This site provides information for students interested in writing their Bachelor thesis at the chair. In case any questions remain that cannot be answered by the information provided in the following, please contact Christina Wagner.

1. Objective

Based on a successfully passed research seminar, in which students had to closely engage with academic literature and learn to work scientifically, the objective of a final thesis at the chair is as follows:

The objective of a final thesis is to demonstrate that the student is independently and by using scientific methods able to address and to solve a problem taken out of the study program’s field. (cf. examination regulations for BSc. iBWL, 27.08.08: §15(1)).

Please note that special emphasis is put on “independently” and “scientific methods”.

The same applies for bachelor theses of the BWL, VWL, iVWL, GBM, ReWi and WIN study programs (cf. the examination regulations of the corresponding study programs).

2. Topics for final theses

The topics for theses are taken from the research areas of the chair and its team. Please kindly refer to the research statement of the chair and the details on the assistants team pages for further information.

You may now download the list with the topics for bachelor theses that are offered in the current term below. You will need to sort them by preference during the application process. Please also pay attention to the further details on the offered topics in the list.

Please download the full list of topics under "topics for download" here.

3. Application requirements

Students of the study programs BWL, iBWL, VWL, iVWL, GBM, ReWi and WIN (other study programs please send an email request) are eligible to apply for a thesis at the chair. The following requirements must be met before applying:

• The student assures his participation at the kick-off even.
• Successfully passed a research seminar (proof through STUDIS transcript); if the seminar was not taken at the chair, the research focus of the seminar paper may be subject to verification by the chair.
• Successfully passed an examination of an elective of the chair. For WIN students: Successfully passed examinations of mandatory courses offered by the chair.

4. Process of a Bachelor thesis

The process of a Bachelor thesis ideally takes the following course:

In the following, the distinct steps and their deadlines are described in detail.                                                                                   

4.1. Application

For each academic year (summer and winter semester) there are two start dates and three application periods, respectively:

• Beginning of summer semester
• Beginning of winter semester

The application is carried out through Digicampus. For the current (upcoming) application period, the Digicampus group can be accessed via this link during the application period:

Bachelor Theses

Joining the Digicampus is not restricted, i.e. the point of time of joining the group has no influence on the final admission (no first-come-first-served). Joining the Digicampus group solely serves the purpose of entering the application process; being a member of the group, however, does not automatically lead to a final admission.

Please be aware: The Digicampus group offers a central application for bachelor theses at all chairs of the cluster "Strategy, Marketing & Management". Through the Digicampus group, students are provided with further instructions and an application template.

4.2. Admission

Within three days after the application deadline, students will be informed via e-mail whether their thesis application has been successful or not. Those who have been accepted, will receive further information about the kick-off event.

4.3. Kick-off event

One week after admissions were confirmed, the kick-off event will take place. As crucial details for the further proceeding are presented at the kick-off event, participation at the kick-off event is mandatory.

Additionally, during the kick-off event students will learn which academic advisors they have been assigned to and there will be an introduction presentation on IS research and academic writing.

4.4. First meeting with academic advisor

Following the kick-off event, it is the responsibility of the students to contact and schedule a first meeting with their academic advisors within a week.  Failing to do so will result in the cancellation of the thesis supervision.

During the first meeting, possible thesis topics are discussed (if students do not already have topic proposals) and individual arrangements for an optimal supervision are made between student and academic advisor; if necessary, additional meetings are scheduled in order to prepare for the disposition.

4.5. Disposition

Approximately one month after the kick-off meeting, students are required to give a disposition presentation. Each student is asked to present (1) the topic of the thesis, (2) its research question and (3) the chosen methodology.

A successful disposition presentation is a mandatory prerequisite to register the thesis with the examination office.

Thus, participation at the appointed presentation day is obligatory as well.

If the disposition proves to be considerably deficient, the chair reserves the right to end the collaboration; in this case the student may re-apply for a thesis in the next application period.

4.6. Registration at the examination office

Upon a successful disposition presentation, all students of the same cohort are required to officially register their respective thesis at the examination office.

To do so, every student needs to hand in a completed and signed registration form (download at the examination office’s website) at the chair’s secretariat (Mrs. Sabine Duda, room J 1410). The chair will then complete the form and forward it to the examination office.

Please note:

• It is the student’s responsibility to have the thesis registered within the prescribed time period (within a week after the disposition).
• If the registration does not occur on time, the thesis collaboration will be dismissed automatically.

4.7. Writing

Upon successfully registering the thesis, it is up to the students to write and work on their theses. The regular time limit for writing a Bachelor’s thesis is two months for the B.Sc. BWL study program (starting with the official registration at the examination office). For time limits of other study programs, see the corresponding examination rules.

Please note that you find hints and templates for theses in the Digicampus group (after successful application). Moreover, all literature for theses is written in English language. Hence, all theses at the chair are written and presented also in English language.

4.8. Workshop

Approximately one month after the official registration (i.e. in the midst of the regular time limit), students are required to participate in in a workshop. The workshop offers all students of one cohort the opportunity to exchange experiences made during the theses. The objective is to present the current state of the theses, and to discuss existing difficulties and challenges which students may have encountered while working on their theses. Participation in the workshop is mandatory.

4.9. Submission

Within the time limit every student is required to hand in the following materials:

1. Via Digicampus: The thesis as PDF and DOC(X) file prior to the physical hand-in.
2. Two hardcover copies of the thesis.
3. One of the hardcover must contain a CD-ROM which includes the following contents:

• All Excel, Stata, raw data and other data, which have been used for calculations in the thesis..
• All documents, which have been gathered from the Internet as PDF files, particularly websites.
• All other documents (e.g. articles of scientific journals), which are available in electronic form.
• All remaining (hardcopy) documents need to be preserved and made available upon request until the thesis’ grade has been communicated.

This site provides information for students interested in writing their Master thesis at the chair. In case any questions remain that cannot be answered by the information provided in the following, please contact Moritz Bruckner.

1. Objective

Based on a successfully passed research seminar, in which students had to closely engage with academic literature and learn to work scientifically, the objective of a final thesis at the chair is as follows:

The objective of a final thesis is to demonstrate that the student is independently and by using scientific methods able to address and to solve a problem taken out of the study program’s field. (cf. examination regulations for M.Sc. iBWL, 25.06.11: §19(1)).

Please note that special emphasis is put on “independently” and “scientific methods”.

The same applies for Master theses of other study programs (cf. the examination regulations of the corresponding study programs).

2. Topics for final theses

The topics for theses are taken from the research areas of the chair and its team. Please kindly refer to the research statement of the chair.

The following topic areas for writing a master thesis are offered by the chair for your application. You will need to sort them by preference during the application process:

• Artificial Intelligence
• Cognitive Computing and IT Identity
• Crowdsourcing/Crowdfunding and Smart Contracts
• Cybersecurity
• Digitalization and Digital Transformation of Individuals, Organizations and Society
• Digital Innovation, Transformation, and Entrepreneurship
• Digital Sustainability
• Future of Work
• Privacy in the Digital Age
• Virtual Spaces and Highly Immersive Virtual Environments

3. Application requirements

Students of the study programs BWL, iBWL, GBM, "Informatik und Informationswirtschaft", and Information Systems (WIN) are eligible to apply for a thesis at the chair (please send an inquiry via email for other study programs). The following requirements must be met before applying:

• The student assures his participation at the kick-off event.
• Successfully passed a research seminar (Advanced Management Information Systems or Information Systems Research) proved through STUDIS transcript; if the seminar was not taken at the chair, the research focus of the seminar paper may be subject to verification by the chair.
• Successfully passed an examination of one lecture of the chair (Global E-Business and Electronic Markets)

4. Process of a Master thesis

The process of a Master thesis ideally takes the following course:

In the following, the distinct steps and their deadlines are described in detail.                                                                                   

4.1. Application

For each academic year (summer and winter semester) there are two start dates and two application periods, respectively:

• Beginning of summer semester
• Beginning of winter semester

The application is carried out through Digicampus. For the current (upcoming) application period, please join the Digicampus group Seminar: MASTER Final Thesis (cohort [current semester]).

Joining the Digicampus is not restricted, i.e. the point of time of joining the group has no influence on the final admission (no first-come-first-served). Joining the Digicampus group solely serves the purpose of entering the application process; being a member of the group, however, does not automatically lead to a final admission. Through the Digicampus group, students are provided with further instructions and an application template.

4.2. Admission

Within three days after the application deadline, students will be informed via e-mail whether their thesis application has been successful or not. Those who have been accepted, will receive further information about the kick-off event.

4.3. Kick-Off event

One week after admissions were confirmed, the kick-off event will take place. As crucial details for the further proceeding are presented at the kick-off event, participation at the kick-off event is mandatory.

Additionally, during the kick-off event students will learn which academic advisors they have been assigned to and there will be an introduction presentation on IS research and academic writing.

4.4. First meeting with academic advisor

Following the kick-off event, it is the responsibility of the students to contact and schedule a first meeting with their academic advisors within a week.  Failing to do so will result in the cancellation of the thesis supervision.

During the first meeting, possible thesis topics are discussed related to the allocated topic. Suggestions for topics are usually made by the supervisor in accordance with the students interest and individual arrangements for an optimal supervision are made between student and academic advisor; if necessary, additional meetings are scheduled in order to prepare for the disposition.

4.5. Disposition

Approximately one month after the kick-off meeting, every student is required to hand in a disposition exposé (3-5 pages) which describes (1) the topic of the thesis, (2) its research question and (3) the chosen methodology.

A successful disposition is a mandatory prerequisite to register the thesis with the examination office.

If the disposition proves to be considerably deficient, the chair reserves the right to end the collaboration; in this case the student may re-apply for a thesis in the next application period.

4.6. Registration at the examination office

Upon a successful disposition, all students of the same cohort are required to officially register their respective thesis at the examination office.

To do so, every student needs to hand in a completed and signed registration form (download at the examination office’s website) at the chair’s secretariat (Mrs. Sabine Duda, room J 1410). The chair will then complete the form and forward it to the examination office.

Please note:

• It is the student’s responsibility to have the thesis registered within the prescribed time period (within a week after the disposition).
• If the registration does not occur on time, the thesis collaboration will be dismissed automatically.

4.7. Writing

Following a successful disposition, it is up to the students to write and work on their theses. The regular time limit for writing a Master’s thesis is four months for the M.Sc. iBWL study program (starting with the official registration at the examination office). For time limits of other study programs, see the corresponding examination rules.

Please note that you will find hints and templates for the thesis in the Digicampus course (after successful registration). Moreover, all literature for theses is written in English language. Hence, all theses and seminars at the chair are written and presented also in English language.

4.8. Interim presentation

Approximately two months after the official registration (i.e. in the midst of the regular time limit), students are required to give an interim presentation. This presentation offers all students of one cohort the opportunity to present the current state of their theses, and to discuss existing difficulties and challenges which students may have encountered while working on their theses.
Participation in the interim presentation is mandatory.

4.9. Submission

Within the time limit every student is required to hand in the following materials:

1. Via Digicampus: The thesis as PDF and DOC(X) file prior to the physical hand-in.
2. Two hardcover copies of the thesis.
3. One of the hardcover must contain a CD-ROM which includes the following contents:

• All Excel, Stata, raw data and other data, which have been used for calculations in the thesis..
• All documents, which have been gathered from the Internet as PDF files, particularly websites.
• All other documents (e.g. articles of scientific journals), which are available in electronic form.
• All remaining (hardcopy) documents need to be preserved and made available upon request until the thesis’ grade has been communicated.

4.10. Others

The chair provides templates for formating and citing.
Please check the Digicampus course after successful application.

4.11. Theses in cooperation with practice partners

A thesis in conjunction with practice partners (e.g. companies) is generally possible. However, our experience with past cooperations has shown that certain requirements must be met to be successful:

1. Only master's theses (not bachelor's theses) are supervised with practice partners. The reason for this is that a final thesis in cooperation with practice partners usually involves high efforts. Therefore, it is not possible to supervise theses with a duration of less than 6 months (e.g. bachelor’s theses).
2. It is necessary to coordinate the following with the practice partner and the supervisor of the chair of the desired subject area at an early stage and before applying for a master's thesis:

• what role will the practice partner take on in the work, what expectations does the partner have; and in particular what support commitments and data access will be provided by the partner,

• which research question will be worked on, so that it meets the expectations of all parties involved and fulfils the examination requirements for an academic paper.

1. The partner agrees without reservation that the results of the work may be published, if necessary in anonymous form. As a matter of principle, we do not supervise theses with a so-called restriction notice stating that the work is not publicly accessible.

Why do these requirements exist?

The academic expectations of high-quality theses and the expectations of practice partners can sometimes differ significantly. For students, this can lead to a tension between the different expectations and therefore to significant additional effort in order to fulfill the expectations for all sides and at the same time clarify legal questions under time pressure. Therefore, we have decided to communicate these regulations transparently to support all parties involved.