Instructions for Master's theses

Terminology

• Scientific names of organisms should be written in italics.
• Chemical compound names must strictly adhere to professional nomenclature.
• Units: It is permissible to use fractions (e.g., mg/l), but the recommended format is with an index, especially for units composed of more than two symbols (with a space or dot between symbols: mg l⁻¹, s⁻¹).
• Molar concentration can be expressed as mol l⁻¹ or M.

Thesis Structure

Table of Contents

• Lists the chapter titles, numbering, and corresponding page numbers. Avoid excessive subdivision into subchapters (e.g., fourth-level headings) for clarity.

List of Abbreviations

• It includes a list of less common abbreviations and their definitions. Do not list common abbreviations such as ATP, NADH, CoA, or FAD. Each abbreviation should also be defined in parentheses upon its first appearance in the text.

Introduction

• A maximum of one page providing a brief and informative introduction to the topic.

Theoretical Section

• Contains a literature review and background information necessary for understanding the study, including references to previous findings. A key evaluation criterion for this section is the relevance and quality of the literature review in relation to the study results. This section must also define the objectives of the thesis, which are listed and numbered on a separate page.
• The theoretical section should not exceed approximately third of the total text length. The literature review must be the student’s own work and should not be directly copied from predecessors, including their mistakes.

Materials and Methods

• Materials: Describes the biological material used and a list of less common chemicals, including their sources. This is especially important for enzymes, antibodies, rare substrates, inhibitors, etc.
• Methods: Provides a complete and error-free description of methodologies, ensuring they can be replicated by future researchers. Instruments and chemicals should be integrated into the method descriptions rather than listed separately, following the standard in reputable journals.
• Specific details should be included only for specialized and less common laboratory equipment when necessary for functional understanding.

Results

• Explains the motivation, execution, results, and interpretation of each experiment in a logical sequence. Each paragraph describing an experiment should include: Introductory sentence – explaining the motivation. Description – detailing what was done. Conclusion – summarizing the findings.
• Graphs should be clear and free of unnecessary elements (e.g., excessive grid lines). Axes should be black and labelled with proper names and units where applicable. The formatting style of a reputable scientific journal may be adopted but must be consistently applied.
• Figures are numbered with Arabic numerals, followed by a title and a legend describing the symbols used in graphs and relevant experimental conditions. Figures are numbered sequentially from the first figure in the theoretical section to the last figure in the thesis. The source of unmodified figures and diagrams (mainly in the theoretical section) must be cited properly.
• Figure legends should contain all necessary information for understanding the figure without requiring additional context from the text. Figure legends should use 1.0 line spacing.
• Tables are labelled with Roman numerals, followed by a title above the table. Additional information such as abbreviation definitions and experimental conditions should be placed below the table.
• Figures and tables should be embedded smoothly within the text to minimize excessive page flipping.
• If identical data is presented in both a table and a figure, one should be removed.
• The application of statistical methods will be a key criterion in assessing result reliability.
• Extensive datasets may be placed in the appendix at the end of the thesis.

Discussion

• Should follow the structure of the results section but must not simply restate the results.
• Interprets and comments on the obtained experimental results, explaining their meaning and significance.
• Compares the findings with relevant literature (citing sources) to demonstrate their originality.
• Explains contradictions, uncertainties, or conflicting results and presents final models or hypotheses.
• Avoids unsupported speculation.
• The Results and Discussion sections may be combined into one chapter or kept separate, depending on the nature of the study. Regardless of the format, the quality of the discussion will be a key evaluation criterion.

Conclusion

• Summarizes the study’s key findings and significance in concise sentences, limited to one page (often half a page or less). This section may be structured as a continuous paragraph or divided into numbered points. A brief abstract, stored in the thesis archive (see Dean’s Measure, Articles 7 and 8), should have a similar content structure but in a single paragraph.

References

• The thesis must contain at least 15 citations from indexed journal articles or book chapters, with a maximum of 80 citations.
• A reference style from a reputable scientific journal should be chosen and consistently followed throughout the thesis (both in-text citations and the reference list).
• Internet sources may be cited (with the publication year), though their reliability cannot be guaranteed.
• Personal communications may be cited but only if from recognized experts.
• When citing an article, it is assumed that the student has read and fully understood it (beyond just the abstract) and has access to the full text.

List of Appendices

• If supplementary materials are necessary, they should be included at the very end of the thesis.