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1 January 2016 School of Information Sciences Degree Programme in Mathematics and Statistics

Mailing address Visiting Address Tel +358 (0)3 355 111 Business ID FI01556684 School of Information Sciences Kanslerinrinne 1 sis.info@uta.fi Domicile Tampere FI-33014 University of Tampere Pinni building www.uta.fi/sis/en

Grading criteria for a Master’s thesis 1. Evaluation criteria Examiners consider the following when evaluating a Master's thesis:

- The supervision process. Has the author made progress during the supervision pro-cess? Has the supervision process been smooth, or did the supervisor have to point out the same problems multiple times? How independent has the author been – not only in terms of writing but also in asking questions from the supervisor?

- Presentation of the thesis. Does the thesis form a logical and coherent whole that is pleasant to read? Are definitions, theorems and proofs written clearly? Are examples original and illustrative? Is the structure clear and appropriate? Are mathematical nota-tions and formulations accurate, does the author integrate mathematical expressions in the text logically and grammatically?

- Difficulty of the topic in view of the nature of the thesis. Is the topic of the thesis difficult and extensive? How in-depth is the thesis, compared to the material presented during the courses? What is the level of abstraction of the thesis? Does the thesis combine different fields of research or application?

- Familiarity with the topic. Does the approach demonstrate that the author has studied

the topic thoroughly and understood the subject matter well? Is the choice of research questions and methods appropriate? Does the presentation differ from the presentation in the source material? Does the author discuss some ideas more extensively or better than in the source material?

- Linguistic form, word processing and references. Is the language of the thesis clear? Has word processing been used correctly? Are the charts, tables and texts in them fin-ished and easy to read? Does the text contain references to the source literature in accordance with good scientific practice? Is the language precise and polished?

- Use of source literature. Does the thesis demonstrate that the author has studied litera-ture in the field extensively and thoroughly? Is previous research reviewed inde-pendently and critically? Has the author been able to create a coherent presentation on the basis of different sources (presentation, focus, notation system)?

- Empirical evidence. Is empirical evidence linked to theory in a coherent manner? Are

research problems, hypotheses and presuppositions related to empirical research pre-sented clearly and consistently? How skilful is the modelling of the phenomenon? Has the author used diagnostic review to ensure that the models are applicable and the results reliable? Is the presentation of findings and conclusions clear and easy to un-derstand? Are the findings discussed in regard to the source material and previous re-search?

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1 January 2016 School of Information Sciences Degree Programme in Mathematics and Statistics

Mailing address Visiting Address Tel +358 (0)3 355 111 Business ID FI01556684 School of Information Sciences Kanslerinrinne 1 sis.info@uta.fi Domicile Tampere FI-33014 University of Tampere Pinni building www.uta.fi/sis/en

2. Grading In order to pass, a Master’s thesis may not have notable mathematical errors or methodological deficiencies. The grading scale for approved Master's theses is as follows: excellent (5), very good (4), good (3), satisfactory (2) and sufficient (1). In order to be graded excellent (5), the approach of the thesis must be particularly critical, independent and in-depth, and the thesis must be polished. Usually, a thesis graded excellent is an independently written piece of research on a demanding topic with a mature theoretical approach and accurate presentation. The grade excellent can also be granted to a thesis that discusses the topic in an in-depth, innovative manner and contains a large amount of original content, even if the topic would not be particularly demanding. Typically, the supervision pro-cess of an excellent thesis is smooth. A thesis that is better than the average thesis but does not meet all the criteria of an excellent thesis is granted the grade very good (4). In other words, the presentation may be excellent, but the topic is not demanding enough, or the topic may be demanding and the presentation good, but there is not enough independent content. A good (3) thesis is usually a well-written presentation of a topic that is average in terms of its difficulty, and the supervision process leading to the thesis has been normal. A thesis is also graded good when it is written on a fairly demanding topic but there is little original content from the author or clear deficiencies in presentation. If the topic is very basic, even an excellent presentation results in this grade. A satisfactory (2) thesis does not meet all the criteria for a good thesis. The topic or the discus-sion of the topic may be basic, presentation may be poor, or the author may not have worked independently. A sufficient (1) thesis passes as a thesis from the formal point of view but has many of the deficiencies listed above.