exit year abroad
If you do your exit year at another university than UT, you will need to follow the rules and procedures for the master thesis project at your exit university. In addition, you need to meet two requirements from UT: (1) a so-called 'critical observer' needs to approve the quality of your final project and (2) you need to have ethics approval for research with possible ethical issues (such as any research with human participants or sensitive data).
Critical observer
A “critical observer” from UT will check the quality of your final project, to make sure it is sufficient to receive the I-Tech diploma. The task of the critical observer is not to supervise your thesis project. The critical observer is not part of your thesis committee.
There are three obligatory milestones/contact moments during the final project.
- At the Start of the final project, the student needs to deliver a thesis proposal with a planning to the critical observer from UT. The planning should include the next deliverable and contact moment. The critical observer gives feedback.
- Mid-way (as determined by the student in agreement with the critical observer and stated in the planning). The student sends a draft version (could be e.g. three chapters) to the critical observer. This is a critical moment because if the quality of the thesis is not sufficient, then the critical observer will discuss the case and an improvement plan with the student and/or first supervisor abroad.
- Green light. Towards the end of the process the student needs to send a concept draft of the thesis to the critical observer. The critical observer does not grade the project but indicates if the thesis can be defended (green light/no green light). Feedback is optional and only necessary if the thesis does not fulfil the academic standards set by the UT. The green light from the critical observer is necessary to graduate from the exit year university to the UT. If no green light is granted, the student needs to repair the thesis until a sufficient quality level. (Potential) repair means that the student needs to improve the thesis to receive the degree from the exit university (as well as the UT).
The thesis needs to be uploaded at essay.utwente.nl
Ethics approval
The I-Tech programme requires ethics approval for any research carried out with human subjects or sensitive data. This also holds for final thesis projects. It is possible that your exit university does not require you to get ethics approval, even though you are doing research that meets the above description. In that case, you need to get ethics approval for your thesis research from Twente. Your critical observer should be able to help you with the ethics approval procedure, as described here: https://www.utwente.nl/en/eemcs/research/ethics/
If you have ethics approval for your research from your exit university, you do NOT need to apply for it in Twente too, but please send the request, documents, and review outcome to the secretary of EC-CIS. The secretary will let you know whether a filled-out checklist for a full assessment by this committee is still necessary (or whether they can assess based on those already existing materials). Please put your critical observer in cc of this correspondence.
FAQ (exit year at another university)
- How do I get a critical observer?
When you have a topic (and possibly a draft proposal) for your final thesis project, send these to the HCID coordinator at UT (m.theune@utwente.nl) and she will use them to find a critical observer for you. You can also reach out yourself to an HMI staff member who you think will make a suitable critical observer for your thesis (please inform the HCID coordinator). For critical observers outside HMI, consult the HCID coordinator first.
- What if I need to start my final project but I have no critical observer yet?
In that case, just proceed as planned with your thesis project. The critical observer can still give you some suggestions to make improvements to your proposal later.
- Do I need to submit my thesis to UT?
You need to send a draft by email to the critical observer for approval, as outlined above. After it has been approved by the critical observer, you will have to upload it to the thesis library of the University of Twente (essay.utwente.nl).
- For the submission of the thesis, do we need to follow a certain template?
No, you can use whatever template is required by your exit university.
- I'm a student at KTH and they want me to submit a 10-page conference paper instead of a thesis; is this OK?
No, I-Tech does not accept theses in the form of a conference paper, as required by some groups at KTH. You will need to extend such a paper to a regular thesis report (for example by adding appendices) to be approved for UT.
- Are there any deadline requirements from the UT side?
No, from UT side there are no deadlines. But if you graduate after 31 August, you will have to re-enrol at UT for the next academic year, following the same procedure as for the first exit year.
- Are there any administrative things we need to do for the UT side?
Your exit university should make your transcript (including your thesis grade) available to UT, after which your UT diploma will be prepared, if your thesis was approved by your critical observer. The only things you need to do is to get your thesis approved by the critical observer, and upload your thesis on essay.utwente.nl as mentioned above.
- What is the process of graduating and obtaining our diploma from UT, and do we have to come back to Enschede for this?
BOZ from UT will inform you when your diploma is ready. (As an estimate, this will take approximately one month after your grades from your exit university have been received -- and the approval from the critical observer.) You have to come back to UT to pick up your diploma from BOZ, or sign some form that will allow them to send it to you by mail. BOZ will inform you about this.
- Is there a form my critical observer should fill in?
No, they just read your (draft) thesis and inform the HCID coordinator at UT (m.theune@utwente.nl) if they have approved your thesis. This can be done via email or in person.
Exit year at UT
If you do your exit year at UT, then you need to follow the rules and procedures for I-Tech students as can be found here: https://www.utwente.nl/en/itech/curriculum/FinalProject/. The only difference with 'regular' I-Tech students is that for HCID students, Research Topics is only 4 ECTS and has its own course name and code: Research Topics EIT 201800524. In addition to the UT rules and procedures, you will have to meet the final project requirements for EIT students as outlined in the EIT Digital Academy web portal.