Dear Master’s Degree student in Drug Sciences at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (DPS)
As you know, you will have to complete a so-called Master’s thesis (MT) including a Master’s examination in the second year of the study program in Drug Sciences. The corresponding conditions can be found in §§ 10 and 11 of the Study regulations as well as in chapter 4.7 in the corresponding Course guidance. Please read these sections carefully! In addition, you will find an information leaflet on the following pages of the Master’s thesis in Drug Sciences, which summarizes the following aspects in a summarized form: https://pharma.unibas.ch/teaching/msc-drug-sciences/mastersthesis-drugsciences/
Project acquisition and Master’s thesis agreement
Students apply directly to the relevant responsible person in whose area they wish to do a thesis (cp. information sheet “General information for supervisors of Master’s theses in Drug Sciences” on the above mentioned website). The MT in Drug Sciences can be completed at the University of Basel or externally, supervised by a lecturer. The MT supervisor can be a lecturer with an «Habilitation» (professor or junior professor) or an equivalent academic qualification in the Drug Sciences Master programme of the DPS. The MT supervisor is responsible for the MT itself and MT examination. With the approval of the Education committee, the supervisor may transfer responsibility to another qualified person at the University of Basel or another University or Technical University or industry, but remains responsible for the MT. This person defines the topic, scope, and start time of the thesis in consultation with the student. This is documented in a MT agreement/contract (“Masterarbeitsvertrag”) (cp. https://philnat.unibas.ch/dokumente/masterstudium/), which is signed by the responsible lecturer (“Beurteiler”), the student, and the education committee chairperson (Prof. A. Odermatt) before the start of the thesis work.
No further registration in MOnA for the Master’s thesis or the subsequent Master’s thesis examination is necessary. One original of the MT agreement remains with the responsible lecturer, one original is for you. Please submit a copy of the MT agreement to the study coordination (electronically or into the letter box).
Duration, grading, and possibility to repeat
The MT normally begins after successful completion of the first 2 semesters, lasts 10 months, and is completed by a written report within that time. Please note that you might have to be present in repetition examinations which take place in autumn semester 2017 and spring semester 2018. Careful planning of your MT period is therefore crucial.
The MT must be accompanied by a statement on scientific integrity (cp. https://philnat.unibas.ch/dokumente/masterstudium/). The evaluation of the MT is carried out by the thesis supervisor in consultation with researchers directly involved in the work, and is graded in increments of half notes. If the thesis is assessed as adequate, it is awarded 50 credit points. A failed thesis may be repeated once with a new topic. The grade awarded for the thesis will be notified immediately after the oral examination.
Project/Supervisor list (“Betreuerliste”)
Currently, a dynamic list with possible projects and the names and contact details of supervisors or persons in charge is provided on the Master’s thesis website. This was compiled by the research group leaders and contains (deliberately) scarce information on different research areas and the data of the respective supervisors. It should serve as a list of ideas and as a source of inspiration for any contact. The MT is fundamentally possible in the entire spectrum of Drug Sciences. You can, of course, also complete a MT abroad. For this purpose, it may be useful for you to include the information sheet “General information for supervisors of Master’s theses in Drug Sciences” to your application.
Master’s thesis examination
The thesis examination takes place within 4 weeks after submission of the thesis, in the form of a 45-minute oral colloquium on the topic of the thesis and related areas (approximately 15 minute presentation of the master thesis, 30 minutes of questions/discussion). The examiners are the thesis supervisor, and as a rule the researchers who were directly involved in the thesis work. The Education Committee may exceptionally at the request of the thesis supervisor permit another appropriately qualified person to deputize for the supervisor. Performance is rated in half step notes. For successful completion of the thesis examination, 4 credits are awarded. A failed thesis examination may be repeated once. The date of the thesis examination must be agreed in advance by the student with the thesis supervisor. A written application for the thesis examination must be submitted to the administrative office secretariat no later than the submission date of the master thesis (cp. https://philnat.unibas.ch/dokumente/masterstudium/ or https://pharma.unibas.ch/teaching/msc-drug-sciences/mastersthesis-drugsciences/ respectively).
We wish you fun and much success in the continuation of your Master’s studies!
Please feel free to contact the study coordination for further questions.
Kind regards, Roger Stutz