MGI thesis rings

The aim of thesis rings is to provide you with the opportunity to improve your scientific writing skills in interaction with other MGI students. You will receive constructive feedback to improve your own writing skills. Thesis rings help you to improve your document before turning it in to your supervisor who will focus mostly on the content. Reviewing other reports, and discussing these reviews in a group setting, will help you identify common mistakes, inspiring approaches and in the end will result in higher quality thesis reports.

How does it work?

A thesis ring is a group of about 6-8 MGI thesis students that will peer-review each other’s written work. The thesis ring meets every week for one hour. For every meeting two students submit a part of their proposal/thesis beforehand. All other students review these submitted documents before the meeting and discuss these during the meeting. There will be a tutor present to chair the meeting and to provide additional support.

At the start of the academic year (early September) an email will be send to all GRS thesis students giving the opportunity to enrol in a thesis ring. During the academic year students can email the thesis ring coordinator (Alvaro Lau Sarmiento) to inquire if there are still spots available in the thesis ring.

Joining a thesis ring during your MSc thesis is voluntary (not obligatory). Once you have joined a thesis ring, full commitment is expected! The thesis ring only works when students actively participate, and when there is a critical mass of students to provide feedback and contribute to discussions.

We use MS Teams for the planning of submissions, sharing of documents, exchange of good practice examples, instructions and other supporting information. More details on the thesis ring procedure (submitting documents, giving feedback etc.) can be found on MS Teams.