Student Thesis Procedure

Find a topic you're interested in from our list of Open Thesis Topics.

As a small lab, we are unable to accommodate all the requests we receive. Therefore, we ask you to write a motivational letter, of at least 2 pages (∼1000 words), that explains why we should supervise you over other students. Please include the following key points:

• Personal Introduction: Provide a brief introduction of yourself, including any awards, achievements, and past research experience, if applicable. Mention any relevant exams or coursework that have prepared you for your thesis.
• Programming Skills: Share your favorite programming language and operating system, and assess your level of expertise in it. Support your claims with examples, such as past projects, internships, or previous work experience that demonstrate your skills. Note that you should put a link to a repository on github for that to be considered from us.
• Suitability for a Master’s Thesis in Robotics and AI: Explain why you believe you are a strong candidate for a master’s thesis in robotics and AI. Discuss your passion for the topic and any relevant past experience, whether from academic projects, personal projects, or even hobbies. Providing specific examples, even if they are small or informal, is more valuable than not mentioning any experience at all.
• Lab and Research Interests: Describe the specific areas of our lab that interest you the most and explain why. If you had the possibility to decide your thesis topic, what would it be? If you have taken any courses with us during your master’s program, please mention them and discuss how they have influenced your interests. If you haven’t taken any courses, let us know how you found out about our lab.

Your letter will help us understand your motivations, qualifications, and fit for our lab, so please be thoughtful and thorough in your writing. Note that letters clearly written with ChatGPT won’t receive an answer.

Scientific progress depends on open access to information and data. Without it, researchers would not be able to share knowledge broadly, to replicate findings from data, and to evolve scientific insight. For these reasons, we openly publish our papers and data online so that everyone can access them. We expect our students to proceed likewise with their theses; in return, we assure to advise and support them in the best possible way during their theses.

• Step 3.1: Read through the Wikipedia article about academic dishonesty and make sure you understand everything. If you have any questions, ask your Advisor.
• Step 3.2: Download and read the thesis contract and the license agreement. If you are not a German speaker, we recommend using the Deepl translator, so you can understand the document, fill it out and sign it. In case of any questions, ask your Advisor/Main Examiner. If you are enrolled in a German study program and write your thesis in English, download and sign the additional language agreement, saying that you will also submit a German abstract along with your thesis and English abstract.
• Step 3.3: Check your C@mpus account, go to "My Requests", download the registration form and sign it.
• Step 3.4: Send all the files (approved proposal, thesis contract, license agreement, additional language agreement, C@mpus registration form) to the lab secretary.

In this step, you must officially register your thesis at the Examination Office (Prüfungsamt).

Once you have a copy of the signed version of the registration form, send it via e-mail to the Examination Office. Your registration will also be confirmed via e-mail. After this happens, you have six months to submit your thesis. If the deadline is a public holiday or weekend, it will end on the subsequent working day. 

Have regular meetings with your Advisor/Main Examiner so he/she can give you constant feedback on your work and progress.

Start writing your thesis from the very beginning. Create a thesis project using the LaTeX template available here.

Important Notes:

• Submission of a draft of your thesis: One month before your deadline expires, you should submit a draft of your work to your Main Examiner.
• Sick note: If you get sick and your doctor gives you a sick note, the Examination Committee (EC) must be aware of it. To do so, send them the original sick note via internal post, along with a copy of it via e-mail (with your Main Examiner's Secretary in cc). The extension of your deadline will be communicated to your Examiner(s) and the Secretary (+ Examination Office).
• Thesis Presentation: you can either make a presentation of your thesis before your deadline expires or a few weeks after the submission of the final work, which will be part of your final grade. Should you decide you want to make the presentation before the deadline expires, you need to make sure that your final results are already available, so that you can receive feedback and work only on the final adjustments of your thesis. If you decide to hold the presentation after the submission, please ask your Advisor/Main Examiner to schedule a 30-minute timeslot. 
• Remember that students enrolled in an English study program only need to provide an English abstract, while students in German study programs must provide both German and English abstracts along with the final thesis.

You must submit your thesis within 6 months after registration at the Examination Office. Otherwise, it will count as failed. The faculty website describes the process in detail: Handing of the thesis (Faculty 5).

Your thesis must be submitted as a printed version (2x hard copies) and a digital copy (.pdf). The digital version will be published via OPUS if you have agreed to it in the beginning of the thesis registration process.

• Step 6.1 - Submission of the printed version:
  Title page of the Department: Please include this title page. Keep in mind that this is the only template that is accepted. If you are developing your work with the support of a company, we ask for your understanding that logos cannot be inserted. 
  Signed Declaration: The submitted thesis (.pdf and hard copy) must include a signed declaration that verifies that you wrote the thesis on your own by only using the mentioned resources/literature (personal declaration).
  Additional copies of the title page: Please also hand in two additional copies of your title page separately; they will be stamped and signed. One is for you; one is to prove that you handed in within the deadline.
  The formal requirements of the printed version are:
  • Any kind of adhesive binding is allowed (spiral bounding is not allowed).
  • Please add a transparent sheet on the front and a black sheet on the back of your thesis.
  • Contact of the Kopierlädle.
• Step 6.2 - Submission of the digital version:
  To submit your thesis online, write an e-mail to your Main and Second Examiners and Advisor (if you have one) and put the Secretary of the Department in cc. This e-mail must contain the full version of your work in PDF. This means: title page, English (and German) abstract, sources and signed declaration. Also attach to this e-mail the abstract(s) in txt.format. The secretary will confirm the digital submission.
  If you produced code during your thesis, you need to provide a link to the GitHub repository in your digital submission and share your code with your supervisor.
  If you need a 4,0-confirmation (= you have passed, but the final grade is not done yet), please add this information in the submission email. This will only be done in special cases (you need the confirmation for enrollment in a consecutive study programme or a job offer).
• Step 6.3 - Request for final presentation (30-minute presentation):
  If you have opted to hold the final presentation of your thesis after the submission of the digital and printed versions, please ask your Advisor/Main Examiner to schedule the final 30-minute presentation. This will be part of your final grade.
• Step 6.4 - OPUS:
  As soon as you have received the final grade, it is time to upload your thesis to the university’s publication server, OPUS. This can only be done if you meet the general requirements and have agreed to the license agreement. If you get stuck with this task, check the FAQ list in the university’s library.