Thesis

Period 2

Kick-off event for each master programme will be organized, usually between 16 and 27 November. You will be informed about

• Potential thesis topics
• Potential supervisors and co-readers
• Guidelines in case you want to propose your own topic
• Opportunities for a research internship in combination with your thesis

A second supervisor (‘co-reader’) will be involved in the process to (i) approve the research proposal and set up of the thesis, and (ii) read the final manuscript as approved by the first supervisor, and determine the thesis grade in consultation with the first supervisor. Matchmaking with your supervisor and co-reader is done in December 2022 or January 2023.

Period 3 (5 EC)

At the end of period 3 you are supposed to have written a full research proposal. This implies you have done initial literature research, addressed a research gap, drafted research questions, and develop a plan for empirical data analysis.
You are usually also supposed to have collected the empirical material for your thesis, or at minimum, developed a plan for data collection.

April 4-8

You present and/or discuss your research proposal in a meeting with your supervisor and co-reader.

April 8

Deadline to upload your research proposal via Osiris Case. The proposal will be graded (weight 10%). If you upload the research proposal too late or not at all, the research proposal will be graded with a 1. When your progress is insufficient at this point, you will have to put in substantial extra effort in period 4 to be able to finish your thesis in time.

April 19

Deadline for supervisor to finish the assessment in Osiris Case.

Period 4 (10 EC)

Develop thesis. You collect remaining data and literature, analyse data, and write your thesis

June  20-24

You present and/or discuss your draft thesis in a meeting or final seminar organised by your supervisor and co-reader, and receive final comments. 

July 1

Deadline to upload the final version of your thesis in Osiris Case. The thesis will be graded (weight 90%).

July 15

Deadline for supervisor to finish the assessment in Osiris Case.

Number of meetings

The thesis process has at least four compulsory meetings/deadlines:

• April 4-8: discuss your draft research proposal and full literature review
• April 8: hand in your final resarch proposal and full literature review online via Osiris Case (specific instructions will be supplied)
• June 20-24: present/discuss your draft thesis
• July 1: hand in your final thesis online via Osiris Case (specific instructions will be supplied)

Theses need to be handed in via OSIRIS Student (tab Cases > Thesis Assessment (U.S.E.)) to the thesis supervisor and co-reader. The supervisor checks the thesis on plagiarism, grades it, and digitally fills in the two evaluation forms (evaluation form 10% and evaluation form 90%). You can check the evaluation forms in OSIRIS Student (after your supervisor finalises the assessment and determined the grade in Osiris).

For your research proposal no retake is possible.

For your master thesis, a retake is possible. Conditions:

• Your unrounded final score (10%*proposal + 90%*thesis) is less than 5.5, but at least 4.0.
• Your supervisor will provide you with feedback/guidance of what to improve, but only once. Afterwards no additional feedback or guidance can be claimed from the supervisor (holiday season).
• You can resubmit your master thesis only once.
• The deadline to upload your revised thesis is August 10, after which the grade will be handed in by the supervisor at the latest by August 19.
• The rounded final grade for the thesis cannot be higher than a 6; this is only to be fair to students finishing in shorter time.

In case you do not succeed in finishing your thesis with a passing grade in semester 2, including the retake opportunity, you can consult the study advisor and submit a request to redo the thesis with a new topic and supervisor in period 1+2 of the next academic year if you think the following requirements apply:

• You have worked on the thesis in the regular period, but did not receive a passing grade.
• You have put in enough effort. The thesis evaluation form, including the written feedback by your supervisor, serves as the basis for this and your thesis grade is at least 4.
• You have finished all other courses of your master programme.

The request needs to be made ultimately on September 15 (or when this is a Saturday or Sunday, the Friday before September 15). The study advisor will contact the Board of Examiners (BoE). The BoE takes the final decision.

If your unrounded final grade is less than 4.0, no retake is possible. You will have to subscribe again, and start with a new topic and supervisor in November 2023. Thus, you will then develop a new thesis in period 3 and 4 of the academic year 2023/24. 

In some circumstances the July deadline may be extended. See ‘Regulations’ (hereafter).

1. All theses must be written and finished within semester 2.
2. All theses will be checked on plagiarism.
3. In agreement with the second supervisor, the thesis supervisor will determine the final grade and fill in the Thesis Evaluation Form, which is then presented to you.
4. The supervisor grades the thesis within 10 working days from receiving the material, and makes sure the results are processed administratively. Deadline to hand in final versions of the thesis to the supervisor and co-reader is June 30th. Deadline for supervisor to hand in the thesis grade is July 14th.
5. In case of special personal circumstances, the Board of Examiners may grant a postponement of the deadline, following consultation with the MSc coordinator.
6. When you have stopped working on your thesis during semester 2 for other reasons than special personal circumstances, or do not hand in your thesis on time, or when you receive an insufficient grade, you will have to start again in the next academic year (at the kick-off event in November), with a new thesis subject and new supervisor, unless the requirements mentioned under 10 apply.
7. For your research proposal no retake is possible.
8. For your master thesis, a retake is possible. Conditions:
   • Your unrounded final score (10%*proposal + 90%*thesis) is less than 5.5, but at least 4.0.
   • Your supervisor will provide you with feedback/guidance of what to improve, but only once. Afterwards no additional feedback or guidance can be claimed from the supervisor (holiday season).
   • You can resubmit your master thesis only once.
   • The deadline to hand in your revised thesis is August 9th, after which the grade will be handed in by the supervisor at the latest by August 18th.
   • The rounded final grade for the thesis cannot be higher than a 6; this is only to be fair to students finishing in shorter time.
9. If your unrounded final grade is less than 4.0, no retake is possible. You will have to subscribe again, and start with a new topic and supervisor in November 2023. Thus, you will then develop a new thesis in period 3 and 4 of the academic year 2023/24.
10. If you do not succeed in finishing your thesis in semester 2, including the retake, you can consult the study advisor and submit a request to redo the thesis with a new topic and supervisor in period 1+2 of the next academic year if you think the following requirements apply:
    • You have worked on the thesis in the regular period, but did not receive a passing grade.
    • You have put in enough effort. The thesis evaluation form, including the written feedback by your supervisor, serves as the basis for this and your thesis grade is at least 4.
    • You have finished all other courses of your master programme.
11. The request needs to be made ultimately on September 15 (or when this is a Saturday or Sunday, the Friday before September 15). The study advisor will contact the Board of Examiners (BoE). The BoE takes the final decision.
12. In addition to the cum laude classification in art. 6.2 of the Education and Examination Regulations: if you do an external research in combination with your thesis and this prevents you to graduate in one year, and as a consequence you do not qualify for a cum laude graduation, the Board of Examiners may apply a special (leniency) regulation.

It is not mandatory, but we recommend you submit your thesis to the Students Theses Archive.

U.S.E. Master’s Thesis Award

Each year, Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.) chooses the top Master's theses from each of the 1-year MSc programmes. These theses are recognised with the U.S.E. Master's Thesis Award. The winning theses need to be written and completed in semester 2 and are chosen for their relevance, academic merit, and particularly for their integration of a ‘real world perspective’ into an economics issue. Furthermore, the submitted thesis must have received a mark of at least an 8.5. Out of these ‘best-in-programme’ theses, the one thesis that stands out most receives additional accolades. The authors of the winning theses are awarded with a certificate during the Master’s Graduation ceremony.

UU Best Master’s Thesis

Utrecht University awards a prize for the best Master's thesis written at the University. It is awarded every year during the opening of the new academic year. The winner will receive an award which consists of a certificate and €1,500. Nominees need to meet certain criteria. The submitted graduate thesis or research must have received a mark of at least an 8.5 for instance. U.S.E. strives to select and submit one candidate each year. More information can be found on the university website.

Tips and tricks about academic research, writing skills, etcetera you can find in the Thesis Manual and Toolbox (this is not available yet)

For workshops, courses and individual writing tutoring see the Skills lab and Libguide for an overview on much consulted information sources Economics

When you write a thesis, you are dealing with Research Data Management: processing data and possibly also personal data, for example when you conduct interviews. In the latter case, you are then dealing with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). You also need to secure your data properly at all times. It is therefore important that you know what you have to comply with in terms of legislation and university frameworks. Please figure this out before you start writing your thesis. Your thesis supervisor can help you with this, ask for the guidelines. More information can be found on the following websites:

• https://www.uu.nl/en/research/research-data-management
• https://www.uu.nl/en/research/research-data-management/guides/handling-personal-data

U.S.E. has acquired subscriptions to

• Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS), 
• Factset,
• CRSP,
• Mergent FISD,
• Compustat,
• Refitiviv Eikon and Datastream

Compustat covers financial information and executive compensation data for publicly listed companies in the United States. WRDS provides access to Compustat and other free databases using a Web interface, SAS, Matlab, Python and R. Furthermore, WRDS offers a cloud environment with a SAS 9.4 installation. WRDS and Compustat can be accessed through the Wharton website and are available to all U.S.E. staff and students. Bank Focus is accessible through Bureau van Dijk.

See also the UU Library Search Engine; and select 'Economie'.