Step 1: Registration

You are encouraged to source for MAE faculty supervisor (refer to MAE research webpage here) with relevant research background to propose your own project. You can also view projects proposed by MAE Faculty via the GSLink, “MAE MSc Dissertation System”. To ensure legitimacy and suitability of the project, prior discussion with your Supervisor is advised.

When the dissertation project title and supervisor is confirmed, please submit the Application for Conversion of Option of Study form to MAE Graduate Studies Office (email: [email protected]) by week 16th of your first semester.

Please do not enter your dissertation information into the dissertation system while awaiting the outcome of your application. If a student enters a title before approval and another student already has an approved application with the same title, the system will remove the title entered by the student whose application is not yet approved.

Once your application for option conversion has been approved, you must register your Dissertation title in the MAE MSc Dissertation System. 

Your project will be registered upon the approval by the Programme Director, and an email notification will be sent to you informing you of the outcome of your registration.

Note for MSc PM students (up to AY2023 intake): 

You are required to complete MA6088 Research Project Management, before you start on your Dissertation. Dissertation supervisor will only be assigned to you at the end of the semester of your MA6088 completion. Please discuss with your assigned supervisor and register your Dissertation in the subsequent semester. [MSc PM students from AY2024 intakes onwards are by default on coursework-only track and will need to apply for conversion to coursework & dissertation track]

If you have any enquiries relating to proposing a topic for your project, please approach the Programme Director for advice.

Please refer to this document for the MAE MSc DISSERTATION FLOW (Page 2 applies to MSc PM students up to AY2023 intake only).

Step 2: Updating Dissertation Details in the System

After your Application for Conversion of Option of Study has been approved, you may refer to the Guide to MAE MSc Dissertation (Student) to update your dissertation information in the MSc Dissertation System. 

Guideline for Dissertation Writing

The main purpose of your dissertation is to highlight key areas of your work in a way that will allow the readers to assess your competence in all aspects of the project undertaken. Please click Guidelines for Students writing MSc Dissertations for the Guidelines. 

Academic Integrity at NTU

The University Research Integrity and Ethics Office (RIEO) has stipulated that all postgraduate students (in this case MSc students who choose Dissertation Option) must complete the online Epigeum Research Integrity Course (RI-ERIC) course. The RI-ERIC certificate is valid for 4 (four) years from the date of issue. Apart from a short introduction to RI, the five-module course provides details on planning and conducting research, reporting research results and societal responsibilities of researchers. You need to answer the online module quiz with 80% success rate (MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS ARE ALLOWED). You will need to submit a copy of the RI-ERIC course certificate together with your final dissertation report to MAE Graduate Studies Office. Expected time to complete the course is 5 to 8 hours. Please refer to the Training on Research Integrity website for more details. 

Click on ERZA03 - Epigeum Research Integrity Course to self-enrol in NTULearn and complete this course. Please refer to the ERZA03 Access Guide.

Tool to Reduce Plagiarism

The University and School expect a high standard of original research when students submit their work. You are strongly encouraged to write in your own words and not copy directly from books, technical reports, and other related publications. 

To check for plagiarism, you may submit the drafts of your dissertation report regularly through the iThenticate or Turnitin software found in NTULearn, where the software produces a similarity score and originality report.

Submission

Interim Report Submission

You are required to submit an Interim Report to your Supervisor as required by your Supervisor. The objective of the Interim Report is to facilitate and monitor the progress of your project.

The Interim Report include the following:

• clearly define project’s objective(s)  
  indicate the progress of the project
• update the project’s plan and schedule
• possible chapter’s heading of the final dissertation
• indicate obstacles that might prevent the accomplishment of the project’s objective.

If any change in Dissertation Supervisor, submit Dissertation Supervisor Change Form 

If any change in Dissertation Title, submit Dissertation Title Change Form 

​Final Dissertation Submission

For students who intend to attend the Convocation Ceremony in July of the current year, you should submit at least 3-4 months before the end of the semester, i.e. by 1st March. This is to allow ample time for examination, and any amendments (minor or major).

The dissertation must be submitted together with the following documents:

• Dissertation Submission Form (see pages 15–16 of the Guidelines document)
• NTU MAE Dissertation Checklist

In addition, with effect from January 2019, the Office of Academic Services (OAS) requires all MSc students to include the following three declaration statements in their dissertation submissions and ensure that they are signed and dated.

1. Statement of Originality

2. Supervisor Declaration Statement

3. Authorship Attribution Statement

Please download the template for the above-mentioned documents.

For more information, please visit this webpage .

Examination

You are required to submit a softcopy of your Dissertation. The Dissertation will be endorsed by the Supervisor, followed by the Programme Director. The Dissertation will then be forwarded to the Examiners for assessment.

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Note for students enrolled in the AY2025–26 January intake onwards:

You are required to deliver a 30-minute presentation of your dissertation to the supervisor after you have submitted your dissertation to the Graduate Studies Office for the examination process. This presentation may be conducted online or in person, depending on the supervisor's preference and availability. The supervisor will coordinate the presentation schedule with you.

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Note: You may be liable for payment of misc fees if a new semester has started during the process.

Submission of Dissertation in Electronic Format

Starting from November 2018, you are not required to submit any hard-bound copy of the dissertation to MAE's Graduate Studies Office or NTU Library.

The Examiners will review the Dissertation and return it to the MAE Graduate Office with a confidential report. If further amendment is required, MAE Graduate Office will inform you through the Supervisor. You will then be required to submit the final dissertation, after examination and amendments (if any) to the satisfaction of your supervisors. You should check with your supervisor on the preferred way to review the amendments.

If there are no amendments, check that the final dissertation is in PDF format and is the complete and correct version before uploading at https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/

You will be conferred with the Masters of Science degree once the Dissertation is assessed to be satisfactory provided you have completed the coursework requirement and passed the examination for all the courses.

Dissertation component is pass/fail only (ungraded).

Award of Degree

After successfully completing all the requirements for the award of degree, your name will be put up for conferment. The Office of Academic Services will inform you once the degree is conferred. Official transcript and degree certificate will be available for collection after you have been conferred the degree. You will be notified via your NTU email account once the documents are ready for collection.