At the point where you have finished (most of) our lectures and exams it is time to read the Examination rules again in order to prepare for the final phase of your studies.

Please follow the following outline:

1. Look for a topic (institutes´ webpages, black boards etc.) and
2. get a supervising Prof. of our Department,
3. have the supervisor download the Mini thesis form from the department´s webpage, have it signed by yourself and the supervisor and have it send to ZPA by the institute,
4. carry out your thesis,
5. submit the thesis,
6. give a presentation to your supervisor,
7. have your supervisor send the completed registartion form to ZPA to get your credits.

Duration:

The mini thesis consists of approx. 200 hours, i. e. roughly 6 weeks in full time. It has to be carried out within 6 months, with a maximum extension of 6 weeks. Tipp: If you apply for an extension please ask for 6 weeks. Should you submit earlier this is no problem, whereas a second extension is impossible.

Number of copies to be submitted:

A mini thesis is submitted to the internal supervisor. He/she defines the number of copies required. A mini thesis is NOT submitted to ZPA directly, only through the supervisor.

Please follow the following outline:

1. Look for a topic (institutes´ webpages, black boards etc.) and
2. get a supervising Prof. of our Department,
3. have the supervisor download the Master thesis form from the department´s webpage, have it signed by yourself and the supervisor and have it send to ZPA by the institute,
4. carry out your thesis,
5. submit the thesis,
6. give a presentation to your supervisor,
7. have your supervisor send the completed registartion form to ZPA,
8. present your signed and stamped workbook to your academic counsellor to have it signed,
9. present your workbook to ZPA to get your credits.

Duration: The Master thesis duration is 6 months, with a maximum extension of 6 weeks. Tipp: If you apply for an extension please ask for 6 weeks. Should you submit earlier this is no problem, whereas a second extension is impossible. The thesis may be submitted earlier than the deadline but not earlier than after 4 months. Thus, the maximum time frame starting with registration date is 4-7.5 months.

Number of copies to be submitted A mini thesis is submitted to the internal supervisor. He/she defines the number of copies required. A mini thesis is NOT submitted to ZPA directly, only through the supervisor.

Any supervisor must be listed at RWTH administration (ZHV) as examiner. All Profs. 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.

Upon registration the title(s) in English and German are defined. Even a slight change, e. g. a hyphen introduced, will formally be rejected by ZPA. Thus, a change in title is not an easy task. It requires an application to the examination board and involves the board, ZPA and the host institute. To avoid this tedious work it is, hence, recommended to define a title that is broad enough to cover a wide field and not to be too narrow in the description. In case a title needs to be changed please fill out the respective from downloadable at the department´s webpage, have it signed by yourself and your supervising Prof. and send it to the examination board.

The official date for the end of your study on your diploma will be the submission date of your Master thesis. The presentation date is not relevant (see below). Extensions of deadlines both, for student mini theses as well as master thesis may be granted only once, with a maximum duration of 6 weeks. It is thus recommended to always apply for a 6 weeks extension to be on the safe side. In case you finish earlier this is unproblematic. Extensions need to be applied for using the respective form signed by yourself and your supervising Prof. indicating that the reasons for the delay are outside your responsibility!

Presentations need to be given in front of the supervising Professor(s). This may be done in person or via video meetings. In case of an external thesis both professors need to be present. Duration of the presentation is 20-45 minutes plus approx. 15 minutes of discussion, depending also on the supervisor´s regulations. Please negotiate the appointment for the presentation well ahead with your supervisor. The presentation date needs to be within the first six weeks after submission. This is for the students´ protection and can be modified if both, the student and the Prof. agrees.

External thesis may be carried out outside our department

• in other departments of our faculty,
• in other faculties of RWTH,
• in other research facilities (Max-Planck, Fraunhofer etc.),
• 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.

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. The supervisor acts like a regular internal supervisor and registers the thesis with ZPA using the form from the department´s webpage. The mark is given by both, the internal supervisor and the on-site supervisor. A student looking for an internal supervisor for an external thesis should look for a Prof. with an expertise in the field of the intended thesis. In case of doubt please check with the closest Prof. first. In case this Prof. feels unable to supervise the thesis he/she will be able to redirect you to a colleague.

Supervisors of your thesis may issue a so-called 4.0 certificate indicating that you passed the thesis at least with a mark of 4.0. 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.