Supervisor

Our university distinguishes between an examiner (Prüfer/in), supervisor (Betreuer/in), and a contact person (Ansprechpartner/in). The examiner and the supervisor are the same person, whereas the contact person will act as an intermediary person. Most communication will happen with the contact person.

• Bachelor Students: Bachelor students in our faculty have to participate in the centralised allocation procedure (zentrales Vergabeverfahren). Please follow the instructions provided by the Examination Office (Prüfungsamt) to indicate your preferences. Once you are assigned to our chair, we will reach out to you via email to schedule an initial meeting and provide further details. Please be aware that information needs to be passed through different parties, so it takes a while before we get in touch.

• Master Students: Master students will need to independently secure a supervisor whose research interests align with their own. If you wish to write your thesis with our group, please contact Verena Ebert. 

Regardless of your study plan, we value autonomy and initiative, and we believe that you should work on things you are interested in. See the following section.

Topic

We encourage Bachelor and Master students to develop and propose their own topic ideas, as we generally do not provide a predefined list to choose from. Approaching us with a specific direction or a preliminary concept provides an excellent foundation for our first discussion and often leads to a stronger thesis.

If you are looking for inspiration to help narrow down your focus, we recommend the following approaches:

• Review our current research: Take a look at our website or search for our team on Google Scholar to understand our core focus areas. Please keep in mind that our PhD students are also actively researching, so reviewing their work is a great way to find inspiration as well!
• Reflect on your coursework: Think back to the topics, lectures, and seminars we teach that have sparked your interest.
• Explore current trends: Look into emerging research trends being discussed in academic circles, industry news, or on social media.
• Identify literature gaps: Read recent publications in areas you find interesting to spot unanswered questions or gaps in the existing scientific literature.

Do you still feel stuck? Approaching us with a short, confused idea is still better than nothing. Trust us on this.

Industry cooperation

It is possible to write your thesis in cooperation with an industry partner, a company. We are used to it.

However, there are some points to keep in mind:

• Our commitment is to support your timely graduation, and we guide students to ensure the thesis timeline aligns with the examination regulations. This means we are unable to support arrangements that involve unofficial preparatory work before the official registration period begins. In other words, if your thesis regulations tell you that you work on your thesis for, e.g., two months, we cannot supervise a thesis that is three months long or longer.
• In a thesis, a specific problem or task is addressed using scientific methods. Software development by itself is not a scientific method. Solving a problem at a company is also, by itself, not science. A thesis, especially a Master thesis, works at a higher order of problems, and it should be as open as possible.
• We recommend planning for potential delays in industry processes. For example, if the works council (Betriebsrat) needs to be involved prior to approving some type of data collection, and it takes weeks for them to make a decision, your whole thesis may be jeopardized. 
• A non-disclosure agreement (Sperrvermerk) prevents the thesis from being published while still allowing it to be graded. We prefer to avoid this as it conflicts with the scientific principle of transparency and openness. We encourage working with the company to find alternatives, such as using anonymized data. A separate confidentiality agreement (Geheimhaltungserklärung) is a contract between the student and the company and does not involve the university.

Registration

After securing a supervisor and a thesis topic, the next step is to register your thesis with the registration office (Prüfungsamt). They will supply the necessary instructions and forms. The thesis is not officially considered started until this registration step, which includes the examiner's signature. By default, we do not require, nor request, any printed exemplary of a thesis. We like digital things.

Writing Your Thesis

Below, we have outlined the core technical requirements for your thesis. In addition to following these guidelines, a key part of the research process involves independently familiarizing yourself with the standards of academic and technical writing. This may include reading a textbook on academic writing.

Structure of a Thesis

A typical thesis provides the following types of content. Be aware that different types of studies call for different structures and section titles.

• Abstract: A concise summary of your research.
• Introduction: Introductory information,research problem, objectives, and research questions.
• Literature Review: Background work which may help you build a conceptual model to test empirically as well as a critical overview of existing related work with which you will compare your results. This includes both background work (the one you base yourself on) as well as related work (the one that tries to accomplish things similar to yours).
• Methodology: Description of your research design and methods.
• Results: Presentation of your findings.
• Discussion: Interpretation of results and their implications including a comparison with related work.
• Conclusion: Summary of findings, limitations, and future research.
• References: A list of all cited sources.
• Appendices: Supplementary materials (e.g., raw data, surveys).

Formal Requirements of the document

Despite several urban legends, there are close to no requirements that apply at university level, apart from the obvious ones on good scientific conduct, avoiding plagiarism, good ethical principles, etc.

• Length: There is no minimum or maximum page count. There is no typical length. What works, works.
• Formatting: Maintain consistent formatting throughout the thesis, including font, line spacing, and margins.
• Referencing: Use a consistent citation style (e.g. APA, IEEE) for all sources. Use a reference manager. Do NOT use genAI to create your references as they are hallucinated most of the time.
• Use Word or LaTeX
• Language: English is the default language of science and the one in our chair.

Word

If you use Word, please incorporate these criteria that help to make your thesis look formal rather than a work of art:

• Margins
  • Left: 5 cm (to allow for binding)
  • Right: 2 cm
  • Top: 2 cm
  • Bottom: 1 cm

• Line Spacing: 1.5
• Paper size: A4
• Font:
  • Main text: Times New Roman or Arial, 11 pt
  • Headings: Bold or larger (e.g., 14 pt for chapter titles)

• Page Numbers: Bottom center or bottom right, starting from the introduction (title page and abstract should not be numbered)

LaTeX

If you would like to use LaTeX for your thesis (we encourage you to do so), you can utilize the template provided by the University of Stuttgart (University of Stuttgart Computer Science Thesis by Oliver Kopp on Overleaf). Please modify the title page to meet the requirements of the University of Hohenheim.

Title page

• Title of the thesis
• Author's name
• Degree program and institution
• Submission date
• Supervisor (Betreuer/in) 
• Contact person (Ansprechpartner/in)
• If applicable, contact person from industry

Declarations

Please include the following declarations in your thesis:

• A declaration of authorship.
• A declaration regarding the usage of AI (if applicable).

The templates for both declarations are available on the examination office's website.

Additional Formatting Guidelines

• Number all figures and tables.
• Place figure captions below the figure and table captions above the table.
• Ensure that every figure and table is explicitly referenced within the main text.
• Maintain consistent font size, spacing, and general formatting across all figures and tables throughout the document.

Examination Regulations take precedence over this document

The examination regulation (Prüfungsordung) specific to your program serves as the primary reference over the information provided in this document. If you notice any differences, we encourage you to follow the rules in your examination regulation and let us know so we can update this page to be as helpful as possible.

Academic Integrity

All work submitted should be original, demonstrating a strong commitment to the principles of academic integrity. Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Using genAI/LLM to work on your thesis is not forbidden, but the text should be original and written by you.

Submission and Presentation

The final steps involve submitting your thesis and presenting your work. You must submit your thesis to three parties:

1. The examination office (please consult current submission rules for specific requirements).
2. Your supervisor (a PDF via email is sufficient).
3. Your contact person (a PDF via email is sufficient).

Ensure that all necessary supporting documents accompany your submission.

Presentation at our Colloquium

Bachelor Theses:

• No presentation is formally needed.
• Students may present if they wish: please inform us if this is the case.

Master Theses:

• Intermediate Presentation (Zwischenvortrag):
  • Duration: 10 minutes presentation + 10 minutes discussion.
  • Timing: Approximately 4–6 weeks into the thesis period.

• Final Presentation (Abschlussvortrag):
  • Duration: 20 minutes presentation + 10 minutes discussion.
  • Timing: Approximately 6 months in (typically 1–2 weeks after the submission deadline).

Resources and Support

To assist you throughout your thesis writing process, various resources are available.

The university provides comprehensive research materials, such as databases, journals, and guides on thesis writing. Please consult the KIM website for detailed information.

A wide selection of books focusing on scientific and thesis writing is available (e.g., see this Goodreads shelf). Several of these titles can also be accessed online through the university library.