Theses

Once it’s time you have to take care of your thesis by yourself – this means, you have to look for a supervisor and a suitable topic before you start working on the thesis. Our recommendation is to do that latest at the end of your second to last semester. This page is meant to assist you with this last step of your studies.

General information

Begin

You can start your Master’s thesis once you completed modules worth at least 70 ECTS[1].

Topics

Thesis topics are provided directly by chairs and institutes. Therefore, we recommend to have a look at the respective websites (see below) and notice boards. If none of the suggested topics matches your interests, you have a great idea by yourself, or the lists are simply outdated and you should talk directly to teaching assistants, lecturers and professors – e. g., after lectures or exercise classes. You can obtain a rough idea of the areas of expertise by looking over the websites of chairs. They typically provide a research section and employees state their own research interests on their personal pages.

Process

Typically, after obtaining a topic you have a short period of time to get comfortable with the contents. After consulting with you, your supervisor will register your thesis project at the examination office, which leaves you six months to finish your thesis [2]. If you need more time you can apply for a two months’ extension. In case you get sick you can pause your thesis but you will have to bring a physician’s confirmation of your sickness.

Some chairs expect you two give a short presentation at the begin of your project to make all other members of the chair familiar with your topic. This is a good opportunity to get further input and ideas from them. If there is an internal seminar at the chair you are usually expected to participate there as well. It is often possible to get a desk at the chair to work there, but all those details should be settled with the supervisor.

We recommend developing an initial schedule for your project and regular meetings with the supervisor. Language of your thesis should be English [3].

There is no standardized layout at FAU for theses, you should talk to your supervisor about that. As guidance you can use the guidelines of Computer Science 2, which includes templates for LaTeX, Word, etc. Typical length is 60 pages (+- 20%).

Grading

You are expected to deliver three hard copies and give a 30 minute presentation at the end of your project. Both together are then graded and worth 30 ECTS [4].

External thesis

It is possible to do your thesis outside of FAU, e. g. another university, a research institute, a company, abroad, … In those cases it is still necessary to find a supervisor at the technical faculty who is willing to be the responsible person at FAU [5]. For all the details you should talk to a study advisor.

Links to topic suggestions

Please switch to German page for a link list, as it is kept up to date.

References

  1. ABMPO/TechFak = General examination regulations for Bachelor and Master programmes at the Technical Faculty
  2. FPOCE = Specific examination regulations for Computational Engineering

 

  1. §51 FPOCE
  2. §52 Abs. 1 FPOCE
  3. §38 Satz 6 FPOCE
  4. §52 Abs. 3 FPOCE
  5. §52 Abs. 2 FPOCE