- dinf.tugraz.at & TU4U are your friends, they contain every information you need from forms, guidelines to exam dates.
- Check your study plan (Studienplan) in the version, which applies to you. There are quite a number of different study plans and they sometimes differ significantly. It is your obligation to adhere to all the rules. Your adviser cannot know every regulation for all studies and their x study plan versions. Especially ICE students, look up mentor and "Ausgewogenheit" regulations.
- TU4U Master studies regulations
- Details about finishing your studies
- There is a checklist available, use it!
- One thing, which you might miss, you need to register for the master thesis early on, some months in advance. (Anmeldung einer Masterarbeit)
- To ensure a good night's sleep use "Vorabkontrolle der Zeugnisse" as soon as possible (and allowed by the dean's office).
Some tips
- write early, write often, write a lot: it is easier to modify text, if there is a lot of it
- during your practical implementation at least take notes of: what you are doing, why you are doing it this way (based on what grounds/references), what worked, what did not (& why) etc.
- manage your literature carefully from the start
- rate the papers and keep records even for "bad" papers & their rating so you don't read them twice
- collect potential citations and their source
- save papers locally in case you can't access the source anymore
- give meaningful file names to your literaturem, use title, author, bibtex key e.g. Kern2017 - Extending Scientific Literature Search by Including the Author's Writing Style.pdf
Paper search engines
http://www.scopus.com/
http://dl.acm.org/
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/
http://scholar.google.at/
http://www.mendeley.com/
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/
Bibtex Entries
http://dblp.uni-trier.de/
JabRef (local tool)
Mendeley (online tool)
These are only two examples, there are many more. Use whichever you like best.
Sites regarding scientific writing
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/
http://web.mit.edu/jrickert/www/writedoc.html
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/simonpj/papers/giving-a-talk/giving-a-talk.htm
http://www.bartleby.com/141/
Books about scientific writing
http://www.amazon.de/Science-Research-Writing-Non-Native-Speakers/dp/184816310X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1405432647&sr=8-4&keywords=research+writing
Printing your master's thesis
The easiest way is the ÖH Copyshop.
You will need at least 1 printed version for the dean's office (2 for PhD theses). Ask your adviser and your examiners, if they want a printed version. They are entitled to a printed version, but usually the examiners are satisfied with a pdf and only your supervisor wants a printed version.
Exam tips
- The final exam consists of a presentation part (~20 minutes, don't overdraw) and a questions part (no limit, except the 1 hour total limit for the whole examination).
- Choose your professors well. Ask fellow students for advice.
- Contact your examiners early on, especially when you are handing in your thesis before a longer break (e.g. summer). Usually many students try to finish their studies then and some examiners are fully booked very early.
- Visit some other students exams before your own (especially those of professors you would like to ask).
- You have to bring your own VGA/HDMI adapter and cable. You can ask your supervisor to bring them.
- You have to bring your own laser pointer.
- Try to check if your laptop works with the hardware in your exam room a few days in advance. Or at least arrive early and hope that the preceding student finishes early.
- Give your presentation in advance in front of other students and ask for feedback. At least practice in front of a mirror.
- Prepare extra slides for "obvious" questions for the questions part. Especially if you are very nervous during oral exams or your topic is easier explained with a picture.
- Use the language you speak more fluently (German/English). Namely German, if you are allowed to speak German. For English master studies, this might not be possible in the future. Check your study plan.
- Slide and presentation language should be the same. It is easier for your audience to follow your presentation and the risk of speaking Denglish is lower.
- Bring some water, it helps against dry mouth and a sip at the right time gives you a few extra seconds to think, if you get a tough question.
- Dress appropriately! After all it is your last day as a master student at TUG.
- Have fun afterwards! Take the day off from work, plan a nice evening event with your family and friends. Celebrate! You earned it.