Course syllabus

CoursePM

ACE370 - Master's thesis preparation: Academic approaches and general structure, 2025

Course is offered by the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, autumn semester 2025,  lp1 HT25 (5 hp)

In order to attend the course you need to choose a profile before the course starts. Contact Maja Kovacs to be added to a profile or if you have general questions about the course. Under the module “Course information” you can find a list of student’s choices for profile. All the tutorials are conducted in the chosen profile, all the individual hand-ins are within the chosen profile, but the group assignments are conducted in mixed groups between the profiles.  

The course ACE370 is connected to the course ACE425 - Master's thesis preparation: Design approaches and narratives, see below. If you are only taking one of the courses you only have to attend the introduction for your specific course. Within the course ACE370 you develop your project plan and within ACE425 you develop design investigations in connections to your idea for the masters thesis. 

ACE370: 1st Sep, 09.00-11.45 Introduction, room TP-L10, Teknikparken (UPDATE New time)

ACE425: 1st Sep, Introduction ACE425 within profile, see times and rooms below:

13.15-17:00:

• • Architectural Experimentation, Ateljen 

• • Healthcare and Housing Architecture, SB-L227 

• • Urban Design and Urban and rural design and planning, SB3-L111 

• • Building design and transformation for sustainability, SB3-L112 

• • Society, justice, space, SB-R245 

15.15-17:00:

• • Building Design and Transformation, SB-L308 
    
    

Contact information  

Examiner and contact person: Julia Fredriksson, julia.fredriksson@chalmers.se 

Course leader: Maja Kovács, maja.kovacs@chalmers.se  

 

Modules and contact person within the profile

MPARC 

Healthcare and Housing Architecture: Anna Braide, anna.braide@chalmers.se  

Architectural Experimentation: Daniel Norell, norelld@chalmers.se  

Building Design and Transformation: Mikael Ekegren, mikael.ekegren@chalmers.se  

Urban Design: Joaquim Tarraso, joaquim.tarraso@chalmers.se  

 

MPDSD 

Building Design and Transformation for Sustainability: Walter Unterrainer, walteru@chalmers.se

Society, Justice, Space: Marco Adelfio, adelfio@chalmers.se  

Urban and Rural Design and Planning: Nils Björling, nils.bjorling@chalmers.se 

 

Course Schedule  

The canvas calendar and the pdf schedule are the schedules being used in the course and are always updated. Time edit is not updated. 

 

Purpose and aim  

The course prepares students for the master thesis in architecture. It gives an orientation on theories and methods with a focus on academic approaches and writing. Within the course, students formulate a project plan in accordance with academic requirements. The course is connected to the course ACE425 Master’s thesis preparation: design approaches and narratives. The main deliverance of the course is a project plan connected to your idea for a master's thesis.  

 

Learning outcomes  

• Knowledge and understanding 
  refer the own work to theories and methods within architectural and/or urban design, relate it to a professional context and to a sustainability perspective 
• Competence and skills 
  reflect upon the relationship between research and design in the students coming master thesis, prepare and plan the master’s thesis general structure and formulate it into a project plan in accordance with academic requirements 
• Judgement and approach 
  reflect on and assess the learning process the student has been through and identify the need for further knowledge and skills, constructively evaluate the students own work as well as other students work and give constructive feedback 

 

Course Design  

The course includes lectures, workshops, seminars, assignments and presentations. The students formulate a project plan in accordance with the academic requirements for the master thesis. During the course the students will give feedback to other students and receive feedback on their own work from other students.  

Students are divided into groups based on assigned master's thesis examiner(s) and supervisor(s), but are also mixed between these groups, providing a cross-critical approach. The learning is structured around lectures, workshops, groupwork, group feedback, individual work, feedback with teachers and assignments. Students work individually or in pairs, depending on how they are planning on pursuing their thesis. 

 

Lectures

• 1st of September, 08.00-11.45, Introduction, Maja Kovács, Jessica Lundin and Naima Callenberg 

• 1st of September, 13.15-17.00, Introduction ACE425, within profile 

• 3rd of September, 10.00-11.45, Research and design, Maja Kovács 

• 3rd of September, 13.15-16.00, Student presentations 

• 8th of September, 10.00-11.45, Working with (written) references, Beate Granström and Emilié Sörberg 

• 8th of September, 13.15-16.00, Theory and references, Naima Callenberg  

• 10th of September, 13.15-16.00, Process and Method, Naima Callenberg

• 29th-30th of October. 08.00-17.00, Final presentation, with profile  

 

Individual assignments

You will have individual assignments, where you deliver throughout the course, enabling the teacher to follow your progression. More information will be given in the assignment on Canvas. 

• Individual assignment 1: Positioning, 5 sep, 18.00   

• Individual assignment 2: Knowledge development, 12 sep, 18.00   

• Individual assignment 3: Initial project plan draft, 6 oct, 18.00   

• Individual assignment 4: Second project plan draft, 24 oct, 18.00   

• Individual assignment 5: Final project plan, 31 oct, 18.00   

    

Tutorials and group work

You will meet your group to receive feedback on your material throughout the course, as well as the tutorial team from your chosen profile. The schedule for each profile tutorial will be under the profile specific module.  

• 5th of September, 09.00-12.00, Group work  

• 12th of September, 09.00-12.00, Group work

• 15th of September, 09.00-17.00, Tutorial with profile  

• 22rd of September, 09.00-12.00, Group work  

• 6th of October, 09.00-12.00, Group work 

• 13th of October, 09.00-17.00, Tutorial with profile 

 

Group assignments

You will deliver assignments as a group, discussing articles and documenting your feedback on each other’s work. More information will be given in the assignment on Canvas.  

• Group Assignment A, 5 sep, 18.00  

• Group Assignment B, 12 sep, 18.00  

• Group Assignment C, 22 sep, 18.00  

• Group Assignment D, 6 oct, 18.00  

• Group Assignment E, 31 oct, 18.00

 
Content for final project plan  

The end deliverance of the course is a complete project plan with the following content:  

• • Title: Formulate a preliminary title for your master's thesis.  

• • Abstract: Formulate a concise summary encompassing background, aim, theory, method, and expected results.  

• • Background and Problem Description: Contextualize the master thesis project within a broader societal context, describe its contribution to the profession from both theoretical and practical perspectives, and outline the knowledge gap you aim to address. Also include a more personal reflection surrounding why the subject is important to you.  

• • Aim and Research Questions: Formulate the overall aim of the master thesis along with specific research questions, based on the background and problem description.  

• • Relevance for Sustainable Development: Specify how the master thesis integrates a sustainability perspective.  

• • Delimitations: Describe the limitations of the master thesis project, clarifying its scope and what topics it does not cover.  

• • Theory: Describe the main theories upon which your master's thesis will be based and specify the primary academic and practice-based references you intend to use.  

• • Project: Describe the project in which you will apply your master’s thesis, as well as the context for your project, and describe your motivation for choosing this project and this context.   

• • Methods and Tools: Describe the methods you will use to investigate your aim and research questions in the master thesis and explain the rationale behind choosing these methods.  

• • Process and Structure: Outline how you plan to conduct your master thesis process, including a time-plan.  

• • Expected Results: Describe the type of results and outcome you aim to deliver in your master thesis, describing both your academic deliveries and your design deliveries.   

• • References: Compile a reference list of scientific and project-based references using the APA system, following to scientific citation standards. 

• • Profile Connection: Explain how your research topic relates to the profile. 

• • Student Background: List studios you have taken or plan to join this term and provide a brief self-description. 

 

Evaluation criteria and supplements  

Grading: Approved / not approve 

 

Criteria: 

• Presence at all the scheduled activities (lectures, tutorials, group work, exhibitions, and final presentation)  

• Submission of all assignments and on time 
• Quality of submissions: all the assignments should follow the instructions and have the correct content. The assignments in the course are based on progression and should therefore be delivered on time during the course. 

 

Attendance:  

Attendance will be taken through assignments.  

 

Mandatary Components and Equivalent exercise  

Listed above are all the mandatory components, if these are missed, a corresponding assignment must be submitted. Below is a list of what needs to be done if a mandatory component is missed. 

• If a lecture is missed, an interview with a student who attended must be submitted via Canvas, under X Profile: Equivalent exercise  

• If you are unable to attend a supervision session, you must write a text describing how you have developed your text and submit it via Canvas, under X Profile: Equivalent exercise 

• If a group session is missed, an individual summary of all the week’s shared texts as well as written feedback on a group member’s text must be completed. Submit this on Canvas, under X Profile: Equivalent exercise 

• If you miss the final presentation or the development of the exhibition, you must review the exhibition and write a summarizing text about it. This must be submitted via Canvas, under X Profile: Equivalent exercise 

If you have missed a significant part of the mandatory components, this cannot be adjusted with an equivalent exercise; in such cases, the course must be retaken. This assessment is made by the examiner. 

To be assessed in the first round, this equivalent exercise must be in place when the course concludes. A re-submission will then be available in week 48 and week 3. Be sure to state the name of the submission and the person at the top of the document.  

 

Supplementation of final project plan  

If you receive a request for supplementation on your project plan that cannot be completed before the course ends, there will be a submission available in week 48 and week 3 for later submission and assessment of supplementation for the final submitted text. 

A pass of the project plan in the course is not the same as being registered to the master’s thesis course ACEX35.  

 

Integrated learning 

The course runs in parallel with the course ACE425 Master’s thesis preparation: Design approaches and narratives. If the courses are taken together the material from each course will be connected. 

The deliverance of this course is also connected to the registration process for the course ACEX35 Master’s thesis. The result from the course will be part of a registration process. More information will be given later.  

 

Course literature 

Architectural Research Methods, second edition (2013):  by Linda Groat and David Wang. Read chapters 1 and selected chapters. (This book can be found as an e-book at the Chalmers Library website). 

Diagramming Design Research (2007); David Wang, in JOURNAL OF INTERIODRESIGN, Volume 33 Number 1 2007.  (This article can be found at Canvas and as an e-book on the Chalmers Library website)   

This is Research by Design; Johan Verbeke in the book “Design Research in Architecture” edited by Murray Fraser. (This article can be found on Canvas) 

Reflecting on RTD 2015: Making Connections to Doing Research Through Design, by Rebecca Taylor, in Design Issues: Volume 33, Number 3 Summer 2017.   (This article can be found at the Chalmers Library website) 

Universal Methods of Design: 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innovative Ideas, and Design Effective Solutions, by Bruce Hanington, and Bella Martin (This book can be found at Canvas and as an e-book on the Chalmers Library website)   

Basics Design Methods (2017); by Jormakka, Kari Basics Design Methods (This book can be found at the Chalmers Library website) 

Chapter 1, The Selection of a Research Approach, by John W Creswell in the book “Research design” (This article can be found on Canvas)