F E W T I P S A N D A D V I C E S T O H E L P Y O U G O T H R O U G H I T
HOW TO WRITE A MASTER THESIS IN NEUROSCIENCE
By Aurore Perrault, PhD Student
PLAN
• Master thesis 1.01 • Plan of Action • Academic Form • General Outline • Administrative Stuff to Do • Oral presentation • Evaluation • Tips from PhD students
WHAT IS A THESIS? HOW SHOULD IT LOOK LIKE?
• A master thesis is, basically, a research report on your experiment.
• The content should • Address a specific issue • Describe what is already known about this issue • Describe what you’ve done during these two years of
research and its purpose. • Be enough original to make a contribution to the field.
• The form should • Be well organized with a clear
outline • Be written in a simple voice • Understood, not only by
expert in your field, but should be accessible to non-specialist
PLAN OF ACTION
• Writing a thesis is a long-lasting process! • Sit and think on how you want to proceed before jumping into
the action • Set a time-frame • Literature processing • Idea processing and proposal/improvement by your adviser • Pure research: experiment, collection of data, analysis • Thesis writing
• Literature and methods (can be written pretty early during your master) • Results and discussion • Conclusion, introduction and abstract
• Re-write until final version • First draft should be done and send to your adviser 2 months
before deadline • Edition • Triple-check your spelling! • Do not skip the formatting part (at least 1-2days) • Ask at least 2 non-specialist persons to read your work (spelling?
global comprehension? outline?... )
ACADEMIC FORM
• 45-80 pages - A4 • Font • 12 point font: Time New Roman • 1,5 line space – 2,5cm margins • Whole text should be justify • First line of each paragraph should be moved forward
• Number each pages (except flyleaf, abstract & appendices) • Print only one sided • Bind your thesis but do no use staples. • M-Print-shop(http://www.migrosprintshop.ch/) • UniCopy (http://www.unicopy.ch/)
GENERAL OUTLINE
• Flyleaf • Abstract • Acknowledgments • Table of Contents • List of Abbreviations • Review of Literature • Methodology • Results • Discussion • Conclusion • References • Appendices
GENERAL OUTLINE
• Flyleaf • Abstract • Acknowledgments • Table of Contents • List of Abbreviations • Review of Literature • Methodology • Results • Discussion • Conclusion • References • Appendices
ABSTRACT
• 1 page max. • MAJOR part of your thesis!
• Should contain • A short introductory sentence: from general theme to your
particular research field • Quick method (techniques, design, conditions, groups of
subjects) • Highlight your best results • Conclusion on these results/your research
• Ask several persons to read it!
GENERAL OUTLINE
• Flyleaf • Abstract • Acknowledgments • Table of Contents • List of Abbreviations • Review of Literature • Methodology • Results • Discussion • Conclusion • References • Appendices
• One page max. • Can also be the list of
contributions (help from others lab-members…)
GENERAL OUTLINE
• Flyleaf • Abstract • Acknowledgments • Table of Contents • List of Abbreviations • Review of Literature • Methodology • Results • Discussion • Conclusion • References • Appendices
• 1-2 pages • Very precise BUT no
more than 3 subtitles • Use Word «!styles!»
GENERAL OUTLINE
• Flyleaf • Abstract • Acknowledgments • Table of Contents • List of Abbreviations • Review of Literature • Methodology • Results • Discussion • Conclusion • References • Appendices
• 1page • In alphabetical order or
in order of appearance • Don’t use too many
abbreviation: only if the word/phrase is use >5 times in your thesis
GENERAL OUTLINE
• Flyleaf • Abstract • Acknowledgments • Table of Contents • List of Abbreviations • Review of Literature • Methodology • Results • Discussion • Conclusion • References • Appendices
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
• 10-30 pages • !«Funnel!» theory • Review of literature should guide the reader from a general theme
to your particular field of research • Present background of this field • Introduce idea/concept that the reader will need later to
understand your work • Possible structure • Brief introduction on your field of research • An organized explanation of the different theories/concepts/brain
areas/cells… • Logical links from the theoretical background to your research • Question/Objectives/Hypothesis of your research
• Each concept need to be link to your research and well-explained by several references • Provide non-specialist with a clear understanding of the field • NO PLAGIARISM ! Be very careful in how you retranslate others’
ideas/results
• 5 - 10 pages
• How did you perform your experiments? What kind of material/methods did you use? What population/cells…?
• Should contains • Subjects/Groups/Cells… • Experimental techniques used (staining, patch-clamp, fMRI, EEG,
behavioral measures…) • Experimental design/paradigm • Data analysis • Statistical analysis
• No results, only methods
Always anonymize your human subjects!
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
• 10 -20 pages • Organized and logical presentation of your results • Do not analyze your results here • Comment/interpret all your results in the discussion section
• Entitle and comment all your figures, graph, table… • For statistical results, always specify if it is significant and
add the F value (or t, chi2…) and its p value.
33
A conjunction analysis of all the conditions (Figure 3.5) revealed a widely
distributed fronto-parietal cortical areas, importance of the superior frontal gyrus,
bilateral sensorimotor cortices, the ACC, frontal and temporal opercular areas,
occipital areas and superior ipsilateral cerebellum.
Figure 3.2 – FULL condition related activities in controls.
The color code (right) represents the Z-score associated with activated voxels. FULL condition activates the IPL, ACC, M1, SMA, S1-M1, DLPFC and cerebellum.
Figure 3.3 – FREE condition related activities in controls.
The color code (right) represents the Z-score associated with activated voxels. FREE condition activities are localized in the IPL, SMA, S1-M1 and DLPFC.
6.2
2.3
6.3
2.3
Z =
Z =
DISCUSSION
• 5 -15 pages • Interpretation of your results and how you include them
in your field of research (link to background part) • Possible structure
• Recall your project • Summarize and analyse results presented • Possible interpretation and comparison with others’ theories • Consistant with others’ results? Why or why not? • Support or contradict theories?
• Strenghts and limits • Place your findings into a bigger perspective • How your experiment could be improved • Direction for future studies on the subject • Possible clinical application…
GENERAL OUTLINE
• Flyleaf • Abstract • Acknowledgments • Table of Contents • List of Abbreviations • Review of Literature • Methodology • Results • Discussion • Conclusion • References • Appendices
• 1-2 pages • Recall of your research,
results obtained and possible interpretation
GENERAL OUTLINE
• Flyleaf • Abstract • Acknowledgments • Table of Contents • List of Abbreviations • Review of Literature • Methodology • Results • Discussion • Conclusion • References • Appendices
REFERENCES
• Minimum 50 references – There is never too much references!
• No outdated research sources! • Use the most up-to-date research/articles/authors… • Except if seen as a basic
• Alphabetical order or order of appearance • In the text: (Neurogod et al., 2013) • APA format • NEUROGOD, A., BIOGODDESS, B. & PSYCHOGIRL, C. D. (2013). How to
write a thesis. Journal of Important NeuroStuff, 7 (45), 314-356 • http://citationmachine.net
GENERAL OUTLINE
• Flyleaf • Abstract • Acknowledgments • Table of Contents • List of Abbreviations • Review of Literature • Methodology • Results • Discussion • Conclusion • References • Appendices
• Not numbered • Can be: • List of participants (age,
sexe, condition…)/Type of cells…
• Details on the procedure/technique/conditions…
• Complete table of your statistical analysis
ADMINISTRATIVE BORING STUFF TO DO (I)
• When you and your adviser decide that you’re ready to graduate: • Find 2 jury members (ask your adviser) • One must be a UNIGE faculty member (professor, assistant,
MER…) • They should represent at least 2 institutions: Faculty of medicine
(HUG, CMU, Belle-Idée), faculty of psychology and/or sciences.
• Fix a date for your oral presentation • At least 2 weeks after all the jury members receive your thesis • Book a room for the oral presentation (Unimail, CMU or Sciences)
• Make sure you fulfill all the requirement to graduate • Acquisition of mandatory and optional credits (30ECT) • Complete seminar sheet • Supplementary internship • Presentation of your project/data at a LabMeeting
ADMINISTRATIVE BORING STUFF TO DO (II)
• Send an email to your faculty and Mona when you’re ready to graduate and ask them about their protocol
• Mandatory documents • Official report of your master thesis • Attestation for the supplementary internship • Seminar sheet (12)
• Each faculty has a different protocol to validate your master • Psych: go directly to the faculty desk and give: official report of
your master thesis (+attestations), attestation of research, attestation of the library (psych intranet), flyleaf of the thesis, digital version of your thesis (CD-ROM)
• Science: give directly to Mona Spiridon the 3 mandatory documents + copy of your thesis binded
ORAL PRESENTATION
• Your adviser + 2 jury • 30min presentation + 30min
of questions • Brief PowerPoint with an
emphasis on your results and interpretation
• Send your final version of your thesis at least 2 weeks before the presentation
• Can be in English or in French (ask your adviser)
• Do not forget to bring the official report of your thesis!
EVALUATION
• Characteristics of evaluation • Clarity of the research question and goals • Scientific knowledge and insight on the field of research
• Justified methods • Precision of the data analysis and controllability of the data • Discussion argumentation • Data fit in the discussion
• Care given to the presentation and language • Appropriate layout • No grammatical, structural or spelling errors • Coherency, organization, comprehension
• If the jury think that your thesis doesn’t reach these criteria (grade <4), you’ll have 1-2 weeks to re-write
• In master thesis, they won’t judge you on your results but on the knowledge and insight you have on your research!
MASTER THESIS TIPS FROM PHD STUDENTS (I)
• No plagiarism! • Read a LOT of articles • Take notes and references for every articles
• Do not wait the last months to write your review…
• Manage your time • Should be understand by non-specialist reader. Explain
any scientific jargon that is not common knowledge (ex: calcium dye, BOLD signal…)
• Articles in your field can help you organized your thesis but also write the methods section…
• Keep track of everything you do/your results/material you use in a labnotebook
• All results must be explained and linked to theories in your field
MASTER THESIS TIPS FROM PHD STUDENTS (II)
• Think about the way you will be read! What do you want them to keep from your thesis? Is it clear?
• Rule out what is not necessary/ambiguous • Be careful with long sentence… sometimes short is better! • All your figures/graph/tables should have a title and
explained • Don’t forget about the scale for fMRI scans…
• Plan ahead your outline and time-frame! • Don’t get lost in all your data/articles/ideas… Don’t be a mess!
• Don’t play solo: ask for help when needed, take everyone’s comment into account, talk with your adviser regularly
• Do not wait until the last minute!
QUESTIONS?
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
& GOOD LUCK!