Topics for Theses
We are always looking for highly motivated students who want to write Bachelor's and Master's theses with us. If you are interested, please contact the supervisors of the available topics. It is good practice to get in touch well in advance of your planned starting date.
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Requirements
We expect that undergraduate students preparing a Bachelor's thesis show a strong interest in topics related to our lectures. Bachelor's theses should be written in German.
Graduate students preparing a Master's thesis should have substantial knowledge in at least one sub-field of security or privacy and they should have prior experience with the research methodology they plan to use. The default language for Master's theses is English.
Doctoral dissertations (Ph.D. theses) are typically prepared while working for one of our research projects. As our research group maintains strong ties to the relevant international scientific communities, we encourage our Ph.D. candidates to make use of the possibility to conduct part of their research at renowned universities abroad.
Typical effort
Although counting pages is generally a bad metric, take the following specifications as rules of thumb:
| Length | Expectation | |
| Seminar thesis | < 20 pages | research the state-of-the-art and present it in a scientifically sound way |
| Bachelor's thesis | ~ 40 pages | independent replication of the state-of-the-art with scientific documentation of results |
| Master's thesis | ~ 80 pages | your adviser should learn something new |
| Dissertation | ~ 150 pages + publications | the scientific community should learn something new |
Bachelor's and Master's Theses
Candidates are expected to be familiar with the general instructions for writing a Bachelor's or Master's thesis at the Department of Computer Science.
Please consider the following options to find a topic of the thesis:
- Consult the list of available topics.
- If you have an idea for an interesting topic that matches the research area of one of our team members, you may also contact him/her and propose your own topic. The decision to supervise will be made by the potential supervisor.
Writing an exposé
The first step to a thesis is to write an exposé (AKA thesis proposal). The exposé is a short description of your work (max. 3 pages) in running text, possibly supported by a meaningful table or figure. It should contain the following information:
- your interpretation of the topic,
- the status quo with references to academic literature,
- the research question(s), your planned approach and method,
- a discussion of risks, if necessary,
- a rough timeline with 2-3 non-trivial milestones, and
- the 3-5 most relevant references (which we expect you to have read thoroughly).
Keep in mind that drafting the exposé is an iterative process involving your supervisor. It may require some time. Your supervisor must accept your final exposé before we schedule an initial presentation in the Seminar mit Bachelorarbeit. This presentation is the formal start of the Bachelor's thesis process. For Master's theses, the completion of the exposé means that the candidate formally passes the preparation.
Writing a Bachelor's thesis
The Bachelor's thesis should demonstrate that the candidate can solve problems independently and document own results according to scientific standards. If you need feedback or assistance, you must take initiative and contact your supervisor. Before every meeting with your supervisor, please send to him/her a rough agenda and supporting materials. This helps the supervisor to prepare and improves the efficiency of the meeting.
We offer each student the opportunity to hand in up to five pages of the thesis draft. The supervisor will correct it with the same standard as for the final thesis. We expect the student to extrapolate corrections to the rest of the thesis.
In addition to an electronic copy in PDF format, students must submit a signed declaration of independent work.
Writing a Master's thesis
Writing a Master's thesis is usually a very interactive process involving the supervisor and other members of the research group. Candidates often spend part of the time at a desk in our lab. Some candidates contribute to research project or publish research results related to the thesis project in scientific workshops or conferences.
In addition to an electronic copy in PDF format, students must submit one bound hard copy of the Master's thesis including a signed declaration of independent work in the preface.