Written dissertation

The master’s dissertation is a written report of the scientific research the student has conducted.

General guidelines

  • View the general guidelines here
  • Academic writing style and language, logically structured text and clean layout
  • Language: see art. 59 §1 5° of the Education and Examination Code
  • Lay-out: there are no specific requirements regarding font type, font size, spacing or citation style at FBE. However, the typographic choices must give the text a neat and well-organized look. Appropriate font types are Arial, Calibri, UGent Panno Text, Times New Roman; appropriate font size is 11 or 12 pt.
    For the international joint programmes specific lay-out rules may apply at your current institution. Check and comply specific rules, as well as specific master dissertation programme guidelines!
  • Responsible use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) is permitted. What does that mean?
    • As a student, you are and remain responsible for the content of the submitted text and your use of the source material;
    • The basic literature must remain known;
    • You are obligated to search for a reliable, unambiguous source (which can still be consulted months, years later for verification by others) and to read references if 'ideas/inspiration' for topics are provided by GAI;
    • You are responsible for the correct use of the source material and the references in the text to that source material;
    • You can and may use GAI to generate a better written formal grammatical text than the text you would write entirely on your own; 
    • You must honestly and clearly indicate (e.g., in 'Materials & Methods') that you have used GAI (ChatGPT and others) as a toolChatGPT (or other GAI) should not be included in the references. Questions posed to ChatGPT are not traceable. Even if the same question is asked, the answer may be different.
    • Be careful with confidential and personal privacy-sensitive information: you should not import it into open source AI!
  • You yourself submit your Master's dissertation to the jury members of the reading committee and your promotor(s).

Cover page per programme

Print appropriate version (listed below) on white slightly thicker paper, do not add or delete logos

Master's dissertation of two students with the same subject

A Master's dissertation by two students with the same subject is possible under following conditions:

  • The work must be submitted in separate volumes.
  • The defense is individual, so separated in space and time.
  • For each master's dissertation, a separate Board of Examiners is appointed, so a separate written assessment is required.
  • If a common title is used, this has to be complemented with a separate and different subtitle.
  • In the introduction of each masters dissertation, the cooperation should be mentioned and the similarities and specificity of the work have to be described.