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master thesis

master thesis Archives - Study in Sweden

I recently had to apply for thesis and I wanted to work with hydrogeology and arsenic contamination, so I began my application process in the end of September, and I secured my thesis is mid November with Kemakta Consult AB, an environmental consultancy in Stockholm!



Based on my experience and that of my classmates and friends, here are somethings to consider when you apply for your Master Thesis! 




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Do’s: 
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/8y8NVqFqhTQVa/giphy.gif"> 
- Have a clear picture of what you want to work with, now and in the future. 
Your thesis topic should reflect not only your interest, but also should help you build a future in the direction you want.&nbsp; When you start applying for your thesis, you would have been done with one year of Masters, and at this point, it is important to understand your field of interest and to have a direction for where you want your future to be.



- Do your own research, but get guidance from professors as well. 
It is important to look for topics and do your own research, but you need to know where to look, and for this you can take advice and guidance from the professors who teach the subject that you’re interested in. I knew I wanted to do my thesis in hydrogeology, water contamination and treatment, especially Arsenic contamination. So I asked my hydrogeology professor for his guidance. And he steered me toward finding my thesis in Kemakta Konsult, and now I’m going to be doing my thesis in a wonderful company, but also in a field that was my specific interest.



-Start early. 
Once you have 60 credits completed, you can start looking for thesis and start mailing companies. It is important to establish a good communication base. Most companies have contact details of people responsible for different divisions and projects. So if you want to work in a particular project, contact them.



-Company or University? Where should you do your thesis? 
Both options are great based on what you want to work with. My advice is to go with a topic of interest, and see where you can work. If there’s a company that specialises in that, apply there. If there is a research going on in your university, then do it there. If you don’t find a company or university project which you’re interested in, you can always propose your own topic and work in your university under the guidance of a supervisor.



-Have a positive attitude. 
Sometimes getting a thesis takes just a week, and sometimes it takes a long time to secure a spot. But keep a positive attitude and be patient. Things will work out as long as you work for it. Don’t let the wait and the insecurity get to you. 




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Dont’s: 
 
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/3ohuAwaX6Q13W78tdS/giphy.gif"> 
-Do not procrastinate. 
Do not wait till the last minute to start looking. Chances are the topic you want to work with, might get taken by someone else who applied earlier. Also, It is better to start your thesis on time and finish on time.



-Be persistent, not annoying. 
You can express interest in a topic, but don’t send many mails, don’t become desperate. Communication is important, but it should be effective. So be formal, express your interest and be patient. 



-Don’t settle for something you are not fully interested in. 
Keep your options open, and look for different topics. But don’t compromise and do a thesis on a topic that doesn’t interest you. You’re going to be working on your thesis for 5 months, and it is going to be a lot of work, and will influence your future work path. So if you are going to be working on something that doesn’t excite and thrill you, then you’re going to burn out soon, you will run into stops and feel like giving up. So make sure you’re making the right choice.



I’m going to be starting my thesis work in mid January and I’m really looking forward to it, and to share my experiences with you :D



/For now, your Swe-Desi Seafarer signing off :)

Thesis application do’s and dont’s

Job Hunting Log Book: How I landed a Position at Volvo Cars Graduate Program

As you probably already know I spent my summer doing an <a href="https://blogs.studyinsweden.se/2017/09/12/internship-sweden-expect-13/#comments">internship in Stockholm</a>. In my last post I wrote about things you could expect during an internship in Sweden.



Although it was&nbsp;a thrilling experience and I learned a lot regarding Digital Communication, teamwork, Scandinavian working culture, insights of the education sector and few other interesting things, there were several challenges that you should be aware of.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Language - might be a thing</h2>



My Swedish is very limited and even though the working language was English,&nbsp;sometimes I felt I would have been more social if speaking Swedish, especially during fika breaks.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Work and personal life should not be mixed </h2>



Also work and private life are not mixed, therefore hanging out with your colleagues&nbsp;during the weekend or inviting them over for dinner is not something common.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Summer is a very “dead” season at work</h2>



It is not a secret, that summer is the best time in Sweden and people want to enjoy it to the fullest, not necessarily from one’s office desk. This is why many Swedes take a month off during this time and most companies close.&nbsp;This was not my case, because I was working in a global company, nevertheless many people took their vacations in that period so for a few weeks the office felt very empty.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Money</h2>



This is a tricky topic, because most of the internships in Sweden are unpaid. The way the company see it is that, although the are not paying you, they give you many other benefits all from gaining experience to being part of the working culture in a new company and learning insights about how things are done. Finding a paid internship is not impossible but harder.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Keep in mind you are “an intern”</h2>



Which means you won’t be asked to do super challenging things since first week. But that doesn’t mean you have to settle with what you’re told to do. If you want to make the best out of your time in your internship, bring new ideas, suggest other task you could get involve with. Walk the extra mile and maybe you can end up with a job offer by the time you’re done.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Have fun at work</h2>



Coming from the Caribbean/Latin America I was use to a working culture more formal and bureaucratic where you’re suppose to be more serious from the way you act to the way you dress. Working in Sweden is more relaxed in the sense that you’re suppose to “have fun at work”, so make sure you don’t focus only on working hard from 8:00 to 17:00. Take time to stop, socialize, laugh with your co-workers, and take part of internal activities as: running day or baking Friday. Allow yourself to have fun and good ideas will come from that.



Despite the challenges I'm convinced this was a great opportunity to get immerses in the Scandinavian working culture but mostly having the chance of practicing&nbsp;the skills and theories acquired in the classroom, meeting smart and wonderful people and learning new things everyday.



My advice: If you have the chance&nbsp;to do an internship or work in your field during your studies, go for it! In my next post I will give you some tips and recommendations about how to find an internship in Sweden.



/Ivanna

Internship in Sweden: Challenges and things nobody told me 2/3

So as my thesis work has almost started (I use almost because it’s actually in the proposal phase!), I had been doing a LOT of literature reviews. For those of you who don’t know what it is, well… it’s about reading lot of materials about the interested subject area in which you wish to pursue your research and find a gap. This gap can be anything that has not been done before to your own unique contribution which may add to the existing studies that has been done. So basically the more literature reviews you do, the more idea you have about what’s there and what’s not.



As for me personally, I was interested into the field of innovation resistance. Given that I hail from an IT/IS background, my education and trainings have been mostly in business + technology domains. Therefore, innovation seems to be a good field where I can apply my classroom learning.



So what exactly is innovation resistance? Allow me to put my nerd cap on again! :D



Let’s start with an example. You have been using a dumb phone for while now and have been quite satisfied with this service. Then one fine day, suddenly, comes along a smart phone into the market with better displays, wireless access protocol (WAP) services, improved multimedia and applications. Everyone you know in your friend circle has rushed to catch a glimpse of this new ‘innovation’ and potentially also get their hands on it. There has been much hype around it but guess what?! You don’t really care! You say that you are quite happy with what you have and are comfortable using it in the future too. Regardless of the exact reasons, this shows that you are now resisting the use of this particular innovation that has been introduced into the market.



Putting this into perspective, this topic is more to see why people in general resist the use of something new. May that be product or service but innovations are considered to be an improvement from their predecessors and are expected to be diffused among the customers. Despite of this notion, many organizations fail to make customers use their new product or service, leading us to an interesting position to see exactly what the reasons are. It is also strongly proven by statistics too that around 70% of the new product or services introduced to the market fail to diffuse into customers. Hence, I find this as a vital domain to study and provide implications for organizations, IT developers, designers and marketers alike so that they may understand and devise policies and strategies to overcome this user resistance towards innovation.



Well as of now, let’s hope my proposal goes along well and I manage to start the work soon. Stick around here to read more about how I progress!



Adios!



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Image taken from internet

Thesis on ‘Innovation Resistance’

A new series where Supritha takes you along her thesis journey.Find out what its like inside Swedish companies and how to get started doing your thesis work

Master Thesis Diaries - Part I: Getting Started - Study in Sweden

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Master Thesis Diaries &#8211; Part I: Getting Started

Study in Sweden

My name is Supritha and I'm from India 🇮🇳. I studied a Master's in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Infrastructure at KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

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Supritha