Dissertation - Introduction to Research Project II

Code:

ESG0018

Acronym:

IPI II

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Economics
OFICIAL	Engineering

Instance: 2015/2016 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Industrial Engineering and Management
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Services Engineering and Management

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MESG	21	Syllabus since 2007/08	2	-	6	56	162

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

Many students will start their final dissertation project in this course and will finish it in the second semester. Therefore its objectives are the following ones:

1 – Dissertation project selection, identification of external supporting organization (optional) and of the internal advisor.

2 - Learning to use relevant data analysis tools in particular SPSS and NVivo that may be useful for the dissertation project.

3 - Presentation to colleagues of work done in the selected dissertation project by the end of the course.

Learning outcomes and competences

The work should promote the analysis of new situations, gathering relevant information, selection of methodological approaches and tools for solving the proposed problems, solving the problems, drafting a summary report, making its public presentation, and discussion of results.

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

The student must have successfully completed all courses that are relevant for the project that will be developed.

Program

In this course it is expected that students will begin their dissertation project. Those who fail to do so should be in a position to start it the beginning of the 2nd semester. Therefore this course involves the following activities:

1. Preparation of a presentation of the program and of their graduate students, and its distribution to external institutions that will be able to propose dissertation projects.

2. Each student is encouraged to (i) seek institutions in which they have an interest and that can accommodate relevant dissertation projects, (ii) contact lecturers and researchers who can supervise their dissertation work, in the context of their respective research groups or in the context of external organizations with which they have projects or relationships (iii) analyze the project proposals that are received to select one of them.

3. Learning to use data analysis tools, in particular SPSS and NVivo that may be useful for the dissertation project

4. Preparation of an detailed course activity report, presentation to class, and submission for evaluation. For students who have already selected their dissertation project, and have been appointed an internal advisor, this report must contain a statement of the problem, context, state of the art, and relevant literature review.

The project will have an advisor appointed by FEUP and may have an advisor at the host institution, business or research organization. It is also possible to carry out the project within a research unit of FEUP or UP.

Mandatory literature

Oliveira, Luis Adriano (2011); Dissertação e Tese em Ciência e Tecnologia segundo Bolonha, Lidel
Weyers, J. and McMillan, K. (2011); How to Write Dissertations & Project Reports, Prentice Hall

Teaching methods and learning activities

The course involves every year a selection process of the companies or organizations that may accept students, the definition of project objectives/topics, and the allocation of projects to students. This process includes the following steps:

- Contact with external institutions through a publication with the presentation of MESG and the graduating students, accompanied by a letter explaining the conditions of realization of the project.

- Definition of the subject and purpose of the project, prepared jointly with the advisor at the company and the course coordinator.

- Presentation of the list of all the projects available to students, as well as an explanation of the selection criteria for the student by the institutions.

- Once the list of projects is available, students use an application form indicating preferences. The allocation is made in accordance with the selection criteria of the institutions and the preferences expressed by the students.

Alternatively, students may choose to undertake the dissertation project in the context of their professional activities, if they are to realize the master and working simultaneously.

It is also possible to carry out the dissertation project in a purely academic environment, in the context of a research project supervised by a university professor.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Defesa pública de dissertação, de relatório de projeto ou estágio, ou de tese	50,00
Participação presencial	25,00
Trabalho escrito	25,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Elaboração de projeto	40,00
Elaboração de relatório/dissertação/tese	16,00
Estudo autónomo	16,00
Frequência das aulas	42,00
Realização de Estágio	16,00
Trabalho de investigação	32,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

To be considered that he attended the course, students must demonstrate that they engaged in selecting a dissertation project, including:

- Delivered on time their curriculum vitae for submission to organizations that may propose projects.

- Held contacts with faculty members to examine with them the possibility of projects of mutual interest.

- Held contacts with external organizations, research institutions and research units where it would be feasible to conduct their dissertations.

- Submit progress reports and a final report of the work done, and make its presentation in one of the final course lectures.

Calculation formula of final grade

At the end of the course each student will be assessed through their report of activities. Activities should correspond to 6 ECTS or 162 hours of work.

The final grade will take into account:

i) The student's performance in MESG at the date of submission of the report, as measured by the average grade in SiFEUP at the exact time the final working report is submitted.

ii) The evaluation of the supervisor of the thesis (if already defined),

iii) The grade of the final working report.

In case of a positive evaluation of the report, and if the student already has an advisor at FEUP, the classification will be calculated as follows:

i) 25%

ii) 25%

iii) 50%

In case of a positive evaluation of the report, and if the student does not yet have an advisor at FEUP, the classification will be calculated as follows:

i) 50%

iii) 50%

In case of a negative report evaluation, the classification will be calculated as follows:

iii) 100%

Examinations or Special Assignments

Not applicable.

Internship work/project

Not applicable.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

Not applicable.

Classification improvement

Not applicable in general, since the evaluation results from the evaluation of work done during the semester. However, the student may appeal to the Scientific Council of MESG.

The student may however improve its classification if a paper (with work related to the dissertation, and co-authored with the supervisor from FEUP) has been published in the proceedings of a suitable conference or a scientific journal. Both conference and journal names have to be previously accepted as suitable by the lecturer of this course. This option is open until the regulations of FEUP allow it, usually until the next academic year, and the student must register for classification improvement.