You can join the MTL facilities by registering for the 'Master Thesis Lab' course in uSis. This will enroll you automatically in the MTL Brightspace module, in which we (start to) collect and provide structured questions and answers from our experience and interactions throughout the years.

The MTL offers a quiet office space to work on your thesis. The office space is open whenever the Pieter de la Court building is open, and at some time slots one of the master thesis lab assistants is available for questions.  See 'Master thesis lab assistance' for more information and the schedule.

Desks are available to connect your laptop to an external screen, mouse and keyboard. In addition, a limited number of desktop PCs (Windows) is available. These desktop PCs host software like Word, Excel, SPSS and other specialized software for quantitative and qualitative data analysis. The work spaces have adjustable seats and tables, and are especially designed for working comfortably for extended periods of time.

Eating and drinking is not allowed in the Lab and long discussions may distract others. Please use the meeting areas for those purposes. We trust you to keep this area clean and tidy!

Schedule semester 1, block 1 (mid august - 27 October) 

Schedule semester 1, block 2 (28 October - 2 February)

Master thesis lab assistance is available according to the above schedules. You can walk in any time, an appointment is not necessary. We are available for a dialogue regarding the general thesis process, as a sounding board when in doubt about supervisor comments, or when you find yourself in a more general stressful thesis-related situation. Furthermore, we can assist you with basic SPSS, R or statistics questions. For advanced statistical questions we can refer you to one of the statistical consultants.

The MTL provides support and advice, but does not take a supervising position at any time. The final responsibility for the thesis supervision lies with your thesis supervisor.

What we do and what we don't do

We do:

• Give advice on how to structure the time spent on your thesis;
• Give advice on general lay-out;
• Help to think about the consequences of your choices;
• Help you with practical SPSS of R problems;
• Refer you to one of our statistical consultants (for more advanced SPSS, R or other statistical problems);
• Refer you to one of our consultants for qualitative analysis;
• Give you information on where to find information about various aspects of writing your thesis.

We don't:

• Proofread (parts of) your thesis;
• Give advice concerning the specific substantive content of your thesis;
• Act as a substitute for your thesis supervisor (also not when your supervisor is not available during a longer period);
• Take responsibility for your choices with respect to any part of your thesis. 

Experts on methodology and statistics are available to you for consultation. You can book an appointments of 40 minutes via the module below. Statistical consultation takes place in room 3A.14, or as specified by the advisor.

The statistical consultant provides you with an advice fitting to your research question, timeframe and ability. You are completely free to follow up, ignore or discuss the advice with your thesis supervisor. 

The MTL does not communicate with your thesis supervisor about the (amount of) support or advice given.

Book a meeting

You can book a statistical consultation meeting directly below. To send a request, an informative description of your questions is required.

Please allow your fellow students to also book a consultation meeting by considering the following:

• there is a maximum of two appointments per student
• book only one appointment at a time, to not clog the calendar
• should a followup meeting be needed, please book with the original consultant
• upon required cancellation, please do so 24h in advance. This allows your fellow student to use that time slot.
• use the consultation time well: fill in your question(s) seriously and prepare for the meeting

Experts on qualitative analysis are available to you for consultation in block 2 and block 4. You can book an appointments of 40 minutes via the module below. Consultation takes place in room 3A.14, or as specified by the advisor.

The consultant provides you with an advice fitting to your research question, timeframe and ability. You are completely free to follow up, ignore or discuss the advice with your thesis supervisor. 

The MTL does not communicate with your thesis supervisor about the (amount of) support or advice given.

You can book a consultation meeting directly below. To send a request, an informative description of your questions is required.

Book a meeting

Please allow your fellow students to also book a consultation meeting by considering the following:

• there is a maximum of two appointments per student
• book only one appointment at a time, to not clog the calendar
• should a followup meeting be needed, please book with the original consultant
• upon required cancellation, please do so 24h in advance. This allows your fellow student to use that time slot.
• use the consultation time well: fill in your question(s) seriously and prepare for the meeting

When you are writing your Master's thesis, you might want to have a look at some examples. In the Leiden University Repository there are Master's theses from students from all FSW institutes.

Email
scriptieatelier@fsw.leidenuniv.nl. We will check this email several times per week.

Physical location

• room 3A.06 (Master thesis lab)
• room 3A.14 (consultants)

Opening hours
Room 3A.06 is open year round. Master thesis assistance and consultation is available year round, except for two weeks Christmas Holiday, and Summer holidays from mid July till mid August.

• 2024-10-25: Website is updated. Most important changes are 1) updated room numbers (3A06 and 3A14), 2) addition of qualitative consultancy, 3) max number of two consults per student
• 2022-09-13: Room number(s) and directions are added to the contact details below.
• 2022-09-09: The Master Thesis Lab is being updated: we will have a limited number of desktop computers ith specialized software, and several laptop-based desks with external screen and peripherals. During this process the existing access registrations to the computers may be locked. We apologize for the inconvience.
• 2022-09-01: The online booking widget was updated, and now requires both the (short) statistical consultation question, as well as an indiciation of previous contact. The online booking widget is now fully functional.
• 2022-08-28: Our new shortened website is live. Some information is rearranged, or has moved to our Brightspace module. We have added an online meeting scheduler (see below). This module is not fully functional yet. If you do not see any options or advisors on multiple days, please email us directly for meeting/consulstation request. The Dutch information page is coming soon!