Thesis Toolkit

Guidance for current and prospective students

The Thesis Toolkit collects the working agreements, writing guidance, templates, checks, and milestones I use in supervision. Start with the Research Collaboration System if we have just begun working together.

Welcome

I’m Breno, an Assistant Professor at the University of Twente. I built this toolkit to make expectations clear, reduce late surprises, and give you feedback you can use.

You are responsible for the research. I will ask questions, challenge vague reasoning, give direct feedback, and help when you are stuck. By the end of the project, you should be able to explain and defend every important choice.

I care about your development as a researcher. I will expect serious work, be honest about its quality, recognize progress, and help you respond when something goes wrong.

Dr. Breno A. Beirigo
Assistant Professor at the University of Twente

How we will work

01

Define

Describe the operational problem, decision, stakeholders, boundary, and available evidence.

02

Compare

Decide what a useful solution must beat and how you will test correctness and performance.

03

Develop

Build the method through small experiments and keep a record of important decisions.

04

Explain

Connect the results to the research question, limitations, and practical consequences.

05

Take responsibility

Review every claim and remain the final author of the work.

Start here

Collaboration

Research collaboration system

Set up the shared workflow, meeting rhythm, decision log, and feedback cycle.

Communication

Communication and feedback

Prepare specific questions, request feedback clearly, and use meetings well.

Expectations

Thesis guidelines

Check scope, format, confidentiality, integrity, AI use, and assessment roles.

Independence

Authorship and independence

Understand ownership, supervisory boundaries, and independent research.

Write and evaluate the thesis

Research writing

Writing guides

Develop the context, problem, research questions, design, methods, and evaluation.

Structure

Report sections

Use a practical chapter structure for a project plan or optimization thesis.

Quality check

Report quality check

Review language, mathematics, visuals, citations, layout, and confidentiality.

Completed work

MSc thesis examples

Study specific choices in modeling, structure, writing, and presentation.

Plan the project

Use the milestone guide for the kickoff, thesis preparation, greenlight decision, time limits, and colloquium logistics. Discuss confidentiality as soon as a project involves company data or publication restrictions.

NoteOfficial requirements

Use the toolkit together with the current UT/IEM rules and Canvas instructions. The official source governs if the guidance differs.