Guideline for the Master's thesis
Important information about registering, writing, and submitting your Master’s thesis
Please note that the use of AI (such as ChatGPT) is prohibited in the context of term papers and theses.
It is considered an unauthorized aid unless expressly permitted by the examiners.
Time of registration
Registration for the Master’s thesis is possible as soon as 60 credit points (or 30 credit points in the one-year M.A. “Slavery Studies”) have been achieved. This should usually be the case during the third (or respectively, second) semester.
Registration and topic
Before registering for the Master’s thesis, please agree on a topic with your supervisor, who usually also acts as the first supervisor. The topic is formally assigned by the Examination Office after registration.
The topic is agreed upon either in a personal meeting between the candidate and the supervisor as part of a course/meeting or by exchanging emails with the first and second supervisor. The topic specified in the email from the first supervisor is binding and must be transferred to the registration form.
Please submit the completed “Registration for Master’s Thesis” form, signed and dated by you and your supervisor ("Supervisor; First Reviewer; Examiner") and the second supervisor, 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 Examination Office. The submission deadline is calculated from the date the topic is issued, based on the date of the first supervisor’s signature. You should therefore also endeavor to obtain the signature of the second supervisor at the same time and submit the registration form to the Examination Office immediately after finalizing 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 Examination Office of the Faculty of Arts. The topic is therefore formally set by the Examination Office ( Examination Office, Maximilianstr 22, 53111 Bonn) following registration.
The submission deadline is calculated from the date the topic is issued based on the date of the first supervisor's signature. You should therefore also endeavour to obtain the signature of the second supervisor at the same time and submit the application to the Examination Office immediately after agreeing on the topic.
Important note: Please note that the Examination Regulations only recognize 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 upon with the supervisors is placed on the cover sheet and in the declaration of academic integrity. 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
Supervisors
In principle, all lecturers in your subject may act as supervisors for a Master’s thesis. Please note that at least one of the two supervisors must be a member of the University of Bonn and at least one of the two supervisors must have a doctorate. Furthermore, at least one of the supervisors must be employed at least 50% at the University of Bonn. Please also note that there is no legal entitlement to a specific supervisor.
Writing period
A maximum period of six months (or three months for the one-year M.A. “Slavery Studies”) from the issuing of the topic (date of signature of the first supervisor) is allowed for the writing of the provided topic and thesis. Upon justified request, the Examination Office may, in agreement with the supervisor, grant an extension of the submission deadline for the Master's thesis. An extension beyond six weeks is not possible, even in cases of illness (in these cases it is only possible to withdraw from the registered examination, see the section "Withdrawal").
Changing the 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 only one opportunity to withdraw the topic no later than two months after notification of the topic by the Examination Office. Withdrawal must be documented formally with a written request to withdraw from the Master’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 no longer possible to withdraw after the two-month 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 at a later date; the newly issued topic must differ significantly in content from the originally issued topic.
Scope and requirements
The text part of the Master's thesis must contain at least 120,000 characters including spaces and notes (or 60 A4 pages) and may not exceed 200,000 characters including spaces and notes (or 100 A4 pages), unless otherwise specified in the program-specific regulations.
For the two-year M.A. programmes “Dependency and Slavery Studies” and “Psychologie”, the minimum requirement is 120.000 characters of text and the maximum 240.000. For the one-year M.A. programme “Slavery Studies”, the minimums requires 60.000 and the maximum 120.000 characters, including spaces and notes.
The content and form of the thesis must meet the standards of academic work at “Master of Arts” or “Master of Science” level. You should therefore enquire about the specific requirements with your academic advisor. Please also note that the regulation of registration after reaching the 60 credit points generally allows you to write the Master's thesis during your studies and to prepare it thoroughly with the necessary research and readings before registering in the course of the third semester.
Cover sheet
To ensure that all necessary information is provided on the cover sheet of the Master’s thesis, please follow this template: Sample cover sheet (DOCX). Please note that it is not allowed to place the University’s official seal or the Faculty’s logo on this page or anywhere else. The copyright is held by the University and the Faculty respectively; unauthorized use may result in legal consequences.
Submission
Until further notice, Master’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 enclosed. As usual, the Examination Office will take care of forwarding the thesis to the first supervisor and the second supervisor. Once submitted, a Master's thesis cannot be withdrawn!
The thesis must be accompanied by a written declaration (“declaration of academic integrity”) 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 electronic 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 supervisors. In cases of doubt, the Examination Office may request a sworn declaration.
Please attach a declaration, dated and with your original signature (not digital), as the last page of your thesis (download document here). 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 Examination Office of the Faculty of Humanities or use the contact form. The handwritten and signed declaration of academic integrity must be inserted as a scanned document into the thesis as the last page. This file of your thesis will be forwarded by the Examination Office to the respective two supervisors; the submission deadline is met upon receipt of the electronically sent form at the Examination Office. As we have already received the document from you in electronic form via email/contact form, you no longer need to send us a CD-ROM or USB stick with the thesis 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 academic integrity 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.
3. personal submission
As the Examination Office has been offering in-person office hours again since March 2023, you can of course also submit your documents to us in person. After you have sent us your thesis digitally via the contact form, you can hand in the three copies of your thesis in person during office hours or by making an individual appointment with the person responsible for you at the Examination Office of the Faculty of Arts at Maximilianstraße 22 (3rd floor).
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 Master’s thesis must be assessed as "insufficient" (5.0). If necessary, please apply for an extension in good time before the deadline (at least three weeks before the deadline).
Repetition
A failed Master’s thesis can be repeated once. In such cases, the topic may be chosen from another subject area. If the second Master's thesis is also assessed as "insufficient", the Master's examination has been failed conclusively.
De-registration
In general, you must remain enrolled even after submitting your Master’s thesis or another final exam in your degree program 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 failed your last examination(s) and have therefore unfortunately not yet obtained your degree, you must re-enroll in order to be able to make another examination attempt. If you have already missed the set re-registration deadline at this point, late re-registration at the Student Registry 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.
The Examination Office recommends enrollment until you have been informed about the results of your last exam. As soon as you have successfully passed the final exam, you can de-register your enrollment and will be entitled to a partial refund.
For further information concerning deregisteration upon request, please contact the Student Registry. You can find more information here: https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/studying/consultation-and-service/student-registry/deregistration?set_language=en
Underlying provisions
The regulations for the Master's thesis can be found in the following provisions, depending on which Examination Regulations you are studying under:
- §§ 23 und 24 der Prüfungsordnung für die Bachelorstudiengänge und die konsekutiven Masterstudiengänge vom 17. August 2018 in ihrer aktuellen Fassung (BMPO 2018)
- §§ 22 und 23 der Prüfungsordnung für den Bachelorstudiengang „Psychologie“ und den konsekutiven Masterstudiengang „Psychologie“ vom 28. August 2020 in ihrer aktuellen Fassung (Psychologie-BMPO 2020)
- §§ 20 und 21 der Prüfungsordnung für die konsekutiven Masterstudiengänge „Dependency and Slavery Studies“ und „Slavery Studies” der Philosophischen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
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