Theses Procedure

6-0 months before the submission

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

Keep in mind the evaluation criteria, since your reviews will later apply for grading your thesis. We also recommend you to read Jennifer Widom’s tips on writing technical papers as well as the ACL PC chairs last-minute writing advice.  

Very important:

• • 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).

• Running out of time: If you run out of time and need an extension, inform your Advisor as soon as possible. Extensions can be given from one to three months before the deadline expires, and they require the signature of the Examiner. The form can be downloaded here.

• • 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.

Unless you applied for an extension, and it was granted, you must submit your thesis within 6 months after the registration at the Examination Office (step 4). Otherwise, it will count as failed. The faculty website describes the process in detail: Handing in the thesis (Faculty 5).

Your thesis must be submitted as a printed version (generally, 1x) 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. Have in mind that this is the only template 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 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).
• The CS department covers must be included in your hard copies. Before printing, please provide them to the Kopierlädle so that they can add the CS department covers to the two versions of your thesis during binding.
• Transparent sheet on top: The CS front cover is directly put onto the title page, and there should a transparent sheet on top of everything. If the title can be read without opening, everything should be correct.
• The very last page is the CS department back cover, you can include a transparent sheet at the back of your thesis if it pleases you, but this is not necessary.

• 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.

• • 4,0-confirmation: 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 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 also if you have agreed to the license agreement. If you get stuck with this task, check the FAQ list by the University’s library.

Approx. 1 month after submission (at least two weeks should be in between)

Once again, if you ou will be invited to your thesis colloquium by your Advisor, if you have decided to make your final presentation after the submission of your work. This includes a discussion with the audience and the Examiner(s). Your presentation will also be considered in the final grade.

Next, your review is written, following our sheet with evaluation criteria. Once the review is finalized and signed by the Examiner(s), your grade will be uploaded to C@mpus.

Your Advisor will update the Thesis Topics on the Department's website, if you have agreed to this in the beginning of the thesis registration process.