Guidelines for the Preparation of Master’s Thesis

Global MBA Program    September,2020

In PU’s GMBA program, a Master’s thesis is considered as one of the most important educational activities that give students opportunities to various research tasks such as identify problems,

develop the overall research plan, conduct research, analyses results, and report research. Here are some guidelines that can help students for preparations of their Master’s thesis:

Advisor selection and application form submission
Regular students enrolled in the GMBA program must find a thesis advisor and submit the application form to the program office before the end of their 2^nd semester at PU.

Double-degree students, on the other hand, must submit their application forms before the end of their first month at PU.

* Note that GMBA office reserves the right to reject delayed applications.

Development of research schedule with the help of your advisor
Understanding time limitations, building a research schedule is critical. In doing so, students are required to schedule meetings with their advisors to discuss the thesis topic, key steps involved in the research, and overall research direction on a regular basis. Students MUST comply with the research direction/schedule discussed with the advisor. Also, it is not recommended to initiate activities (e.g., data collection, writing, etc.) without your advisor’s permission.  

Thesis qualification review (TQR) submission

Students are required to prepare a document called “Thesis qualification review” confirming their proposed thesis title, key research objectives/questions, and research methods to the GMBA office. Note that this document must be approved/signed by the advisor before its submission to the GMBA office.

Midterm Thesis review (MTR)

All graduate students are required to deliver a presentation during the MTR.
Students are required to do the following prior to applying for MTR:

• Schedule a meeting with your advisor to identify the most convenient time/day for your MRT
• Submit the application form signed by the advisor to program office before the application deadline.
• Send your final presentation file (ppt) to all committee members at least 3 days before your MTR.

Upon passing, students are allowed to apply for their final thesis defense only after a minimum period of one month.

Upon failing, students are allowed to reapply for MTR only after a minimum period of one month.

Oral defense application

Please confirm the time/date of the oral defense with your advisor and submit the application form along with the required documents such as ‘Turnitin’- the plagiarism test results, proofreading certificate, and academic transcript to the program office. In some extraordinary cases, with the advisor’s approval, a student is allowed to complete proofreading within 2 weeks after the oral defense. Please note that there must be a gap of at least one month between the date of application and oral defense.

Thesis formatting

A master’s thesis should have at least the following key necessary items in addition to the main contents. Please refer to "Thesis guideline” document for details.
 

1. Blank page
2. Thesis title (cover page)
3. Table of Contents
4. Abstract
5. Context
6. References
7. Appendices

Sending thesis to the defense committee

Students are required to provide the final version of the thesis to all committee members at least 1 week before the date of the oral defense.

Post-defense thesis improvements

Students are required to improve their thesis based on the advisor’s expectations as well as the comments given by committee members during the oral defense. Advisor will issue an approval letter upon satisfactory fulfillment of the thesis improvement.  

Uploading thesis to the library

Please insert the thesis approval letter after the cover page and upload your thesis to the PU library. Please refer to the “Global MBA-Thesis guideline” document for details.

Final approval and exit

Upon the library’s approval, please make 5 copies of the thesis. Please make sure to complete the school leaving procedure before the end of the semester.