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Thesis Landing Page

Hurray! 😃 You have decided to write your thesis at the LMN. You are very welcome. Please feel free to ask any question at any time to any of your lab members. LMN believes in the power of collaboration and the fair distribution of resources. Thus receiving and providing help lies at the core of its reseach, you are now part of.

What you need to do¶

There are several stages of the thesis project that need to be passed before being able to complete the thesis. You can find a list of all requirements under this link.

How to get started¶

Before starting your bachelor or master project, you will have to create your own masterplan. Think about your research question, note down your hypothesis and try to get a rough overview on the topic. Afterwards you can start to create your timetable. A good and general guide on writing your theses you can find on Scribbr (in German). IMPORTANT! A rough timetable needs to go into your project outline. This outline needs to be filled out and approved by Prof. Jansen.

A Masterplan

Time Management Hints¶

Here is a list with some considerations:

  • Do you need an ethics approval? If yes, plan A LOT of additional time!

  • How good is your knowledge in programming? Depending on that, you might adjust your time needed for creating a paradigma or analysing your data.

  • Do you have experience looking at imaging data? If not, make sure you get the assistence you need to identify important tissues quickly.

  • Are you interested in preregistering your project, then add some planning time into that. However, it can also reduce your work later, as preregistrations force you to prepare yourself for your analysis.

  • Be aware that you might have to test measure one, two or more pilot participants before starting the actual measurements.

  • Make sure you have enough time for participant reruitment and measurement. You will most probably not be the only one requiring MRI scanning time.

  • Plan with making mistakes. It can happen that you will have to rerun your analysis several times before everything is correct. This is why it is good practice to add additional time for sanity checks, to the results make sense? Do the images look as they should?

  • Analysis takes time, not only the planning, but also the actual execution. Depending on the power of the PC you are using and the number of participants, it can take up to days, weeks even.

Having a good timetable for your thesis is a great start but how do you keep to your goals? Here are some tips:

  • Always add some extra time, don't be too strict on your expecations.

  • What needs to be done now, what can wait? Prioritise your todos.

  • If you get stuck, ask as soon as possible! Don't spend time procrastinating!

  • Keep getting back to people if you need them to do something, don't be afraid of writing another reminder.

  • Stuck to your plan. Don't change your mind by adding another analysis step or research question to your work. Do what is essential first.