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TDK Research Essay

TDK Research Essay

Requirements for TDK Research Essay Evaluation and Acceptance as a Thesis at the Medical School of University of Szeged

I. General Information

The TDK Research Essay is an independent work that exceeds the mandatory curriculum, created with the aim of self-education during the undergraduate training period (i.e., before obtaining the pre-degree certificate) and submitted by the end of September in the final year of training (sixth year) at the latest. The TDK Research Essay can have a maximum of two authors. The author must be a student at the Medical School or someone who has conducted their research with a supervisor at an institute/department of the Medical School. The TDK Research Essay can serve as a thesis (diploma thesis) for students of the Medical School. Conditions for recognition as a thesis, along with the process and procedure are detailed in Section III of these Regulations and in the Study and Examination Regulations of the Medical School and University of Szeged in general.

By preparing the TDK Research Essay, the author demonstrates active and successful participation in scientific research and proves that they have mastered and correctly apply the rules and ethics of scientific communication.

The TDK Research Essay can report on the author's own experimental studies, a case study, or a clinicopathological or statistical-demographic work. A literature review cannot be submitted as a TDK Research Essay. The essay must be considered an independent creation, containing results that could not have been achieved without the author's contribution.

II. Information and Requirements for TDK Research Essay

1. The major mandatory formal requirements of the TDK Research Essay are the same as those for theses

The main text (including abstract, introduction, objectives, method, results, discussion, and conclusion) should be at least 25 and no more than 50 pages long, including figures and tables, but excluding the cover page, abbreviation list, table of contents, bibliography, and acknowledgments. The document should have page numbers at the top center of each page, be formatted in A4 paper size, and use 1.5 line spacing. Margins should be 3 cm on the left and 2.5 cm on the top, bottom, and right. The font should be Times New Roman, 12 pt.

2. Structural composition of the TDK Research Essay

Cover page
The cover page should contain, centered from the top: Title of the essay; author(s) and year group; "TDK Research Essay"; supervisor(s) name, position, scientific degree; place of preparation (Institute / Clinic and research group, if applicable); "Szeged"; and the year.

Abbreviation list
Following the cover page, list abbreviations in alphabetical order.

Table of contents
On a new page, maximum one page in length.

Main Text
The essay should follow the structural format typical of scientific works, divided into chapters with the following titles (recommended lengths in parentheses):

  • Abstract (maximum 1 page, may match the abstract submitted for a TDK conference)
  • Introduction
  • Objectives (maximum 1 page)
  • Materials and Methods (include ethical permit number if relevant)
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusion (maximum 1 page)
  • Bibliography (maximum 50 references, single line spacing allowed; preferably use reference management software)
  • Acknowledgments (optional), with grant support indicated (optional)

Final Page
If the essay was previously presented, include the name of the scientific presentation based on the essay (title, presenter(s), conference location, date, and ranking, if applicable). Include a declaration of originality, detailing the author(s)' specific contributions, experiments conducted independently, and assistance received. For two authors, specify the percentage contribution of each to the tasks. Names and signatures of the author(s) and supervisor(s). Author’s email address.

3. Other formal requirements

  • Figures and tables should be followed by legends, numbered, with smaller font size and single line spacing allowed.
  • Refer to figures and tables by their numbers in the text (e.g., Figure 4, Table 3).
  • References should be listed alphabetically and numbered.
  • Citations in the text should be in parentheses: for one author, use the surname and year (e.g., Abbott 2005); for two authors, use both surnames and year (e.g., Dore-Duffy and LaManna 2007); for more than two authors, use the first author’s surname followed by "et al." and the year (e.g., Blasiole et al. 2007).
  • Examples of references:
  • Journal Article: Mathiisen TM, Lehre KP, Danbolt NC, Ottersen OP: The perivascular astroglial sheath provides a complete covering of the brain microvessels: an electron microscopic 3D reconstruction. Glia. 2010; 58:1094-1103.
  • Book: Franklin KBJ, Paxinos G: The mouse brain in stereotaxic coordinates. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, USA, 1997.

4. Submission of the Research Essay

At least 75% of the textual part of the TDK Research Essay must be the student's own work. The ratio of own and others’ work should be checked by the supervisor(s) and reviewers. The originality of the submitted TDK Research Essays may be checked by the Medical School TDK Council using plagiarism detection software, with results made available to reviewers during the review process.

The completed TDK essay must be submitted electronically in Hungarian or English via the Medical School TDK Council's Modulo platform (https://modulo.etr.u-szeged.hu/) along with the declaration of the supervisor(s). Optionally, the supervisor can recommend two reviewers with a PhD degree, with at least one reviewer from outside the relevant institute. The recommendation should include the names and workplaces of two proposed reviewers. For external reviewers, please provide electronic contact details (e.g., email address). To avoid conflicts of interest, special attention should be paid when recommending reviewers. This recommendation also allows for a maximum of two individuals to be excluded from the evaluation (with name and workplace), along with the reason for exclusion. Recommendations and exclusions should be uploaded separately as a signed and stamped statement by the supervisor. The Medical School TDK Council reserves the right to reject recommendations and not consider requests for exclusion.

TDK Research Essays can be submitted quarterly, with deadlines on September 30, December 31, March 31, and June 30 of each academic year (or the preceding working day, taking into account university closures announced by the Council secretary at the beginning of the academic year on the Council's website: https://www.med.u-szeged.hu/tdkinfo). The submitted TDK Research Essay does not need to be presented at a TDK Conference beforehand. Winning applicants will receive a monetary prize up to the amount of the allocated budget. Please note that your entry may also be recognised as a thesis; details are provided below.

III. Evaluation of TDK Research Essays and Acceptance as Theses

TDK Research Essays are evaluated on content and form by two independent anonymous reviewers with PhD degrees experienced in the given subject area, at the request of the TDK Council. The score of the TDK Research Essay is the average of the two review scores. In the case of significantly differing scores, the TDK Research Essay is sent to a third reviewer, and the final score is the average of the three scores.

The form of the TDK Research Essay is assessed for compliance with mandatory requirements, with a maximum of 5 points, and an additional 5 points for the quality, placement, and support of the text by illustrations, totaling 10 points The content is evaluated according to the criteria required by scientific journals, with up to 20 points available for content, making a total of 30 points for both form and content.

TDK Research Essays with an average score of 16.00 or above are rated as acceptable. TDK Research Essays scoring 25.00-30.00 points receive a first prize, those scoring 20.00-24.99 points receive second prize, and those scoring 16.00-19.99 points receive third prize. Based on the review scores, a ranking of TDK Research Essay is prepared, and the authors of the prize-winning papers can also receive a cash prize. TDK Research Essays cannot be recognized with credit points.

Authors receive notification of the evaluation within 90 days of the submission deadline. Since the Medical School Faculty Council's approval is required for the awarding of TDK Research Essays, the notification deadline may be modified based on the Faculty Council's schedule. The student and the supervisor are entitled to receive the anonymized reviews.

The submitted TDK Research Essays are archived by the TDK Council in the electronic repository provided by the University Library, and the results of the papers submitted each academic year are published by the Council secretary on the TDK Council's website (https://www.med.u-szeged.hu/tdkinfo).

If the first author is a student of the Medical School and the TDK Research Essay has not been previously recognized with credit points (previously this was possible), the first author can request its acceptance as a thesis by submitting a request to the Dean of the Medical School. The request must include a declaration that the TDK Research Essay has not been previously recognized with credit points. The request should be submitted to the Foreign Students’ Secretariat, including the paper with "Thesis" instead of "TDK Research Essay" on the title page. At the student’s request, the TDK Council will submit the review opinions to the Academic Department. The format of submission of the thesis (electronic or paper-based) and the number of copies, if any, will be based on the current faculty requirements.

For theses submitted as a TDK Research Essay, an additional written evaluation is not required, but the oral defense must be conducted. The thesis will be evaluated by the relevant institutes based on the results of the submitted reviews and the oral defense.

A single-author TDK Research Essay can also be submitted for acceptance as a thesis in a revised form, meeting the formal requirements for theses. In this case, the further evaluation and review process is organized by the Medical School’s Foreign Students’ Secretariat in accordance with regular theses.

A two-author TDK Research Essay can only be used unchanged as a thesis by the first author. In this case, the written waiver declaration of the other author must be attached.

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