Master's thesis

You are automatically registered for your Master's thesis

The Study Administration will administratively register you for your Master’s thesis. Both the ordinary exam and any re-exams, without possibility of withdrawal.
Your registration will be adjusted, so it is possible for you to complete three examination attempts within the maximum completion time of your programme.

Dates for the administratively registration

• If you start your Master's thesis in the autumn, you will be registered for the thesis starting on 1 September.
• If you start your Master's thesis in the spring, you will be registered for the thesis starting on 1 February.

Before starting your Master's thesis, you have to...

• update your Master's programme contract in the contract generator
• prepare a Master's thesis contract (read more below)

What if I still have courses to pass after completing my Master's thesis?

The thesis does not have to be the final exam activity on your Master's programme. You can still complete any remaining courses within the maximum period of study, either concurrently or after your Master’s thesis.
If you postpone courses to the Master's thesis period, the period for your Master's thesis will not be extended.

You have the possibility of doing your Master's thesis as a group assignment together with maximum two of your fellow students.

What is a group Master's thesis?

A group may consist of a maximum of three people.

You can choose between two types of group assignments:

• You can do a joint report in which everyone is equally responsible for all parts of the report. The final grade for each of you will be an overall grade for your individual oral examination and the entire thesis report.
• You can do a report, where it is stated who of you has done the individual parts of the report and is responsible for them.
  Parts of the report may be produced together.
  It must be stated in the table of contents who is responsible for the individual parts of the report.

The bibliography of the report can be divided into a common part and a part for each group member. The final grade for each of you will be an overall grade for your individual oral examination, and the individual and common parts of the report.

Master’s thesis contract

Each member of the group must fill out a thesis contract in which the other members of the group are listed. If you do not do this, you will not be able to submit your thesis as a group in WISEflow, the digital exam system.

Examination

Your Master's thesis exam will take place at Aarhus University and is an individual, oral exam. The exam follows the guidelines stated in the thesis’ course description in the Course Catalogue.

The thesis must be submitted via WISEflow.
You can read more about WISEflow under 'Exam > WISEflow'.

When can I access the exam in WISEflow?

Your exam will be available no later than one week before the submission deadline.
You can find relevant information about Master's thesis submission under the exam information in WISEflow.

Submission deadline

The thesis must be submitted before 13.00 on the submission date on your thesis contract.

It is your responsibility to submit your thesis in due time.
Therefore, we recommend that you upload and submit your thesis in good time before the submission deadline. If you submit your thesis too late, it will not be assessed.

Submission format

Generally, your Master's thesis should be submitted as a single PDF file.
However, if you need to hand in any appendices in other formats than PDF, you can do so.

Confidentiality

If your thesis includes confidential information or material, it should still be submitted in WISEflow. When submitting you have to state that it is confidential.

Both supervisors and external examiners have a duty of confidentiality in relation to the information they receive during your report and examination.

What happens if I do not submit my thesis?

If you do not submit your thesis by the deadline, it will count as using an examination attempt.

2nd examination attempt

You have to fill out a new thesis contract with a revised problem statement, which must be approved and thereafter, you will get a three-month supplementary deadline.

3rd examination attempt

If the thesis is still not completed after these three months, one additional examination attempt is registered as used, and the deadline is extended again by three months – to the third and last attempt. Once again, you have to fill out a new thesis contract with a revised problem statement, which must be approved.

Registration

In connection with your thesis, you will be administratively registered for both the ordinary exam, the 2nd, and 3rd examination attempt.

When should I start planning my Master's thesis?

We recommend that you start early on your reflections on your thesis, perhaps already at the beginning of your Master’s degree programme.

• consider possible directions for your thesis
• find potential main and co-supervisors

Who can I choose as a supervisor?

Your main supervisor must be a permanent employee at either Natural Sciences or Technical Sciences.

What direction should I choose?

You can seek inspiration in the courses you find exciting, talk to your lecturers or the head of programme.

You can find more inspiration for your choice of topic at Studypedia.au.dk.

Decide if you wish to do your thesis in collaboration with a company, or perhaps as a group assignment.

Are there any special guidelines for the Master’s thesis at my department?

Find out whether there are any special guidelines at your department – for example regarding scope, structure, possibility for a study seat and/or laboratory space.
Your future supervisor will be able to tell you whether there are any specific guidelines at your department.
You may want to check with your programme coordinator, where and when the thesis is to be submitted. (Find your programme coordinator under 'Contact and Study Service > Programme Coordinators' in the menu)

Main Supervisor – what to expect and be aware of?

The purpose of your main supervisor is to assist you in your thesis in relation to the academic content and process.
Therefore, it is important that you are open and honest with your supervisor in relation to any challenges, questions, and problems during the thesis period.
Your principal supervisor will also take part in your Master's thesis examination.

Alignment of expectations with your supervisors

• What type of supervision do you need and what does the supervisor offer?
• Clarify the goals for the thesis – what do you want to achieve both regarding process and assesment?
• Discuss a draft schedule, frequency of meetings, and table of contents, so you know whether you agree on the direction and disposition of time.
• What and how much of your report will your supervisor read before submission?

Find out whether there are periods during the thesis, where the supervisor is absent and thus not available for thesis supervision.

Meetings with your supervisor

• How many meetings can you expect to have during the Master's thesis period? (Please note that there are no rules for the number of meetings etc.)
• What kind of preparation does each meeting require of you? (For example agenda, draft text, specific questions, etc.)
• Are there any special phases in the thesis process where you want to meet often/less often?

Partners for discussion

Clarify whether there are other relevant partners of discussion for you, in addition to your main and co-supervisors. Please check to see if others are working within the same area, for example, fellow students, PhD students, etc.

Find more good advice about collaborating with your supervisor at Studypedia.au.dk.

Is the collaboration with your supervisor not working?

First and foremost, talk to your supervisor yourself.
Find out whether your expectations of the supervision process are aligned. Many problems arise if the expectations have not been clearly aligned from the beginning.

You are welcome to contact your student counsellor and find inspiration on how you can approach the challenges, or you can contact your head of programme.

Are you delayed in the process?

It is important that you react immediately if you discover that your thesis process is not proceeding as expected. If you discover the challenges early in the process, you and your supervisor can still make sure that you are able to reach your goal in due time.

You can contact both your supervisor and a student counsellor if you need to discuss your options.

Illness or other exceptional circumstances

If illness or other exceptional circumstances occur during the thesis period, you can apply for an exemption to prolong your thesis period. Applications should be submitted to Nat-Tech Study Administration via MyStudies.au.dk under "Exemptions". However, this requires that you are able to document the exceptional circumstances with a medical certificate or other official documentation.
Contact your supervisor or student counsellor and, in consultation with her/him, check your options.

Are you dissatisfied with the end/result of your Master's thesis?

Like other courses, you can submit a complaint over your thesis examination. First, contact your supervisor and clarify the reasons for the result. After this, you can find more information about exam complaints under 'Exam > Examination appeals' if you still wish to submit a complaint.

Resource persons – who can help you?

• Your supervisor or the head of programme
• The faculty’s student counsellors (Find more information in the menu under 'Student Counselling')
• The Student Counselling Service offers free psychological help to students in higher education
• The Student Council's seminars on writing your Master’s thesis
• The Student Chaplains