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Formal requirements

The scope of the master's thesis

  • The scope of the master's thesis is a maximum of 224,000 characters (incl. blanks).
  • The scope includes appendices and notes but does not include front page, table of contents, bibliography or the abstract.
  • The number of characters incl. blanks must be stated on the front page.
     
  • Students who registered for the master's thesis in the spring 2019 or earlier must still comply with the old rules for the scope - number of words (20,000 - 32,000 words). The scope includes table of contents, bibliography, abstract, appendices and notes. The word count must be stated on the front page.

Writing master's thesis in a group

It is possible to write your master's thesis in a group with fellow students. In this case, you must make sure that you hand in your thesis in a form that enables individual assessment. In other words, you must state who has written each individual section in the thesis. The group is able to write the introduction and the conclusion together.

  • The scope of the thesis in increased by 50 % by each student. For two students this corresponds to a maximum of 336,000 characters (incl. blanks).
  • The scope includes appendices and notes but does not include front page, table of contents, bibliography or the abstract.
  • The number of characters incl. blanks must be stated on the front page.

Abstract

The master's thesis must be supplemented by an abstract.

  • The scope of the abstract is max. one page, and the title of the thesis must be clearly stated in the abstract.
  • The abstract must be included in the thesis after the table of contents and before the main text.
  • For a masters's thesis written in English, the abstract can be in either English or Danish.
    For a master's thesis written in Danish, the abstract must always be in English.
  • Students who wish to write their master's thesis in another language than Danish, English, Swedish or Norwegian must apply for an exemption with the Board of Studies.

Other requirements

  • There are no formal requirements regarding spacing, margins, font, header or footer. However the layout of the thesis must be legible.
  • Headers and footers are not counted in the total number of characters.
  • Tables and figures are counted in the total number of characters. It is the student's own responsibility to count all characters (incl. blanks) in both tables and figures even when these are inserted as images in the text (and thus are not automatically counted by Word).  
  • The front page must include your name, student number, name of advisor and the thesis title. The total number of characters (incl. blanks) must also be stated. Please also note if your Master's thesis is confidential.
  • A master's thesis that exceed the prescribed scope or which does not allow for individual assessment will be rejected.
Revised 17.08.2022
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