Guideline for the Bachelor’s thesis

Time of registration

Registration for the Bachelor’s thesis is possible as soon as 108 credit points have been achieved. As a rule, this should be the case during the fifth semester. The completion of the BA thesis is usually recommended for the sixth semester (submission by 30 September or 31 March, if the standard period of study must be adhered to and if, for example, a Master’s programme immediately follows).

Registration and topic

Please agree on a topic with your supervisor, who usually also acts as the first examiner, before registering your Bachelor’s thesis. As a rule, you must write it in your  major; a topic from your minor is only possible if there is a connection in terms of content and/or methodology.

In the dual-subject Bachelor’s programme, the thesis can be registered in either of the subjects. An interdisciplinary topic in both subjects is possible if supervision by one examiner per subject is guaranteed.

The topic is agreed either in a personal meeting between the candidate and the examiners as part of a course/meeting or by exchanging emails with the first and second examiner. The topic specified in the email from the first examiner is binding and must be transferred to the registration form.

Please submit the completed “Registration for Bachelor’s Thesis” form, signed and dated by you and your supervisor ("Supervisor; First Reviewer; Examiner") and the second examiner, immediately by mail (or as a scan via the contact form) to the Examination Office.

The binding notification of the topic, including the setting of a submission deadline, is then sent in writing by the Examinations Office. The submission deadline is calculated from the date the topic is issued, based on the date of the first reviewer’s signature. You should therefore also endeavour to obtain the signature of the second examiner at the same time and submit the registration form to the Examination Office immediately after finalising the topic. 

If the topic was agreed by exchanging emails with the first and second supervisor, please forward the email from the first supervisor together with the email from the second supervisor and the scanned registration form (completed and signed by all parties) to the Examination Office via the contact form.

The binding notification of the topic, including the setting of a submission deadline, is then made in writing by the Examinations Office. The topic is therefore formally set by the examination Office (Examination Office, Maximilianstraße 22, 53111 Bonn) following registration.

The submission deadline is calculated from the date the topic is issued based on the date of the first reviewer's signature. You should therefore also endeavour to obtain the signature of the second assessor at the same time and submit the application to the Examinations Office immediately after agreeing on the topic. 

Important note: Please note that the examination regulations only recognise the term “topic”, not “title”. The topic of the thesis is therefore synonymous with the title of the thesis. The specific topic that you have indicated on the registration form and agreed with the reviewers is placed on the cover sheet and in the declaration of independence. Please refer to the separate point below under the heading ‘Changing the topic’ for the possibility of changing the topic at a later date.

You can download the registration form here: Registration form.

Examiners / Supervisors

In principle, all lecturers in your subject may act as examiners/supervisors for a Bachelor’s thesis. Please note that one of the two examiners must be employed with at least 50% at the University of Bonn. Both examiners must have at least the academic degree "Magister Artium (M.A.)" or "Master of Arts (M.A.)". Please also note that there is no legal entitlement to a specific examiner.

Writing period

A maximum period of three months from the issueing of the topic (date of signature of the first reviewer) is allowed for the writing of the provided topic & thesis. Upon justified request, the Examination Office may, in agreement with the examiner, grant an extension of up to six weeks for the submission of the Bachelor’s thesis. An extension of more than six weeks is not possible, even in cases of illness (in these cases it is only possible to withdraw from the registered examination, cf. the section “Withdrawal”).

Change of topic

It is possible to slightly change the focus of the original topic upon written request to the Examination Office, provided that your supervisor supports the request and documents this with his/her signature. Please note that a complete change or reorientation of the topic requires a withdrawal in accordance with the regulations.

Withdrawal

There is a one-off opportunity to return the topic no later than one month after being notified of it by the Examination Office and to document this formally with a written request to withdraw from the Bachelor’s thesis registration. In this case, the topic is deemed not to have been issued; there is therefore no failed attempt. Please note that it is not possible to withdraw after this deadline. As an exception, this is only permitted after the deadline if there are valid reasons (in particular inability to take the examination due to illness). In both cases, the thesis must be re-registered later; the newly issued topic must differ significantly in content from the originally issued topic.

Scope and requirements

The text part of the Bachelor’s thesis should contain at least 70,000 characters including spaces and notes (or 35 A4 pages) and may not exceed 120,000 characters including spaces and notes (or 60 A4 pages). The content and form of the thesis must meet the standards of academic work at “Bachelor of Arts” or “Bachelor of Science” level. You should therefore enquire about the specific requirements with your academic advisor. Please also note that the regulation of registration becoming possible after achieving  108 credit points means that you can prepare the Bachelor’s thesis during your studies (as opposed to at the very end of them) thoroughly with the necessary research and readings before registering the thesis during your fifth semester.

Cover sheet / title page

To ensure that all the necessary information appears on the cover page of the Bachelor's thesis, please follow this template: Sample cover page (DOCX).

Submission

Until further notice, Bachelor’s theses must still be submitted digitally AND by mail (three bound copies, see below). The content of the digital version and the written copies must be identical! CD-ROMs and USB sticks no longer need to be attached. As usual, the Examination Office will take care of forwarding the thesis to the first examiner and the second examiner. Once submitted, a Bachelor’s thesis cannot be withdrawn!

The thesis must be accompanied by a written declaration ("declaration of independence") in which you affirm that you have written the thesis independently, have not used any sources and aids other than those specified, have marked quotations and have submitted identical digital and written copies. Please note that the use of AI (applications such as ChatGPT) in the preparation of written work is prohibited! It is an unauthorised aid unless its use has been expressly permitted by the examiners. In cases of doubt, the Examination Office may request a sworn declaration.

Please attach the following declaration with date and original signature (not digital) as the last page of your thesis (Download Declaration of Independence here):

“I hereby affirm that the Bachelor’s thesis entitled “...” was written by myself and without any unauthorised assistance, that it has not been submitted for examination at any other university, that it has not been published in whole or in part, and that the content of the text file of the digital version is identical to the written versions submitted. I have indicated in each individual case those parts of the thesis - including charts, maps, illustrations, etc. - which are taken from other works in terms of wording or meaning.”

This declaration must be submitted together with the other parts of the thesis, such as the cover sheet, the bibliographies and any appendices, firmly attached to the rest of the thesis (no loose sheets!).

1. digital submission:

Please send the digital version as a text file (Word document or PDF) from your University of Bonn e-mail address to the Examinations Office of the Faculty of Humanities or use the contact form. The hand-signed declaration of independence must be inserted as a scanned document into the Bachelor`’s thesis as the last page. This file of your Bachelor’s thesis will be forwarded to the respective two examiners by the Examinations Office; submission deadlines are met upon receipt of the electronically sent form at the Examinations Office. As we have already received the document in electronic form from you by e-mail/contact form, you no longer need to send us a CD-ROM or USB stick with the thesis by post until further notice.

2. submission by mail:

Your thesis must be submitted to us in triplicate by mail. Please submit each of these copies in bound form (adhesive, spiral or hardcover binding is the norm). Please also note that the indexes and appendices as well as the cover sheet and the self-signed declaration of independence are part of the thesis and must therefore be firmly bound. The paper version must be submitted by post no later than one week after the submission of the digital version.

Please send the three copies to the following address:

University of Bonn

Faculty of Philosophy

Bachelor/Master Examination Board

Am Hof 1

53113 Bonn

Exceeding the submission deadline

If you exceed the deadline for submission, the Bachelor’s thesis must be assessed as "insufficient" (5.0). If necessary, please submit an application for an extension in good time before the deadline (at least three weeks before the deadline).

Repetition

A failed Bachelor’s thesis can be repeated once. Failed attempts in the same subject at other universities will be recognised. In these cases, the topic can be chosen from another subject area. If the second Bachelor’s thesis is also assessed as "insufficient", the Bachelor's exam has been failed conclusively.

De-registration

In general, you must remain enrolled even after submitting your Bachelor’s thesis or another final exam in your degree programme in accordance with § 63 Para. 1, 2nd half-sentence HG; the examination procedure is only completed when it has been determined whether it was successful or unsuccessful. Students who have not re-registered, e.g. in order to save the associated fees, although they are not expected to know their examination result at the end of the previous semester are therefore taking a risk, especially as their uni-ID will be switched off and they will no longer have access to BASIS and their transcripts.

If you have not passed your last examin(s) and have therefore unfortunately not achieved your degree after all, you must re-enrol in order to re-sit your exams. If you have already missed the set re-registration deadline at this point, late re-registration at the Registrar's Office in accordance with Section 16 of the Enrolment Regulations can only take place later if the missed deadline is excused in writing for an important reason and proof of this is provided. You cannot register for the last outstanding exam before you are re-enrolled. It may also be the case that you can no longer be enrolled in your old examination regulations, but must continue your studies in accordance with the new examination regulations then in use, which may be followed by a time-consuming credit transfer procedure and possibly the loss of credits already earned.

However, if you have properly re-registered, you are entitled to a partial refund of the fees as soon as you have passed the final exam. You can find more information here. 

Underlying provisions

The regulations for the Bachelor’s thesis can be found in the following provisions, depending on which examination regulations you are studying under:

• §§ 18 und 19 der Prüfungsordnung für die Bachelorstudiengänge vom 5. August 2013 in ihrer aktuellen Fassung (BPO 2013)
• §§ 21 und 22 der Prüfungsordnung für die Bachelorstudiengänge und die konsekutiven Masterstudiengänge vom 17. August 2018 in ihrer aktuellen Fassung (BMPO 2018)
• §§ 20 und 21 der Prüfungsordnung für den Bachelorstudiengang „Psychologie“ und den konsekutiven Masterstudiengang „Psychologie“ vom 17. August 2018 in ihrer aktuellen Fassung (Psychologie-BMPO 2018)
• §§ 20 und 21 der Prüfungsordnung für den Bachelorstudiengang „Psychologie“ und den konsekutiven Masterstudiengang „Psychologie“ vom 28. August 2020 in ihrer aktuellen Fassung (Psychologie-BMPO 2020)