Teacher(s)
Ringeval Christophe (coordinator);
Language
English
> French-friendly
> French-friendly
Main themes
The Master's thesis is a formative activity that must lead the student to demonstrate his/her ability to : · deal in depth with a physics problem in all its real complexity by conducting a personal research, under the direction of a promoter ; · write a summary of his/her work and defend it in public in a rigorous and educational way, while being able to answer specific questions.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| 1 | a. Contribution of the teaching unit to the learning outcomes of the programme (PHYS2M1) AA1: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 AA2: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5 AA3: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 AA4 : 4.1, 4.2 AA5 : 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4 AA6: 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5 AA7 : 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6 A.A 8.1 et 8.2 b. Specific learning outcomes of the teaching unit At the end of this teaching unit, the student will be able to : 1. appropriate a scientific question and implement a research methodology to answer it ; 2. select the existing relevant bibliography on the subject under study and correctly cite the sources of information ; 3. critically read and summarize a scientific article ; 4. imagine and develop a research strategy to carry out a substantial physics project in a timely manner ; 5. interact with members of a research team ; 6. evaluate and argue the validity of a physical result ; 7. represent complex physical results in graphical form ; 8. write a scientific report respecting the structure and style of the relevant field of physics ; 9. present orally a research subject in physical sciences respecting the constraints of time and using an adequate visual support ; 10. answer the asked questions accurately and concisely. |
Content
Organisation
This teaching unit consists of the student carrying out a research project aimed at originality in the physical sciences, or in the didactics of physics, supervised by a promoter who guides him/her in solving the proposed problem. This project, which is substantial, is carried out (1) in one of the UCLouvain research institutes in which academic members of the School of Physics are assigned (ELI, IMCN, iMMC, IRMP and IACCHOS), (2) in one of the federal scientific institutes in which academic members of the School of Physics work (Royal Observatory of Belgium and the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy), in a private company or in the hospital environment. In all cases, at least one academic member of the School of Physics must be a promoter, possibly in co-promotion with a member of the host institution if the latter is not a member of the School of Physics.
A non-exhaustive list of possible topics is communicated by the different research centres concerned during the second semester of the annual block 1 of the Master.
It is also recommended that the student explores on his/her own the various research activities in the physical sciences carried out at or outside UCLouvain.
The student contacts his/her teachers preferably before the beginning of the following academic year or, if this is not possible, before the end of the first term of that year in order to agree with one of them to become his/her promoter. This choice is ratified by the Bureau of the School of Physics. Each promoter proposes to the President of the Master jury one (if co-promotion) or two names of potential readers for each of the theses he/she directs. In rare and justified cases, the President of the jury may accept two co-promoters and two readers. The brief is the subject of two oral presentations: the pre-defence and the defence.
The pre-defence is designed to help the student organise his/her results with a view to writing the final text and, if necessary, to complete his/her work on minor points. It is conducted in English or French in front of the promoter, readers and all interested parties. In particular, students of the annual block 1 of the Master [120] in Physical Sciences are invited to attend. The presentation lasts about half an hour and is followed by an in-depth discussion. The pre-defence must take place strictly before the June examination session, for all thesis defended in June and in September. For the thesis that would possibly be defended in January, the pre-defense must take place strictly before the examination session. The date has to be agreed with the promoter and the readers. Students are requested to inform the School of Physics secretariat of this date and the room where the pre-defence will take place.
Being an oral examination, the defence is public. It is conducted in English or French (the choice of language is made in consultation with the promoter), lasts 15 minutes and is followed by a discussion, which must not exceed 15 minutes, with the promoter, the readers and the rest of the audience. It takes place during the the last week of the corresponding examination session.
The manuscript of the dissertation has to be submitted on DIAL no later than one week before the public defence. At the same time, the student must provide a copy to his/her promoter and the readers.
Presentation of the manuscript
The dissertation manuscript, which may be written in English or French (the choice of language is made in consultation with the promoter), is generally about 50 pages long. It should be printed on both sides and not have a plastic cover. Brief explanatory annexes to the main text are allowed. Any voluminous appendix (details of experimental and measurement results, computer codes for numerical simulations, etc.) must be strictly electronic.
The cover should bear the following information
The organisation of the dissertation may vary depending on the promoter. In some cases, the student works throughout the year directly with the promoter. In other cases, the student will more often work on a daily basis with doctoral or post-doctoral students. In all cases, the promoter remains the reference contact for scientific matters, since it is under his/her direction that the work is carried out.
It is the student's responsibility to present him/herself regularly in the host research centre and to request interviews with the promoter, and the promoter's responsibility to be sufficiently available. As a benchmark for the promoter, a one-hour meeting every one to two weeks is considered normal.
In the early stages of dissertation research, the student will often be required to spend time on literature searches. Many tools are available for this purpose. Do not hesitate to ask doctoral and post-doctoral students for information.
If the work involves experimental measurements and/or numerical simulations, the student will have to interact with technical staff and/or computer scientists. It should be remembered that their time is divided between multiple research and teaching support tasks. The promoter can provide guidelines for this.
The student is also expected to use resources (consumables and printing) carefully.
The promoter is the first line of defence in the event of personal disputes. In the event of a dispute with the promoter, the student will contact the Chair of the School of Physics and inform him/her of the problem.
The student is advised to keep an up-to-date personal notebook.
A scientific discussion with the promoter should always precede the writing of the thesis manuscript. That said, the first chapters can sometimes be written very early. The difficulty of writing should not be underestimated. PhD students, post-docs, readers and the promoter will often make numerous comments (accuracy, grammatical correctness, clarity, referencing, graphics) before a final version. Careful proofreading, one or two days apart, before submitting a version to the promoter, often saves a lot of time. A minimum reading portfolio is provided to the student at the beginning of the dissertation.
This teaching unit consists of the student carrying out a research project aimed at originality in the physical sciences, or in the didactics of physics, supervised by a promoter who guides him/her in solving the proposed problem. This project, which is substantial, is carried out (1) in one of the UCLouvain research institutes in which academic members of the School of Physics are assigned (ELI, IMCN, iMMC, IRMP and IACCHOS), (2) in one of the federal scientific institutes in which academic members of the School of Physics work (Royal Observatory of Belgium and the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy), in a private company or in the hospital environment. In all cases, at least one academic member of the School of Physics must be a promoter, possibly in co-promotion with a member of the host institution if the latter is not a member of the School of Physics.
A non-exhaustive list of possible topics is communicated by the different research centres concerned during the second semester of the annual block 1 of the Master.
It is also recommended that the student explores on his/her own the various research activities in the physical sciences carried out at or outside UCLouvain.
The student contacts his/her teachers preferably before the beginning of the following academic year or, if this is not possible, before the end of the first term of that year in order to agree with one of them to become his/her promoter. This choice is ratified by the Bureau of the School of Physics. Each promoter proposes to the President of the Master jury one (if co-promotion) or two names of potential readers for each of the theses he/she directs. In rare and justified cases, the President of the jury may accept two co-promoters and two readers. The brief is the subject of two oral presentations: the pre-defence and the defence.
The pre-defence is designed to help the student organise his/her results with a view to writing the final text and, if necessary, to complete his/her work on minor points. It is conducted in English or French in front of the promoter, readers and all interested parties. In particular, students of the annual block 1 of the Master [120] in Physical Sciences are invited to attend. The presentation lasts about half an hour and is followed by an in-depth discussion. The pre-defence must take place strictly before the June examination session, for all thesis defended in June and in September. For the thesis that would possibly be defended in January, the pre-defense must take place strictly before the examination session. The date has to be agreed with the promoter and the readers. Students are requested to inform the School of Physics secretariat of this date and the room where the pre-defence will take place.
Being an oral examination, the defence is public. It is conducted in English or French (the choice of language is made in consultation with the promoter), lasts 15 minutes and is followed by a discussion, which must not exceed 15 minutes, with the promoter, the readers and the rest of the audience. It takes place during the the last week of the corresponding examination session.
The manuscript of the dissertation has to be submitted on DIAL no later than one week before the public defence. At the same time, the student must provide a copy to his/her promoter and the readers.
Presentation of the manuscript
The dissertation manuscript, which may be written in English or French (the choice of language is made in consultation with the promoter), is generally about 50 pages long. It should be printed on both sides and not have a plastic cover. Brief explanatory annexes to the main text are allowed. Any voluminous appendix (details of experimental and measurement results, computer codes for numerical simulations, etc.) must be strictly electronic.
The cover should bear the following information
- Université catholique de Louvain
- Faculty of Science
- School of Physics
- Host research institute
- Host research centre
- Logo of the UCLouvain
- Title of the thesis
- Name and surname of the student
- Surnames and first names of the promoter and readers
- Dissertation presented in view of obtaining the academic degree of Master [120] in physical sciences, in-depth (or didactic or specialised)
- Academic year 20xx-20yy
The organisation of the dissertation may vary depending on the promoter. In some cases, the student works throughout the year directly with the promoter. In other cases, the student will more often work on a daily basis with doctoral or post-doctoral students. In all cases, the promoter remains the reference contact for scientific matters, since it is under his/her direction that the work is carried out.
It is the student's responsibility to present him/herself regularly in the host research centre and to request interviews with the promoter, and the promoter's responsibility to be sufficiently available. As a benchmark for the promoter, a one-hour meeting every one to two weeks is considered normal.
In the early stages of dissertation research, the student will often be required to spend time on literature searches. Many tools are available for this purpose. Do not hesitate to ask doctoral and post-doctoral students for information.
If the work involves experimental measurements and/or numerical simulations, the student will have to interact with technical staff and/or computer scientists. It should be remembered that their time is divided between multiple research and teaching support tasks. The promoter can provide guidelines for this.
The student is also expected to use resources (consumables and printing) carefully.
The promoter is the first line of defence in the event of personal disputes. In the event of a dispute with the promoter, the student will contact the Chair of the School of Physics and inform him/her of the problem.
The student is advised to keep an up-to-date personal notebook.
A scientific discussion with the promoter should always precede the writing of the thesis manuscript. That said, the first chapters can sometimes be written very early. The difficulty of writing should not be underestimated. PhD students, post-docs, readers and the promoter will often make numerous comments (accuracy, grammatical correctness, clarity, referencing, graphics) before a final version. Careful proofreading, one or two days apart, before submitting a version to the promoter, often saves a lot of time. A minimum reading portfolio is provided to the student at the beginning of the dissertation.
Teaching methods
Realization by the student of a research project aimed at originality in physical sciences or didactics of physics under the guidance of a promoter. The different steps are : creation of a relevant bibliography on the subject, reading and understanding of the selected articles, implementation and execution of the project, analysis and interpretation of the results obtained, writing of a synthesis manuscript and oral presentation of the latter. To carry out this project, the student is immersed in a research group with which he can interact.
Evaluation methods
The promoter and the readers submit their respective assessment forms (officially approuved during the Counsil) to the course Coordinator no later than 24 hours before the public defence. These forms provide 40% of the final mark by the promoter and 40% by the readers. After the public defence, a short and moderated discussion takes place (lead by the course Coordinator) to assess the quality of the presentation and the answers provided to all questions. By the end of this discussion, the official assessment form dedicated to the public defense is completed to provide the remaining 20% of the final mark.
Bibliography
Un portefeuille de lecture minimum est communiqué à l'étudiant.e au début du mémoire.
Faculty or entity
Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)
Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Learning outcomes
Master [60] in Physics
