Registration and Completion of Master Thesis
Here you find information about the formalities, registration and completion of the master thesis.
Students have a total of four months to write a final MA thesis (30 ECTS). The thesis refers to a specific research topic related to the filed of specialisation chosen by the student.
How do I register an MA thesis?
The master's thesis has to be registered online on this website. All information must be entered with the utmost care in the data mask.
After filling out the data mask, you will receive an e-mail containing the confirmation of the request and an attachment. Only if these documents are submitted in due time and in full to the examination secretariat, your registration is valid!
Important: Please note that your examiners must sign the application! Allow plenty of time! The submission of your documents for the registration of the Master's thesis does not affect the submission date of your Master's thesis. The deadline for registration will be determined during the meeting of the Examination Board at the end of the application period.
The dates and deadlines for the registration of the Master's thesis can be found here.
Who can serve as supervisor? How do I contact potential supervisors?
For the supervision of your Master's thesis, you must find two scholars, on your own responsibility. Please note the following rules when selecting your supervisors:
- Only university professors, private lecturers and academic staff, who have been given the right to examine by the Rectorate, can be assigned as supervisors
- At least one of the two supervisors should be full professor or possess an habilitation equivalency.
- First and second supervisors are not allowed to work in the same research group
External supervisors
External supervisors can only be appointed in well-founded exceptional cases and in principle only as second supervisors.
External supervisors must be approved by the Examination Board.
Formalities
- Talk to the first supervisor and ask if he/she agrees than an external co-supervision makes sense
- Submit an application to the Examination Board.
- Submit the application together with the curriculum vitae and a publication list of the potential external supervisor to the student advisor (Werner Palz, D 322, Fach 82).
The registration of the Master's thesis can only be done after the application has been approved.
How does the anti-plagiarism system work?
At the Department, we strive for a high quality in our academic output. In order to avoid cases of plagiarism and to detect a potential infringement against the principles of academic practice, we are using the anti-plagiarism software Turnitin.
All students are asked to voluntarily upload their final theses to the Turnitin website.
Important: In order to be able to upload your MA thesis to Turnitin, you will need a code which will be provided by your first supervisor.
Together with the final thesis, you need to hand in a declaration of independent work:
- Declaration of autorship final thesis
Find here general information about our academic standards and about how to avoid plagiarism.
I want to change the thesis title initially chosen. What do I need to do?
You must officially request the examination board to approve the new title of your thesis. An application form can be downloaded here:
Request to the Master Examination Board
Your first supervisor has to sign the application. The application needs to be handed in at latest one week before the official submission deadline. Please hand in the document at the examination office in D 323 or D 349.
I want to request an extension of the deadline of submission. How can I do that?
If, for reasons beyond your control, a candidate is unable to complete the work by the specified deadline, the Master Examination Board may grant an extension of the deadline. An extension is, however, only possible for a maximum of one month. If more time is needed, the candidate can return the topic. There are several reasons for extending the deadline:
1. Sickness
In case of sickness, a candidate must immediately submit a medical certificate to the Central Examination Office (C 406). For this purpose, the form for medical certificates provided by the Central Examination Office is to be used.
2. Other reasons
Other reasons foran extension can be directly linked with the final MA thesis. As an example, possible reasons for an extension are listed here:
- Problems with the data set (for example license, difficult access)
- An interviewee moves the appointment to a later date
- Problems with the response rate
Whether an extension of the deadline is possible must be discussed with the first supervisor. In this case, the first supervisor must sign the application. The following form should be used for this purpose:Application to the Master Examination Board
After the first supervisor has reviewed and signed the application, it must be submitted to the Examination Secretariat (D 323 or D 349) no later than three weeks before the final deadline.
When is the right moment to de-register from the University (Exmatrikulation)?
It is compulsory to stay enrolled until the date of submission of the master's thesis. Immediately after that, the student can be de-registered. An application for tuition reimbursement may be handed in up to four weeks after the start of the lecture period. If students do not exmatriculate themselves after handing in the thesis, they will be automatically de-registered by the university at the end of the semester (this information is without guarantee as the Student Affairs Department is responsible for enrollment). Further information can be found on the homepage of the student service center.