Thesis Design

Overview

This course is dedicated to supporting your development as a master of science with a focus on high-level scientific skills relating to synthesis, analysis, logical reasoning, and the ability to communicate clearly in different mediums, with a focus on academic writing. We also extend attention to scientific rigor and replicability in literature review and experimental design (including participant recruitment, stimuli design/selection, experimental design, and analyses of outcomes).  In this course you will develop your research proposal for your thesis along with a proof-of-concept for your demonstrator, which will be a critical step for you in autonomous writing your thesis project.

Learning goals

Upon the successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

1. Perform a critical, targeted literature review in the field of voice technology.
2. Elaborate testable hypotheses based on the state-of-the-art in voice technology.
3. Perform novel scientific research autonomously related to the proposed thesis topic.
4. Elaborate standard experimental procedures related to the proposed thesis topic.
5. Work collaboratively in international, cross-cultural teams on shared experiments related to the proposed thesis topic.
6. Provide and receive critical peer review in a constructive way.
7. Share research outcomes through popular abstracts, posters and high level academic writing.
8. Design and perform a voice technology pilot study.

Course structure

There are 2 classes per week. See here for the most current course schedule. I encourage you to add it to your calendar so that changes are automatically reflected in your agenda.

Practical Information

• Literature: All readings are available online. No textbook is required.
• Brightspace: We use the virtual learning environment “Brightspace” as the main platform for communication. Here, you’ll find recommended lit, info on assignments and your grades. Announcements regarding schedule or content changes will also be published there. Moreover, you will find quick links to SmartCat and diverse RUG tools (such as Ocasys, Enrolment and Photo and wireless printing).
• Cheating and plagiarism: Cheating and plagiarism are academic offenses, with severe consequences. They are acts or omissions by students to partly or wholly hinder accurate assessment. Per the Teaching and Examination Regulations, cases of cheating and plagiarism are reported to the Exam Board, which will decide upon the consequences. NB: all assignments are automatically checked for plagiarism.

Course Schedule

Week 1. Intro: Background, RQ + lit review

In the first week of class, you will achieve an overview of the basics of what we will cover and how it connects to your thesis requirements. Topics

• Course overview: Syllabus, assessment, expectations, and learning outcomes.
• Relations between the thesis proposal and your thesis.
• Ethics of scientific writing: Plagiarism and citing sources
• Best practices for giving and receiving peer review
• Techniques to choose a topic for your proposal.
• Structured lit review: Perform a replicable scholarly literature review.

Preparation

• Familiarize yourself with the master’s thesis assessment criteria.
• Select and acquaint yourself with a citation management system.
• Examine theses related to topics of interest.
• Familiarize yourself with Feedback Fruits.
• Review the research proposal LaTeX template

Mandatory reading:

• The Wiley peer review guide (optionally, watch the video).
• How to write a rebuttal from Nature Methagora blog.
• Verkhodanova, V. (2021). More than words: Recognizing speech of people with Parkinson's disease (Doctoral dissertation, University of Groningen). Chapter 3 -- no need to read cover-to-cover, just note structure of replicable lit review. See Fig 3.1 and Table 3.1

Assignments

• Assignment 1