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ADDISABABA

May2013

V2

Ethiopian Roads Authority

BEST Masters Thesis Selection

Procedures Manual

Prepared for the ERA sponsored Postgraduate students at different local Universities

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ContentsI. INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................2

II. LEVELOFSELECTION.............................................................................................................................2

2.1 UniversityLevel.............................................................................................................................3

2.2 NationalLevel...............................................................................................................................3

III. ESTABLISHMENTOFSELECTIONCOMMITTEE..................................................................................3

3.1 UniversityLevel.............................................................................................................................3

3.2 NationalLevel...............................................................................................................................4

IV. COMMITTEEALLOWANCE/REMUNERATION...................................................................................5

V. REWARDFORSELECTEDBESTTHESIS...................................................................................................5

ANNEX:CRITERIAFORTHENATIONALCOMMITTEETOSELECTTHEBESTTHESIS......................................6

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I. INTRODUCTION

The Ethiopian government has been undertaking massive development programs to radically alter the countrys years old poverty problems and to bring it up to the level of middle income countries in 2025. Cognizant of the road infrastructure Development as the back bone and blood artery for all economic, social and political progress, due emphasis has been given to the implementation of Road Sector Development program since 1997 and subsequently dramatic success have so far been registered.

With the consequence of construction industry booming in the country in general and the road construction in particular and because of fast and smooth global mobilization of labor forces the sector has suffered from acute shortages of construction manpower particularly high-level trained professional engineers in the areas of technical and managerial positions. As a result, the road construction sector has been exposed to inefficiencies such as tremendous cost/Time overrun, quality of workmanship and etc. Cognizant of this, the Ethiopian Roads Authority has designed a special Masters program for road sector engineers in 6 specific areas of road and related fields of engineering targeting to graduate 3000 students in collaboration with local Universities within 5 years (Growth and Transformation plan 2011-2015).The graduates are expected to focus mainly on applied research during their thesis work to address the current and future problems of the road construction sector. The Ethiopian Roads Authority is highly motivated to implement the findings of the best thesis into practice to augment the performance of the Road Sector Development. Therefore, to pave the smooth and transparent way of selecting the best thesis for recognition and implementation of the findings this BEST Masters Thesis Selection Procedure Manual is prepared.

II. LEVELOFSELECTION

The selection of the best thesis shall be made in two levels to give opportunity to each university to come up with their best thesis using their own selection criteria. Since the competition will be very high and each university will come up with the thesis they believe will win. It is hoped that each university will try to produce a winner thesis and this will consequently improve and develop the teaching and research capability by creating competition among universities.

Therefore two levels of the selection will be the first at the University level where they select their best thesis and send to the national committee which is composed of ERA, Universities and the industry. ERA will be the main responsible organization and leader of the national committee. The best thesis selection criteria at the national level are prepared (attached as annex) and will be used by the national committee.

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2.1 UniversityLevel The best Thesis from every field of study shall be selected initially at each university

by each respective Department. Currently there are 6 (six) programs that are considered for this purpose and the universities will use their own selection criteria.

Each Department shall establish a selection committee comprising professionals of renowned experiences and knowledge in the area of the subject matter

Each Department shall submit the best top or branded as 1st grade thesis from each field of study to the Director of the Institute

The best thesis selected from each field of study and got final endorsement and approval by the respective department at the university shall be sent to the National Best Thesis Selection Committee Led by the Ethiopian Roads Authority.

Only one thesis is selected from one field of study 2.2 NationalLevel

The national selection Level is the level at which all selected thesis forwarded from

all Universities in each area of study will contest again with each other to identify the best thesis in the area of road engineering at national level.

The Ethiopian Roads Authority shall establish a national committee from time to time.

The national Committee led by the Ethiopian Roads Authority shall comprise all main stakeholders representatives of renowned experiences and knowledge in the area of the subject matter.

The National Committee shall select the best thesis from each field of study and submit it to the Ethiopian Roads Authority Director General for final endorsement with appropriate reward packages proposal.

The Ethiopian Roads Authority Director General shall have the final say on the final selection result and accompanied reward packages thereto and shall make official the winning thesis of the year in the area of road engineering.

III. ESTABLISHMENTOFSELECTIONCOMMITTEE

3.1 UniversityLevel

The Best thesis of the year selection committee shall be established at each University based on their own procedures to do the same. They may communicate with ERA at the time of formation of the committee.

The selection committee at University level will be established by the Dean of Respective Engineering Institute and Chaired by Civil engineering Department head.

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IV. COMMITTEEALLOWANCE/REMUNERATION

Committee members shall be paid allowance The allowance shall be determined by the number of meeting days and special

assignments given to each member as deemed necessary Allowance for a meeting shall be a minimum of Birr 1000. The number of meetings shall not exceed three (3)

V. REWARDFORSELECTEDBESTTHESIS

Special reward in KIND/CASH shall be given to best Thesis selected as the best thesis of the year. The following is the reward proposed for selected best thesis:

The best National Thesis graded selected shall be published in acknowledged Local and international Journals with full material and financial support from the Ethiopian Roads Authority.

The entire thesis graded as best and submitted from all Universities to the Ethiopian Roads Authority irrespective of their level given at national Level by national selection committees shall be awarded Certificate of recognition officially signed by The Dean of the program or president of the University.

The Ethiopian Roads Authority has the full right to implement and disseminate the scientific findings of the thesis without soliciting any permission from the respective University or the principal Author/s of the thesis

ERA may also arrange any reward in addition to the above indicated (in kind) to motivate the winner.

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ANNEX:CRITERIAFORTHENATIONALCOMMITTEETOSELECTTHEBESTTHESIS

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MASTERS THESIS EVALUATION CRITERIA

1. INTRODUCTION

This criteria is developed for the evaluation Masters Thesis prepared by Masters students that are sponsored by the Ethiopian Roads Authority at different local universities. This criteria is not a substitute or does not have any relationship to the universitys criteria and merely used for the purpose of motivating students who contribute to the engineering field. Therefore the criteria may be different from those prepared by academic institutions and one should not confuse it otherwise. A Masters thesis should be based on original investigation and must demonstrate scholarship and critical judgment, international standard as well as familiarity with methods of research and relevant literature in the candidates field of study. The thesis shall be based on high level of originality and examine the problem in depth so that the conclusions/recommendations drawn have strong power to solve the problem at hand or open a new insight for further studies. The relevancy to the current road sector is highly regarded and its ability to solve any current problem as well as new looking to the problem will be given highest mark. Acknowledgement and respect to others work is highly appreciated and one should give extra care not to copy others work (be it past works or currently ongoing). Based on the general frame work of originality and clarity of the thesis ERA has decided to motivate those who produce an up to the standard and problem solving works. The following criteria are then developed to reflect ERAs interest and also motivate future Masters students. The evaluation of thesis is based on the overall evaluation and the grade of the thesis does not represent the average value of the different elements as the importance of the elements varies according to the nature of the thesis.

2. PROCEDURES TO BE FOLLOWED

To evaluate the thesis a special committee will be formed by ERA. The members and their number shall be identified in due course. In the evaluation process of the thesis, the following procedures are to be followed:

Advertisement to call for interested competitors will be posted at the universities and other appropriate means of communication systems

The master thesis shall be selected and forwarded to the National evaluation committee from his/her department in the University.

The student shall defend his/her work and prove that his work is original. The committee then evaluates the work based on the format developed (attached to this)

and presentations and defenses by the student.

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The committee will finally release the result of the winning thesis and the result will be posted on the University notice board and other means of communications.

The wining thesis will be awarded by the Ethiopian Roads Authority.

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It Evaluation criteria Description Points awarded (5=Excellent, 1= poor

Justification for the point awarded

1 2 3 4 5 1 Originality of the research

Idea

The research idea shall be original idea either emanated from the university or the student. Its level of innovation or bringing new ways of doing things or development of new technology is given highest regard.

2 Problem statement/formulation

The problem shall be relevant to the current issues in the road industry. The following shall be considered in this case:

a) Relevance to the current problem b) Clarity in describing the problem at hand c) Need for the problem to be researched d) Presenting the study question and Clarity

of the goal

e) Grounds for problem statement/formulation

3 Research Design Theoretical framework of the research and research methods followed are main focus areas and should be scientific based on international standard. As this is an engineering thesis practical testings (could be laboratory or field practical works) have an advantage.

4 Use of literature Extensive literature review is required in doing Masters thesis. Literatures shall include scientific articles and international journals. This helps in understanding what has been done so far in the area of study and will give wider level of information to student. It also helps not duplicate efforts by doing works which have already been done somewhere else. As a criterion, then the minimum number of literature reviewed shall not be less than 10 (Ten)

5 Materials used in the research The suitability of materials used in the research process shall be checked for the grounds of choosing, methods used in collecting them and extensiveness and structure of the material.

6 Analysis Consistency and depth of analysis and method

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of presenting the results of analysis shall be clear and easy to understand. In this regard the tables and graphs used to show the results are assessed. Also appropriateness of the statistics shall also be considered.

7 Discussions/argumentations The connection of this research to previous researches in the field of study, showing the connection between the problem studied to the conclusion, clarity of consistency and argumentation and the scientific value of new finding and practical importance of the results are the main issues to be considered

8 Reporting on the research Clarity and consistency of the report structure, illustrations of graphic presentations, use of concise language and report format, consistency and relevancy of the appendices are to be considered.

9 Citation and referencing In the report citation shall be given much attention and all sited materials shall be shown in order. Referencing shall be a well known standard referencing system and shall be shown accordingly. The referencing and citation system will be as per the universitys standard.

10 Conclusions The conclusion shall be logical and shall follow the observations made in the research work. The conclusion shall also be evidence based and clearly written.

Students Name

Title of the Thesis

Evaluators Name Signature:_________________ Date ___________

Given point:

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Remarks and recommendations: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________