Education

National Institute of Education (NIE): Science by Research

Category National Institute of Education (NIE), Postgraduate, Science, Singapore
Tags National Institute of Education, NIE, Research, Science

Higher degree studies by research leading to the degree of Master of Science (MSc) are offered by NIE in line with the increasing emphasis on research in the Sciences and Physical Education.

Candidates reading the degree of MSc by research will pursue an independent but supervised research in an approved field of advanced study based on which a thesis not exceeding 40,000 words must be submitted. A Master’s thesis written in the Chinese language should not exceed 150,000 Chinese characters. The award of the research degree is based entirely on the work presented in the thesis.

A rigorous system is used to prepare the candidates into the research phase. In the first 12 months of the MSc study, the candidates are required to pass a Qualifying Examination.

Qualifying Examination

In the first 12 months of study, the MSc candidates will be required to complete the Qualifying Examination requirements as indicated in (i) and (ii) below:

(i)	Attend classes and pass the examinations of
	-	3 graduate level courses chosen from the University’s Master-degree coursework programmes or from approved special topic courses and
	-	obtain an overall average Grade B-, and no course should have a Grade below C+
(ii)	Submit an in-depth literature review of an approved research topic

Exemption of courses may be granted by the Dean if the candidate is deemed to have already done sufficient coursework in the relevant area in a graduate level programme at a recognised university. The minimum requirement after allowing for exemptions is two courses for a MSc candidate.