Master thesis at EPL

If you meet the requirement mentioned above and wish to come as an exchange student to work on your Master thesis, then:

First of all, you must be nominated by your home university and submit your complete application file before the deadline (see our webpage How and when to apply).
When you submit your application file, you must already mention the name of the academic supervisor linked to the Louvain School of Engineering (EPL) willing to supervise your project here, already in contact with your home institution supervisor.

Secondly, we ask you as a prerequisite to send a "final thesis project" letter to the International Office (epl-exchange@uclouvain.be) explaining:

1- the project you would like to work on (a maximum of 2 pages, with description of the subject, purpose and methodology)

2- the name of a professor in your home university liable to promote your project

3- the name of the academic supervisor linked to the Louvain School of Engineering (EPL) willing to supervise your project here.

This letter must be signed by the professor in your home university liable to promote your project.

If you gather these 3 prerequisites altogether, your registration at EPL will in principle be accepted under no further condition.

If you have no defined project, no academic contact neither at your home university, nor at EPL, likely to promote your thesis project, please note that as a general rule we will then not be able to accept your application.

As a general rule, Master thesis subjects must be related to the usual research subjects proposed at Ecole polytechnique de Louvain.

Please note that a professor belonging to another UCL faculty may never be supervisor for the final thesis of an EPL incoming exchange student.

When?

It is important to note that EPL students start searching for their final work project during Spring of their 4th year, to start working on their final thesis during the 5th year. It is therefore highly recommended to follow the same timing when applying for a final thesis, as each Faculty member can only supervise a limited number of students.

More specifically, students applying as exchange students at EPL in the frame of their master thesis, must ensure that the final thesis project is validated both by their local coordinator and their future EPL coordinator and sent to epl-exchange@uclouvain.be by:

* 15 May at the latest, if registering for the next first semester (Fall Semester) or full academic year

* 31 October at the latest, if registering for the second semester (Spring Semester) of same academic year.

You have 3 options:

1- If you come to work on your master thesis and you defend your master thesis at your home university, the number of ECTS must reflect this workload. The master thesis is usually worth between 15 and 18 ECTS (course code: LEPL2990 " Master thesis work "). In this case, you must add courses to your Learning Agreement, preferably thesis-related courses, in order to reach the minimum requirement of 20 ECTS per semester.
NB: ECTS linked to the thesis defense will therefore not be credited at EPL but at the home university. Consequently, if necessary, the home university will have to complete the number of ECTS linked to the thesis defense carried out at the home university.

2- If you work on and defend your Master thesis at EPL, as a regular EPL student, then the number of credits can be the same, i.e. 25 ECTS maximum (course code according to the master programme: xxxx2990).
Please note that in this case you are not allowed to defend your master thesis at your home university.
If you wish, you can add some other courses to your Learning Agreement.

3- If there are no EPL courses in your Learning Agreement and that you must defend your thesis at your home university, then you should complete the kind of “Learning Agreement - Student Mobility for Traineeships” document.
In this case, you will not defend your thesis at the EPL but at your home university and your master thesis will be credited by your home university and not by UCLouvain.
Your file will be processed by the secretary of the institute to which your EPL supervisor belongs and not by the EPL International Office.

Your home supervisor and your EPL supervisor must define the objectives to be achieved for your master thesis work here at EPL, at the latest at the start of your exchange. The "Master thesis work Description" must be completed and signed by all parties and then, sent by email to epl-exchange@uclouvain.be.

At the end of your stay, your Master Thesis Work must be evaluated by your EPL supervisor, using the evaluation form. 
You must be awarded a mark out of 20 for your Master thesis work and this grade must be recorded in the system by your EPL supervisor during the exam session.
The completed evaluation form must be sent by email to epl-exchange@uclouvain.be.

For your information, for the master's thesis at UCLouvain, the grade is composed of 40% of the annual grade for the work done, 40% for the text and 20% for the presentation (thesis defence).
If you defend your master thesis at your home university, your master thesis defence will be rated by your home university.

If your thesis work is not a traineeship, an official Transcript of Records will be issued at the end of your exchange period.