Registration

You are encouraged to propose your own project. You can also view projects proposed by MAE Faculty via the GSLink, “MAE MSc Dissertation System”.

After you are converted to Dissertation-track, it is mandatory to register your Dissertation title in the MAE MSc Dissertation System.

To ensure legitimacy and suitability of the project, prior discussion with your Supervisor is advised. Your project will be registered upon the approval by the Programme Director and an email notification will be sent to you informing you of the outcome of your registration.

Note for MSc PM students: You are required to complete MA6088 Research Project Management, before you start on your Dissertation. Dissertation supervisor will only be assigned to you at the end of the semester of your MA6088 completion. Please discuss with your assigned supervisor and register your Dissertation in the subsequent semester.

If you have any enquiries relating to proposing a topic for your project, please approach the Programme Director for advice.

Please refer to this document for the MAE MSc DISSERTATION FLOW (Page 2 applies to MSc PM only).

Guideline for Dissertation Writing

The main purpose of your dissertation is to highlight key areas of your work in a way that will allow the readers to assess your competence in all aspects of the project undertaken. Please click Guidelines for Students writing MSc Dissertations for the Guidelines. 

Academic Integrity at NTU

The University Research Integrity and Ethics Office (RIEO) has stipulated that all postgraduate students (in this case MSc students who choose Dissertation Option) must complete the online Epigeum Research Integrity Course (RI-ERIC) course. The RI-ERIC certificate is valid for 4 (four) years from the date of issue. Apart from a short introduction to RI, the five-module course provides details on planning and conducting research, reporting research results and societal responsibilities of researchers. You need to answer the online module quiz with 80% success rate (MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS ARE ALLOWED). Please also complete the course survey to get your course completion certificate. You will need to submit a hardcopy of the RI-ERIC course certificate together with your final dissertation report to MAE Graduate Studies Office. Expected time to complete the course is 5 to 8 hours. Please refer to the  Training on Research Integrity website for more details. Click ERIC-STUDENT Access Guide (self-enrollment) to learn how to self-enrol in Research Integrity Course in NTULearn.

 Tool to Reduce Plagiarism

The University and School expect a high standard of original research when students submit their work. You are strongly encouraged to write in your own words and not copy directly from books, technical reports, and other related publications. 

To check for plagiarism, you may submit the drafts of your dissertation report regularly through the iThenticate or Turnitin software found in NTULearn, where the software produces a similarity score and originality report. Click  e-Guide Search a Self-Enrol Course to learn how to self-enrol as a student in NTULearn. 

Submission

Interim Report Submission

You are required to submit an Interim Report to your Supervisor as required by your Supervisor. The objective of the Interim Report is to facilitate and monitor the progress of your project.

The Interim Report include the following:

• clearly define project’s objective(s)  
  indicate the progress of the project
• update the project’s plan and schedule
• possible chapter’s heading of the final dissertation
• indicate obstacles that might prevent the accomplishment of the project’s objective.

Change of Dissertation Title/Dissertation Supervisor/Withdrawal from Dissertation

For changes in the Title/ Supervisor of the registered Dissertation or Withdrawal from Dissertation, please complete Application for Change of Dissertation Title - Dissertation Supervisor - Withdrawal from Dissertation and submit it to the MAE Graduate Studies Unit (N3-02b-62).

​Final Dissertation Submission

For graduating students in their final semester, you are advised to submit your Dissertation to your Supervisor early, at least one month* before the end of your graduating semester, to allow time for the submission to be circulated to all signatories for endorsement, as well as to cater time for amendments, if there are any. Please note that you will be liable for payment of fees in the new semester as a result of any delay in submission and approval.

For students who are graduating in Semester 2 of the Academic Year, and intend to attend the Convocation Ceremony in July of the current year, you should submit at least 3-4 months before the end of the semester. This is to allow ample time for examination, and any amendments (minor or major). As such, it is advisable for you to complete and submit your Dissertation as early in the semester as possible.

Dissertation must be submitted together with the Submission of Dissertation Form (refer to pages 15 to 18 of the Guidelines document).

With effect from January 2019, Office of Academic Services (OAS) will require all MSc students to include the following three declaration statements in all dissertations and ensure they are signed and dated:

1. Statement of Originality

2. Supervisor Declaration Statement

3. Authorship Attribution Statement

Please download the template for the above mentioned documents.

For more information, please visit this webpage .

Examination

You are required to submit a softcopy of your Dissertation. The Dissertation will be endorsed by the Supervisor, followed by the Programme Director. The Dissertation will then be forwarded to the Examiners for assessment.

Note : You may be liable for payment of fees if a new semester has started during the process.

Submission of Dissertation in Electronic Format

Starting from November 2018, you are not required to submit any hard-bound copy of the dissertation to MAE's Graduate Studies Office or NTU Library.

The Examiners will review the Dissertation and return it to the MAE Graduate Office with a confidential report. If further amendment is required, MAE Graduate Office will inform you through the Supervisor. You will then be required to submit the final dissertation, after examination and amendments (if any) to the satisfaction of your supervisors. You should check with your supervisor on the preferred way to review the amendments.

If there are no amendments, check that the final dissertation is in PDF format and is the complete and correct version before uploading at https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/

You will be conferred with the Masters of Science degree once the Dissertation is assessed to be satisfactory provided you have completed the coursework requirement and passed the examination for all the courses.

Award of Degree

After successfully completing all the requirements for the award of degree, your name will be put up for conferment. The Office of Academic Services will inform you once the degree is conferred. Official transcript of the academic records will be issued after you have been conferred the degree. The degree scrolls will be available about a month before the Convocation ceremony, which will usually be held in July every year.