Master Graduation
Once you have successfully completed all modules in your curriculum and have finished your thesis, you can apply to complete your master degree.
Please read these step by step instructions carefully. The sooner you complete all necessary steps, the sooner we can check your application and provide feedback. You need to complete steps 1-4 – not necessarily in this order – by the submission deadline.
Procedure
1. Register Your Thesis Subject and Supervisor
Once you and your supervisor agreed on the subject of your thesis, compose an abstract structured as follows:
- problem statement
- expected result
- methods
- state of the art (including at least four references to literature)
- context with your master program (example).
…and present it in the relevant Seminar for Master Students of your master program.
In Business Informatics and Data Science, your supervisor must upload the proposal in TISS and request its approval prior to the presentation in the Seminar for Master Students. In all other master programs you first present in the seminar for master students, and after revising your proposal according to the comments received, you send the proposal to your supervisor for him/her to upload it in TISS and request its approval.
In justified cases, the use of the thesis can be restricted for a maximum of one year. The request must be made in TISS under “Theses > My Theses”, the resulting PDF file must be printed out, signed, and sent to studiendekanat.informatik@tuwien.ac.at for approval.
2. Compose Your Master Thesis
For the formal properties of theses there are guidelines and specifications, which ensure a uniform and scientifically consistent appearance. As the author of a diploma thesis you are obliged to comply with these requirements, including using the up-to-date faculty logo.
Formal Guidelines
- Cover Page: Please use our template exclusively and do not change the formatting. You only need to enter the parameter “Participation” if an assistant was involved in the supervision. The academic degree is “Diplomingenieur” or “Diplomingenieurin“. If you complete the ”Lehramtsstudium“, you will receive the academic degree “Magister der Naturwissenschaften” or “Magistra der Naturwissenschaften”. The German language cover page is the first page of the master thesis. If you would like to additionally include an English version, please add it as the second page. Please note that also in the English language version the academic degree must be given in German only.
- Statement: “I hereby declare that I have written this work independently, have given full details of the sources and aids used, and have marked places in the work—including tables, maps and illustrations—which are taken from other works or from the Internet, either verbatim or in spirit, as borrowed, in any case indicating the source.” Place, date, signature.
- Abstract: Write your abstract in German and English in a length of half a page to a full page and present the following aspects briefly and concisely: the context of the work/task, the research question, the scientific method(s)/procedure(s) used and the central results.
- Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Main Part: In the main part of the thesis you explain the context of the work, the task and the state of the art or research. You formulate the research question of the thesis and explain the scientific methods used to obtain the results. Finally, you will present the central results of your research work.
- Summary
- Bibliography: List the literature you used completely and correctly and in a consistent presentation.
Notes on Quotations
- Make sure that the sources are correct and complete.
- Quotations must not be too long (not longer than 1⁄2 page).
- It must be clearly recognizable which parts of the text are quotations (e.g. quotation marks).
- Words, spelling and punctuation must be taken from the original.
- Where possible, quotations should be made from original texts. (Foreign language texts should be cited in the original language if possible).
- There must be a usefulness for the use of the citation.
Notes on Gender-Inclusive Language
Either explicitly use the female and male form or gender-neutral designations and refrain from using general clauses in which, for example, it is stated at the beginning, end or in footnotes of a text that the chosen personal designations apply to both genders.
Templates and Resources
Master Thesis
Good Scientific Practice
Need some inspiration?
Check out award-winning master theses from our Best Master Thesis Award. Each year, we recognize our most outstanding master students for their exceptional achievements in research.
3. Apply for Graduation
You can apply for your master’s degree conveniently and easily online via TISS at any time, there is no need to wait for the certificate of your diploma thesis. Also, you don’t have to decide for an exam date at this point. Assign all courses (if necessary taking into account the respective transitional provisions) to the corresponding modules. Please note that the seminar for diploma students is obligatory with 1.5 ECTS. In the course of the application you also have the possibility to register for the Sponsion. Each semester, 3 dates are offered for the commissional final examinations. The current submission dates can be found here under Dates & Deadlines. Please complete all steps from 1-4 by the deadline.
4. Required Documents
Submitting all the documents for your application is a multi-step process:
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Send Documents via E-Mail: Please send the following documents (forms filled out and/or scanned) to studiendekanat.informatik@tuwien.ac.at (Subject: Student ID number_Diploma thesis):
- Digital version of your diploma thesis (max. 20 MB, PDF)
- F-464 Application for Defense
- F-945 Consent for Plagiarism Check
- F-975 Leaflet for Authors of a Thesis
- UStat2 Confirmation
- Bachelor certificate or certificate of undergraduate program (even if you received your degree from TU Wien)
- Certificates of other academic degrees (if applicable; even if you received your degree from TU Wien)
- Record of studies
- Notifications of admission, recognition of exams, etc. (if applicable)
- Exam grades that couldn’t be assigned to a distinct module (Note: All certificates and records of exams that cannot be verified online, must be sealed and signed by the respective university).
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Hand In Bound Diploma Thesis: Please hand in a hard-bound copy of your thesis with all signatures to the Office of the Dean (digital signatures are also possible). Please make an appointment via e-mail to studiendekanat.informatik@tuwien.ac.at.
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Submit Library Data: Please complete the library data in TISS under “Meine Arbeiten” and send us a maximum of 10 keywords in German and/or English (please use / as separator) by e-mail to studiendekanat.informatik@tuwien.ac.at for the library.
5. Apply for Defense
Shortly after the end of the submission period, the diploma examination dates and the examination senate (supervisor = 1st examiner) will be determined. The dates and the examination senate will then be announced to you. Within 10 days, you can organize an alternative proposal regarding the date and the composition of the examination senate. You will be responsible for the coordination, including the approval of the persons for the appointment. For this purpose, please fill out form F-424 and have it signed by all examiners. The deans of studies must approve this alternative proposal; otherwise, the original appointment/examination committee will remain in place. Please note that the exam will be in person starting in October 2022.
A defense usually takes one hour. Schedule your presentation for 20 minutes. The defense serves to present and defend your master thesis, and to prove your ability to master the scientific methods and principles, including the understanding and overview of knowledge. It is therefore not necessary to agree on examination areas with the individual examiners in advance.
6. Pick Up Your Certificate
After three weeks—or as soon as you have received a corresponding e-mail from us—you can pick up your diploma certificate and related documents at our office during opening hours. Please bring an official photo identification.
In case you are not able to pick up the documents personally, you can authorize a family member or friend to do so.
7. Graduation Ceremony
If you have registered your participation at the graduation ceremony, you will receive an invitation by physical mail about three weeks before the event. If you have not received an invitation, please contact us immediately.