Choosing an external/internal examiner for my master's thesis

[Adelaide9216]

Hello,

so my supervisor asked me to suggest her a few names of potential professors who will correct and comment my master's thesis (external or internal examiner in other words). I have a few names in mind of professors that I've come across in my research for my master's, but I still wonder, how do I suggest names of professors that won't be too harsh? What I mean is that, the point of a master's thesis is to learn the basics of the research process and to critically appraise the literature. I think I can accomplish that, but my thesis will still remain imperfect and won't be as extensive as a Ph.D thesis for instance.

What I am saying is that I want to suggest a good name of a professor that will consider this factor and be sensitive to it. I'm kinda nervous about the names I will give to my supervisor.

 

Any tips or suggestions? 

 

 

[Hope.for.the.best]

You can never know whether your examiners are harsh or not until after they examined your thesis. That said, if it is an internal examiner, you may get some ideas from previous students who got their theses marked by that examiner. 

If I were you, I would not worry whether the examiner is internal or external, but the expertise of the examiner. Examiners who are renowned for your field and have examined a lot of theses before will most likely have realistic expectations to a master thesis. So go for big professors in your field. 

I did not pick my examiners for my PhD. My advisors did that. They chose a professor who is well-known in my field internationally. I was quite worried that he would be very harsh and critical, as he knows my research area very well. Turned out, he appreciated my work very much and asked me for some minor corrections only. 

Feel free to suggest any names and discuss that with your advisor. 

[TMP]

Honestly, without asking the students of those professors, there is really no way of knowing what kind of feedback you will get.  Your adviser's list are people s/he knows who will do his/her job dutifully of providing appropriate criticism and approving your thesis.  Your own list is also worth considering and sharing with your adviser.  Your adviser may know some of those people and had chosen not to share those names for particular reasons (won't be a close reader, gives no positive feedback, too busy, etc.).

Just pick a name.  The worst that happens is that the person says no, and you just move on to the next person on the list.  Don't take these "nos" personally-- it's them, not you.

[Sigaba]

On 6/23/2018 at 10:44 AM, Adelaide9216 said:

Any tips or suggestions? 

I suggest that you select a professor who is going to respect you enough to stand on your head if that's what you need to maximize your intellectual potential.