Honours bachelor's thesis Earth Sciences

FaculteitFaculty of Geosciences

NiveauBachelor

Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

Please note: the information in the course manual is binding.

The learning objective of the Honours Bachelor’s thesis is the ability to independently conduct scientific research as proof of scientific competence.

Content

Let op: dis is de cursuscode voor een bachelor thesis in het OUDE curriculum

The topic of the thesis should fit the subjects of study of the Earth Sciences programme. The student is advised to choose a topic that (1) logically results from the chosen track within the Earth Sciences programme and (2) meets their future ambitions. Therefore, the specialized level 3 courses the student has enrolled in, and the intended specialization within the Master’s programme Earth Sciences or another (study) career path should be leading for thesis topic.

The Honours thesis is written in English.

The Honours thesis has different content requirements from the regular Bachelor’s thesis, namely (1) a mandatory data-analysis and (2) writing an additional popular scientific article (in Dutch) on the research findings, which preferably is actually submitted to a journal, such as Geografie. Depending on their contribution, the supervising lecturer could become co-author of the article. In practice, this is highly plausible.

The Honours thesis is not intended to be larger in size than the regular Bachelor’s thesis.

For further information on regulations and procedure:

Website: https://students.uu.nl/geo/aw/onderwijs/bachelorthesis
Bachelor's thesis regulations for the Earth Sciences programme: https://students.uu.nl/sites/default/files/geo-aw-regeling-bachelorscriptie.pdf

The key difference with writing a regular Bachelor’s thesis, is that students have to write both a thesis and a popular scientific article. Besides this additional output, the honours thesis does not entail additional adjustments.

The Bachelor’s thesis plays a key role in the development of transferable skills:

Leadership: The student is expected to demonstrate independence and take responsibility for his/her project, and negotiate planning and topics during the course of the project.
Ability to work in a team: Student have the opportunity to collaborate with other students, set-up peer-review groups and collaborate with peers or more senior scientists.
Written communication skills: The end-product of the research is a scientific report, written in a concise, structured and academic style. The thesis is written in English.
Problem-solving skills: Students will work with data from literature and scientific measurements. They will have to address their research question(s) and define a strategy to fulfil this task.
Verbal communication skills: Students will learn to listen to others, but also ask questions and participate in discussions with their supervisor(s) and peers. Students learn to receive feedback and should aim to give feedback to others.
Strong work ethics: During the thesis project, the student learns to adhere to deadlines set with their supervisor(s), to work systematically and on time in order to finish the project.
Initiative: The student has the opportunity to show initiative when negotiating or determining a topic fort their project. During the project the student need to be well-organised, feel responsible for their own work, and take initiative when encountering problems.
Analytical/quantitative skills/technical skills: Depending on the project, the student will extract, compile and investigate data from literature or other scientific techniques, and use a variety of technical skills to achieve this. Examples include programming, Excel, Mat lab processing, chemical analyses, core analyses and fieldwork.
Flexibility/adaptability: The thesis project may require the student to be flexible and adapt to changing circumstances, for example, while working in a lab or during fieldwork, deal with setbacks from research. The student has the opportunity to take initiative do to something extra.

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