Course syllabus

Master degree projects at the department of electrical engineering (E2) may carry 60 or 30 credits. The relevant course codes for 60 and 30 credits are EENX60 and EENX30, respectively.

All master degree projects at E2 must adhere to the overall Chalmers rules for Master thesis/Degree project.

Contact information

For assistance, please follow the recommended order of contact:

1. Examiner of the degree project.
2. Director of the master's program (refer to Contacts for Master's programs).
3. The vice head at E2: Nikolce Murgovski nikolce.murgovski@chalmers.se.

When submitting your final thesis and the list of passed requirements, you may also need to contact the E2 student administration studadm.e2@chalmers.se. The process is described in more details in the general guidelines below.

General guidelines

The following general guidelines apply for master degree projects:

• Examiner's role: The examiner is responsible for assessing and approving the scientific and qualitative level of the project. They ensure that the project meets the learning objectives. The examiner may also supervise or appoint one or more supervisors, who may be external if the project is conducted outside Chalmers.
• Supervisor's role: The supervisor, including any external supervisors, provides continuous support throughout the project. This includes guiding students through the academic aspects of their thesis and assisting with practical processes if the project is conducted in an external organization.
• Initiation: Start by finding a thesis project. Check, e.g., the Thesis portal, or proposals posted at companies. You may also approach a Professor or a PhD student for suggestions, or you may define your own project. Next, find an examiner and make an initial contact. Most students have an examiner at E2, but it is also possible to have an examiner at another department as long as the project is within the scope of the master program and the examiner is qualified to examine the methods used in the thesis. This is checked by the master's program director before approving the thesis registration. If you have difficulties finding an examiner, contact the master program director for guidance.
• Project proposal: Draft a proposal including title, keywords, master program, relevant courses in the master program, introduction/background including main research questions, methodology, ethical and sustainability aspects, and relevant references/research publications. The examiner assesses the proposal for suitability.
• Registration: Submit the Thesis Application Form online. A 30-credit project typically lasts 20 weeks, while a 60-credit project lasts 40 weeks. In rare cases, an exemption form may be needed; see Thesis application forms for details. For assistance with the form contact support@chalmers.se, or thesis@chalmers.se, or masterthesis@chalmers.se.
  You can register your thesis project as soon as you fulfill the prerequisites for doing a master thesis project: 225 credits for Master of Engineering (5-year MSc) students, and 45 credits for students admitted to the master's program (2-year MSc). The application form should be correctly completed and the proposed thesis topic should demonstrate substantial scientific or technical depth. The examiner will check the project proposal, and the master's program director will need to confirm and approve the application. If the thesis involves students from different master's programs, approval from both program directors is required. Once approved, the registration is automatically recorded as a course in Ladok. You are then responsible for registering for the course yourself (just as with other course registrations). Ideally, the approval should be completed at least 4 weeks before the intended start date.
• Digital Work Card: Use a digital Work Card to collect necessary signatures. Upon completion, the work card should be sent to E2 Studadm studadm.e2@chalmers.se.
• Planning report: By about week 2, submit a planning report covering background, preliminary aims, objectives, limitations, methodology, and a timetable for completing the thesis. It should also address any societal, ethical, and ecological considerations related to the project; if these aspects are not addressed, the reasons must be clearly stated. For detailed guidance on preparing the report, refer to Planning report and Public defense of a degree project. The examiner reviews and approves the planning report in the students' digital work card.
• Intermediate report: For 60-credit projects, you must submit an interim report at about week 20. The examiner approves this in the work card, which grants 30-credits in Ladok.
• Final report: The final report must be written in English, using the cover design templates specified by Design and publish Master's thesis. Report templates are available in both LaTeX (via Overleaf) and Word. Some master's programs may require the use of the LaTeX template; you should verify this requirement on the program's dedicated page, see the table below, or consult with your examiner. If two students are collaborating on the thesis, the division of work must be clearly outlined within the report.
• Public defense announcement: The examiner will help you schedule an oral presentation between August 15 and June 15, during normal office hours (no presentations are held during the summer break). Send your examiner your names, CIDs, title and short abstract of thesis. The names of opponents may also be included. A maximum of 2 students can act as opponents for the same degree project. Keep in mind that the thesis must be announced at least 2 weeks before the presentation date. The oral presentation, including the opposition, should typically be held at Chalmers. Presentation will be publicly announced at Master thesis presentations at Electrical Engineering.
• Public defense: The oral defense begins with the student(s) presenting their work, followed by opposition and a discussion. Defenses are conducted in English and should last between about 45-60 minutes. If multiple students are defending the thesis, each must actively participate to pass. Opponents are allotted 10 minutes, which should be fully utilized, after which others may ask questions. The thesis must be finalized but not yet published at the time of the defense, allowing for the incorporation of feedback from the presentation. Additional presentations may be conducted at companies if needed. In exceptional cases, such as when the research was conducted abroad, the examiner may grant an exemption from the requirement to present and defend the thesis at Chalmers. For detailed information and a checklist to prepare for a public defense, see Planning report and Public defence of a degree project.
• Examination: To pass a degree project, the following requirements must be fulfilled (with signatures collected in the work card): an approved planning report, an approved thesis, a completed plagiarism check, an approved presentation and defense of the thesis, participation as an opponent for another thesis, and attendance at 2 additional master thesis presentations. For a 60-credit thesis, an interim report is required at the halfway mark. Grades are assigned on a pass/fail (UG) scale, with grades of U (Fail) and G (Pass). Students in double degree programs will receive a grade from both Chalmers (pass/fail) and the partner university. Check with your examiner on how plagiarism will be checked. The typical approach is to send a pdf version of your thesis to the Ukund email address of the examiner; it will look something like firstname.lastname.chalmers@analys.urkund.se or CID.chalmers@analys.urkund.se.
• E-publication: Theses are published electronically in the Chalmers Open Digital Repository (ODR), following Chalmers' policies on open access and confidentiality. All authors must sign the publication contract on the work card before full-text publication. Printed copies are not accepted by Chalmers’ libraries. To upload the thesis to the ODR, email your examiner the final report, along with completed work cards if available. The examiner will forward these to E2 Studadm at studadm.e2@chalmers.se.

Extending the typical period

Fee-paying students must adhere to the academic year dates for their Master’s thesis due to visa regulations. If additional time is needed, students must extend their visa to complete their thesis. For more information on residence permits and extension forms, see Residence permit.

Master's thesis for partner university students

Students from Chalmers' partner universities may come to Chalmers to do their Master's thesis. Questions regarding mobility may be sent to studentexchange@chalmers.se.

Master's thesis abroad

The master's thesis may be conducted abroad, but it should be examined at Chalmers.

Degree projects at companies

Degree projects may involve collaboration with companies, which may include appointing a company supervisor and signing a confidentiality agreement. Note that a degree project at Chalmers must be publicly accessible for examination purposes. Confidentiality agreements that prevent public access will hinder the examination process.

Students retain the copyright to their thesis and may transfer or license these rights as they see fit. Any deviations from the standard process should be clarified early. Agreements on the use or transfer of results between students and companies must be mutually agreed upon.

Chalmers' role is limited to ensuring that students keep confidential information private.

Usage of AI tools

See Regulations for the use of AI tools in thesis work.

Dedicated information by master programs

The master programs have dedicated Canvas pages where more information is provided for degree projects. Please follow the respective link in the table.