Master's Thesis

You can register your Master's Thesis after acquiring at least 60 ECTS. For registering and submission you must be a matriculated/enrolled student. It is not allowed to be on a leave of absence while working on your thesis.

Here you can find more information on thesis registration, submission as well as formalities and FAQs.

Research Topic / Examiners

There are two examiners for the Master's Thesis, one has to be a member of the group of university lecturers at the University of Bonn, the other has to be a lecturer from the United Nations University EHS. The first examiner is the main examiner who assigns the topic. The Examination Office allots the second examiner, but the candidate has the right to make suggestions. You can find a list of possible examiners in the FAQ section.

The research topic should be discussed with your main supervisor in the format of a written research proposal.

Research Proposal and Ethics Form (PDF file) (208 KB)
Research Proposal and Ethics Form (docx file) (185 KB)

Once the examiner has accepted your proposal, you need to register your Master's Thesis.

Registration

Master's Thesis must be registered before starting to work (including fieldwork)!

Download/print out the Master Thesis Registration Form (ER2020) (850 KB)

The first examiner fills out the topic and the date of beginning. The candidate has to submit the form at the Examination Office.

Eine Wissenschaftlerin und ein Wissenschaftler arbeiten hinter einer Glasfassade und mischen Chemikalien mit Großgeräten.

Eine Studentin geht durch die Gänge der Bibliothek

Submission

The Master's Thesis has to be submitted in the given time at the Examination Office, which can be done during the office hours (see below), during pre-arranged appointments or via postal way (post stamp/date stamp counts as date of submission):

Two printed and binded hard copies incl. one digital version (USB / CD) each
One digital version on USB / CD to stay in your file at Exam Office (Note: There will be no way to get your USB back)

➔ In total, you have to submit two printed and binded hard copies and three USB flash drives or CDs!

We highly recommend you arrange an appointment with Examination Office in order to submit your thesis in person.

Please do not post your thesis in the mail box in front of our office!

Alternatively, you can hand in your thesis at a post office to make sure to meet the deadline!

Postal address:

Department of Geography, University of Bonn
Examination Office M.Sc. Georisk
Meckenheimer Allee 166
53115 Bonn
Germany

Formalities

The Master's Thesis has to be registered before starting (including fieldwork)!
The maximum time allotted for completing the Master's Thesis is six months.
You have to use this cover page (34 KB) for the Master's Thesis and you have to sign the statement of authorship.
An exmatriculation is not permitted until after submission of the Master's Thesis!
It is not allowed to be on a leave of absence while working on your thesis.
The Master’s Thesis may not be accepted in the form of a group project.
The text portion of the Master's Thesis must consist of a minimum of 100,000 and a maximum of 200,000 characters, including spaces and footnotes.
Format/style guidelines as agreed upon by supervisors: 1.5 line spacing for the text body; a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri), font size 12pt; margins: top 2.5cm, bottom 2.5cm, left 4cm, right 2.5cm; printed double-sided.
In case of submitting the Master's Thesis via postal way, the date of the post stamp will be the date of submission.
The student may reject the topic of the Master’s Thesis only one time, and only within the first two months after its assignment.
Master's Thesis not submitted in the given time will receive the grade "insufficient" (=failed).
If the Master’s Thesis receives a grade of “insufficient” or is considered to be invalid, the candidate may repeat the Master’s Thesis one time.