The ITECH Master Thesis Preparation Seminar investigates the logical argument required to make a sound ‘intellectual proposition’ - a thesis. In other words, it is concerned in ‘how to’ conduct and structure research rather than ‘what’ specific subject matter you intend to research. The seminar, introduces the core aspects required to undertake scientific research independent of the field or the contents of the work. These structures are widely accepted across multiple disciplines and not only form part of presenting academic and scientific research but are also fundamental to conducting the research itself. The basic parts or chapters of such a research document will be introduced in general and with regards to the research field of architecture. Emphasis is laid on developing a mode of thinking and researching rather than presenting, thus turning the research methods into an operative tool of design. The Master Thesis Preparation Seminar aims at aiding the ITECH master’s candidates to both build their thesis in a scientific manner and to identify further research resources that need to be incorporated into the proposal. It is thus not a contents-specific seminar but rather methodological in nature. The seminar will address both the structural requirements to properly develop a successful Thesis proposal but it will do so under the larger framework of the overall thesis dissertation. For this purpose, the three Thesis Tracks of the ITECH programme will be addressed individually, specifying how the overall Scientific Research Structure needs to be formulated to account for each track’s focus. The seminar is centered around a two-day workshop with an introductory lecture on research structure and its modifications to suit a specific research track. A common workshop and individual tutorials will help to kick-start each student’s formulation of their research document. As the seminar functions in support to the ongoing academic research work of the thesis candidates, the content of the document is to be developed by the candidates over the course of the term with the support of the thesis tutors. An intermediate progress review with the thesis tutors will take place prior to final submission.
Ecco, U. 2015. How to Write a Thesis. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.