Research design in urban studies

The course is designed to support students in the development of their Master Thesis. As such, sessions will be specifically devoted to developing the research question, bibliographic research, the use of tools (in particular by establishing the framework for the use of generative artificial intelligence tools), the most common methods in urban studies and ethical issues. Some of the sessions will be structured around the discussion of practical cases.

The aim of the course is for each student to have a research proposal ready by the end of the second semester of Block 1, in order to begin empirical work in Block 2.

Connaissances et compétences pré-requises ou co-requises

The course does not require any specific prerequisites. It aims to bring all students up to the same level by setting out the framework for developing the thesis as expected by the teaching team.

Lectures including group discussion sessions based on practical case studies.

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

General bibliographical references or references useful for written assignment will be shared at the end of the course sessions (via the Université Virtuelle / Virtual University).

Support(s) de cours

• Université virtuelle

Contacts

Tatiana.Debroux@ulb.be

Campus

Autre campus

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Travail personnel
• Présentation orale

Travail personnel

Présentation orale

The thesis seminar is assessed through individual assignment and an oral presentation, evaluated by the course lecturer. The aim is to supervise the development of each student's research question through initial bibliographic research and the formulation of a research problem.

At the end of the semester, a second written assignment will be produced: this "Research Proposal" will be assessed by the thesis supervisor and presented during an online discussion session with several members of the teaching team.

Construction de la note (en ce compris, la pondération des notes partielles)

The seminar written assignment accounts for 50% of the seminar grade, as does the oral presentation. In addition, a general description of how the thesis process (seminar and Master Thesis) will be assessed is presented to students during the first class and described in the Thesis Handbook, which is also provided to them at that time via the Virtual University.

Langue(s) d'évaluation

• anglais