Master's thesis
Writing a Master’s thesis is a compulsory part of the Sustainable Business and Innovation Master’s programme and will earn you 45 credits. The thesis is intended to train you to conduct research independently, and to become a specialised change agent who can help firms transition to more sustainable business models.
Proposal
To make sure you have covered all necessary items in your research proposal please fill in the Master’s thesis research proposal information form (to be found on BlackBoard). Please use this form as a cover page for your research proposal, when you submit it to the secretariat for approval by the Board of Examiners.
Your research can take place in an organisation other than Utrecht University; your choice will depend on the data you need to answer the research question. In general, a wide range of firms and institutions are possible locations to perform your project, including those in other countries. The first step, however, is to select a research theme and supervisor.
More information on BlackBoard in the SBI community
Every months students present the results of their research. You are very welcome to attend these presentations.
At least ten
You have to attend at least ten presentations. This way you will be able to develop a broad view on all kind of current research topics, and to keep in touch with your fellow students and teachers especially in the final, sometimes rather lonely, stage of your studies. Of course you’re also most welcome to start attending them if you’re not working on your thesis yourself yet. Attending and discussing the research of students in their graduation phase, is a useful way to prepare yourself for your own thesis and it might bring you some inspiring ideas on the topics you’ll want to research yourself. Six of the ten presentations you attend have to be by other Sustainable Business and Innovation students. You will find the monthly schedules of the presentations - if applicable -on the Blackboard community.
Research topics
Of course you are most welcome to start attending the presentations if you are not working on your thesis yet. Attending and discussing the research of students in their graduation phase, is a useful way to prepare yourself for your own thesis and it might bring you some inspiring ideas on the topics you will want to research yourself.
Registration
You will be required to sign a Statement of Attendance, which contains an overview of the presentations you have attended. This means that you will be responsible for keeping track of which presentations you have attended during your Master’s programme. Keep in mind that you need to attend at least 10 presentations before being able to schedule your own. When asking the Copernicus Institute's secretary’s office for a potential presentation date, you will need to hand in the Statement of Attendance together with the Statement of Originality.
Graduation presentation dates
The dates that are available for the graduation presentations can be found on the Blackboard community.
As of period 2 2024/25, the administrative aspects of the Master’s thesis will be tracked in OSIRIS Case (OSIRIS Zaak in Dutch). Currently, when you start the thesis process, you send an email to the secretariat to inform them of your starting date, supervisor and other details of your project. As of period 2 2024-2025, you will start the Proposal Case in OSIRIS. Note that only students of cohort 2023 and later will register their thesis process in OSIRIS Case. Students from cohort 2022 and earlier will have to follow the procedure describe in the thesis manual of 2023-2024.
Due to some delays in the design of the Master’s thesis process in OSIRIS Case, it is very important to realise that, for this year 2024-2025 only, there are different routes to follow, depending on the start date of the thesis process and your cohort. In this document, the different routes will be explained.
First of all, note that there are two processes in OSIRIS: the proposal process and the thesis process. These are called ‘cases’ in OSIRIS.
The proposal case will be ready in OSIRIS as of period 2, 2024/25. The thesis case, however, will only be available in OSIRIS as of period 3 2024/25. At that point, both cases will be linked (so the thesis case will start automatically when the proposal case has been completed). Therefore we need to have a transition period, and make a distinction depending on your cohort, your thesis start date, and whether you work full-time or part-time on the proposal.
A. Students from cohort 2022 and earlier:
- Follow the old process as described in the thesis manual 2023-24, even if you start the thesis in 2024/25 or later. The new process in OSIRIS Case is only for students from cohort 2023 and later.
B. Students from cohort 2023 who start full-time with the proposal in period 1, 2024/25:
- Will go through the proposal process in the old way (because the proposal process in OSIRIS Case will not be ready yet and the proposal will very likely be ready and assessed prior to period 2)
- The proposal will be assessed in the old way (send it to the secretariat)
- Start the thesis case in OSIRIS Case in period 3
- The thesis itself will be handed in and assessed via OSIRIS Case
C. Students from cohort 2023 who start part-time with the proposal in period 1, 2024/25:
- Cannot start the proposal case in OSIRIS Case in period 1, but you will be asked to register the proposal retrospectively in OSIRIS Case in period 2 (because your proposal will most likely be ready and assessed in period 2)
- Start the thesis case in OSIRIS Case in period 3
- Both the proposal and thesis are assessed via OSIRIS Case
D. Students from cohort 2023 who start (f/t or p/t) with the proposal in period 2, 2024/25:
- Start the proposal case in OSIRIS Case in period 2
- Start the separate thesis case in OSIRIS Case in period 3
- Both the proposal and thesis are assessed via OSIRIS Case
E. Students from cohort 2023 who start (f/t or p/t) with the proposal in period 3, 2024/25 or later:
- Follow the entire proposal + thesis process in OSIRIS Case. The two cases will be linked, so the thesis case will start automatically as soon as you have completed the proposal case.
- Both the proposal and thesis are assessed via OSIRIS Case
- In other words: this will be the new regular process from period 3, 2024/25 onwards.
Every time an action from you is required in OSIRIS, you will receive an automatic email from OSIRIS Case. So keep a close eye on your UU mail.
You can always ask your supervisor or thesis coordinator for help if you are unsure about any aspect of the proposal or thesis process. Contact details can be found in the Master’s thesis course manual. The Master’s thesis course manual 2024-2025 describes the new proposal/thesis process as it will be in OSIRIS.
Your supervisor will assess your Master’s thesis using the Master’s Thesis Rubrics & Assessment Form (to be found on BlackBoard). It makes the items the supervisor assesses and the criteria he or she uses transparent. You will receive the form when you start the Master’s thesis process. Please use it to acquaint yourself with the assessment criteria and to assess yourself during the thesis process. Your supervisor is expected to tell you early on which items he or she considers most important and the order they should take in the thesis, so you will not get any surprises later on.
After your thesis has been approved, it has to be uploaded into the thesis archive. One week after the grade is registered in OSIRIS, the student will receive a request by email to upload the reviewed thesis (in PDF format) through OSIRIS Case for the purpose of the thesis archive. The thesis archive is only accessible to employees. If you did not receive an email, contact osiris.geo@uu.nl.