Graduation_Guide_WAM.pdf

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Graduation guide for thesis work at Department of Water Management, Oct 2012

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Graduation guide for thesis work at Department of Water Management,MSc in Civil Engineering

Introduction

Each MSc track for the Masters degree in Civil Engineeringa graduation project: the 'thesis work'.This is an individual project in which the student must demonstrate that he/she is capable ofsolving an engineering problem independently and at a suitably academic level. Some graduationprojects are conducted entirely within the university, others with an external host organisationsuch as an engineering consultancy, a research institute, a water management authority orregional authority. The graduation project carries a value of 40 ECTS credits (or 42 credits in caseof students who started their Masters degree programme prior to 1 September 2009.)

In principle, the thesis should be entirely in English. In certain circumstances (e.g. if the hostorganisation so demands) it can be produced in Dutch, subject to the permission of the thesisprofessor. In any event, there must be a summary in English.

As you near graduation, your main focus will of course be on the actual content of your thesis.However, there are also a number of administrative requirements. If you fail to meet theserequirements, you risk unnecessary delay in obtaining your degree. It is therefore important thatyou know what is expected of you before, during and after you complete your thesis.

Some formal requirements are set out in Articles 26, 27 and 28 of the Board of ExaminersRegulations and Guidelines, which you are strongly advised to read.

The administrative procedures are summarized in a checklist for the Section of Water Resourcesand a checklist for the Section of Sanitary Engineering.

Beginning the graduation process

You may start work on your thesis project if you have successfully completed a Bachelor'sprogramme and have gained 60 credits on the MSc programme. The Department recommends70 credits. If applicable (e.g. because you have transferred from a University of Applied Sciences,or HBO) you must also have successfully completed the required bridging course. We recommendthat you plan your thesis project so that you have completed all mandatory subjects prior tomaking your final presentation.

If you intend to start work on your thesis project, you must complete the 'Application Start MScthesis' form and submit it to the Service Desk. The administration department will then checkthat you are indeed eligible to begin this stage of the programme. The approval for you to startthe graduation phase of your studies will be sent to the thesis coordinator of your track.

The overall graduation process for the thesis work can be divided into the following phases:

A. OrientationB. StartC. ExecutionD. CompletionE. Post-thesis

Each phase is described in greater detail below.


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A. OrientationYou should start thinking about the topic of your master thesis project. We advise that you askyour professors and other teaching staff for their input and ideas. The various tracks have

published examples of suitable topics on their respective websites or on Blackboard. It can bevery useful to look at the theses produced by former students. Other sources of information andideas include the PhD students in your department, the internet and fellow students who have

already started the graduation process.External organisations often propose interesting challenges which can form suitable subjectmatter for a master thesis project. You may make some useful contacts during a visit to one ofthe Bedrijvendagen(Business Days).The topic of your master thesis project must be approved by the thesis professor, even if it hasbeen proposed by an external host organisation. You should therefore avoid making any firmagreements before the topic has been formally approved.

The graduation committee

During the graduation process you will be guided and assessed by a 'graduation committee'. Thiscomprises at least three examiners from within TU Delft, including your thesis professor who alsochairs the committee. They should represent at least two different sections of TU Delft. The

committee chairman must be a professor from the Civil Engineering department. See Article 27 ofthe Board of Examiners Regulations and Guidelines.

The members of the thesis committee are selected by the thesis professor, the thesis coordinatorand the student. One of its members will be your thesis supervisor, whom you should contact ifyou have any day-to-day questions and queries. The thesis committee may also include externalexaminers. This will certainly be the case if you produce your thesis on behalf of an externalorganisation. The thesis coordinator (acting on behalf of the Board of Examiners) formallyappoints the external expert as an accredited examiner for a period of two years. In order to doso, he will need the details of the person concerned (name, title, company, address). You shouldtherefore have this information to hand when you meet the thesis coordinator to complete the'Form Graduation Chart'.

Completing your thesis project with a host organisation

If you wish to complete your thesis project with an external host organisation, you must obtainthe express permission of your thesis professor. Some host organisations will wish to enter into aformal contract which establishes certain practical matters, for example the possibility ofreceiving an allowance. It may also include a confidentiality clause. The organisation may request

TU Delft to co-sign the contract. This is not standard practice: the thesis coordinator will assessevery case on its merits and, if he considers it appropriate to do so, will sign the contract.

Completing your masters thesis project abroad

It is possible to complete your thesis project with a host organisation abroad. In such cases, the

chairman of the thesis committee will nevertheless be a professor from the MSc Civil Engineeringprogramme. A masters thesis project abroad demands careful preparation. You can call uponyour thesis professor's international contacts to help. In this case too, your thesis will beassessed by the thesis committee of the MSc Civil Engineering programme, acting under theoverall responsibility of the Board of Examiners of Civil Engineering. It is obvious that one ormore of the experts who supervise your project should be included on the thesis committee asexternal examiners. Remember that completing a thesis project abroad will often demand extratime.


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B. Start

In this phase, you are expected to deliver the first actual 'product': the work plan. This

represents the results of your efforts to find an appropriate thesis topic during the precedingorientation phase. You will draw up your work plan in close consultation with your thesissupervisor. Your work plan should therefore state the topic of your thesis and how you intend to

approach the subject matter. A particularly important component of the plan is the schedule. Youshould try to produce a realistic schedule showing firm dates for the completion of the variousactivities, making allowance for holidays, examination periods and so forth.

The 'start meeting' is the first official meeting of the thesis committee, which ideally should beattended by all members. At the very least, the thesis professor and your day-to-day supervisorshould be present. At this meeting, you will present your work plan for the committee's approval.Once this approval has been granted, you can get down to the real work. Remember that anysubsequent significant amendments to your work plan must first be approved by the committee.

Once the topic of your thesis project has been established and the thesis committee has beenappointed, you must finalise your MSc examination programme in consultation with your thesiscoordinator. This will require you to complete the 'Form Graduation Chart' which is then

submitted to the coordinator.

C. Execution

In this phase you actually conduct the activities listed in your work plan. The faculty providesvarious facilities to assist you in doing so, including rooms and computers which are reservedsolely for students working on their masters thesis project. Your thesis coordinator can providefurther information.

During this phase there will be at least one, and usually several, interim reviews at which youmeet with the thesis committee to discuss the progress of your project to date. One week beforeeach review, you must submit a progress report to each member of the committee (in hard copyif requested), which must include the schedule for the remainder of the project. You must alsoproduce a report of the review meeting itself, which again should be submitted (by e-mail) toeach committee member for approval. If you do not receive a reply within one week, it is safe toassume that your review meeting report has indeed been approved.You will also meet with the individual members of the thesis committee on a regular basis.Ensure that you contact your day-to-day supervisor at least once a month but preferably twice.

Although unlikely, it is possible that you may have some disagreement with the thesis committeethat cannot be resolved amicably. If so, you should contact your academic counsellor who willattempt to find a solution. If he or she is unable to do so, the matter will be referred to the Boardof Examiners. The board will first attempt to mediate but if this process also fails to produce anoutcome which is acceptable to all concerned, the board will issue a binding ruling.

If your thesis project takes longer than one year, the thesis coordinator is required to investigatethe causes for this delay. He will contact both you and your thesis professor. If it seems likelythat the delay will be further protracted, the thesis coordinator will notify the Board of Examinersaccordingly. It is possible that the board will then require you and your thesis professor toprovide a written explanation. In exceptional cases, the board may rule that the work to datemust be assessed immediately, incomplete though it is. Clearly, there is a risk that this will resultin a 'fail'. You should do everything possible to avoid this situation, since you would have to startall over again.


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D. Completion

The final phase of the graduation process begins with the 'green light review'. A week prior to

the review meeting, you must submit a copy of the complete draft version of your thesis(including the summary and conclusions) to each member of the thesis committee. As the namesuggests, the purpose of the meeting is to decide whether or not you should be given the 'green

light' (permission) to submit the final version of your thesis for assessment. The final versionshould, of course, be amended in line with any criticisms offered during the review.At this meeting, the date of the thesis presentation and final assessment will be agreed.Wherever possible, presentations are planned for a Thursday or Friday and are given in Halls Fand G.

The final review and presentation

The masters thesis project culminates in a final review of your work by the thesis committee anda public presentation. In most cases, both take place on the same day. You should arrange anyfacilities you need for the presentation (beamer, coffee, etc.) through the CEG Service Desk. Oneweek prior to the presentation you may post invitations in the lifts and on the notice boards.For the purposes of the final review, you must ensure that all members of the thesis committee

have a copy of the final version of your thesis in good time. In addition to the hard copy onpaper, you should also provide a digital version.

The majority of theses are in the public domain: they are held in the library's repository andmade available to anyone wishing to read them. The only exception is if the host organisationrequests an embargo on publication, for example because the thesis contains confidentialbusiness information. In such cases, a period is agreed after which the thesis can be published.

The presentation is given to an audience made up of your family and friends, professionals fromthe field and TU Delft staff and students. It must therefore be of an appropriately high standardand geared to a 'mixed' audience. Laymen should be able to understand your presentation, butyou must also hold the interest of the professionals. The chairman and at least one othermember of your thesis committee must be present.

The assessment

The formal assessment of your thesis project will be made immediately following yourpresentation. The thesis committee will convene behind closed doors; you do not attend this partof the proceedings.

The committee's assessment will take the following aspects into account (further to Article 28 ofthe Board of Examiners Regulations and Guidelines, qv.):

A. Intrinsic Aspects

originality and creativity

independence

productivity analytical ability

synthetic ability approach method

sustainability (where relevant)B. Written presentation

structure

readability presentation


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use of language

C. Oral presentation structure clarity for a wider audience

quality of the audiovisual aids

defence.

The final mark is expressed as a score out of ten. (Half-marks are also possible.)

Summary for theCollection of Master Theses

You must produce a summary of your thesis for the Collection of Master Theses, a graduationyearbook of all graduating Citgs Engineers per 4 month period. Include an illustration whichrepresents your work and list the members of your thesis committee. The entire summary shouldbe no longer than one A4 page. Submit it to the secretariat of your thesis professor's department.

An example and the format is provided in Appendix 1

E. Post-thesis

Master's degree audit

In order to receive your Master's degree, you must apply to be included on the list of candidatesto be considered, using theAanvraag MSc-examen("Application Form MSc Graduation')form. Keep in mind closing dates for applications, as announced in e.g. Citg news. All courses ashave been mentioned on the Graduation chart must have been completed. Non-EU students canapply for personal collection of the diploma through the Graduation Coordinator. In that casekeep in mind that the Central Student Affairs needs 20 days to prepare for the diploma.

The degree award ceremony

The formal presentation of your degree certificate takes place three times a year. You will receivean invitation showing the exact date and time of the ceremony, which is held in Hall A (Faculty ofCEG). The ceremony is followed by a more informal gathering with drinks and snacks.


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Appendix 1

Manual for summary in the Collection of Master Theses

This is the manual for writing your Msc-thesis summary. The importance, purpose and use ofyour summary will be explained. Furthermore, an example of a clear and interesting summary isincluded. Note that this is not a real Msc-thesis.

The summary

The summary of your thesis is an obligatory part of graduation. When you register yourself forthe graduation exam, you have to hand in a summary of your Msc-thesis before the knowndeadline. When you finished writing your summary, you are supposed to digitally hand it in at the

secretary of your department.

The summary itself is bound by some regulations. The length is limited to one A4 page. It has tobe written in English. You really have to keep in mind that the summary is understandable forpeople who dont know much about your subject, and is interesting for professionals. Try not togo too deep into the technical details. This means using clear language, using headers and somenice pictures. It is recommended to hand in the pictures apart from the summary. Just mark theplace of the picture in the text. The font to use is Tahoma, size 10. Note that the name ofyourself, the graduation committee and the contact phone number of the department are at thebottom of your summary. To make it more clear, this is all worked out in the example on thenext page. Please try to follow the format as close as possible.

Collection of Master ThesesYour summary will be published in the collection of master theses, which is published threetimes a year (in March, June and October). The book contains the Msc-theses of the past 4months. It is sent to many external contacts of the Civil Engineering faculty. You can think ofbuilding and engineering companies, universities and other civil engineering related organizations.These will read the book carefully and often request more information about some studies. Thisproves the importance of writing a good summary of your thesis. With a good summary youpromote yourself to the civil engineering and earth science world.


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Small reservoirs in the Volta Basin

IntroductionThe basin of the Volta River is located in Ghana and Burkina Faso in West Africa. Upstream theriver many small dams were built to provide villages with water for the irrigation of their crops.

These reservoirs are the main focus of my thesis. I did my research in cooperation with localscientists and NGOs.

Problem definition

In theory, the reservoirs seem to be ideal: easy construction of the dams, easy management ofthe reservoirs, few safety problems and the provision of more water to the inhabitants of thevillages. In practice, the situation is almost the opposite, mainly because the designers paid toolittle attention for the water quality in the reservoirs. The water in the reservoirs is very turbid,polluted and is a breeding place for malaria mosquitoes. As a result the reservoirs often are notused at all.

Reservoir.jpgResearchMy research focused on the improvement of the water quality in the reservoirs. I visited the areatwice for two weeks. To achieve my goal, a special approach was developed. The approach wasdivided in three phases:1. The analysis of the problem: how can the problem be defined, what are the causes and who

are the stakeholders involved.2. The second phase was to develop technical and management solutions for the problem.

Which measures can be taken to improve the water quality and prevent the occurrence ofdangerous pollution in the future?

3. Implementing the technical solutions in the real situation and ensure a durable solution.

Results1. The problem analysis concluded that the water quality in the reservoirs was very bad. The

concentrations of the substances that define the water quality were far above therecommended values from the WHO. The main cause for this, was the poor management of

the reservoir by the users.2. Technical solutions to improve the water quality on the short term, the measures to be taken

were not very difficult. It basically meant flushing the reservoir and, in some cases, gettingrid of the polluted sediment. The difficult part was, making the villagers aware of their ownmistakes and responsibilities.

3. The plan developed for implementing the solutions was mainly focusing on education. Theaim of the education was to make villagers themselves aware of their own involvement andresponsibilities for managing the reservoir and its structures.

Conclusions and recommendationsThe problems were largely caused by the villagers themselves, not because of bad intentions, but

because of ignorance. By both flushing/cleaning the reservoirs and making the villagers aware oftheir own responsibilities, the water quality in the reservoirs can be improved considerably. Butthe research has to be continued to test and improve the developed approach.

Student: L.A. BrasemCommittee: Prof. ir. A.B. Boezem, ir. F.A.P. Strickler, dr. ir. D.E. Gate(WHO), ing. A.

Owusu (University of Accra)

For more information you can contact the section Watermanagement, tel. 015-2781646

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