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For students

The dissertation is a major component of M.EIC and an opportunity for students to mature their skills in research and development, either in academic or business environment.

For that purpose, by the end of the Master’s first year, students will have to apply to available dissertation topics, which can be proposed by teachers/researchers or external organizations. They should proactively try to reach an agreement with a proponent/proposal as soon as possible before the end of the first year (July), so that they can start early in the second year.

The main stages of the process are the following (see detailed dates here):

  1. Preliminary contacts with teachers - as early as possible
  2. Proposal browsing, expression of interest and proponent contacts - (June-July)
  3. Agreements and written contract - until end of 1st year (July)
  4. Preparation of the dissertation - 1st semester, 2nd year (September-January)
  5. Dissertation work - 2nd semester, 2nd year (February-June)
  6. Dissertation defense and finalization - end of 2nd year (July)

This information page includes the conditions that must be met by students and the overall description of the process from the student’s perspective. A list of relevant links is also included at the end. As a companion resource to this page, you can also check this presentation regarding M.EIC dissertations.

Conditions

Students should take into account the following considerations when approaching and while in the dissertation process:

  • The dissertation has a significant R&D component, it is NOT a “pure development” project.
  • It is the student’s dissertation, so they should be proactive in looking for the topic, researching it, and seeking for support from supervisors and external tutors.
  • It is advisable that students are aware of the conditions associated to supervisors and external organizations proposals (here and here) and make sure that they are being respected.
  • Any issues that may arise throughout the process should be communicated to the coordination as early as possible, so that they can be dealt with accordingly.
  • Students should ensure that they enroll in both the Dissertation Planning and Dissertation courses in the second year of M.EIC.

Preliminary Contacts with Teachers and External Organizations

Students with well-defined interests in specific areas should contact teachers/researchers in those areas as soon as possible, to get to know available opportunities.

In some cases, the teachers already have some specific topics in mind that they can present to the students. Teachers are also usually open to prepare a topic proposal based on a student’s idea if there are common interests and the idea is feasible as a dissertation.

If you have contacts with some external organization that would be willing to propose a dissertation topic of your interest, share the link for the external organizations’ information page with them and try to find a teacher willing to support and supervise a joint proposal.

Either way, a formal proposal has to be submitted by the teacher or external organization as indicated in their corresponding processes. If you reach an informal agreement with the supervisor in advance, that should be mentioned in the proposal and the following step can be skipped.

Proposal browsing, expression of interest and proponent contacts

By the mid/end of June (specific dates here), the set of valid proposals from teachers and external organizations are published to students.

After the proposals are published, a matchmaking period takes place between students and supervisors/proponents.

Students will have a short period to express their interest in proposals by following the corresponding process. As a result, each proponent will have access to the list of students that expressed interest in their proposal and may contact those students for an interview.

Students are highly encouraged to contact the proponents as early as possible, even before registering interest if necessary, to present themselves, obtain details about the proposal and make well-informed choices.

Students that have a mobility placement (e.g. ERASMUS) planned for the preparation semester should inform the proponents about it as soon as possible in the process.

Agreements and contract

For each proposal, the process ends as soon as an agreement is reached between the two (or three) parties and is communicated to the coordination through an agreement process.

In the case of proposals involving external organizations, a written contract between the student, the proponent organization, and FEUP is generated (sample document here), which then needs to be signed by the three parties.

The details of this process can be found in the matchmaking, agreements and contract page.

Dissertation Preparation

During the first semester (between September and January), students will be analyzing the problem and possible solutions, as well as producing a state-of-the art report.

To support that work, students will be enrolled in the Dissertation Planning - PD course.

Some students may have a mobility placement abroad during this period. More information about this topic can be found here.

More details about this semester and the state-of-the-art report can be found in the dissertation planning page.

During this time, it is expected that there will be regular interaction between the student and the supervisor (and the tutor, if applicable).

Supervisors (and tutors) are welcome to attend the two presentations that are held during the semester in the context of PD and the student should keep them informed about those.

Dissertation work

This semester should be devoted in full to developing the work according to the planning defined in the dissertation planning stage, including development and refinement of the solution or prototype and validation. More details about this process can be found at the dissertation work page.

Interaction with supervisors and tutors is very important and must be frequent and regular to ensure there are no significant deviations from the work plan.

That interaction is also important to ensure that the dissertation writing progresses during the semester and the student gets timely feedback from the supervisor (and tutor, if applicable).

If so stated in the initial agreement, the students should perform their work at the facilities of the organization and should abide to the overall rules and procedures of the organization (more details in the sample contract).

Dissertation Defense

The dissertation defense is an academic procedure, in which the students present their work in public before a jury, which usually takes place in mid-July.

The details about the session can be found in the defenses’ page.