Theses and Seminar papers

Are you planning to write a seminar paper or thesis? Then you need to consider the following:

1) How do I get a supervisor?

• There is a centralised allocation procedure (coordinated by the Office of the Dean of Studies), which distributes the "future writers" among the professors in our faculty.

• Applications for supervision (for a seminar paper or thesis) must be submitted one semester prior - you will be notified by e-mail when the allocation starts.
  • Applications in June/ July for submission in the winter semester
  • Applications in December/ January for submission in the summer semester

• This process is initially only an application for a supervision place in the following semester. The entitlement to your allocated supervisor place expires after one semester, meaning that you will have to reapply.
  If you do not wish to make use of your allocated supervision place, please inform the chair as soon as possible. This will give other students the opportunity to take your place.
• You can also apply during a leave of abscence semester.
• Once a place has been allocated, communication takes place between the chair and the student.
• Preparation then usually begins a little before the start of lectures in the next semester. The processing periods are not fixed, but are specified by the respective chair. You can read their respective specifications within the allocation tool FLIP.
• Before applying, be sure to check your FSB (subject-specific provisions) to see whether and which seminar papers are compulsory for you. In the Master's programme, please also note the area in which these are categorised in your degree programme.
• Please note when applying that your prior knowledge in an area may impact your performance or grade.
• Application in FLIP: You are required to rank all chairs (you'll be given a suggestion but must adjust at least one). For your top-choice chair, upload the necessary documents, typically a transcript and confirmation of registered exams

Got everything? You can apply for a supervision place via FLIP.

2) How do I officially register my work?

• Seminar papers: regular examination registration via WueStudy (the exam registration for seminar papers is usually open from the first day of the administrative period, starting on October 1st or April 1st and remains open throughout the semster) after consultation with the supervisor

• Theses: no examination registration in WueStudy necessary, instead binding registration of the thesis at the Examination Office using the form "Antrag auf Zuteilung einer Bachelor-/Masterarbeit" (Application for allocation of a Bachelor's/Master's thesis) after consultation with the supervisor. Once you have registered your thesis at the Examination Office, your processing period is set and the first of your 2 attempts for the thesis begins.
  
  Processing times for theses starting from registration:
  • Bachelor: 8 weeks (WiMa: 10 weeks)
  • Master's: 6 months
    Forgot when you registered? -> The date is recorded by the Examinations Office and can be viewed by you (after a few days) in the overview of registered examinations in WueStudy.

3) How do I hand in my work?

Seminar papers: contact your chair or supervisor -> depending on the requirements of the chair

Submission of final theses (according to § 26 para. 10 f. ASPO 2015, version 2023):

To be submitted:

• in the Bachelor's programme: one copy as a file in one of the commonly used, machine-readable and unchangeable file formats on a standard storage medium (= 1 storage medium with e.g. PDF file)
• in the master: two copies as a file in one of the generally common, machine-readable and unchangeable file formats on a standard storage medium (= 2 storage media with e.g. PDF file)

The storage medium must be labelled with the student's name and student ID number.

The declaration of indepenent work must be included to your storage medium, which you can find in teh examination office forms of the Examination Office under "Theses". It must: 1. be printed and submitted in the original with your signature, and 2. be included at the end of your thesis on the storage medium without a signature. If the written declaration is missing or if it is false, the thesis will be considered not passed.

If the supervisor requires a written copy of the thesis it must be bound and submitted in duplicate for Bachelor's degree programmes and in triplicate for Master's degree programmes. The declaration of independent work must be included in teh thesis and signed wiht an original signature.

[Future plans: With the provision of an upload function in the centrally provided IT system, the data can be uploaded to the university.]

The submission can be made: 

• either in person at the examination office
• or by timely submission (by 11.59 pm on the due date) into the mailbox at the back of the Neue Universität 
• or by mailing it to the postal address (the postmakr of the regular post will be considered as the submission date)

What happens if the submission deadline falls on a weekend or public holiday?
If your submission deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, your work must be submitted to the Examinations Office on the next working day. Please note their opening hours. If in doubt, please contact the Examinations Office in good time!

Confirmation of submission:
...does not exist - however, you can view the start date, the planned submission date (as well as the submission date for deadline extensions) and the actual submission date in the study planner. The actual submission date is the date of the postmark. 

4) What happens next?

Look forward to it and wait patiently  :)

According to the requirements of § 26 para. 12 ASPO 2015 (version 2023), the assessment period is...

• in the Bachelor's programme: generally 6 weeks
• in the Master's programme: usually 10 weeks

 

What happens if I don't pass? 

In case of failing the thesis, you still have one more attempt but must reapply for a supervision position. Further, it is at the discretion of the same chair to decide whether they will supervise you again upon request, without going through the allocation process.

What happens after submitting my thesis? 

We recommend re-enrolling, just to be on the safe side. Once the thesis is graded and recorded, you can submit an exmatriculation request and get a partial refund of the semester fee. However, it’s also possible to skip re-enrollment, wait until the grading is complete, and then request your certificate—even if you’ve already been exmatriculated due to not re-enrolling.