General provisions

The course is part of the Master's Programme in Global Health.

Entry requirements

A Bachelor's degree, equivalent to a Swedish Kandidatexamen (180 credits). The main field of study must be in medicine, nursing, nutrition or similar fields relevant for global health. All applicants need to have adequate proficiency in English language. This is normally attested by means of an internationally recognised test such as TOEFL or IELTS. Applicants must have passed the course Global Health 1, 30 credits, or equivalent.

Learning outcomes

The goal of the course is that the students will learn from practical experience how to design and carry out research projects in global health.

At the end of the course students should be able to:

Competence and skills

• Implement the degree project according to the research plan.

Judgement and approach

• Develop a research plan for a degree project independently addressing an issue that is of relevance to global health, including but not limited to, disadvantaged populations or settings with limited resources.
• Evaluate and discuss the ethical aspects of the study.
• Analyse the data, formulate research results, critically discuss the results, methods, and any transcultural issues, and present these in a written scientific report using a prescribed format.
• Communicate, in written and oral formats, scientific information at a high academic level.

Content

The course consists of an individual degree thesis project. Under the guidance of a supervisor and during seminars, the student identifies and reads relevant literature, designs the thesis project, and selects appropriate methods. In particular, they develop further their ability to find and store information from printed and electronic sources. Critique and argumentation will be trained especially within the scheduled seminars.

Every thesis outline must be cleared by the supervisor, and where applicable the research ethics committee, before the course is begun.

In most cases, studies aim at analysing secondary data, i.e. data that is already available. If circumstances allow, students can collect primary data from the field during the Field study course module in semester 3. In order for the collected data to be used for the thesis project, the student should pass the Field study course module. Data for the thesis project, whether primary or secondary, must be available and ready prior to the start of the thesis course.

Degree projects in global health are expected to focus on a health issue in disadvantaged populations or settings with limited resources such as a low- or middle-income country, vulnerable populations in high-income settings, health in humanitarian crisis, or deal with topics that are of a global concern, like emerging disease threats and antibiotic resistance. Topics should relate to the Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030).

The completed work is presented as a written thesis and orally at a seminar.

Instruction

The learning process is based on group supervision where an experienced researcher will guide the students as well as discussion among students during seminars. The independent thesis project will be presented in written and verbal form. Students will also be requested to critically review another student's thesis.

Assessment

To receive a final grade for the course, the student needs to obtain a pass in the written thesis, successfully present the thesis orally according to the guidelines and critically review another student's thesis. If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.

All examinations are conducted in English.