On this page you can find most of the rules regarding the Master’s thesis. The complete set of rules can be found in the MSc study guide.
| Deadlines | Master's thesis in the spring semester | Master's thesis in the autumn semester** |
Deadline for request for/choice of supervisor | 1 December | 1 June |
| Deadline for uploading your preliminary title and thesis statement in WISEflow | 20 January | 20 August |
| Master's thesis submission deadline | 10 June | 10 January |
| Deadline for uploading a revised thesis statement | 21 June | 21 January |
| Master's thesis submission deadline, second attempt* | 25 September | 25 April |
| Deadline for uploading a revised thesis statement | 5 October | 5 May |
| Master's thesis submission deadline, third attempt* | 10 January | 10 August |
*These deadlines only apply if you do not submit your thesis within the submission deadline for your first or second examination attempt respectively. Other rules/deadlines apply if you do not pass your first or second examination attempt (please refer to the section “If you do not pass..” below”).
** These dates apply to students starting their programme in the winter and to students who have been granted dispensation to write their Master's thesis in the autumn semester.
If the date of the submission deadline for the Master's thesis falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the deadline for submission of the Master's thesis will be the next working day immediately following this date.
To start the preparation of the thesis you must decide on a topic and also formulate a tentative thesis statement.
Before 1 December/1 June you must register the (tentative) thesis title by completing the thesis registration webform.
The programme coordinator will assign you a supervisor. In the registration form you must make a suggestion for an academic supervisor.
The assigned academic supervisor must approve the thesis title and thesis statement.
The master’s thesis can be written by one or two students. If you are two authors you must register by completing the same webform together (e.g. one webform for each 'group').
If you are writing a theoretical thesis please state it under the company information in the registration form.
You will automatically be registered for the Master’s thesis at the outset of the fourth semester with a submission deadline on 10 June/10 January. The deadline for assessment/the oral defense is 4 weeks, counting from the submission day. Before the deadlines (listed above) you must register your academic supervisor, the (tentative) thesis title and your problem statement.
Once you are registered, you cannot cancel your registration.
Your supervisor must formally approve of your preliminary title and thesis statement. This means that immediately before you begin writing your Master’s thesis, you will be asked to upload your preliminary title and thesis statement to WISEflow, where it will await formal approval from your supervisor. You can find the relevant deadline in the table under 'Deadlines'.
It is perfectly acceptable for the preliminary title and thesis statement to be identical to the description you submitted via the online form in connection with your request for / choice of supervisor, and you may change your title and thesis statement in collaboration with your supervisor on an ongoing basis while writing your Master’s thesis.
In order to improve your career prospects, we need to collect information on the companies/organisations that you may collaborate with.
Once you have registered for your Master’s thesis, you will receive a form in your AU mailbox. The form contains a few questions regarding your collaboration with the company/organisation.
You must complete the form regardless of whether you are collaborating with a company/organisation or not.
From the summer 2024 the use of generative artificial intelligence tools will be permitted for this exam. The general rules on plagiarism apply if generative artificial intelligence is used. You must specify how generative artificial intelligence has been used in an appendix to the assignment.
Your Master’s thesis must be uploaded in WiseFlow. When you have handed in the thesis in WiseFlow it will automatically be send to supervisor and external examiner.
Please be aware, that in case you hand in before the deadline, the exam period will still be from the deadline date and 6 weeks on from this.
WISEflow
You will receive an e-mail from WISEflow when it is possible to upload your Master's thesis. Deadline for handing in the thesis in WISEflow is 10 June at 12:00/10 January.
This means that you should begin uploading well in advance before deadline, since the flow closes exactly at 12:00. Uploading a thesis can take up to 30 minutes.
If you experience problems with uploading your thesis, please contact the technical and/or administrative support.
Once you have uploaded your thesis it is not possible to withdraw it. Therefore, you must make absolutely sure that you upload the correct version.
The flow is set up as a “group-flow”.
If the Master's thesis is written by one person you must choose "Create one-person group" in WISEflow. If you have not previously tried to upload an assignment in WISEflow as a group, please read and follow the instructions on how to submit as a group i the FAQ.
The thesis including appendixes must be saved as one PDF-file and uploaded under “Paper”. Read more on how to convert your paper to PDF.
Under the category “Extra material” you can upload material like movies, sound, programs (Excel, SAS mv.). The extra material does not have to be a pdf-file and you can hand in more than one file up to a maximum size of 5 GB.
Theses handed in before the deadline will not be sent to evaluation before the deadline 10 June/10 January.
Oral defense
The department will send you information regarding the oral examination date in wiseflow or on your student email. The deadline for assessment/the oral defence is 6 weeks, counting from the submission day.
No access to OneDrive after graduation
Once your last grade is registered you will no longer have access to OneDrive. This means that you have to download and transfer your files from OneDrive before finishing your programme.
It is not possible to restore access to OneDrive once you have finished your programme at Aarhus University.
If you would like to submit your Master's thesis prior to the deadline, you must be aware of the following:
Early submission during the summer period for the second examination attempt
If you wish to submit your thesis in June or July, you must notify kandidat.bss@au.dk.
July is assessment-free, and individual evaluation deadlines must therefore be set for early submissions. As a rule, the assessment deadline will be four weeks + the month of July.
Please note, this is only possible for students who have not submitted by 10 June. If you do not pass the Master's thesis, you must familiarise yourself with the section below: "If you do not pass your Master's thesis".
If you fail to submit your Master's thesis within the prescribed submission deadline, it means you will have spent an examination attempt.
You must subsequently prepare a revised thesis statement within the same subject area and with the same supervisor.
Please contact your supervisor no later than five days after you have received the not passing grade (not including the month of July). Together, you must prepare and agree on a revised thesis statement. You must upload the revised thesis statement to WISEflow, where it will await formal approval from your supervisor. (Please note that the July month is free of assessment).
It is your responsibility to contact your supervisor to initiate this process.
The new submission deadline for handing in your Master's thesis will be 3 months + 14 days from your original submission deadline. The new submission deadline will automatically come into effect the day after your orginal deadline. If you fail to submit your Master's thesis by the new deadline, it means you will have spent yet another examination attempt.
If you fail to submit your Master's thesis within the submission deadline for your second examination attempt, the same procedure will apply.
Registration for the second and third examination attempt will happen automatically.
To pass your Master's thesis, you have to achieve the grade 02 or higher. If your Master's thesis is not awarded the grade 02 or higher, you will have spent an examination attempt. You must subsequently prepare a revised thesis statement within the same subject area and with the same supervisor.
Please contact your supervisor no later than five days after you have received the not passing grade (not including the month of July). Together, you must prepare and agree on a revised thesis statement.
You must upload the revised thesis statement to WISEflow, where it will await formal approval from your supervisor. (Please note that the July month is free of assessment).
The new submission deadline for handing in your Master's thesis will be 3 months + 14 days from the assessment deadline for your first examination attempt. The new submission deadline will automatically come into effect the day after the assessment date. If you fail to submit your Master's thesis by the new deadline, it means you will have spent yet another examination attempt.
The same procedure will apply if your Master's thesis is not awarded the grade 02 or higher at your second examination attempt.
Especially for students writing Master's thesis in the spring semester
For students writing Master's thesis in the spring semester, the assessment deadline is 30 June.
Since the month of July does not count in the assessment period, the deadline for submission is three months + 14 days from 1st August and your 2nd examination attempt can therefore start at the earliest on 15 August. This notwithstanding that you will receive a non-pass assessment earlier than the 30 June.