Writing your master thesis is the final step of your studies. It is a scientific work designed, implemented, and evaluated by yourself, advised by members of our team. The condensed results of our best master's theses have been published at top scientifc venues, such as VLDB Journal, CIKM, EDBT, SSDBM, ICDE, etc.

• Open topics: Ideas for master thesis topics
• Ongoing theses: Topics and Students who are currently working on their thesis.
• Completed theses: All master's theses since 2005

We follow a quite strict timetable: After writing and discussing an exposé (typically within two weeks), we enable you to finish your thesis within six months.

Topic for your master's thesis

• A selection of open topics is here.
• Usually, we have in mind several further topics in  connection with our research projects. Please contact us to discuss them.
• We also welcome topic suggestions of your own.
• External theses in cooperation with a partner from industry or academia are possible (see below for details).

Typical workflow

1. First meeting to discuss possible topics
2. Possible second meeting to further discuss the chosen topic
3. Preparation of an Exposé
   • 2-4 pages 
   • Usually in 1 or 2 iterations with comments from your advisor 
4. Begin of six-month period until submission of your final thesis
5. Meetings with advisor at least every four weeks, usually every week or every second week.
   • A useful template to prepare for such meeting is here. 
6. 15-minute presentation of current status in our semi-annual Masterthon
7. Submission of your thesis
8. Defense presentation (up to 30 minutes plus Q&A)
   • As an exception, this presentation can be slightly before your thesis submission. 

Hints on writing a good thesis

The following list is an informal and incomplete collection of concrete suggestions.

• Typical length of a master's thesis: 60 - 90 pages
• Do not include "lists of figures" or "lists of tables" in the frontmatter.
• Please take care of a clean, complete and consistent bibliography section.
• Begin writing your thesis even before finalizing your implementation and experiments.
• Theses can be written in German or English. Writing in English is the norm, but it is not an excuse for too many spelling and grammar mistakes.

Also see Felix Naumann's personal writing hints.

Externe Masterarbeiten in Kooperation mit industriellen Partnern oder Partnern aus der Forschung sind gerne möglich. Wir bieten unseren Studenten eine exzellente Betreuung und ein sehr gutes Umfeld zur Erarbeitung ihrer Masterarbeiten. Bitte sprechen Sie noch vor Absprachen mit Studenten direkt den Fachgebietsleiter, Prof. Felix Naumann, zur Themenbesprechung an. Masterarbeitsthemen werden formal vom Fachgebiet, nicht vom Kooperationspartner vergeben.

• Offene Masterarbeiten
• Laufende Masterarbeiten
• Abgeschlossene Masterarbeiten
• LaTex-Vorlage (alt)
• LaTeX-Vorlage auf GitLab