HEC Lausanne

Information on the
Master Thesis
In MScAS program
 Milestones
• December

• January

• June-July

• August

• September

2 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Milestones : December
• December
– If you receive a request from the Graduate School
asking for your Master thesis topic and the name of
your supervisor : just disregard this message

– If you have already found an internship: Fill the forms,

ask for signatures and, finally, remit the forms to Ms.
Isabelle Sutherland

3 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Milestones - January
• January
– Near the end of the exam session, you will receive an
email message from F. Dufresne. It will include:

– A list of topics for academic thesis from each professor

– You will be asked to REPLY and say either

You are doing an internship

OR
Your supervising professor preferences (ranking 1,2,3)

4 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Milestones – January/Feburary
• For those doing an academic thesis:

You will receive a message telling you who will be your academic
supervisor.

First weeks of February : You meet and discuss with your

academic supervisor about your Master thesis topic

• Those doing an internship: You start...

5 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Milestones - June-July
(academic thesis and short internship)

• You finish writing your Master thesis

• You submit it to your academic supervisor who

will propose modifications, corrections

• You prepare a 20-minute presentation

• You defend your thesis (details? See your supervisor)

6 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Milestones – August (end)
(long internship)

• You finish writing your Master thesis

• You submit it to your academic supervisor who

will propose modifications, corrections

• You prepare a 20-minute presentation

• You defend your thesis (details? See you supervisor)

7 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Milestones - September
• Everbody should have graduated

• Graduation date: When the grades are

communicated

• Need an attestation? Ask the Graduate School

• Diplomas will be distributed in December

8 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Topic
• The topic you write on the form is NOT binding

• Can be changed at any time

• Your academic supervisor must agree

• Means that she/he must be informed

9 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Literature review –
Information gathering
• You start gathering information: Articles, books,
information web pages, etc.

• You read these documents

• Try to see how things connect to each other, what

is important, etc.  Understand your problem

10 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Skeleton of thesis
• Should be prepared in the first few weeks after
you start working on your topic

• Can be presented as an embryonic

“Table of Contents”

• To be submitted to your academic supervisor for

comments and approval

11 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Work on your topic
• While still reading...

• Implement methods, algorithms, do calculations,

plot graphs, etc.

• Analyse factors that matter, devise a solution, etc.

• Continue organising your thesis: structure

12 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Writing the thesis
• Write a draft of your introduction (it will be
finalised at the very end)
• Describe your problem,
its environment,
the data needed/available,
the approach chosen,
the methods, the model(s),
the algorithms/formulas,
etc.

13 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 The document
• Cover page
• Summary in English and in French
• Keywords
• Table of contents
• List of tables
• List of figures
• Introduction
• Chapter 1, Chapter 2, ..., Chapter n
• Introduction = Chapter 1 ; Conclusion = Chapter n
• References (in actuarial style)
• Appendices

14 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

Cover page
• Classical style

(no logo or only

HEC/Unil’s logo)

15 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Summaries & Keywords
• See HEC’s web site

• Web pages about the Master thesis / internships

• They also ask for a “disclaimer” (the opinions are

the ones of the authors, blah, blah,..)

16 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Table of contents, etc.
• ToC : as usual (can be generated by word)

• List of tables: Tables should have a caption

(‘title’/description) and be numbered

• List of figures: Figures should have a caption

(‘title’/description) and be numbered

• N.B.: Don’t mix tables and figures

17 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)
 Introduction
• Introduce your topic, its context, the problematic,
etc.

• Must end with a description of the following

chapters

18 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Chapters
• Chapters: Organised by sub-topic

• Typically: The theory, the models, the principles,

the laws, the organising principles, etc.

• Last chapters: An implementation of the solution

with analysis/discussion/illustration/...

• Chapter n: Conclusion – a standard conclusion

19 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)
 The text
• Avoid writing at the first person of the singular, i.e.
avoid using ‘I’. Standard usage: “we”.

• Quote borrowed text. Follow the rule.

• You must paraphrase, i.e. write in your own words

ideas coming from someone else.

• Plagiarism: Not quoting borrowed text.

20 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)
 Equations - Formulas
• Learn LaTeX: Best for mathematical writing.

• If you use Word: Prefer MathType if available; if

not, use the built-in equation editor.

• Avoid using “ * ” as the multiplication symbol, use

“” or “  ” (or nothing: ab = ab...)

21 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Equations – Formulas (2)
• When writing mathematical text:
– You write normal sentences.

– Formulas are ALWAYS part of a sentence.

– Punctuation is standard punctuation

• Use commas, end sentences with a period (full stop).
• See example (page 24).

22 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Equations – Formulas (3)
• When writing mathematical text:
– All symbols must be in italics.

– Numbers/digits, parentheses, brackets, accolades are

never in italics.

– Never starts a sentence with symbol.

23 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

Eq. & Formulas

Observe that formulas are part of

normal sentences.

Sentences end with a period.

Use commas where they are

needed.

24 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Bullet and Bold face
• Use only one (or two) bullet style, i.e. avoid
having a mix of

• Avoid using ‘bold face’: It is very difficult to use it

in a coherent way. Same for italics and
underlining.

25 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

References
Use the actuarial style:

26 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Final version
• Final: The one approved by the academic
supervisor.

• Paper copies are not needed anymore.

• You upload a PDF version of your document on

HEC’s Master thesis repository.

27 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)

 Final version
• Your grade will be known when the exam session
grades are communicated.

28 Information session: Master thesis (MScAS)