Thesis research
*Due to the increasing number of exchange students wishing to do a MSc thesis at Wageningen University, the possibilities for this are currently under discussion. It is very likely that this option for exchange students will be dropped because the supervisors' excessive workload disadvantages our degree-seeking students.
Given this uncertainty we strongly advise you to focus on following courses. Please contact your WU Exchange Coordinator via incoming.exchange@wur.nl*
If you are interested in doing a MSc thesis, it is important that you find an opportunity and thesis supervisor within one of our Chair Groups. Please note that not every chair group has sufficient time or staff available for supervision of individual students. A supervisor will be likely to ask you for your CV, courses and techniques studied so far, and your level of English proficiency.
Please discuss with your supervisor the whole process: prerequisites, thesis proposal, required preparatory courses, number of credits, data collection, writing and defending the thesis. It is the WUR supervisor who reviews the thesis and gives a mark. We have often experienced misunderstandings about this because eventually it proves that it isn’t allowed by the home university to do the whole process at WUR or the student just wants some supervision and finishes the thesis back home. In that case you cannot be admitted for exchange. So please discuss with your supervisor at the home university the restrictions.
At Wageningen University credits awarded for a thesis run from 30 to 36 ECTS. The number of credits given for this type of education depends on the time demanded to execute the project and must be determined in consultation with the supervisor.
Exchange students need explicit permission from the Examining Board to conduct a thesis at Wageningen University & Research. This process is facilitated by your WU Exchange Coordinator after you have been accepted for the exchange.
In your application for the exchange make sure that you mention the project title, credits in ECTS, Chair Group and supervisor at Wageningen University. It is important for the WU Exchange Coordinator to know who you have contacted.