BE-514 Master's Thesis in Sustainability Management

The course is connected to the following study programs

• Master’s Programme in Sustainability Management

Teaching language

English.

Prerequisites

60 ECTS credits, including the course Research Methods, must be successfully completed in the master’s programme in order to be assigned a supervisor for the master's thesis.

Course contents

In the last semester the students write their master thesis, worth 30 ECTS total. In connection with the master thesis, all students will be part of an internship in a private enterprise or public office in an ASEAN-country or Norway dealing directly with environmental challenges related to each student’s concentration and the topic for the master thesis. The internship offers valuable practical experience and insight into real-world business or governance challenges. It puts academic learning into a contextual and applied perspective. The internship work is unpaid, and is the basis for the data collection and data analysis. All students will be aligned with a supervisor.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of the Master Thesis, the student should be able to:

• Demonstrate thorough knowledge on the field of research
• Critically evaluate research performed by others
• Apply relevant scientific theory and methods in studying an academic issue, and independently analyse empirical data
• Carry out independent critical research and scientific stringent reporting based on high ethical standards

Examination requirements

Internship must be approved before submission of the master’s thesis. More information is available in Canvas.

Teaching methods

The students will spend approximately 300 hours (2 months) as interns where they collect data for their thesis, before returning to the university for writing the thesis under close academic supervision. The thesis topic must correspond with the Internship work and deal with management and the environment. The students formulate the final research question under guidance of a supervisor. The thesis shall have a tight linking between practice, theory and scientific method and follow a critical, analytical approach. Students are expected to follow strict academic standards and ethical norms with respect to data collection, analyses, and reporting. The students shall receive academic guidance, which will be specified in a separate supervision contract. The internship forms an integrated part of the master thesis and shall provide the empirical basis for analyses. Students are expected to spend 500-600 hours on literature review, data analyses, meetings with supervisor, seminar presentation, and final thesis writing.

Evaluation

The person responsible for the course decides, in cooperation with student representative, the form of student evaluation and whether the course is to have a midway or end of course evaluation in accordance with the UiA quality system for education, chapter 4.1.

Admission for external candidates

No.

Assessment methods and criteria

Master's thesis counts for 100% of the grade. Grading by letters. The master thesis should be written individually but could possibly also be written by two students together depending on the topic/data.