Master's Thesis Seminar (MA-SE)

The master’s thesis seminar (abbr. MA-SE) is a mandatory course of the M5-module (see curriculum for details). Please be aware that the MA-SE is meant for students who are already working on their thesis and are fairly clear about their thesis topic, theoretical frameworks and methods employed, etc. The seminar helps students to further develop and refine their thesis, and provides room for presenting, discussing, and reflecting on e.g. relevant concepts or (preliminary) results.
Students are not obliged to attend a master’s thesis seminar offered by their thesis supervisor, and may choose any master’s seminar (as long as it is in accordance with their curriculum).

Project and research-based module

Autonomous project work

Students may choose to independently work on a project of max. 20 ECTS. Working in small groups is also possible.

A maximum of 5 ECTS can be recognised as/for project work per semester.

The following examples qualify as autonomous/independent project work:

  • A public lecture/talk or presentation at a conference, congress, workshop, etc.
  • Subject-specific scientific publications in a journal, book, etc. (e.g. original articles, reviews, etc.)
  • Attendance of a philosophy-specific summer school (or similar post-secondary events) and according documentation/presentation regarding attendance

The following applies to all projects: 

  • Only projects that have been conducted and completed when being enrolled in the Master's programme in Philosophy can be recognised as projects for the M5 module (= Project- and Research Module)

  • Projects and their proposals must be discussed with the course instructor/university lecturer of the seminar "SE Project" and officially be approved by the Directorate of Studies prior to starting the project

  • Successful completion of the Seminar "SE Project" (5 ECTS = 125 working hours) is compulsory; students who wish to implement a project must attend the "SE Project"

Project proposal: formal criteria and examples

A complete project proposal must contain the following information:

  • Project title
  • Name of student(s) carrying out the project
  • Project type
  • Motivations and reasons for conducting the project, project description, and project goals (and specifications regarding contributions of co-students in case of group projects)

 

Example project descriptions

Example: participating in a philosophy-specific summer school

In case students plan to participatie in a summer school, a project description would include:

  • A short explanation why participating in this particular summer school is beneficial to the student (e.g. in relation to the master’s thesis)
  • Description of participation (e.g. presentation, discussion groups, workshops)
  • Official information and/or documents on/of the summer school (e.g. flyer, website)
 
Example: Public talk/presentation or publication

In case students plan a talk or publication, the project description would include:

  • A short explanation why the chosen topic is of interest and relevance (e.g. for the master’s thesis)
  • Specifications regarding the planned talk or publication (e.g. location and theme of conference/talk, target journal, etc.)
  • Description of talk/publication content and goals


Example: Organising an academic event (e.g. a workshop, graduate conference, etc.)

In case students plan to organise such an event, the project description would include:

  • A short statement explaining why the planned event (at the Department of Philosophy) is of interest and relevance
  • A detailed description regarding event organisation and planning, including working hours, contributions, subject-specific input, etc. (plus specifications regarding contributions of each member in case of group projects)

Formal procedure for requesting a project

The following steps are necessary for requesting autonomous project work:

  1. Preliminary discussion concerning the project (topic, objectives, etc.) with the course instructor of the course "SE Projekt". Contact person: Anja Weiberg (anja.weiberg@univie.ac.at).
  2. Handing in the project proposal and waiting for approval by the Directorate of Studies
  3. Handing in project report and documentation (in context of the course “SE Projekt”, evaluated by the course instructor) Contact person: Anja Weiberg (anja.weiberg@univie.ac.at)