Literature Thesis Protocol

All students of the Master Brain and Cognitive Sciences have to write a 10 EC Literature Thesis. This is a mandatory part of the Master programme.  
Through the literature review students are encouraged to try to integrate seemingly disparate or at least previously unconnected literatures to generate new ideas/hypotheses. Some but not all published reviews take this form. The purpose of the literature review requirement is to train students to think critically about many published findings without focusing on one specific experiment. Writing a good literature review is a very different skill from writing an empirical paper. It's considerably more difficult and draws on a different set of analytical and writing skills compared to an experimental study. These skills are particularly relevant for grant-writing, which is an increasingly important part of a scientist's work.

Objective Thesis

Through writing the thesis the student demonstrates that he/she:

• has gained in-depth knowledge of a specific, brain and cognitive sciences relevant subject;
• can formulate a research question
• is able to find, select and organise  relevant literature from scientific journals;
• is able to critically read, evaluate and review the selected literature;
• has developed an own perspective on the literature;
• is able to make a planning independently, and to realize the self set deadlines;
• is able to write a consistent, well structured scientific thesis in English;

Topic

Students may choose a thesis topic in which they have a special interest within the field of brain and cognitive sciences. The content of the thesis should be sufficiently different from the issues addressed in the research project(s). Preferably the topic has an interdisciplinary focus. 

Supervisor and co-assessor

Students need a supervisor and co-assessor for their literature thesis. During the writing of the thesis the supervisor should be available for discussion and guidance.The student can approach a lecturer of the UvA ((assistant) professor, post doc) who has expertise in the subject matter of the thesis. In case a supervisor with appropriate expertise in the selected topic is not available within the UvA, the student may find a supervisor outside the UvA. It should be noted, however, that in the last case the co-assessor always has to be an UvA employee – e.g. (assistant) professor, post-doc. The supervisor and student should select the co-assessor together. 

Roles of the supervisor and co-assessor

1. Supervisor:
   The supervisor grades the literature thesis and provides feedback and guidance during the process of writing. The supervisor decides on the final grade based on his/her own assessment and the evaluation of the co-assessor. The supervisor is responsible for signing the literature thesis grading form and handing it in at the secretary’s office of the IIS.
2. Co-assessor:
   The co-assessor reads and grades the thesis after it is finished and is not involved in the process before and during the writing phase. If the supervisor is outside the UvA, the co-assessor is responsible for signing the literature thesis grading form and handing it in at the secretary’s office of the IIS.  Please make sure you provide your supervisor with the thesis supervisor manual. This contains information of use for the supervisor on the rules and regulations of the master for the literature thesis.

Approval

You need to submit your ‘literature thesis information form’ to the study advisors at the start of the writing process. Students should submit this so the advisors are informed about the supervisor, topic and time plan. Especially the last aspect is important for your study plan.

Students can submit their thesis information form at any time to studieadviseur-iis@uva.nl or by regular mail to: Study advisors MBCS, Science Park 904, 1098 XH, Amsterdam. The study advisors will report you on receiving the form. 

Planning and Grading

The student prepares a detailed planning and time schedule from the outset of the thesis project. This involves:

1. the time needed for a literature search and preliminary reading of key references,
2. the time needed for the actual writing of the thesis
3. the timing of intermediate steps—first draft, integrating feedback, final version

Student and supervisor should agree on this planning before an extensive literature search or the actual writing is started. The student and supervisor should meet at least three times during the course of the writing: (1) to discuss the outline of the thesis, (2) to discuss the first draft, and (3) to discuss the final version. The student is responsible for making these appointments.  The grading of the thesis is based on:

• Problem statement
• Relevance of questions posed vis-à-vis the pertinent literature
• Organisation of the literature and argumentation
• Academic writing skills
• Independence / initiative / individuality
• Ability to finish the thesis in accordance with the time schedule 

Size

For a literature thesis of 10 EC you need to use around 20 research articles (journal articles or chapters of books). The literature thesis should be between 8,000 – 10,000 words (approximately 20 pages of text,  excl. reference list). The paper has to be written in English.

Lay-out

The following information should be stated on the front page of the thesis:

• Title of the thesis
• Date
• Name of student and student ID
• Name of supervisor and co-assessor
• MSc in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, University of Amsterdam and specific track

General lay-out of the paper:

1. introduction
2. discussion of studied literature
3. personal critical opinion
4. conclusions
5.  references