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--- blog:thesis [2025/08/19 09:51] – simon
+++ blog:thesis [2025/11/27 11:21] (current) – simon
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 At the point where you have finished (most of) our lectures and exams it is time to read the [[blog:regulations|Examination rules]] again in order to prepare for the final phase of your studies.
+===How to find a thesis topic/supervising Professor===
+There is no central announcement of thesis topics available. Thesis topics are announced by the institues on their web pages and/or their bulletin boards. You will have to look for a suitable topic and in case you have a preferred institute you may contact the Professor and/or the Ph. D. student being responsible for the respective lecture(s) to ask for a thesis topic.
-===Registration (general)===
+===Registration===
+==General==
 A mini thesis is not registered in advance but only **at the end** of the thesis by the supervising Professor directly to ZPA with marks.
 A Master thesis needs to registered **in advance** by the supervising Professor directly to ZPA.
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 In both cases the multipurpose application form is used.
 Thesis works may be started at any time and do not fall under the registartion deadlines for exams.
+==Prerequisites==
+Prior to Mastre thesis registration you will need to provide evidence of 82 CP.
@@ Line 49: / Line 54: @@
 ===Supervisors (First/Second,Internal/External)===
 Any supervisor must be listed at RWTH administration (ZHV) as examiner.
-All Profs. are examiners by definition.
+All Profs. of our department AND all Professors involved in teaching in Materials Engineering are examiners by definition.
 Professors may have PostDocs of their institutes be appointed as second examiners.
 Formally, the directly supervising person (mostly Ph. D. students) is of no relevance.
-Profs. outside the department can also be first supervisors. In this case the second supervisor should be a regular Prof. of the department, he will be in charge of all formal issues with regard to ZPA.
+Profs. outside the department can also be first supervisors. In this case the second supervisor should be a regular Prof. of our department, he will be in charge of all formal issues with regard to ZPA. Please note that there are a few Professors from other departments active in teaching in Mat. Eng., e. g. in the core selection area. These Professors may act as internal supervisors though they are not members of our department.
+**Please note:** There is no rule against one Professor being the supervisor of mini thesis AND Master thesis. However, it is not intended that you do all theses works at the same institute/on the same topic. This will narrow down your academic profile which may be helpful if you want to pursue a career in this specific field but may impede job offers from other related fields.
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   * in industry.
 In case of a student mini thesis no theses in industry are permitted. Student min theses at any institute of RWTH are possible.
-A Master thesis can also be done in industry. In any case this requires at firt (prior to starting the thesis) an application to the examnination board asking for a permission to do the thesis externally, signed by the student AND the supervisor.
+A Master thesis can also be done in industry. In any case this requires at first (prior to starting the thesis) an application to the examnination board asking for a permission to do the thesis externally, signed by the student AND the supervisor. In the form the external company/institute needs to be named as well as a contact person at this facility.
 In any case  an internal supervisor (Prof. of our department) is required that takes the responsibility to make sure that the external thesis is equivalent to a regular internal one.
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 Please note that this certificate may only be issued if the thesis is submitted AND the presentation is held.
 The examination board will not issue this type of certification, please contact your supervisor.
+====Confidentiality in theses====
+An external thesis host company may ask for confidentiality of content of the thesis. This can be achieved by a non-disclosure agreemnet between the company and the supervizing institute/Prof. However, that means that the Prof. significantly narrows down his research field without a proper scientific research cooperation on the basis of a student´s work. This may happen but is highly unlikely.
+The thesis needs to be officially submitted to Central Examination Office (ZPA) but is **not published**. The presentation at the supervizing Prof.´s institute may be carried out **exclusively with the Prof. alone and the second examiner**, if necessary.
+Thus, there is generally no need for any type of regulations. Should the company insist then this thesis would turn impossible and students need to opt for an internal thesis or for another company.