Thesis in Electronics, 15 credits

Main field of study with advanced study

Bachelor of Science degree (or equivalent) in an engineering subject. Courses in electrical engineering of at least 90 higher education credits, including thesis. Courses in mathematics of at least 30 higher education credits or courses including calculus, linear algebra and transform methods. Semiconductor Devices 7.5 credits (Advanced level), Applied Electromagnetics 7.5 credits and one of the courses Optoelectronics 7.5 credits, or High-frequency Electronics 7.5 credits depending on which specialization the student has in his/hers thesis. Exemption of the requirement in Swedish is granted. English 6.

The course is included in the Master’s programme in Electronics Design, 60 credits. The course is also given as a single subject course.

The goal of the course is to train the student in independent technical development work or research work in electronics design. The student should during the course develop the prerequisites to work in a research or development environment.

Following successful completion of the course the student should:

Knowledge and understanding

• discuss research and development in advanced electronics design

Skills and ability

• independently find solutions to real, technical complex research assignments, evaluate scientific articles and use advanced analysis and construction methodsin electronics design
• present and defend her/his own work in both oral and written forms
• present and analyze experimental or computational results in an acceptable manner for the techonlogy area
• have the capability to adequately plan and use suitable methods to conduct tasks to meet set goals in a strict project timespan
• identifying one's need for additional knowledge to address new tasks and attain the requisite competence to meet the thesis goals successfully

Judgement and approach

• evaluate the results in relation to the project specification and other solutions, especially published work, in terms of function, reasonableness and reliability of test results, usability, economy and development potential
• judge and evaluate research and development work from technical, ethical, and social points of view, based on the students´ own experience
• judge the time taken for research tasks and continuously evaluate this during the project period

The thesis work will be performed in small groups, preferably two students in each group, allowing the performance of each individual student to be identified and assessed individually. The subject of the thesis should be within or closely related to the programme remit of Electronics Design. The work should build on courses taken in the programme and either be research-oriented in connection to research done at the University or innovation-oriented in connection to a company. The projects will be chosen together with the responsible supervisors. Each project group will get a supervisor who is an active researcher at the University. A research-oriented thesis project should be based on a well defined research question. The work includes a comprehensive literature study that should cover the current field and address the student's need for additional knowledge to complete the thesis.

The teaching consists mainly of regular supervision and compulsory reports and seminars. The final work will be presented as a written technical report in English, which will be presented and defended at a public seminar with an opponent who is vocational in industry or at a University.

Teaching is in English.

The examination consists of assessment of the thesis work, as well as of the written and oral presentations thereof. A detailed research time plan with associated milestones, tasks and deadlines will be submitted and assessed. The plan shall be submitted at the beginning, and a follow-up plan with changes shall be submitted with the final thesis. The grade for the time plan will be awarded by an examiner in conjunction with the thesis supervisor and opponent.

Supervision of degree projects is provided throughout the course, and the extent of this is determined by the respective schools. If the student requires further supervision after the course has ended, the dean of the school may decide to grant additional supervision for a period of one year. After that, the student will be awarded a grade for the degree project, regardless of whether the work is completed or not.

If there are special reasons, the examiner may make exceptions from the specified examination format and allow a student to be examined in another way. Special reasons can e.g. be study support for students with disabilities.

Course evaluation is part of the course. This evaluation offers guidance in the future development and planning of the course. Course evaluation is documented and made available to the students.