Final thesis

Below you will find information on thesis.

Regulations for final thesis | Central allocation procedure | Allocation via subject areas | Info & downloads | Contact

Regulations for final thesis

You can find the regulations for your thesis at the Examination Office. There you will find information on registering and submitting your thesis, the time required to complete it, the language and much more. Read through this information first.

Bachelor thesis

Master thesis

Centralised allocation procedure

In the Bachelor's degree programs and in the Master's degree program Communication Management and Analysis, Bachelor's thesis are allocated via a central allocation procedure. One allocation procedure is offered per semester. In the allocation procedure, you indicate your preferences as to who you would like to write your thesis with.

Dates of the allocation procedure:

February 1 - February 15: Register during this period if you would like to write your thesis in the summer semester.
July 1 - July 15: Register during this period if you would like to write your thesis in the winter semester.

Allocation procedure in the degree programs:

DBM, S&C, Business Administration and Economics, Education for Business and Economics and Information Systems

In the degree programs, Bachelor's thesis are assigned viavia an Ilias survey. Here you enter your preferences and your planned official registration date. You can find the survey and further information in Ilias.

Communication Science &
Communication Management and Analysis

In the two communication science degree programs, thesis are assigned via an Ilias survey. Here you enter your preferences, your planned official registration date and your subject area. You can find the survey and further information in Ilias.

What happens afterwards?

You will usually receive notification of your allocation 1-2 weeks after the deadline. Once you have been assigned, you will have an interview with your supervisor. You then register your thesis at the Examination Office.

Allocation via the specialist departments

Thesis are awarded in the following degree programs directly by the departments: Economics, IBE, Management, Information Systems, Education for Business and Economics. Please contact the department in which you would like to write your thesis as early as possible.

Please note the following:

The Institute of Marketing & Management allocates the Master's thesis for the relevant subject areas centrally. You can find further information here.
If you would like to write your thesis at the Chair of Innovation Management (570F), please follow this procedure.
If you would like to write your thesis at one of the two Education for Business and Economics professorships, you can find all information on the application procedure here.

Plagiarism Assessment

We are for fairness - both towards you and with regard to the way students treat each other. This includes evaluating your individual performance as fairly as possible. Just: your individual achievements – not those of others.

For this reason, the plagiarism detection software Turnitin was introduced.

In order to use this, all seminar papers and theses must be submitted in digital form in addition to the usual printed version. Please make sure that the wording of the digital version matches the printed version. Without exception, the same submission deadlines apply to the digital version of the work as to the printed versions. For legal security, we also ask you to submit a declaration to the lecturers of our faculty for all seminar papers and thesis.

Each seminar paper and thesis is then routinely checked against the submitted digital version using plagiarism detection software. If it is determined that a submitted work is demonstrably a plagiarism in the sense defined below, this work is considered "failed" and is rated with a 5.0. No proof of performance will be issued for the corresponding course.

Plagiarism is the circumstance that texts of third parties are copied in whole or in part, literally or almost word for word, in the context of seminar papers or thesis and passed off as your own academic achievement. In this sense, there is also plagiarism if the copy is translated into a language other than that of the original. Analogous assumptions and literal assumptions set in quotation marks, which are marked as such with the indication of the source, do not fall under this definition.

Guidelines for Good Scientific Practices should be part of research and teaching. This is also regulated in the Statute on Ensuring Scientific Integrity of the University of Hohenheim.

Supervisors of academic papers and dissertations should first acquaint students to the standards for Good Scientific Practices and caution them against scientific misconduct.

Supervisors of academic papers as well as dissertations and habilitations have to make an assurance when submitting the paper. They have to assure that they observed the Guidelines for Good Scientific Practices, that they indite the paper independently and that they have not used any other references or means than those which are stated. Besides, they have to agree with the application of a anti-plagiarism software.

You find the declaration which has to be enclosed on the homepage of the Examinations Office.

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Ombudspersons

Ombudspersons hear internal complaints about scientific misconduct. This can be expressed in the following categories:

I. False Information

Data manipulation, data suppression, and data invention

II. Violation of Intellectual Property Rights

The exploitation of research approaches and ideas of others (theft of ideas)
The claim or unfounded presumption of scientific authorship or co-authorship
Suppression of research associates’ contributions in publications, etc.

III. Intentional or Grossly Negligent Damage to Other’s Research Activity

Original data or files that another gathered during research are deleted or manipulated without that person’s knowledge
Erroneously accusing another person of scientific misconduct

IV. Shared Responsibility for Others’ Scientific Misconduct

Intentional participation in another’s misconduct
Co-authorship of publications with falsifications
Gross negligence in supervision duties

In addition, they review complaints of scientific misconduct by colleagues and supervisors and determine whether they are justified. If a reasoned suspicion of scientific misconduct is found, they request from the University Management a commission to investigate scientific misconduct.

Please contact the ombudsperson to report scientific misconduct:

Prof. Dr. Michael Schramm, Institute of Eductaion, Labor and Society (560)

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FAQ on the centralised allocation procedure

How exactly does the allocation work?

Each student expresses five preferences; the fifth preference is also a preference, admittedly a weak preference. Nevertheless, the following should apply: It is better to have one examiner with a 5th preference than one examiner without a preference!

Students are assigned in such a way that all students receive an examiner with the highest possible preference.

Students who do not receive their first preference are tried to be assigned to the examiner with the second preference, not the examiner with the lowest utilization. This is followed by the examiner with the third preference and so on.

By optimizing the allocation, it is ensured, among other things, that students cannot do better by swapping examiners.

How long does the allocation take?

After the application deadline, it usually only takes a few days for students to be informed.

Is registration at the examination office included in the allocation?

No, once you have been allocated a place, you contact the relevant chair and then register your thesis with the Examinations Office in consultation with the chair.

Why can two students with the same preferences be assigned different examiners?

If two students with the same preferences are assigned to different professors, this is due to the limited number of thesis supervised by professors. If the capacity of professors is exhausted, the selection of students with the same preference structure is random.

Why can it happen that students with last preference are assigned to an examiner, while others with first preference are not?

The reason for this effect, which may seem surprising at first glance, is the limited capacity of the examiners. A professor usually supervises no more than 15 students. However, if many students with first preference want to write a thesis with an examiner, he or she cannot supervise these students. The unassigned students are supervised by another examiner whom these students have indicated with a lower preference.

With regard to all students, it is more favorable that these students are supervised by another examiner, who then no longer necessarily receives all students with first preference. If the procedure were changed and an examiner were initially only assigned students with a first preference - as far as capacity allows - then significantly more students would receive an examiner with a lower preference or even an examiner they have not named with a preference.

What happens if I do not take up the place allocated to me and only write in the next semester?

In this case, you will have to register again for the allocation procedure in the next semester.

At the moment, this does not put you at a disadvantage. However, if a large number of students register for the thesis in the coming semester, the first registrations may be given priority for their respective preferences.