Supporting thesis development
Mattie is being developed by Dr Peter at RSM as a pilot to help students engage more effectively with thesis feedback, while keeping supervisors central to academic guidance and judgement.
The grant will support the further development and careful evaluation of Mattie and its value for students and supervisors. Dr Peter drew on years of thesis supervision experience and on colleagues’ input, which will continue to inform the project. Dr Peter is also working with Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) and RSM IT on the technical, infrastructure and governance requirements for bringing Mattie into production.
Structured, student-led feedback
Mattie is an AI-powered feedback engine designed specifically for academic thesis work, rather than a general chatbot. It responds to a common supervision challenge: that students often need similar structured feedback in the early stages of thesis drafting, while supervisors repeatedly address recurring issues.
Students submit a thesis draft and receive a structured feedback report and dashboard, helping them to identify and prioritise clear next steps. Students can accept, defer or dismiss suggestions, and Mattie takes these decisions into account when reviewing the students’ later versions.
Keeping supervisors at the centre
Mattie is not intended to replace supervisors or the human feedback loop. Instead, it aims to support recurring elements of thesis supervision, enabling academic staff to focus on strategic guidance.
Its feedback is designed to be literature-backed and continuous, drawing attention to new or unresolved issues rather than repeating generic comments. The pilot will assess whether Mattie improves students’ experience and delivers meaningful value for supervisors.
