Thesis and degree project - Let a student do the work!

• The student must work independently and without influence.
  
  
• The student needs good conditions to be able to collect information and material for their project. This means, for example, that the employees involved can participate in interviews and are allowed to leave their duties during that time.
  
  
• It may also mean that the student participates in meetings or other activities and gets access to material related to the realisation of the degree project.
  
  
• In certain cases, the student may need their own workplace or location to perform tests or experiments.
  
  
• It’s important that the supervisor at the company has a genuine interest in helping the student.
  
  
• A thorough review with the supervisor is necessary before the student arrives.
  
  
• Some of the supervisor's most important tasks is to guide the student and be available when the student asks for help.

• As a client, you are the one who initiates the assignment.
  
  
• You will get better results if you, together with the student, formulate the issues, identify the problem and go through needs and expectations. This is done to avoid unrealistic expectations.
  
  
• The student must adhere to the academic requirements that apply to the independent project work and, in discussions with you as a client and with their supervisor, define the scope of the work.
  
  
• Tell the student what you at the company already know about the problem, what solutions you have tried before and what you think would be possible.
  
  
• If you spend time on this at the start, the student will gain a deeper insight into the area and thus have better conditions to achieve a good result.

A degree project is part of the education and can be compared with a crucial test that must be carried out and approved. Therefore, the degree project must be presented to the University in a proper formal way, usually as a written report.

The report or the thesis that the student produces will be available at the University. Anyone who is interested can read it there.

The principle of public access to official documents
The University has limited possibilities to keep degree projects confidential because they are subject to the principle of public access to official documents. Therefore, it is important that the student and the client determine whether the thesis will contain sensitive information that the company wants to keep confidential. Often it can be solved, for example, where the information that the company does not want to be published can be blackmarked in the report or be placed in a separate Appendix which is not attached to the copy submitted to the University for archiving. One option is to write two different versions of the degree project and submit one to the University and one to the company.

Before the degree project starts, the client and the student should decide how the results of the degree project will be presented. One suggestion is that the student gives a presentation to the company. It is positive for the student if the result is given some attention in the organisation.

If you want to know more about confidential degree projects and theses, please contact karriartorget@mdu.se

Most higher education institutions have a policy that the student will not receive a salary while the degree project is in progress. But sometimes students may ask for a salary on their own initiative, then this is a matter between the client and the student. However, it is usual for the company to cover costs such as any mailings and travel.

The more the client involves the student in the company, the greater the possibility that the student will remember you as a positive workplace. Some companies give students the opportunity to participate in trade fairs, customer visits and other activities that can be perceived as an extra “bonus”.