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Instructions to supervisors
Committee for the Master
Programmes at the Medical
Faculty
Thank you for considering/accepting to supervise a master student on a
degree project!
The degree project
At Uppsala University, students conclude their master programme by
performing an individual, full-time degree project. This is registered as
a project course (30/45 credits, corresponding to 20/30 weeks of
fulltime work). As a supervisor you are the main guide for a student
during the independent project that concludes the master programme.
To be approved after completion of the course, the degree project must
include
• A project description
• An individual assignment
• A written thesis
• An oral presentation
• A critical assessment of fellow student’s project report
The purpose of the degree project is to let the student practice and
expand their gained knowledge by planning, performing, evaluating and
reporting research. For this purpose, the student should address a
scientific problem - under adequate supervision – but as independently
as possible. The problem should be defined such that it is possible to
reach some results and conclusions, and write a report, within the
allotted time.
Before the student starts
Before the project is approved and the student is registered, a brief
description of the project (using the form “Master Degree Project
Registration”) must be submitted to the examiner (no later than Dec 15
for projects performed during the spring semester). Your and the
student’s signatures on this form ensure that you have come to an
agreement and understanding of the objectives, content and obligations
of the degree project.
Although it is expected that the student should write the project plan,
you as a supervisor must see to that the relevant information is
included, such as description of the background with references, the aim
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of the project and the methods to be used. This should also include the
significance of the work, as well as societal and ethical considerations.
The description should also include a reasonable time plan. There must
be time allocated in the time plan for writing the final report.
During the time at the department
While working at your department/research unit the student should take
part in research activities to the same extent as other members of your
group do. This includes participating in research seminars as well as
presenting their own work towards the end of their course for an
audience well equipped to judge the scientific content.
Halfway through the project, the student is expected to submit a
progress report to the examiner. The half-time report has a short
summary (max one page) of how the work proceeds in accordance to
the original project description and to the time plan, as well as problems
the student might have encountered. If necessary, the report should also
include a revised description (including a new time plan) for the
remaining project. As a supervisor, you must approve the report before
it is sent to the examiner.
The report
The student must write the report according to specific instructions (ask
your student to see these). As a supervisor, you have an important role
in supporting the student in his/her writing concerning disposition,
content and language, but remember that the text must be the student’s
own work. After your approval, the student must submit the final report
through the Student Portal and Urkund to ensure that no plagiarism has
occurred. There is also a “Check-list for students” which the student
must follow and that you can consult when reading the report.
If necessary, a modified version omitting confidential data might be
uploaded on the Student Portal. However, the Examiner must receive
the complete version. Ask your student for the instructions and check-
list for the written report.
The final report will not be submitted to the DiVA portal (www.diva-
portal.org) or any other publicly available sources by the programme. It
is important that you discuss and agree with your student if you would
like to make the final report publicly available in e.g. DiVA or not.
Your assessment of the student’s work
After completion of the project and the written report you should assess
the student’s achievements according to specific criteria (using the form
“Supervisor’s evaluation of master project”). Since the first draft of the
report may require extensive revisions, your assessment of the written
report should be based on the process towards reaching the final
version.
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Exam symposium
During the last days of the course, there will be a mandatory exam
symposium where the students will present their work. You are of
course very welcome to attend at this symposium!
Grading and registration of credits
The examiner’s assessment of the oral presentation, the final version of
the report and your assessment of the student’s overall performance,
will decide a weighted grade (Fail or Pass is given for this course).
Bench fee
After completion of the degree project and submission of your
evaluation form, you will receive a financial compensation according to
a level recommended by the master programmes at the medical faculty.
The bench fee is 25 000 SEK (2500 Euro) for an experimental project
of 30 credits, or 21 000 SEK (2100 Euro) for a 30 credits literature
project. Please send an invoice after completing the assessment of the
student’s project (in the end of May or beginning of June):
Att: Sofia Bodare, Dept. of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology,
Rudbeck Laboratory, Uppsala University.
Mark the invoice with the reference code 462D25 as well as with
“Master project in Forensic Science” and the name of the student.
Billing address
From Sweden: Send the invoice to the following address: Uppsala
universitet, PG 1254, 737 84 Fagersta, Sweden
From outside Sweden: E-mail the invoice to [email protected]
Please note the IBAN/BIC and SWIFT numbers to your bank for
invoices from outside Sweden. Our VAT number is SE202100293201.
We hope that both of you will find this work mutually rewarding!
If you have any additional questions, please contact us:
Forensic Science programme director
Forensic Science course coordinator
Organisations/VATnr:
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