Master’s Thesis Green Light Checklist
Congratulations on approaching the completion of your master’s thesis!
Having all the information in place is crucial to ensuring a smooth transition toward defending your thesis. You must ensure future researchers can properly access your data and navigate them without the need for other people’s guidance. Here’s a comprehensive checklist to guide you through the process. Following it and ensuring all requirements are met will prepare you to obtain the green light to defend your master’s thesis.
2 weeks before the green light meeting, you need to send the draft of your thesis report. This is to give your supervisor(s) time to read it before the meeting.
- Ensure your supervisors have approved your Literature Review.
- Ensure your thesis report is at least 80% completed (i.e., main sections, figures, tables, reference lists, etc.)
- Format your thesis report according to the guidelines
- Include appropriate citations and references to support your arguments and findings: do not forget to reference your figures properly!
- Proofread and edit your thesis report for clarity, coherence, and correctness.
- Do not aim for perfectionism: seek feedback from your supervisors or peers to improve the quality of your thesis report.
- !!! Consider sharing your draft with your daily supervisor first and sending only the finalized draft to the other supervisors !!!
- Ensure all necessary revisions and corrections are incorporated into your thesis report.
- Submit/Send the thesis report to your supervisors at least two weeks before the green light meeting.
- Share your organized project folder with your supervisors before the green light meeting.
- Schedule a meeting with your supervisors to discuss your thesis’s progress and your project folder’s status before the green light meeting.
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If you need a room, (projector) screen, or other resources for your presentation, make sure you arrange them in time (if needed, ask secretariat for help).
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Prepare a 10-minute presentation.
- Have a short introduction to set the context.
- The methods can be presented quickly.
- Focus primarily on results and discussion.
- !!! Prepare questions about unclear comments your supervisors left on your thesis and ask them those questions directly during the meeting !!!
- !!! Prepare extra slides containing data from your Thesis’ Appendix (i.e., tables, graphs) !!!
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Rehearse your thesis presentation to ensure clarity, coherence, and adherence to time limits.
- Use the MSc meetings to practice your presentation - plan it!
- Familiarize yourself with potential questions during the rehearsal and prepare concise, well-informed responses.
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Prepare visual aids (i.e., animations, graphs, etc.) to accompany your thesis presentation.
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Confirm your thesis defense’s date, time, and location with your supervisor and committee members.
Best of luck on this final stage of your master’s journey!