Course content

The Master's thesis shall be the student's final exam. The thesis must satisfy requirements for relevance and is expected to provide new knowledge which is oriented towards specific goals or applications. The student shall follow the guidelines given in the document "Guidance for Master's thesis" and information given on the NTNU intranet page for the subject. (Blackboard)

Learning outcome

Knowledge

Student should be able to:

• demonstrate deep insights into the problem raised in the master thesis
• demonstrate insights into theories relevant for the research problem statement
• demonstrate insights into research methods that are appropriate to address the research problem statement

Skills

Student should be able to

• formulate a research problem, search for and review the relevant literature
• choose a research methodology, including design an empirical study, present empirical analyses and draw conclusions
• plan and carry out a larger project within given time and resources

General Competence

• Student can carry out, under supervision, an independent and defined research project in line with current research ethical norms.

Learning methods and activities

The Master's thesis should be an independent work under supervision. The supervisor is assigned after submission of a project-sketch by the student. The Master's thesis is written with a fellow student (i.e., max 2 students). Students who wish to write the thesis alone will send in for approval an application outlining the reason(s).

It is mandatory to participate in two supervision-seminars which includes presentation of the master thesis work during the semester. The first seminar is in late January or early February, and the second seminar in April. In the first seminar, students will present issues with suggestions for design, methodology, reference literature and data base. At the second seminar, students will present their results to date.

Specific conditions

Required previous knowledge

Exams in compulsory courses, as well as necessary exams in main profile and methodology must be passed by the registration deadline 1 February. Students can apply for exemption from the prerequisites if they lack up to 7.5 credits. The application must be justified.

The course is only available to students who have the right to study on the study programme Master in Business Administration at NTNU Business School.

Course materials

Relevant articles and subjects of your choice, specified in the reference list for the assignment.

Credit reductions