Rules for bachelor project for BSc students
Bachelor Project
- Prerequisites for starting the BSc project
- Content and learning objectives of the BSc project
- Supervisor
- Project size and project agreement
- Project period
- Submission of the project
- Illness after the submission but before the oral defence
- Assessment and examination
- Exam certificate
The BSc project is the final project in the BSc programme. The purpose of the BSc project is for the student to be able to competently formulate, analyse, and process issues within a defined academic subject area that reflects the main emphasis of the study programme.
Prerequisites for starting the BSc project
Students can only start the BSc project when they have achieved 120 ECTS credits on the programme and have passed the course project. For students enrolled before September 2023, the basic natural science courses and technology core courses are recommended academic prerequisites for starting the BSc project. For students enrolled from September 2023, the polytechnic foundation and programme-specific courses are recommended academic prerequisites.
For BSc Eng in General Engineering, the course project equals the 4 design-build projects.
Students can apply for an exemption to the Exemption Committee if they have passed 120 ECTS credits and wish to begin their bachelor project but have not yet passed the scientific project. The application must include a statement with academic justification from the main supervisor. For more information on submitting an application, please refer to DTU Inside under 'Study Rules'/'Exemption'.
If a student begins their project without meeting all prerequisites and without having received an exemption, the Office for Study Programmes and Student Affairs will cancel the student's project registration.
Content and learning objectives of the BSc project
The content of the BSc project must be agreed upon with the supervisor. The project can include a combination of experimental work, fieldwork, theoretical studies, synthesis, modelling, and analysis.
The BSc graduate from DTU
- can work independently and is able to structure a major project, including meeting deadlines and organizing and planning the project work
- can summarize and interpret technical information and is fully familiar with technical problem solving through project work
- is able to work with all project phases, including the preparation of proposals, solutions, and documentation
- is able to independently acquire new knowledge and adopt a critical approach to the acquired knowledge and carry out relevant and critical information searches, and on this basis find the right methods to shed light on the problem in question
- is able to communicate technical information, theory, and results in written, visual/graphic, and oral form
The BSc project must demonstrate the student’s ability to solve a relevant engineering task in which the acquired knowledge and competencies are applied in an independent way in a major project. The student must demonstrate, at the appropriate level, the ability to assess options, and results, and argue for the results obtained in a logical and coherent manner.
Supervisor
The student must enter into an agreement with a supervisor regarding the BSc project. The main supervisor for a BSc project must
- be an employee at DTU as a VIP with research obligations and one of the following job categories: assistant professor, associate professor, researcher, senior researcher, senior adviser, or professor,
- hold a permanent position (with the exception of assistant professors and researchers)
- have completed DTU's course 'Supervision of larger projects at DTU' or similar pedagogical competence development at the university level e.g. a course in PhD supervision; for assistant professors, however, it is sufficient that one is in the process of UDTU, and
- have in-depth knowledge of the study conditions at DTU.
For assistant professors and researchers, however, there is an additional requirement that an associate professor, senior researcher, senior adviser, or a professor (docent, ingeniørdocent or professor) must be connected to the project as co-supervisor, so that the assistant professor/researcher does not have sole responsibility for the project.
The head of department can approve that a VIP who for a number of years has gained extensive experience in supervising final projects, can be the main supervisor without having completed the course 'Supervision of major projects at DTU' or equivalent.
The supervisor is required to confirm that the student has the requisite academic qualifications for undertaking the BSc project. The student is required to document his/her qualifications and level in the form of a list of courses he/she has completed.
Project size and project agreement
The scope of the BSc project can be either 15, 17½, or 20 ECTS credits.
The student normally carries out the project in a department relevant to his or her BSc programme. Where it is academically relevant, the project can be carried out at another department in agreement with the head of studies.
The student can do the BSc project in collaboration with a company or another university. Read more about projects in collaboration with companies at DTU Inside under 'Study rules'/'Teaching'/'Project courses'.
The BSc project may be conducted abroad if the general requirements are met. The supervisor, also being the examiner of the project, still has to be an employee at DTU.
The BSc project may be prepared individually or as a group project. There can be a maximum of four students in a group. Read more below under the section 'Assessment and examination' on how to conduct the oral examination.
The bachelor project must be written in Danish in the Danish BSc programmes and English in the English BSc programmes; The BSc project must include a summary. The summary must be in English - unless another foreign language has been agreed with the supervisor - and is included in the overall assessment. If the BSc project is written in a foreign language by agreement with the supervisor, the summary may be written in the same foreign language.
Formalities regarding report length, content, structure, and duration of the oral defense, etc., are agreed upon between the student and the main supervisor. In the event of disagreement, the study board at the department where the main supervisor is employed may be involved.
The student's agreement with the supervisor must be reported in the Project Reporting System well in advance of the start of the project. The supervisor makes the report. Upon notification, the Head of Studies is automatically informed and can, within 14 days, reject the project if this does not fall within the focus area of the programme. The student will be contacted if the project cannot be approved. Notwithstanding the academic approval, however, the project work must not start until the student receives an e-mail with the approved project agreement from the Office for Study Programmes and Student Affairs. This also applies if the bachelor project is completed in whole or in part outside DTU.
Project period
Before the start of the project
The BSc project agreement is binding and counts as an exam attempt from the moment the BSc project is initiated as agreed. Up until the start date of the bachelor's project, the agreement can be cancelled without it counting as an exam attempt.
The duration of a BSc project is 9 weeks of full-time study (including annual leave and public holidays) for a project corresponding to 15 ECTS credits. If the student simultaneously takes courses, the project period can be extended by 3 weeks for every 5 ECTS credits. If the project is carried out as a group project, any extension of the project period will apply to all members of the group. It is the main project supervisor who allocates the extra time when the project is reported in the Project Reporting System.
The main supervisor can extend the student's project period by one week for each course the student plans to complete as a re-exam during the project period. The student must present their study plan to the supervisor and possibly documentation for the final exam registration.
When determining the start date of the project, the supervisor's consecutive 3-week summer vacation in June, July, or August must be taken into account in order to avoid conflicting with the 10-day deadline for holding the oral defense, cf. below under ‘Assessment and examination’. The project plan should also reflect this.
Prior to the project start, the project period may also be extended by up to 3 weeks if the student can document an impairment. If the project is carried out as a group project, this extension will be awarded to all members of the group. Read more about this on DTU Inside under 'Study rules'/'Exam'/'Special Exam Conditions'.
After the start of the project
The agreed project period must be observed. Failure to keep within the deadline means that the student will have used one examination attempt. The student and the supervisor must then make a new project agreement for the project, including making a decision on whether a completely new project period is to be agreed upon, or whether the student should continue working on the previous project. If the student wishes to reuse already handed-in elements or larger parts of the project that were handed in but not passed, this must be clearly stated in the new project, as otherwise there will be self-plagiarism and thus a violation of the rules of the exam. Read more at DTU Inside under 'Study rules'/'Exam'/'Cheating at exams and other forms of assessment'.
During the first month, the student is required to submit a project plan outlining the objective of the BSc project to the supervisor. The student automatically receives an email with information about the submission deadline for the project plan. Submission takes place via the group that has been created for the bachelor project. In the project plan, the student must also take into account the learning outcomes of the bachelor's project. When submitting the BSc project, the student must enclose a separate document presenting the original project plan and a revision of the same, where appropriate. In addition, the document has to include a brief self-evaluation of the project process.
During the project period the main supervisor may extend the project by 1 week for every course, the student plans to complete as a re-exam during the project period. The student must present their study plan to the supervisor and possibly documentation for final exam registration. However, the total project period must not exceed 18 weeks, unless the student is assigned special exam conditions. The student must present their study plan to the supervisor and possibly documentation for the final exam registration. The supervisor must enter the new submission deadline in the project reporting system.
An extension of the submission deadline for the project must be noted in the final version of the project plan. This applies to all types of extensions of the submission deadline.
Extension of the project period via the Board of Studies - up to six weeks
If there are extraordinary, unforeseen circumstances in relation to the project (eg in relation to collaboration with a company, change of supervisor, extraordinary technical problems) or in relation to the student's situation (eg illness, death in close family, maternity leave), the department board of studies has the opportunity to grant up to six weeks extension of the project period. Project extension must always be supported in writing by the main supervisor.
The student must submit an application to the department board of studies where the main supervisor is employed. The application must be accompanied by documentation of the special circumstances (eg a medical certificate) as well as a revised project plan stating when the extraordinary circumstances occurred. An overview of the chairmen of the department board of studies can be found at DTU Inside under 'Academic offers and guidance'/'Board of Study, chairmen'.
The application must be submitted no later than one month before the applicable submission deadline for the project unless special circumstances have arisen after this time. The application deadline is important in view of the Board of Studies' ability to process the application before the applicable submission deadline.
If the student's application is approved, it is the responsibility of the Board of Studies/main supervisor to change the submission deadline for the project in the Project Reporting System. If the project extension extends beyond the student's maximum duration of the study programme, the project extension takes precedence. If the application is not accepted, the student has the opportunity to submit an application to the Board of Exemptions according to the procedure below.
Extension of the project period via the Board of Exemptions - more than six weeks
An application for an extension of the project period beyond six weeks will in principle not be granted, and the student is referred to use an exam attempt.
If the student wishes to extend the project period beyond six weeks and this is supported in writing by the main supervisor, the student can submit an exemption application for unusual circumstances to the Board of Exemptions (CMDU).
Exemption is applied for at www.dispensation.dtu.dk. The application for an exemption must be submitted at least one month before the project submission deadline to ensure that the student receives a response before the deadline.
In the case of sudden emergencies, the student may submit an application for an exemption after the deadline. The rules for submitting an exemption application are described in more detail at DTU Inside under 'Study rules'/'Exemption'.
Illness during the project period
A student who becomes ill during the project period but before the submission deadline for his/her final project can apply for an extension of the project period via the above options with the department study board or the Board of Exemptions.
The student can also apply for a leave of absence during the project period. Read more at DTU Inside under 'Study rules'/'Leave of absence'.
Submission of the project
The BSc project must be submitted electronically. The student receives an autogenerated email with information about the submission deadline for the project, just as there is a link to an overview of all the student's submissions at DTU Inside ('My assignments'). Submission takes place via the group that has been created for the bachelor project.
Illness after the submission but before the oral defence
A student who becomes ill in the period from the submission of the project to the oral defence or on the day of the defence must inform the supervisor about this as soon as possible. If the student sends documentation of the illness to his/her main supervisor within 14 days from the original scheduled date of the oral defence, a new date for the oral defence can be agreed upon, without this counting as a new exam attempt.
Assessment and examination
The BSc project is assessed according to the 7-point grading scale by an external examiner on the basis of the report and an oral defence with the participation of the supervisor, any co-supervisors, and an external examiner appointed by the Civil Engineering Corps of External Examiners. This also applies to projects fully or partially completed abroad.
After consultation with the student, the supervisor determines the time and date of the oral defence. The defence must take place no later than 10 working days after the scheduled submission deadline of the project. In exceptional circumstances, the Head of Department can approve a later exam date. If the project period has been extended after the start of the project as a result of the Board of Studies’ or the exemption committee's decision, the 10-day deadline must, as far as possible, continue to be complied with. A later exam date due to the changed conditions, e.g. due to the supervisor's 3-week holiday in June, July, or August, can be determined without approval from the head of the department. Find more information on DTU Inside under 'Study rules/Exam/Deadlines for grading'.
The evaluation of the report and the oral defence are based on an overall assessment. A submitted report without an oral defense is assessed with 'Not met' (EM).
When assessing a BSc project, the main focus is on the academic content. The student's formulation and spelling ability count for a small, but nonetheless significant weight of the assessment. DTU can grant exemptions for students who document a relevant disability.
If the project is produced by more than one student, each student must be examined individually. The assessment of group projects, however, may also include a group exam with the participation of the entire group. In that case, the individual oral exam must take place afterward. In addition to the examinee himself/herself, only those group members who have already been examined themselves may be present. A student in a group project always has the right to deselect a group exam. In that case, the duration of the individual exam must be adjusted accordingly.
The oral defence of projects carried out in a company may, due to company secrets referred to in the project, be held behind closed doors by agreement with the supervisor. Read more at DTU Inside under 'Study rules'/'Exam'/'Forms of examination' under 'Oral exam'.
Exam certificate
When the student has completed the education at DTU, DTU issues a diploma/exam certificate. Information about how and when the diploma is received is available on DTU Inside under 'Study rules'/'Examination'/'Exam certificate'.