Master thesis' accompanying seminar

Teacher(s)

Baret Philippe; Bertin Pierre (coordinator); Debier Cathy; Gaspart Frédéric; Legrève Anne;

Language

English

Main themes

The master thesis is an initiation to research work. It is a personal approach that, under the guidance of a teacher, develops the capacity to master experimental approaches, to interpret results on the basis of state-of-the-art knowledge and to identify the perspectives of future investigations. In addition to this methodology, the student should be able to communicate clearly and orally the results of his work. He should also keep a critical mind on the correspondence between the followed approach and the pursued objectives.
In order to make them more visible, these communication activities and critical analysis exercises are valorized through seminars focused on the educational

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	At the end of this activity, the student is able to: masters computer tools to prepare and present slideshows, as well as tools to prepare scientific graphics ; present in English the context and state-of-the-art in the field of his work by defining the objectives and the followed methodology and /or experimental approach ; present orally and in English the results that were obtained and the scientific interpretations that can be made from them, both to peers and experts in the field of bioengineering ; identify the main achievements of his work and the prospects for future developments;answer to open questions and justify his claims in a scientifically rigorous, balanced and critical way. M.6.2., M.6.4., M.6.5., M.6.8., M.6.9.

Content

The teacher in charge of this activity takes the initiative to gather all the students, the (co-)promoters of the master thesis and senior scientists, PhD and master students of the research team.  These meetings can be included within the seminars of the research team.
During a first meeting in the first semester, the student presents a 15 minutes seminar about 15 minutes the objective of the master thesis, the state-of-the-art, the work program and the potential foreseen difficulties. During the second meeting in the second semester, the student presents a 15 minutes seminar that defines the objectives of his work, a synthesis of the research results, with a critical discussion and the difficulties encountered.
The students of a same research team are encouraged to prepare jointly their presentation, possibly with the help of a senior scientist. The student, for which the principal supervisor is not part of a research team of the Faculty will take the responsibility to organize themselves the seminars, with the consent of a research team of the Faculty or within the research group (outside the Faculty) where their master thesis is conducted. In this last case, the supervisor will confirm in written to the coordinator of the course that the student has effectively realized the two presentations. The coordinator of the course within each program will make sure that each student has presented both seminars.
The meetings will be followed by a discussion on strengths and weaknesses of the oral presentation, the state of advance of the work, the adequacy of the calendar with the objectives and the critical approach of the student. The timetable of meetings may depend on the specific rules in each research group. It is advised to keep some flexibility with regard to the thematic and organization of the master thesis (for instance, a master thesis in collaboration with a foreign institution).  
The students also participate to the meetings of the other students of the research group and, whenever possible, to the final master thesis presentations of the students from the previous promotion in September, to the PhD theses defenses, to the preparation of the FRIA by members of the research group. 

Evaluation methods

The oral presentation presented at the public defense of the dissertation is the final outcome of the seminars given during the academic year. The note for this course corresponds to the evaluation of the oral presentation of the dissertation by the jury. This evaluation will focus on 2 points, with equivalent weights: 1. Clarity of the presentation (quality of the slideshow, voice modulation, time allocation between the different parts of the presentation, keeping the public attention, etc.) 2. Scientific rigor of the presentation (terminology, slide content, synthetic capacity, etc.). This rule applies to all students, including those whose promoter is not a teacher of the faculty and those enrolled in the CPME training. Coordinators verify with the responsible teacher in each team (or with the supervisor when the student completes his dissertation outside the Faculty) before the June session that all students have actually presented two seminars. Any student who do not meet the requirements of this course may be sanctioned (0/20) whatever the quality of the oral presentation during the master thesis defense.

Other information

This course can be given in english.

Faculty or entity

AGRO