MA IPA students are required to complete a master's thesis. The Thesis Module consists of the written master’s thesis, worth 12 US credits. It is a second-year project, mandatory for all students. It requires at least 4 US credits of research methods as a prerequisite.
Theses should contribute to the study of the field through original research, and demonstrate analytic ability through the careful and critical use of relevant theory, concepts and research methods.
A resident CEU faculty member from one of the participating departments (Public Policy, Economics, International Relations, Political Science or History) will supervise the thesis.
Students should approach potential supervisors during their first year. Students who have not secured commitment from a faculty member by the middle of the Fall term in their second year, will be allocated a supervisor.
The supervisor is the student’s primary contact during the research and thesis writing period. Supervisors are expected to read and comment on the thesis proposal, to meet the student half a dozen times during the supervision process, and to provide feedback on drafts of the thesis (if there is sufficient time to do so).
The maximum total length of the thesis is 10,000 words. The word count includes everything except tables and figures (i.e. the word count includes the title page, copyright notice, table of contents, list of figures, list of abbreviations, acknowledgments, references, abstract (maximum 200 words), footnotes, bibliography, and appendices).
Two CEU faculty members will read and evaluate the thesis. The thesis grade will be determined based upon their two written evaluations. There will be no oral defense after thesis submission.
Late submission results in 0.1 point grade deduction per business day.