Info about final theses

You want to tackle the topic of your thesis. The following information should help you not to overlook anything.

First you have to decide which topic you are particularly interested in. Generally, topics for final theses are requested directly from the subject areas represented in the chosen area of specialisation or the subject areas involved in the chosen research subject with in-depth modules. In almost all subject areas, topics for theses are announced on their WEB pages -here is an overview .

Of course the professors and their teams are also available for discussions. Hereby, you can discuss the named topics in more detail as well as your own ideas for topics.

Another possibility is to carry out the final thesis with external partners, e.g. in other departments or in cooperation with authorities, engineering offices, etc. Here, special regulations according to the General Examination Regulations (APB) of TU Darmstadt must be taken into account. It is very important that in all cases a professor of TU Darmstadt is responsible for the supervision and evaluation of the thesis, but there is no obligation for the professors to supervise an external thesis. An external thesis requires additional approval from the chairman of the examination board before it can be started.

You can find further information on the general regulations for external theses here:

https://www.tu-darmstadt.de/media/dezernat_ii/referat_iig/fuer_pruefende/merkblaetter/info_externe_abschlussarbeiten.pdf (opens in new tab)

In the Bachelor’s degree courses in civil engineering and geodesy as well as environmental engineering, the general compulsory area as well as the internship must be completed. In the Master’s programmes, all requirements, if any, must be met.

Bachelor's and Master's theses must always be initiated in the Office for Student Affairs of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. For this purpose the so-called “Laufzettel” (circulation slip) is required. This is filled in by the supervising department and sent to the Office for Student Affairs together with the assignment. The Office for Student Affairs contacts the students and via a so-called “digital remote release” it informs them about the concrete assignment, the special examination-legal boundary conditions, the deadline for submission and the procedure e.g. in case of illness etc.

The confirmation by the students is done by digitally submitting the signed document.

The final thesis is basically intended to prove that the student is able to independently work out a topic scientifically within a given period of time.

Nevertheless, contact can and should be maintained with the supervisors and/or mentors to, for example, discuss planned milestones.

The following processing times are specified in the study regulations:

  • B.Sc. Civil Engineering and Geodesy. Environmental Engineering (PO 2014): 17 weeks (270 h)
  • B.Sc. Civil Engineering and Geodesy , Environmental Engineering (PO 2021): 17 weeks (360 h)
  • B.Sc. Applied mechanics (PO 2015): 22 weeks (360 h)
  • M.Sc. Civil Engineering, Geodesy and Geoinformation , Sustainable Urban Development, Environmental Engineering, Transportation (PO 2014): 26 Wochen (720 h)
  • M.Sc. mechanics (PO 2015): 26 weeks (900 h)

The final thesis must be submitted by the given deadline at the latest. The final thesis is completed during the semester. The theses can be submitted before the given deadline, but a minimum completion time of 2 months for Bachelor theses and 4 months for Master theses should be observed.

The thesis must be uploaded to TUbama (digital archive of the TU Darmstadt) in electronic form by the deadline. This electronic thesis must have the “Declaration on the thesis” inserted as the last page (§ 23 Para. 7 APB).

You can find further instructions on the central TU websites

The essential contents of the final theses are presented and defended in the form of a presentation. The defence is open to the university public and usually consists of two parts, a presentation of approx. 15-20 minutes and an interview of approx. 30 minutes.

Please actively inform the study office as soon as you have graduated. Only with your information your graduation documents will be generated in TUCaN and your studies will be officially completed.

To collect your documents, please register for a fixed date in our schedule:

https://terminplaner4.dfn.de/dPrIG83Z4WTyZFoz