Thesis Students

Thesis students must have excellent English, self-management skills, and passion for research and innovation. Thesis topic will be based on the adviser's expertise and the student's interest. Students can apply to be a Thesis student when they register to the program, or during the first semester. Thesis spots are limited, and students are responsible for identifying a relevant Thesis adviser and receiving that adviser's approval.

Thesis students engage in extensive research that includes one of the following:

 

  • Design, implementation, and evaluation of a new innovative technology or interactive experience, leveraging HCI design and evaluation methodologies. For example: a new robotic object that helps children fall asleep at night, or a new VR experience that help cancer patients cope with chemotherapy sessions. The range of possible topics varies based on the student's passion and the adviser's research domain.
  • Extensive theoretical grounding and evaluation of an existing innovative technology. This technology can come from the research lab's existing projects, or from an industry collaborator. For example: evaluating the potential for Amazon's Alexa to act as a mediator in family dynamics, or evaluating different strategies for addressing driver's fatigue in autonomous cars. The range of possible topics varies based on the student's passion and the adviser's research domain.
  • All thesis students are required to write their research work in the format of an academic paper, including motivation, theoretical grounding, prior work, system design & implementation, research methodology, research findings, discussion, and conclusion. Students are encouraged to submit their final paper to a competitive international HCI conference, under guidance of their thesis adviser.
  • Thesis students pursue their research during the summer and the second year of studies. Students will join the lab's research team, participate in lab events and bi-weekly meetings, meet with their adviser regularly, and progress independently towards the written Thesis or academic paper.

 

 

 

The program's Thesis advisers and their relevant research domains:

 

 

 

 

 

Mandatory Thesis courses include:

 

 

  • All required program courses.
  • Thesis Seminar (2 credits): A thesis seminar will be held during Semester B and the summer semester, led by the head of the thesis committee, head of the program, and the individual thesis advisors. The seminar is mandatory for thesis students and includes advanced research methods, academic writing, how to choose a research question, target publication goals, review of existing HCI papers and thesis works. Some of the sessions will be led by the faculty and some will be dedicated to a research colloquium, with presentation of research projects from faculty members, guests, and research students. At the end of this course, students will submit their thesis proposal. The research proposal will be prepared by each student with their advisor, according to the standard instructions. The proposal must be submitted to the thesis committee for approval and filing. 
  • Statistics for HCI Research (2 credits), with Dr. Hadas Erel. 
  • The Thesis research course (8 credits), which is the independent thesis work towards the final thesis submission.

 

 

 

Student Acceptance

 

 

  • Undergraduate grades: average 87 and above (special cases may be considered).
  • MA Semester A grades: an average of 85 and above (special cases may be considered). Thesis interview and selection process: all eligible thesis applicants will be invited to a meeting with thesis faculty, in which the thesis advisors will present their area/s of research. Students will apply to one advisor of their choice. Each advisor will review the student’s thesis application letter, and if relevant will invite the student to a personal interview, and accept or reject the application. At the end of the first round of student selection, advisors will announce whether they can accept more students or not. Rejected students can decide if they want to apply to another advisor, and the process will resume. Students that were not selected by any advisor, can not join the thesis track. Students have the option to re-apply in the next year, after graduation. Thesis acceptance is not guaranteed to any student but depends on a successful match between advisor and student in that specific year. 
  • Trial period: the first three months of the thesis process will serve as a "trial period", in which both the student and the advisor should confirm or withdraw from their commitment to the process.

 

 

 

 

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