Guideline

The bicultural M.Sc. course in REMENA was initiated and is financed during the first three intakes by the German Government for the following reasons:

• EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE: The concept of REMENA is internationally accepted, but in its complexity (interplay of physical, social, economic and political factors) not sufficiently understood and therefore not sufficiently reflected in practice by politicians and practitioners.

• PROMOTING EXCHANGE: In most Arab countries, energy resource scarcity and wasteful use of existing energy resources are of growing concern to governments, leading to interregional exchange of knowledge and practices, both within the Arab region as on the international level.

• ENHANCING COOPERATION: Many Arab countries have expanded their bilateral development cooperation with Germany in the energy sector. Consequently German development institutions as well as consulting firms have a growing demand for experts qualified for cooperation in the energy sector in Arab countries.

Different from a research oriented master program, the modules in the REMENA program aim at educating students in a broad spectrum of topics where each topic is considered in a broad context of the aforementioned objectives rather than in the usual approach of specialized engineering or business master programs. This will enable graduates to work e.g. as a manager in international cooperation within the MENA region including the ability to take into account the different cultural backgrounds.
While during the first two semesters the expansion of knowledge is priority, in the third semester students shall concentrate on exchange and cooperation while applying this knowledge. The master thesis should comply with the following rules:

• The master thesis is to show, that the candidate is capable of working scientifically, independently and within a specific time frame on a problem in an energy related field. 

• Preferably the students are to carry out their master thesis in a MENA country.

• The students can do the master thesis alone or in a team of two to three students.

• There is a list of recommended and possible institutions for supervision of master theses including e.g. GIZ, KfW, RCREEE and the Desertec initiative. Clearly, universities and companies are also possible institutions for hosting the thesis.

• Exceptions can be accepted if properly justified.

There are examiners of the thesis and supervisors:

• A supervisor coaches the student(s) in the course of the thesis project. The supervisor does not have to meet special requirements.

• A examiners evaluates the thesis and gives a mark. Only professors with CU or UM and UKAS can serve as examiners where it is foreseen to have one examining professor from each university. Clearly, the professors can, at the same time, be supervisors of the thesis. In many cases, in particular, when the thesis is done in a company or institution outside a university, the supervisor is, however, not a professor with CU or UM or UKAS. In case the examining professor of UKAS is not member of the Dept. of Electrical Engineering/Computer Science (EECS), a third professor being member of EECS is required to serve as examiner of the thesis.

Each student can propose supervisors, examiners and a research topic. During the thesis work students should be in frequent contact with the supervisors in order to comply with the quality requirements of CU or UM and UKAS.

Each university appoints members of the Board of Examiners. The members cooperate and organise all exam related issues according to the examination regulations of both universities. The Board members are listed here.

Special conditions for Master thesis at Cairo University, Faculty of Engineering: 1. English proficiency: Cairo University Graduate Studies Bylaws, Faculty of Engineering, 2018, clause (25) section (d) require proof of English proficiency TOEFL with minimal score 500 or equivalent IELTS score before registering Master thesis. 2. Plagiarism check: Cairo University Graduate Studies Bylaws Faculty of Engineering 2018, clause (23) section (1.) stipulates a plagiarism check with plagiarism report indicating the plagiarism percentage.

The master thesis can be registered as soon as the student has achieved 84 credit points (CP) through modules offered or recognised through the Board of Examiners.

• You can see the current status of your individual module credits and your marks by logging into the HIS-Portal by using your UKAS login.

• The form for registration to master thesis is available for download here.

• In order to facilitate procedures for REMENA students who are not in Kassel: you may send us scanned copies of your master thesis registration form bearing the signatures. In general, it will be sufficient to scan them with a resolution of 100 dpi.

• Only enrolled students may do exams at UKAS. Thus, you need to be enrolled during both your master thesis and defense.

• The topics and conceptual formulation of the thesis must be chosen so that the thesis can be accomplished within the time frame and is equal to a workload of 30 CP.

• Upon registration, the master thesis can be handed in earliest after 91 days and latest after six months.

• The master thesis must be written in English.

• The student can change the thesis topic once and only within the first four weeks upon registration.

• If the submission date cannot be kept for reasons that the candidate does not have to represent, the Board of Examiners extends the working period once for the extent of a maximum of three months, if the candidate applies before the first submission date and the examiner/supervisor agree(s).

• The master thesis is to be submitted within the prescribed period in two printed stapled copies and one electronic version to the Board of Examiners.

• The master thesis is to be presented in an oral public presentation of a duration between 30 and 50 minutes. The colloquium takes place within one month after the master thesis has been submitted. The date and time for the master colloquium is conveyed to the candidate 2 weeks prior to the date of colloquium at the latest. In case of failing the colloquium the Board of Examiners will set a date for the repetition within one month after the first colloquium.

• Your master thesis must contain the following or a similar declaration duly signed:

"To the best of my knowledge I do hereby declare that this thesis is my own work. It has not been submitted in any form of another degree or diploma to any other university or other institution of education. Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is given."

Place, date, name, signature.

• If the thesis is not handed in on time, it is “failed”.

• By default, the thesis is to be evaluated and graded by the involved examiners within three weeks.

• In case of tandem or group work on a joint topic the parts of the individual students must be clearly distinguishable so that an independent marking is possible.

• This is an example for the layout of the cover page:

• Master theses are published for download on the REMENA web site and serve as examples for students involved in master thesis projects.

Before starting the thesis the student has to provide a master research proposal including problem statement, objectives, methods and analysis, expected results and research schedule to the supervisors.

Before handing in the thesis report, it is advisable to check the following items:

• is the title appropriate?

• table of contents included?

• are all figures and tables numbered and provided with a caption?

• list of figures, tables and acronyms included?

• are all quantitative data expressed in adequate units?

• compliance with the rules of referencing?

• are all sources referred to in the text included in the list of references?