Students wishing to do their Master’s thesis in collaboration with a company or a public sector organisation are responsible for contacting a partner of their choices.

Explore your options

• Consider what you would like to work with in a company or an organisation.
• Which companies or public sector organisations work in the field in which you want to write your Master’s thesis? Use, for example, LinkedIn, ORBIS, and your network to find potential partners.

Talk to your supervisor

• Discuss the topic and the framework for your Master’s thesis with your supervisor.
• Discuss your expectations with your supervisor.

Contact a potential partner

Contact the company or public sector organisation well in advance of the Master’s thesis period.

When you contact a potential partner to propose a collaboration you should explain how you could add value to their business. So be specific and focus on how the company will benefit from the collaboration. Also, remember the Master’s thesis must create value for both you and the company.

You can start with the flowing questions:

• Which subject area do you find interesting in the company?
• Why is this particular subject relevant for the company?
• Why a collaboration with you will be beneficial for the company.

Master’s theses written in collaboration with business and industry and the public sector are defined as follows: You were in contact with the company and agreed on a research question for the Master’s thesis, and you made an agreement with the company to write the Master's thesis as a collaboration. 

A written agreement is to ensure that you and the company or public sector organization matches your expectations.

To strengthen your job opportunities, we need to collect information about the companies and public sector institutions collaborating with students about their Master's thesis.  

After registration for your Master’s thesis, you will receive a registration form on your AU e-mail. The registration form contains a few questions about your Master’s thesis collaboration with a company or public sector institution. 

Please, fill in the registration form regardless of whether you collaborate with a company or not.             

Do you need help filling in the registration form, you can read more on Aarhus University’s website. Here, you can also send your questions via an online contact form.