MSc Final Examination

The Final Examination consists of two parts: defending of Master’s Thesis and examination of three chosen subjects. In order to prepare, students should receive the review of the Opponent few days before defending the thesis. Requirements of defending:

• The Master’s Thesis and its abstract have been uploaded to the thesis portal.
• A printed copy of the thesis has been submitted to the Consultant.
• Evaluation sheets (one bound into the thesis and one on a separate sheet) have been signed by the Consultant, the External Supervisor and the Opponent.

Defending starts with a short (10 minutes) presentation of Master’s Thesis, which focuses mainly on the own work and achievements of the student. This is followed by some questions of the Committee.

All Final Examinations have a secretary, who is responsible for the technical conditions. He/she organizes a technical trial one or two days before the defending (in the same room and with the same equipment), and can provide help on uploading and displaying the presentation. Attendance is strongly advised on this trial. Computer (with usual software – e.g. MS Office, Adobe), projector and board are present on every examination, but if any special software is needed, the secretary has to be informed at least 2 days before defending.

The Final Examination subjects are chosen by the student at the start of the semester of Master’s Thesis elaboration. (These subjects will be listed on the specification sheet of the thesis, and cannot be modified later!) Rules of choosing the subjects:

• Three subjects have to be chosen with a minimum total credit value of 15.
• All subjects cannot be from the same module (e.g. only base subjects or only specialization).
• Minimum two of the subjects have to be chosen from the Department.

Suggested subject combinations by the Department can be found below. (Students are allowed to choose other combinations, as well; but the above-mentioned rules have to be observed.)

Final Examination topics (questions) are published on each subject’s own homepage. These can be consulted with the lecturer of the subject.

Minimum 15 minutes before the start of Final Examination all students (scheduled for that occasion) have to be present (wearing suitable formal clothing). Examination starts with a short welcome speech by the Final Examination Committee Chair, and right after this the first student starts the examination.

Each student starts with defending and continues with the three subject examinations (without break). These parts are public, anyone can attend on them (except for classified Master’s Thesis defendings). When a student has finished with both parts, the Committee determines the grades for the thesis and the subjects on a private sitting. After this the next student can start the examination.

Results of the examinations for all students are announced at the end. The attendance on the announcement is obligatory. The final grade of the Master’s Degree is determined as the sum of three parts:

• average of grades (of all subjects during all study periods) multiplied by 0.5,
• final grade of Master’s Thesis multiplied by 0.3,
• average of Final Examination subjects’ grades multiplied by 0.2.

After the successful Final Examination the Central Academic Office (KTH) will issue a certificate about obtaining Master’s Degree (so it can be proved before receiving the degree itself).