2023-2024 / SMEM0023-1

Final thesis

Duration

Number of credits

 Master in bio-informatics and modelling (120 ECTS)24 crédits 

Lecturer

Collégialité

Coordinator

Marc Hanikenne

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

All year long

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

Students enrolled in Block 2 of M-BIM must complete a final thesis. The final thesis is produced under the scientific supervision of (i) a promoter or (ii) a promoter and a co-promoter. One of the promoter must be a teacher in the bloc2 of the Master BIM while also being a permanent member of the Department. 
With the prior approval of the Jury of the M-BIM, the thesis project can be carried out in the research department of a private company or in a research laboratory of another Department, whose head will can be promoter.  Any proposition of thesis project must be submitted beforehand to the approval of the Jury of the M-BIM, which remains sovereign to rule on any special cases.
The thesis projects  proposals are grouped in a file that will be accessible to students . The choice of the host laboratories by the students must be transmitted to the President of the Jury at the latest at the end of October. This form can be generated by the promoters via the intranet of the department or is available at the same address in the form of a blank form.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Recommended or required readings

1. Written dissertation
The dissertations must be clear and concise; their length must not exceed 50 pages of text  (1.5 line spacing, at least 11 in character size). The main figures can be printed on the back pages of the main text. The table of contents, the list of abbreviations, the bibliographic list and any annexes (see below) are not paginated and do not count in the calculation of the number of pages. The dissertations may include certain appendices such as sequences (DNA, proteins), sequence alignments, vector/promoter schemes, computer code, as well as complementary figures illustrating certain important results and for which certain figures/illustrations already exist in the body of the text. They must contain an introduction/purpose of the work, a survey of the literature, materials and methods, results/discussion and a bibliography to find the cited references (complete references with titles of articles and works cited). Each dissertation must also include a one-page summary of the title of the dissertation, the name of the student, the year and laboratory in which the work was done, and the name of the promoter (and co-promoter, if applicable). This summary describes the objectives, the main results obtained, as well as the general conclusions that can be drawn from the work done.
The cover page of the dissertation includes the following indications:


  • University of Liège and its logo (Department of Life Sciences - Faculty of Sciences)
  • Title of the dissertation
  • Name of the student
  • Grade concerned and orientation / option, + date (month, year)
  • The host laboratory (s) and the name of the sponsor (or promoter and co-promoter) may be included.
A reading committee is composed of 3 members in addition to the promoter and co-promoter (if any), holders of a PhD (or titles deemed equivalent). It can not include more than 2 members of the same laboratory or more than 3 members of the 2 laboratories hosting the student. The members of the reading committee each receive a copy of the dissertation to be judged.
On the scheduled date, between 8:30 and 17:00, student send an electronic copy to the administrative secretary of the Department (Stéphanie Hanson, s.hanson@uliege.be), deposits it on the MatheO platform and sends an electronic copy to the members of the reading committee (and a printed copy if they ask for it explicitely).
2. Oral defense
The dissertation is presented orally in 15 minutes, followed by a public defense of 20 minutes during which members of the reading committee can ask all relevant questions. The members of the reading committee who can not attend the defense are required to send to the President of the Jury their note for the dissertation and 3 questions that the President will ask in their place. Moderators representing the different orientations of the Master (and which include the President of the Jury) are present for the whole day.
3. Evaluation


  • A note is given by the promoter (and the co-promoter) for the day-to-day work (5/20) 
  • A note is given by the reading committee for the written dissertation and the respect of the related instructions (5/20), while two notes are awarded by the reading committee and the moderators for the presentation (5/20) and the defense (5/20). These last two notes are likely to be smoothed at the end of the day by the moderators to ensure the homogeneity of the grading. The sum of these three notes corresponds to the final note of the final thesis (SMEM0023-1).

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

The final thesis must normally be presented during an exam session of Block 2. An out-of-session presentation is only possible for exceptional reasons, with the agreement of the Faculty of Sciences. The choice of the presentation session must be submitted no later than 1 May.

Contacts

Head of the Jury:

Prof. Mark Hanikenne



 

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