Seminar-Steckbrief
This course will provide guidelines to the students who plan to do their Master thesis at the Institute for Environmental Economics and World Trade. It will be a block course which will be organized in several sessions. At the end of the course, we expect the students to have a proposal for their thesis. A proposal highlights the research topic, questions, and basic methodology that will be followed in the thesis.
Course structure:
In the winter term:
Session 1: Finding a thesis topic and general guidelines
Thesis areas or topics will be pitched to the students by the IUW team. If students already have an own idea, they could also pitch these to the supervisors and tutors.
Session 2-5: Understanding and working with data sets
Session 2 – Introduction to datasets and study regions
Session 3 – Introduction to designing an own questionnaire (with LimeSurvey)
Session 4 - Introduction to Econometrics (STATA/R); basic STATA/R commands and methods
Session 5 - Introduction into GAMS and/or ABM
In the summer term:
Session 6: Deciding on a thesis topic and general guidelines
Thesis areas or topics will be pitched to the students again.
(Pause of 1 to 2 weeks (can be longer), where students will decide on topics and submit these to their supervisor. If they need assistance, they can talk to the IUW team.
Session 7: How to write a thesis
We talk about thesis structure, how to find literature, referencing, how to time your progress, give examples of good theses (we will not share any thesis, just give hypothetical examples), and answer student questions. Additionally, guidelines on how to write a proposal will be discussed.
(Pause of 1 to 2 weeks for students to work on proposal)
Session 8: Proposal presentation
The students present their proposal to the IUW team and other students. They can get feedback and also ask questions. This would be optional.
Additional benefits from the course:
1. Work groups – student working on similar topics or datasets can form groups to help each other through the process
2. Group forum – on StudIP, we create a forum, where students can ask questions. This way, other students could also help or if the supervisor answers, it would also be helpful for the other students.
No credit points are awarded for these courses. Participation is highly recommended for Master students who write their thesis at IUW.
For further information about the procedure please enter the Stud.IP course:
Theoretische Übung: Introduction to scientific work at IUW for MSc
