| 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 | 1 June | 2 January |
| Deadline for uploading a revised thesis statement | 10 June | 10 January |
| Master's thesis submission deadline, second attempt* | 15 September | 15 April |
| Deadline for uploading a revised thesis statement | 24 September | 24 April |
| Master's thesis submission deadline, third attempt* | 2 January | 1 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 your Master's thesis” 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 is a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the deadline will be the next working day following this date.
Are you a Master’s degree student following the prescribed study programme, you are automatically registered for your Master’s thesis in the Self-service system (STADS) at the outset of the fourth semester of your degree programme with a thesis submission deadline on 1 June. However, you are responsible for checking, that your registration is correct.
The registration takes place at this point in time, as this gives you the possibility to carry through three exam attempts in your master’s thesis within your maximum duration of studies.
Even if you are automatically registered for the thesis in STADS, you must also register your desired academic supervisor, preliminary title, and your problem statement in a special online registration form on the study portal.
If your maximum duration of studies is extended or shortened, your (automatic) registration will depend on your maximum duration of studies.
If you do not follow the scheduled programme and are registered for writing the Master’s thesis in the autumn semester, you have a deadline for finding and registering an academic supervisor and (tentative) thesis title on 1 June and must submit the thesis on 2 January. The deadline for assessment/the oral defense is 6 weeks, counting from the submission day.
The deadline for assessment/the oral defense is 6 weeks, counting from the submission day.
Once you are registered, you cannot cancel your registration.
Your thesis process starts by you deciding on a topic. You must formulate a tentative problem statement and contact an academic supervisor who teaches or does research within this topic.
To be formally allocated a supervisor, you must register your suggested academic supervisor, the preliminary thesis title, and the preliminary problem statement by filling in the thesis registration form (online) on the study portal. See deadlines in the table above.
The academic supervisor must approve the thesis title and problem statement and will act as a kind of consultant during your preparation of the thesis. The supervisor is also in charge of the oral exam taking the thesis as the starting point.
Your thesis process starts by you deciding on a topic. You must formulate a tentative problem statement and contact an academic supervisor who teaches or does research within this topic.
To be formally allocated a supervisor, you must register your suggested academic supervisor, the preliminary thesis title, and the preliminary problem statement by filling in the thesis registration form (online) on the study portal. See deadlines in the table above.
The academic supervisor must approve the thesis title and problem statement and will act as a kind of consultant during your preparation of the thesis. The supervisor is also in charge of the oral exam taking the thesis as the starting point.
Supervisor list from Department of Economics and Business Economics (ECON)
Before you start working on your thesis, you have to decide on a topic and develop a preliminary thesis statement. Next you should contact a lecturer or a researcher in your chosen field of study and find out whether he or she would be interested in supervising you. The academic supervisor must approve your title and thesis statement.
Registration takes place via an online registration form. You can find the registration deadlines in the table at the top of the page.
The registration form will be made available on this page (below) 1 May/1 Oct.
The Master’s thesis can be written by one or two students. If you are two authors you must register by completing the same web form together (e.g. one web form for each 'group').
The reasons why you should consider your problem statement, theory and data as early as this is that these considerations will influence your choice of supervisor and allow potential supervisors to determine whether they would be the right supervisor for your project. In this way, your own clarification of your research area makes it easier for you to find the right supervisor. In addition, the coordinators use your research area and your suggested title to determine whether your topic falls within the academic scope of your degree programme.
In principle, what your state on your registration form is your suggestion for a problem statement at the given time in the process. Naturally, this means that it is not binding. Rather, the programme coordinators will use the statement to find suitable supervisors for students that have not yet found a supervisor as of 1 December (or 1 June).
Please note that you must only use this registration form for registration of your first examination attempt.
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.
You can find the formal requirements (number of characters etc.) for your thesis in the Master's Thesis course description.
You can find a course description for the Master's Thesis in the course catalogue. Identical course descriptions for each department have been made and can be found here:
Course description for Master's Thesis - cand.soc./MSc in Soc. Sciences in Bus. Adm..
The guidelines for written assignments include: referencing tools, how to refer to your sources and make a reference list, and how to avoid plagiarism.
If you gain access to or collect personal data to be used in your assignment, you are responsible for taking care of that data.
Learn about the the rules for collecting and processing personal data (GDPR).
Your Master’s thesis must only be uploaded in WISEFlow. You are not allowed to hand in a paper copy of the thesis, as it is the uploaded version that is legally binding. When you have handed in the thesis in WISEFlow it will automatically be send to supervisor and external examiner.
WISEflow
You will receive an e-mail from WISEflow when the flow opens. Deadline for handing in the thesis in WISEflow is 1 June at 12:00 noon. You must begin uploading your thesis well in advance before deadline, as 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 retract it. Therefore, you must make 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.
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 movies, sound, programs (Excel and SAS), etc. 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.
Confidential theses
You are not required to attach your confidentiality agreement, when you upload and submit your Master's thesis.
When you upload your Master's thesis in WISEflow, you must indicate (under 'Cover') whether the thesis contains confidential material.
Theses submitted via WISEflow in the period from 15 to 31 May will not be forwarded for assessment before the submission deadline on 1 June.
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 1 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 submit your Master's thesis prior to the deadline, you must also notify the administrative contact person at the department.
The department will send you information regarding the oral defence of the thesis either via mail or Brightspace. The deadline for assessment/the oral defense is 6 weeks, counting from the submission day.
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.
You need to check the course description for any further requirements for appendices or any other material for your second and thrid exam attempt.
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.
You need to check the course description for any further requirements for appendices or any other material for your second and thrid exam 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.
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.
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.