Student Theses (BA, PA, MA)

There are three different options for selecting your topic. You can (1) look on StudOn for open topics and apply for them, (2) bring in your own topic suggestions that fit a team members research area (!) or (3) present us an idea of a topic in cooperation with a company that fit a team members research area. Please note that our Chair’s topics have priority. Applying for open topics in the research areas of the chair is the preferred way of supervising thesis. Only in case there is capacity beyond that, option (2) and (3) are valid. Please find below some general recommendations regarding the three options:

1. Open topics arise, for example, in the context of research or practical projects at our Chair. You can find all proposed topics on StudOn in the respective group. Before contacting a potential supervisor for the first time, consider which topic(s) you are interested in and what you would like to work on intensively.

2. In case you have an interesting topic that you wish to suggest to one of the team members of the Chair, first check the given information on our website about his or her individual research interests. If one of the team members’ research interests fit your suggestion, you may contact him or her with an inquiry. Please attach your CV, a grade report, a small letter of motivation (250 words) and an abstract of your research topic if applicable. Choose the potential supervisor wisely based on their respective research interest and avoid writing all team members the same mail as we will notice.

3. The third option is to write your thesis together with a corporate partner. Here you can find more information. You must lay the groundwork early by contacting both the company and our Chair. Please bear in mind that due to a possible lack of scientific depth, not all topics are suitable for a thesis and that working on a practical thesis brings further challenges given differing perspectives of research and practice. For these reasons, this option is the toughest to write your thesis.

1. First contact: This first step includes handing in your CV (incl. photo) and a grade report. Please contact the respective chair member by sending the documents he or she indicates in his or her topic proposal(s) on StudOn (please make sure to check the requirements).
2. Consultation: After the supervisors have reviewed your documents, you will have a short consultation with the potential supervisor where you discuss your topic. In case you apply with your own topic or a topic together with a company, the supervisor will reach out to you and will clarify open questions.
3. Confirmation of supervision and thesis registration: After we agree to supervise your thesis, you can continue with the next steps. Depending on the type of thesis, you have a certain amount of time to familiarize yourself with the research topic. The registration of the thesis will be done by Prof. Voigt and your supervisor in conjunction with you. Please inform yourself about the details in the module handbook of your respective study program. After successfully registering your thesis, you will find your individual date of submission in meinCampus.
4. Working on the topic: The supervisor will advise you in critical phases. However, it is your responsibility to ask the right questions at the right time or to get the help you need. You are responsible for proactively advancing your thesis.
5. Submission and grading: Please bear in mind your individual date of submission and hand in the final thesis including all relevant documents (see examination regulations) on time. Grading takes time, however, we will try to do it as fast as possible. If your study program requires you to present your thesis, please arrange an appointment with your supervisor in due time.

In order to complete your bachelor thesis, you need to participate in the bachelor thesis seminar, which helps you to understand how state-of-the-art scientific work is conducted. In case you are accepted for a bachelor thesis with one of our team members, you will get the password for our StudOn group. There you will find all further information and the location and date of the upcoming seminar. There is no seminar for project or master theses!

You can find several interesting topics you may write your thesis on in the StudOn group. In case you want to propose a topic to one of our research associates you can overview their research areas on their respective team member page.

Your thesis must meet the requirements of a scientific paper. The Chair of Industrial Management provides a detailed style guide including the formal criteria and a style sheet that you find here.

• Is it possible to write my thesis in cooperation with a company that I propose?
  • Embedded PDF from StudOn. This option is only possible if there is enough additional capacity to supervise your thesis.

• Can I suggest my own topics?
  • Please inform yourself about the research areas of the team members on our homepage first and only approach them after carefully checking with their research interests. This option is only possible if there is enough additional capacity to supervise your thesis.

• What is the scope of a final thesis?
  • A bachelor thesis comprises 10,000 words, a project thesis 9,000 and a master thesis 20,000. This number of words refers to the plain text, but does not include figures and tables. Exceeding the word count or falling short by more than 10% automatically results in a grading point reduction by 0.3. A deviation of the word count of more than 20% automatically leads to a grade deterioration of 0.7 points, etc.

• How does the registration of my final thesis at the Examination Office work?
  • In all cases, registration is carried out by Prof. Voigt and the supervisor in consultation with you.

• Can an extension of the submission deadline be requested?
  • In some specific cases, yes. Please also inform yourself about the approach based on the examination regulations and contact your supervisor.

• What do I need to take into account when preparing the thesis?
  • All answers to questions on the formal structure of the thesis as well as some hints regarding the content can be found in our “Guide to Academic Work”, which can be downloaded from StudOn. If there are uncertainties, you may consult with your supervisor.

• Where can I get help for my literature research?
  • The WiSo library offers training courses on how to use the library and the online databases at regular intervals. Further information can be found on: https://ub.fau.de/

• Is there a compulsory seminar for my thesis (Bachelor-, Projekt- & Masterarbeit)?
  • Students in the bachelor’s program have to attend the course “Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten” via StudOn before writing their Bachelor’s thesis at the chair. For students in the master’s program we recommend the course “Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten” on StudOn. However, participation is not obligatory for master students. In addition, our chair offers a broad range of practice-oriented elective course that will prepare you for your thesis. We offer the following seminars:

• • • Business plan seminar
    • FAUnders Camp
    • Forschungsseminar
    • Seminar Strategisches Innovationsmanagement mit Dr. Robert Mayr
    • Industrielles Management in der Praxis
    • Internationales Projektseminar
    • Praxisseminar mit Prof. Dr. Heinrich v. Pierer
    • Das Industrieseminar mit Dr. Stefan Asenkerschbaumer
    • Das Innovationsseminar mit Daniel Krauss