IS MY MASTER THESIS RESEARCH PROJECT SUSTAINABLE? INCLUDING SUSTAINABILITY IN "RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES"

Training socially conscious engineers and researchers is a core objective of the Delft University of Technology. One of the long-term goals is to give sustainability a central role in all educational programs, acting as a connecting thread. The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology is working towards this common goal through several curriculum changes. This study focuses on the integration of a sustainability learning module into the online course Research Methodologies. Research Methodologies is a self-paced master’s course where students start their research project for their master’s thesis. The intervention’s aim was to encourage students to incorporate sustainability into their master’s thesis projects. Students were introduced to the Engineering for One Planet framework and motivated to view their research project through a sustainability lens. The responses of the students to the online discussion questions and their final research plans were examined to determine the effectiveness of the intervention.