What a company-based thesis project is
You can carry out your MSc thesis (GEO2022) in collaboration with a company or a government organisation. This has real advantages: you work on a practical problem, you get to know a potential employer, and they get to know you.
It is important, however, to understand what such a project is — and what it is not:
- It is a scientific project, first and foremost. Just like any other thesis done at the university, your project must have a clear scientific objective, research questions, a theoretical justification, a sound methodology, and results that can be evaluated by academic standards. “Useful for the company” alone is not enough.
- It follows exactly the same rules as any other thesis. The project goes through the same phases (Kick-off, Midterm, Green light and Finalisation), meets the same requirements regarding open science — including full reproducibility of your work — and is assessed with the same rubric.
- It is supervised and assessed by TU Delft. Your main supervisor must be a member of the Geomatics staff and you still need a second supervisor from TU Delft. The company may suggest a subject, but the student retains full responsibility for the structure of the research: the objective, questions, theory, data acquisition and analysis are all part of the academic project.
- It is not an internship. Your work should not be the regular work process of the company (attending meetings, carrying out operational tasks, etc.), and you should not use the graduation project simply to gain work experience — that is the purpose of the course Geomatics in Practice.
The official Rules and guidelines for graduating at a company from Education and Student Affairs apply on top of the general graduation rules.
How to arrange a project with a company
- Start from a scientific topic. Some of the topics in the list of potential topics involve a company or a government organisation. You can also propose your own if you already have contact with an organisation — but the topic still needs to be approved by a Geomatics staff member who will act as your supervisor.
- Go through a Geomatics staff member. Please do not contact companies that are not listed on the potential topics page unless you already know someone there. Staff often have contacts in industry and can match you with a good project, so speak to them first.
- Register the project early. Mention that your thesis involves an external party when registering: there are additional pages to fill in in MyCase when submitting your graduation plan (see Appendix VI of the Graduation Guide).
- Sign the paperwork before you start.
Keep in mind that more people need to agree on the topic — finding one that is both scientifically sound and useful for the company can be tricky. That said, many students have graduated in collaboration with a company successfully in recent years.
Paperwork: the UNL internship agreement
If you do your graduation project at a company, you, the company and the administration of the faculty need to fill out and sign the UNL Internship Agreement form (even though the project is formally not an internship).
You can find the form here or here. The form should be signed by Mieke Topsom, the manager education and student services at the faculty.
Confidentiality, IP and open science
A company-based thesis must remain an open, reproducible piece of academic work. Code and data should preferably be open and the thesis must contain enough detail to allow others to fully reproduce your work. The thesis is also published in the TU Delft repository right after graduation.
Can I be paid?
Yes, if you’re from the EU then it’s possible. If you’re not from the EU, then there are rules (maximum hours). Contact the Geomatics programme director (Hugo Ledoux) for this.