supervisor. The final oral defense refers to both parts of the thesis.
With the advisor the student agrees on topics for both components of the thesis, and supervision is offered 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 based on the internship.
If a student writes alone, he will receive 16 supervision hours and two students writing together will receive 24 supervision hours. Additionally, the thesis subject may also require bio-scientific supervision.This is offered as a standard component of the supervision of the business plan underpinning Thesis Part I, directed at the bio-scientific understanding of the invention in the entrepreneurship project. If for Thesis Part II additional bio-scientific supervision is called for, 2 additional hours are made available, based on notification to BBIPs study administration and identification of the bio-scientific supervisor in question.
Feedback during the teaching period
Feedback will be given during supervision.
Student workload
vejledning 24 hours
internship 800 hours
Last updated on 13-07-2018