Info about the graduation phases

The official graduation material

Note that you have to follow the rules of the academic year when you started your graduation work. These rules apply during your whole graduation process, even if it takes you more than two years. Note also that the old graduation system (Ps, geo2020) is no longer available.

The information below is based on what we expect in the Graduation guide 2026-2027, which unfortunately is not available yet but it should be available before Q2, when most students start their thesis. Until it is published, the rules of the 2025-2026 guide apply to everyone, including students starting their thesis in Q1. When the new guide is out, we will update this website and announce any changes in the news.

Use of AI and LLMs

The use of AI tools and large language models (LLMs) is generally allowed in the graduation project as a learning and research aid, for example for brainstorming, explaining concepts, checking grammar and style, reviewing the literature, or supporting data analysis and programming. However, AI should not replace learning or critical thinking: AI-generated output can be plausible-sounding but incorrect, biased or fabricated, so you should always critically evaluate it. You remain personally and fully responsible for all the work you submit, including anything produced with the help of AI, and you must be able to explain, defend and reproduce the substance of your work.

If AI has been used in any part of the project, the graduation plan and/or the graduation report must include an AI disclosure statement describing what tools were used, how they were used, and to what extent, along with a short reflection. The detailed requirements are set out in the Geomatics Policy for the use of AI/LLM, and the MSc Geomatics thesis template provides an appendix to help you write the statement. Failure to disclose the use of AI is treated as a violation of the policy and may be regarded as fraud.

Preparation

  1. Find a thesis topic and supervisors, either by picking from a topic from the list or by agreeing on a custom topic. Talk to the responsible Geomatics staff to know more about it and to confirm that you will do it.
  2. Fill in the form below, preferably by the end of week 3 of the quarter before your official thesis start (week 1.3 if you’re on track).
  3. Before the Kick-off registration deadline, which is at the end of week 2, you should register your graduation project by submitting a case in MyCase. This includes submitting some details about you, a working title for the graduation project, the names of both of your supervisors, possibly the name of your co-reader (if you already have one), and the weeks in which you’ll reach the different milestones (use the graduation calendar).
  4. Together with your supervisors, schedule your Kick-off at least 2 weeks before the start of the Kick-off period. They will enter the date in the system (SuperSaaS) if it’s available, or through email if it’s not.

Registration form

Use the form below to register your MSc thesis topic with the thesis coordinator.

Kick-off

If you don’t plan to do your Kick-off at the specified date, you must cancel your Kick-off. Ask your responsible supervisor to withdraw your Kick-off registration in MyCase.

To register for the Kick-off, you must have obtained 45 ECTS from 9 out of the 10 mandatory courses, and 15 out of the 25 ECTS from the electives by the time of registration.

  1. Write a project proposal. If you want, you can use this template.
  2. At least one week before your Kick-off, upload your graduation plan (thesis proposal) in MyCase. There will be additional pages to fill in if you’re doing your thesis at a company (external party), need a confidentiality agreement, or have human participants in your thesis (see Appendix VI in the Graduation Guide - Data Management Checklist). Make sure you do the “Ready for kick-off” task in MyCase so that your supervisors can read your proposal and enter your result in the system.
  3. Your supervisors will read your proposal. At the Kick-off meeting, you will give a 15-minute presentation about your proposal, your supervisors will ask you questions about it and decide if it’s approved.
    • If you pass, together with your supervisors you should schedule the Green light and Finalisation at least 2 weeks before the start of the Green light period. Preferably, you should also pick a co-reader and make sure they’re available on the date of the Finalisation.
    • If you don’t pass (retake), together with your supervisors you should schedule a new Kick-off date before the registration deadline.

Midterm

  1. Discuss with your supervisors to know what you need to do for the Midterm. It’s good practice to have a more structured meeting to discuss your progress and (updated) plans.
  2. Upload a document in MyCase, such as the slides used for this meeting, updated project plan or the thesis as it stands. Note that without that upload they cannot approve your Midterm in the system, which means that your Green light won’t be scheduled. Once they have approved it, you will be marked as in the Green light phase.
  3. Pick a co-reader together with your supervisors (if you haven’t chosen one already). This person independently assesses your work and helps decide your mark together with your supervisors at the Finalisation. The co-reader is preferably chosen already at the registration phase, and must be defined before the Finalisation. It’s the best person at TU Delft for the topic, but experts from other universities are allowed (and can attend online). The way you approach the co-reader is up to you, but an email with a short summary of the project and the proposed Green light and Finalisation dates is a good option.

Green light

If you don’t plan to do your Green light at the specified date, you must cancel your Green light. Do it by sending an email to your 2 supervisors, the delegate, and to graduation-bk@tudelft.nl.

To register for the Green light, you must have completed all Master’s courses with the exception of GEO2022, and must have successfully completed the Midterm milestone.

A delegate of the Board of Examiners is appointed before the Green light. They chair the Green light and Finalisation sessions. If both supervisors are from the same department, the delegate must be from a different one.

  1. At least one week before your Green light, you must register that you have completed the required parts of your study, check the personal information for your diploma, fill in the final title of your thesis and upload your final graduation report (thesis) in MyCase and to the Brightspace Plagiarism Scan page. To access it, you first need to enrol for the course Plagiarism scan MSc thesis - BK. Make sure you do the “Ready for green light” task in MyCase so that your supervisors can read your thesis and enter your result in the system.
  2. Your supervisors will read your submission. The first supervisor will check the Plagiarism Scan results. At the Green light meeting, you will give a 20-minute technical presentation about your thesis, and your supervisors will ask questions about it and decide if it’s approved.
    • If you pass (continue to Finalisation), you must do your Finalisation at least 4 weeks after your Green light.
    • If you don’t (retake), together with your supervisors you should schedule new Green light and Finalisation dates at least 2 weeks before the start of the next Green light period.

Finalisation

  1. At least one week before your Finalisation, upload your final thesis in MyCase (unless your responsible supervisor agrees otherwise) and perform the plagiarism scan in Brightspace. Upload your Finalisation presentation in MyCase as well. Make sure you do the “Ready for finalisation” task in MyCase so that your supervisors can look at your presentation and enter your result in the system.

  2. At least one day before your Finalisation, you have to upload your final thesis (and presentation slides) to the TU Delft repository (=> instructions). If you forget, you will not get your diploma supplement (transcript)! To ensure that all theses from the MSc Geomatics can be easily found and that there is consistency between them, please follow these guidelines when filling in the metadata:

  3. At the Finalisation meeting, you will give a 20-minute technical presentation, adapted to an audience of fellow Geomatics students who are technically proficient but have not read your thesis. You will then answer questions from the co-reader, the second supervisor, and the responsible supervisor (in that order). A delegate of the Board of Examiners chairs the session. After the session, the committee deliberates, explains the final grade to you in private, and signs the diploma. Your final mark is decided by the two supervisors and the co-reader according to the rubric: the supervisors assess the research, process and communication criteria, while the co-reader assesses the research and communication criteria only.
  4. Terminate your enrolment using Studielink and fill out the exit survey that was sent to your email by the Education Advice team (educationadvice-bk@tudelft.nl).