thesis supervisor on german

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Finding a supervisor

In most disciplines, working on a dissertation project takes at least three years and involves ups and downs. It is therefore important to have an academically and personally suitable supervisor at your side to accompany this process. The choice of supervisor depends primarily on the topic of your doctoral thesis. As soon as the subject area and possibly the methodology of the thesis have been narrowed down, you should contact potential supervisors. The doctoral regulations of the Faculty at which you wish to do your doctorate stipulate which persons are authorized to supervise a doctorate. As a rule, university professors, junior professors and private lecturers at the University of Cologne are eligible.

• Select the people or areas of work that you are interested in and take your time to look at the respective websites. Read the information thoroughly and also use the details on publications, research projects and teaching to get a comprehensive picture. You may also have already made contacts during your studies, or your thesis supervisor may be able to give you a recommendation.
• Once you have found a suitable person, write them an email. In this first email, briefly introduce yourself (name, university of origin, subject, any publications or the topic of your Master's thesis, etc.), describe your doctoral project in a few sentences and explain why you are contacting this particular person. 
• It does not always make sense to provide a comprehensive description of your career when you first make contact or to attach your CV and research proposal. Instead, offer to send these documents on request.

In addition to the academic level, your supervisor should also be a good fit for you as a person. The success of a doctoral thesis depends largely on good communication and trusting cooperation. If in doubt, follow your gut feeling. If possible, you should meet with several potential supervisors before making a final decision. At most Faculties it is possible to involve members of other universities or research institutions, including from abroad, for second or third supervision.Within the framework of Cotutelle programmes, it is also possible to complete the doctorate at the University of Cologne in co-operation with a foreign partner university. The exact regulations can be found in the doctoral regulations or can be obtained from the respective doctoral offices of the Faculties.

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Two ways to get your PhD

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A doctorate is the highest academic degree that a university can award. In Germany, studying for a doctorate primarily means  working intensely on a specific subject or research project  for a long period of time. It typically takes five to six years to obtain a doctorate, though the length of time can vary.

How to obtain a PhD in Germany

If you decide to do a doctorate, you can choose between different forms of study. Depending on your discipline, research area, personal circumstances and formal qualifications, there are two different paths:

• Individual doctorate The individual doctorate is based on independent research carried out alone under the supervision of one professor. This is the traditional path followed by over three quarters of all doctoral students in Germany.
• Structured PhD programmes These programmes offer a form of study similar to that found in English-speaking countries. You will be supervised by a team and will attend courses, lectures and seminars together with other doctoral students. Normally, such programmes are publicly advertised and often feature grants or paid doctoral positions.

Individual doctorate

DAAD/Jan Zappner

The "traditional" or "individual" path to a PhD remains the  most common in Germany. An individual doctorate involves a thesis or dissertation that is produced under the  supervision of one professor .

This form of PhD study offers a great deal of  flexibility , but also demands a  high degree of personal initiative and responsibility . A professor supervises a PhD student, who works on his or her subject in consultation with the professor, but  largely independently .

How long a traditional individual doctorate takes depends on your own time schedule – or on the duration of your work contract. On average, you can expect it to take five to six years . Although a university is normally responsible for the doctoral process, you can also carry out your research at other institutions.

Depending on your subject, research area and interests, you can choose whether to work on a research project and your PhD at a university or non-university research institute – or indeed in industry. However, no matter where you conduct your research, a professor will always supervise your PhD.

You can obtain a doctorate by pursuing research:

• at a university
• at a non-university research institute or
• in a German company

PhD at a university

The "typical" PhD student in Germany works – usually part-time – as a  research associate  at his or her university. Although research is generally part of the job description, most of the associate’s own doctoral research usually has to be carried out outside working hours. How closely teaching, research and/or administrative duties are actually tied into the doctoral student’s own research depends very much on the individual situation.

PhD at a non-university research institute

Non-university research establishments – such as the  Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft ,  Helmholtz Association ,  Leibniz Association  and  Max Planck Society  – offer an excellent research environment in which to conduct your research. These institutions do not have the right to award doctorates themselves, but collaborate with universities for that purpose. They offer PhD students  scholarships and/or (usually fixed-term) contracts of employment  – or a combination of the two. However, support is also possible in the form of regular research posts, which are especially typical of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the Max Planck Society.

PhD in industry

Graduates who decide to work in industry and study for a doctorate part-time – often with funding and support from their employer – also need a university professor to supervise their research. In some cases, the employer will already be collaborating with a university or research institute and can help the PhD student find the right supervisor.

People who have PhD research posts within a company usually have part-time temporary contracts and work on a research project that allows them to pursue their doctoral research under the supervision of a professor. When a university and an industrial company collaborate in specially established institutes, doctoral researchers usually work on their projects with their professor and a supervisor from the company.

More information:

Find your individual doctorate 

The traditional individual path to a doctorate remains the most common in Germany. In this case, the doctoral student works for the most part independently on their thesis, though in consultation with their supervising professor.

Structured PhD programmes

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Structured doctoral programmes often have a  strong international orientation  with English as the team language. Unlike the individual doctorate model that can be freely structured to suit the individual research project, here doctoral students and their research proposals have to fit in with an existing PhD programme.

The doctorate frequently entails a  clearly structured doctoral study   programme  with compulsory attendance at lectures or seminars and interim assessment (credit points). The programme frequently also covers  academic and scientific methods or soft skills , such as presentation techniques.

As a rule, PhD Students work steadily at realising their research project within the team and with intensive  support from a group of academic staff  (often referred to as the “thesis committee”).

The duration of your studies is generally   limited to three to five years, and there is usually a fixed curriculum within which you work toward your doctorate and write your thesis.

Find your structured PhD programme

Though no database containing all structured PhD programmes in Germany is available yet, we can point you in the direction of databases that will help you find what you are looking for nonetheless, where to obtain information about eligibility requirements and how to apply.

Check out our brochure:

Doing a phd in germany (2019, 40 pages).

This booklet for (prospective) international doctoral students presents the different options for doing a doctorate in Germany. It explains the formal requirements and gives some practical advice on finding the right supervisor or doctoral programme. It also outlines different sponsorship and funding options.

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Finding a Supervisor & Admission

The first and most important step to pursue a PhD at the University of Regensburg is to find a supervisor. Please note that you must find your supervisor on your own . In Germany, the supervisor is usually referred to as “Doktormutter" or "Doktorvater”.

You can find a supervisor by using several sources of information. For example, use the overview of all faculties. Please contact the researcher directly to find out whether they are willing to supervise you. You should be well prepared for email contact and conversations with your potential supervisor. Think about which questions you would like to ask in terms of content and organization.

⇒ Overview of UR Faculties

Application

If you have found a contact person who is the ideal supervisor for you, please contact them directly.

As a general rule (please note that these documents can of course vary), you apply with the following documents:

•  Cover letter or letter of motivation
•  Brief description of your planned research project
•  Documentation of your academic qualification
•  Curriculum Vitae

Formal requirements

Before you begin your doctorate, you should get acquainted with the doctoral regulations (Promotionsordnung) of your faculty. In the Promotionsordnung, you will find information on the requirements for a doctorate, formalities and disputations.

In order to be admitted to a doctorate at the University of Regensburg, you usually need a Master's degree. The faculty will review your certificates and determine whether your degree is comparable to a degree in Germany, i.e. whether a direct acceptance as a doctoral student is possible or whether it will be necessary to attend additional courses or pass a doctoral aptitude test. Please note that the final grade of your Master's degree must also correspond to the admission for doctoral studies and must be converted to the German grading system in order to determine equivalence.

You may also have to prove that you have German language skills, depending on the specific regulations of your individual doctoral project.

Acceptance as doctoral candidate

Your doctorate begins when you have been officially accepted as a doctoral candidate by the respective faculty. In order to be accepted, you must meet the respective requirements for a doctorate and receive the confirmation of supervision from your doctoral supervisor.

As a general rule, the following is required for acceptance as a doctoral candidate by the faculty.

♦ Secondary school diploma

♦ Higher education diplomas and certificates

♦ Transcript of Records of the certificates

• All certificates must be presented in their original version and as officially certified copies.
• All certificates and transcripts must be submitted as officially certified translations in English or German.

♦ Curriculum vitae

♦ Exposé (indication of the provisional doctoral topic with exposé)

♦ Confirmation from a supervisor

♦ Additional seminars or lectures may be required.

♦ If applicable, proof of German language skills must be provided.

Please inform yourself in detail about the conditions of acceptance at the faculty where you would like to do your doctorate, since it can vary.

Language skills

You must clarify in advance with your supervisor in which language the doctoral thesis can be written.

The following applies to enrollment as a student at the Registrar's Office:

If your intention is to write the doctoral thesis in German and you want to enroll as a student at the Registrar's Office, then you must have sufficient language skills. You can obtain this by taking a German test called the "DSH 2 Prüfung". The German test (DSH-Prüfung) normally takes place at the UR at the end of March or at the end of September.

NOTE: In case your doctoral thesis can be written in English, you are not required to have any German skills. The decision must be expressly mentioned in either the confirmation of doctoral for submission to the Registrar's Office of the respective faculty or in your letter of acceptance.

Basic or intermediary knowledge of the German language is extremely helpful for everyday life.

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Supervision

Before you can officially apply for admission to doctoral studies, you must first find a supervisor for your doctoral project. In order to submit the application for admission, you must provide proof that a professor has agreed to be your supervisor.

We have compiled some information for you here, which will help you to find a supervisor.

Preparation

• As a first step, you should have some definite ideas about your doctoral research project, before looking into the matter of finding a suitable supervisor. Write a first project proposal.
• Collect detailed information on the individual faculties, institutes, departments, and professors at HU to find out which professor would be the most appropriate supervisor in your case. Someone whose field of research covers the same or similar topics to your own would be ideal.

How do I contact potential supervisors?

• Once you have found the ideal potential supervisor for your doctoral project, you can contact him or her directly via email, enclosing a letter of motivation, your curriculum vitae, list of publications and an outline of your proposed project or statement of purpose.
• The more precisely you set out your reasons for believing you can accomplish your project optimally with this particular host at HU and how you intend to finance your stay, the greater your chances of succeeding.
• If you have the opportunity, you can also approach potential supervisors in person, e.g. at a meeting or conference.

Who can I contact if I need help?

In addition, we also recommend contacting your former professors for discipline-specific advice. Talking to former fellow students who are now doing their doctorate can also be helpful.

Who can be selected as a supervisor?

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Guidelines for the Master’s thesis

The master’s thesis is considered the final outcome of your master project and is also the most extensive scientific work of the study. The basis is identifying an appropriate topic, which is worked on independently, based on scientific theories and methods.

Below you will find important information and related references to the Master’s Framework Examination Regulations (M-RPO) regarding the individual steps before and during the preparation of a master’s thesis, as well as its assessment and evaluation.

You will find a summary of all the information in this downloadable PDF.

Before Registration

Before you register your master’s thesis, choose a topic that is related to your master's program and discuss it with your initial supervisor.

Important information before registration

Compensation for disadvantages.

If you are unable to complete all or part of the master’s thesis in the described form or within the deadline due to a chronic illness, a disability, pregnancy a/o maternity leave, you may apply for compensation for a disadvantage. Accordingly, the Master's Examination Committee may extend the processing time for examinations or the deadline (paragraph 10a and 10b of the M-RPO).

For this purpose, please contact the Diversity Officer ( Diversitätsbeauftragte ) of the University of Erfurt, who is supported by Department 1: Study & Teaching ( Dezernat 1: Studium & Lehre ), or the representative for Studying with Children before proposing the topic of your master’s thesis.

Language of the Master’s thesis

The master’s thesis could be written either in German or English. Should you want to write your thesis in a language other than the above mentioned, you will need to get your first supervisor’s approval before issuing the topic of the master’s thesis (paragraph 21 (6) of the M-RPO). In this case, the master’s thesis must contain a short summary in German as an appendix.

Joint-master’s thesis

The master’s thesis can also be written as a group thesis if its contribution could be assessed clearly and distinguishably. Further details are regulated by paragraph 21 (4) in conjunction with paragraph 21 (1) of the M-RPO.

Supervision of the Master’s thesis

Any professor or other person who is authorized to conduct examinations and hold a teaching position within your master's program can supervise the master’s thesis (paragraph 21 (2) of the M-RPO).

External second Supervisor

You have found a person who does not (regularly) teach at the University of Erfurt, but agrees to review your work? Then you can request the appointment of an external second supervisor. This person must have at least the university degree you are pursuing. Thus, it could be an expert from a company or another university, but their appointment must be justified and well-founded.

Formalities for appointing an external second supervisor

• Clarification of the importance and advisability of appointing an external second supervisor with the first supervisor.
• Submission of a written request to the M-Examination board ( M-Prüfungsausschuss ) stating why this external second supervisor would perform this task to the same extent instead of a professor, or another person authorized to examine at the University of Erfurt. This written application shall be co-signed by the first supervisor.
• Submission of the application along with the contact details of the second supervisor as well as the "Application for issuing the thesis’ topic".

The official form "Application for issuing the thesis’ topic" can be found here. Please use only this form for application.  A translation help is given with this document .

In principle, students who wish to peruse their degree within the standard study period (four semesters) must “apply for issuing the thesis topic with taking into account that handing in the master’s thesis shall be one month before the end of the fourth semester at the latest.” (paragraph 21 (3) of the M-RPO).  

Please note that you should submit your application as well as a current Certificate of Enrolment to the Dean's Office by the 15th of (each) month so that your thesis topic and the start of the processing period can be scheduled for the 1st day of the following month.

The topic and the supervisors will then be approved by the Master's Examination Committee and communicated to you in an issue letter . This letter will be sent to you by the dean's office via e-mail a few days before the start of the processing period. Your confirmation of this letter is required so that the corresponding link can be activated in WISEflow and sent to you.

During the Master's thesis processing period

The deadline for submitting your master’s thesis is 5 months starting from the day you will be notified with the issue letter (paragraph 21 (5) of the M-RPO). As a rule of thumb, the length/word count of the master thesis should not exceed approx. 25,000 words. You should thus keep the topic appropriately brief to fit into the given word count.

The work must contain (from a purely formal point of view) the following elements:

• table of contents,
• list of sources/bibliography,
• page numbers,
• references.

The requirements of any other scientific work apply (Research question(s), research interest, state of research, theory, results, conclusion/further research…etc.).

Further remarks

Return or change of thesis’ topic.

The topic can only be returned once and only within two months after the issue of the master thesis’ topic (paragraph 21 (3) of the M-RPO). For this purpose, please send an informal letter with a short justification to the M-Examination Committee ( M-Prüfungsausschuss ) and submit it via the Dean's Office.

Changing the thesis' topic of the thesis is only possible in justified exceptions. For this purpose, a written request with reasons must be submitted to the Master's Examination Board no later than 4 weeks before the submission deadline (final deadline). This request requires a written statement from your supervisor. Adding an (additional) subtitle is possible at any time without an application. However, this addition will not (!) be shown on the certificate.

Extension of the Deadline

In case you are unable to submit on time due to an illness, you must immediately submit the sick leave notification to Department 1: Study & Teaching (Dezernat 1: Studium & Lehre).  For this purpose, it is mandatory to use the given form.

If the inability to work on the thesis is recognized, the Deadline will be extended according to the respective number of days of illness or delay. After processing the documents received by the Dean's Office for this purpose, students receive a letter with the recalculated deadline.

Submission of the Master’s thesis

To verify that the  submission deadline  has been met, the  date of receipt of the digital submission  via WISEFlow applies.

On the day of submission, you upload your digital master thesis as a PDF file via the platform  WISEflow . This file must not exceed a size of  20 MB  and must (formally) contain the following:

• list of sources and bibliography,
• page numbers

Please make sure that no conclusions can be drawn about your name or address here (personal data - data protection) - i.e. do not insert the title page or declaration of independence in this document!

The  the title page, the valid Certificate of enrolment and the declaration of independence signed by hand in blue must be uploaded in WISEflow as separate files under " Anhangsmaterial "; and furthermore, additional files with attachments or appendices (video recordings, statistics files, etc.) may be uploaded here - these files together must not exceed the size of  1 GB .

After that, you also add the automatically generated cover sheet in WISEflow.

As a last step, click on the "Click here to submit" field in WISEflow to complete the submission. After that, you can download a receipt for yourself and print it out if necessary.

If requested by your examiner(s) , please submit one/two bound printed version(s) of your master thesis to the Dean's Office  no later than 3 days  after submitting your thesis in WISEflow.

Evaluation of the Master’s thesis

After submitting your master’s thesis in due time, the Dean's Office will send it to the respective supervisors. The deadline for the evaluation procedure is based on paragraph 22 (2) of the M-RPO.

The master's thesis will be reviewed by two supervisors and evaluated in accordance with paragraph 15 (3) of the M-RPO. If the grades of both appointed supervisors differ by 2.0 or more, or if one of the two supervisors assesses the thesis as "insufficient", the thesis is to be assessed by a third examiner (paragraph 22 (2) of the M-RPO).

You will receive your grade certificate by mail shortly after the receipt of all experts‘ reports. The Dean's Office will then automatically forward a copy to Department 1: Study & Teaching ( Dezernat 1: Studium & Lehre ).

Second Attempt of Master's thesis

The master’s thesis is deemed not to have been passed if you do not complete your thesis within the deadline of the Master Examination Board or if the two supervisors rate your work as "insufficient" (grade 5.0) (paragraph 23 (2) of the M-RPO).

If the master’s thesis has not been passed for the first time, it can be repeated once on a different topic. A change of the topic of the master’s thesis is only permitted if you did not make use of this option when writing the first master’s thesis (paragraph 21 (3) of the M-RPO). The application can be submittd by the 15th of (each) month (the processing time starts on the 1st of the following month).

If the master’s thesis is also not passed in the second attempt, the right to be examined expires. If you lose your right to take an examination, you will be de-registered (ex-matriculated) (paragraph 23 (2) of the M-RPO).

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Appointments for the submission of applications and printed master theses are possible by individual arrangement. Appointments and confirmations are made after e-mail request.

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Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures

Honors thesis guidelines, guidelines for the department of germanic and slavic languages and literatures honors thesis.

The Schreyer Honors College has a description of the honors thesis and offers advice about how to choose a topic, find an adviser, and budget one’s time located at https://www.shc.psu.edu/academic/thesis/ .

The Honors College describes the thesis as “a scholarly piece of writing in which the writer is expected to show a command of the relevant scholarship in his (or her) field and contribute to the scholarship. It should confront a question that is unresolved and push towards a resolution.”

The thesis is likely to be one of the most challenging and rewarding assignments of a student’s undergraduate career. In the process of pursuing a topic, conducting independent research, formulating, articulating and crafting a sustained argument, students will build on what they have learned in coursework, gain insights into literary, cultural, and/or linguistic scholarship and methodology, and develop their talents as writers and thinkers. Once the thesis is completed students will have the satisfaction of knowing they have produced a work of scholarship that will be permanently archived in the Schreyer’s (electronic) thesis archive and the Penn State Library system.

The Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures expects honors theses to be based on thorough research and to offer an original interpretation. Students are required to undertake a meaningful degree of primary source research in crafting the thesis. The nature and extent of the primary research may vary according to the question pursued and the field of study. Students may, for instance, explore topics in German or Russian literature, film, culture and civilization, history, second language acquisition, or linguistics.

Students are also expected to situate their research and analysis within the scholarship of the field and to clearly articulate and support the significance of their project and its contribution. Students whose work involves extensive primary research should be careful not simply to present a narrative or an inventory of their sources, but to center the thesis on the analysis and interpretation of their research in such a way that their thesis makes an argument. Advisers should help determine the appropriate balance between primary research and scholarly contextualization, between presentation of the evidence and interpretation.

Finding a Thesis Adviser

Your thesis will be supervised by a thesis adviser, and the final thesis will need to be approved by both the thesis adviser and your honors adviser. In the case that these are the same person, a second reader will need to be selected. It is your responsibility to secure a thesis adviser by the end of your junior year. You should consult with the honors adviser for your major in deciding whom you might ask to be your thesis supervisor/adviser.

Length, Format, and Structure of the Thesis

The honors thesis is expected to be approximately the length of a standard scholarly journal article in the field. The text must be double-spaced with one-inch margins.

Think of your thesis in terms of chapters. Each chapter is a subtopic related to the whole. A chapter should present an argument supported by evidence; it could almost stand alone as a research paper, but as a chapter, it should establish its connection to the larger argument and/or preceding and succeeding chapters at least at the beginning and the end.

As a ballpark figure: you should envision the thesis as being comprised of three, or maybe four, substantive chapters—with, in addition, a shorter introduction and a conclusion.

Bibliography and References

The thesis must include a complete bibliography citing all the materials used for the thesis. The bibliography and in-text reference must be formatted according to the standards accepted in the field.

Style and Usage

The thesis is a formal piece of scholarly writing. Do not use colloquial expressions or contractions. Remember that the thesis is important—it is a source of pride and will be archived electronically (for all to read!). Go over the final draft and correct awkward phrasing; be sure to eliminate all errors in typing, spelling, and grammar.

German students are strongly encouraged to write their thesis in German, though the decision ultimately comes down to the topic, and will be made in consultation with the honors adviser. If the thesis is written in English, a 600-word abstract must be composed in German to accompany the English text. Russian students will write their theses in English.

Important Dates

The deadlines and other key dates can be found at the SHC website: https://www.shc.psu.edu/academic/resources/dates.cfm

A SHC Thesis Proposal is due to the Schreyers Honors College in the spring term of the Junior year—usually mid April. The SHC Thesis Proposal outlines the scope of the proposed research and any special needs the student might have to pursue this topic, such as the need to travel to archival collections, order microfilm, and so on.

• It is a department requirement that your SHC April Thesis Proposal include a preliminary bibliography.

This proposal will be approved by the honors adviser; the thesis supervisor (if that person is not the honors adviser); and by the Schreyer’s Honors College. This means the student must have a fairly well defined topic and a committed thesis supervisor one full year before the thesis is due.

• It is a department requirement that you have a detailed outline of the entire thesis, along with a draft of at least one of the chapters by the end of the first semester of the year of thesis writing.
• Additionally, the department requires that a complete draft of the thesis be submitted to the thesis supervisor one week prior to the SHC “Mandatory Thesis Format Review Deadline” (which is usually early March for the Spring semester and early November for the Fall semester).

Students may sign up for up to six credits of coursework to be taken during the year of thesis research and writing, three credits of which may be counted toward the major. The appropriate course number is GER494H or RUS494H.

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Any member of the teaching staff involved in the STS MA program who has at least a master's degree can act as supervisor of your MA thesis ("Erstgutachter"). If your supervisor has a master's degree, the second examiner ("Zweitgutachter") must be a full professor.

Please search actively early on for a potential supervisor of your thesis to make sure that your project is accepted ‐ we recommend to approach potential supervisors latest at the beginning of your third semester. Note that not every member of the teaching staff is an expert for your subject. 

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Master Theses

The number of supervised theses is based on the capacity of the Full Professorship of Financial Accounting. We strongly recommend that you only apply for a master thesis if you conducted your project study or an elective course at our chair. Students from other disciplines must have attended at least one of our seminars before they can apply for a thesis.

Application process:

• Select a topic from the list of open topics below. If no topics are listed, we are currently not offering any new topics. In this case you can either wait until new topics are announced or apply with your own topic proposal (see details below). The listed topics can be written in either English or German unless otherwise stated.
• If you have chosen to pursue your master thesis on one of the provided topics, kindly send your CV and your transcript of records as separate files to your assigned thesis supervisor. Additionally, please develop 2-3 research questions . Each research question should include the question itself, along with a brief description of the motivation, the data to be used, and/or the methodology to be applied. Please ensure that the description and the research question collectively do not exceed half a page (see details below).
• The registration date, i.e., the starting date for your thesis must be within the next 7 days. This means that you must start working on your thesis immediately and cannot "reserve" a topic. We do not provide any more information on the topic before the registration is completed than the information given in the table.
• We evaluate your application and check whether you fit our qualification profile. Please wait until your potential supervisor confirms your registration. If we receive more than one suitable application on the same topic at the same time, we will assign the thesis according to the first-come-first-serve principle.
• After receiving an acceptance email from your supervisor, both of you will discuss all further details regarding content, methodology and timeline.

List of open topics:

* German language only

** English language only

How to develop a research question?

Please watch the following video to get a basic understanding on how to develop a research question:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71-GucBaM8U

To get further instructions on how to develop a research question please check the following link: https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-questions/

Proposing your own topic:

It is also possible to approach us with your own topic suggestion . In this case, please provide an exposé of 1-2 pages , answering the following questions:

- Why is your topic relevant?

- What is your research question?

- What literature on the topic is already existent?

- What methodology would you like to use?

- How would you expect the results to look like?

Please send the exposé together with your CV and transcript of records directly to your preferred supervisor or, if you are not sure which supervisor is best suited for your topic, send the application to [email protected].

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Thesis supervisor

Who can act as a doctoral thesis supervisor.

Doctoral theses can be supervised by professors as indicated under Art. 1 of the external page Ordinance on Professorships ETH call_made (only availabe in German) i.e.:

• ETH Zurich full professors
• ETH Zurich associate professors
• ETH Zurich assistant professors

Privatdozentinnen resp. Privatdozenten and adjunct professors working full-time at ETH Zurich can also act as doctoral thesis supervisors. However, this requires approval from the department. The required approval form, Download Supervision of the Doctorate by a Privatdozent or an Adjunct Professor (PDF, 236 KB) vertical_align_bottom must be filled-in, signed and then uploaded in the registration for the doctorate ( eApply ). Please note in this context that, where a thesis is supervised by a Privatdozentin resp. a Privatdozent or an adjunct professor, at least one co-examiner must be a professor as indicated under Art. 1 of the external page Ordinance on Professorships ETH call_made (only available in German). Professors can act as examiners in doctoral examinations for up to one year after their retirement. The relevant department (that provides the infrastructure and the funding) is responsible for approving them as examiners after the end of their office. It should be noted that during the first year after retirement or resignation, at least one professor as indicated under Art. 1 of the external page Ordinance on Professorships ETH call_made (PDF) (only available in German) must be called in as co-examiner. If the doctoral examination has not been taken after the expiry of this year, retired professors must give up the role of doctoral thesis supervisor and a new supervisor must be decided upon.

> Contact the Doctoral Administration

FINAL THESIS.

You learn from us – we learn from you. The BMW Group offers you professional support in writing your Bachelor's or Master's thesis with practical relevance. In all areas of the BMW Group, you can show how you would like to shape the future in a sustainable way.

BACHELOR'S AND MASTER'S THESES.

Are you an enrolled student at a university and would like to write your thesis with a high level of practical relevance and delve deeply into a specific field of research? Start as a Bachelor or Master student. General conditions.

• The paid contract period for your final thesis depends on the processing time specified in the examination regulations of your university and the corresponding degree programme (Bachelor's or Master's).
• You do not have any prescribed working hours during the contract period. Your work serves the purpose of writing your thesis. Therefore, you can plan your working hours individually in consultation with your department.
• After completion, you are required to provide the BMW Group with a copy of your thesis.

DISCOVER OUR POSITIONS FOR FINAL THESIS PROJECTS.

What awaits you as a bachelor's or master's student..

ONLINE WELCOME DAY.

At the beginning of your assignment, you will be welcomed by an online welcome event. Here you will receive all important information and content about your assignment as well as exciting and current insights into future topics of the company. 

STUDENT INITIATIVE NAWI.

NAWI is a student-founded initiative of the BMW Group. NAWI offers exchange and networking opportunities and organises exciting events at our various German locations. This way, you can network right from the start.

OWN PROJECTS.

We place special emphasis on your professional and personal development. Therefore, you have the opportunity to take responsibility for your own exciting projects during your assignment. 

During your thesis at the BMW Group, you will be assigned a permanent supervisor. This person will help you with all your questions right from the start, give you regular feedback and support you in a strength-oriented manner.

LECTURE SERIES.

In order to know early on how you can continue with us after your thesis, we regularly offer presentations on our entry-level programmes. Current participants in our different talent programmes will inform you about the programmes and answer your questions.

REGULAR FEEDBACK.

It is very important for us to receive regular feedback from you, as this is the only way we can improve and offer optimal opportunities. You will also receive feedback from your supervisor to support your professional and personal development.

WHAT WE OFFER.

CHECK OUT OUR BENEFITS FOR STUDENTS.

Experiences of our bachelor and master students..

Discover more.

EVENTS FOR STUDENTS.

Entry and Scholarship Programmes.

Internship Opportunities for Students.

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Examiners and supervisors for Bachelor and Master Theses (Digital Media)

• Prüfungsorganisation Wirtschaftsinformatik

Main Difference Between Supervisors, Advisors and Examiners

• The job of the supervisor or advisor is to guide and advise the student during his/her work towards a thesis.
• The job of the examiner is to examine the student during the thesis defense, and to mark the thesis. For every master’s thesis there are two examiners.

The job of the supervisor or advisor and the job of the examiner can be done by the same person, and often this is the case. In the following, the words “supervisor” and “advisor” will be treated as synonyms.

External Supervisors

• The supervisor can be external, i.e., a non-member of the University, for instance when the student does his/her thesis work with a company. In that case, the supervisor will not be an examiner of the thesis.
• It’s the student’s job to ask the examiner whether he/she accepts the mode and place where/how the student is going to work on their thesis.
• So, students who want to do their thesis work outside the university, e.g. with a company, are strongly advised to get in touch with their examiners before they start the work.
• Both examiners must have the right/permit – according to the BremHG – to examine students. If in doubt about the status of a potential examiner, just ask the examination office .
• At least one of the two examiners (usually the first examiner) must be a professor at Uni Bremen or HfK, depending on where the student is enrolled, and he/she must be affiliated to the Digital Media program. For Uni Bremen students the first examiner may also be affiliated with the computer science program, but he/she should preferably have a professional affinity with digital media.
• The second examiner could be a post-doc at Uni Bremen/HfK, or a professor from another university with a subject in digital media, computer science, or related. She/he does not necessarily have to be affiliated to the Digital Media program, but this case should be discussed with the first examiner. If an examiner is not directly affiliated with the Digital Media program, he/she should at least be related to Digital Media research topics.
• All other choices of examiners are, as usual, by request to the Board of Examination of the Digital Media study program. When in doubt, it is recommended to submit a request to the Board, including the reasons. In such cases, please send an informal email to the examination office .
• When doing the thesis with a company (or non-research institute), please check with your first examiner to make sure that the work is on the Master’s level. The examiners also might want to meet with the local supervisor at the company.

List of examiners

• First and second examiners of bachelor and master theses in digital media (Uni Bremen)

No military-related research

According to the Zivilklausel of Uni Bremen, it not allowed to do military-related research. If in doubt, please discuss with your first examiner and/or send a proposal to the Board of Examination of the Digital Media program.

Praktika & Jobs: