1. How to get off to a good start on your thesis

In order to get off to a good start, it is important to prepare yourself before starting your thesis.

The thesis should be seen as an integral part of the Master’s degree programme and can advantageously further develop other study activities in the programme, such as work experience placement, electives and the like.  In this connection, as a Master’s degree student you are offered guidance to clarify the topic of your thesis during your graduate studies, among other things by your mentor, which you will be assigned during the 1^st semester of your Master’s programme. The mentors are recruited among the department’s teaching staff and assigned by the subject manager. Prior to your first conversation with your mentor, you should complete the Course of Study Form for your individual Master’s programme.

Find The Course of Study form under "Forms" in the right column or in the AAL Studies conference in FirstClass.

Additionally, the Student Guidance Centre holds a joint meeting for all 1st semester Master’s students, providing information about the structure and various options of the Master’s degree programmes.

In addition, many other kinds of help are available:

• The Student Council regularly offers courses targeted toward students currently or soon to be working on their theses. These courses are based on the academic or taxonomic thesis requirements, and against this background they offer a some useful practical advice and concrete guidelines. The aim of the course is to make it easier for the students to write their theses.
  The Student Council has also published a free book on thesis writing that is available through the Student Council's secretariat or can be downloaded here.
• The Centre for Educational Development offers process guidance and thesis mentoring to students writing theses.
  The guidance is process oriented, and as such it serves as a supplement, rather than a substitute, to thesis supervision. The guidance is based on your concrete situation and aims to support you in writing your thesis.
• On the website of the Faculty of Humanities you will find useful advice and guidance are available on the thesis process, and you will find information about the option of writing a commercial thesis.
  You also have the possibility of applying for an individual study space.

Students of Prehistoric Archaeology, Medieval and Renaissance Archaeology, and Anthropology and Ethnography can apply for a study space at the Moesgaard Library.

The study space is assigned at the start of the semester. An application is available here. The application should be addressed to the Board of Studies and submitted to the secretary of the Board of Studies by the first working day in January/ July. It is, however, always possible to apply for vacant study spaces outside the deadline.

Students of Linguistics can apply for study space at the Ringgade Library, and students of Classical Archaeology can apply for study space at the Library of Language, Literature and Culture. Both libraries use their own application forms, available on their homepage.

Students of Anthropology and Ethnography and students of Linguistics can also apply for study space in the reading room at Ringgade, Building 1328. For this, you use the same application form and procedure as for the study spaces at the Moesgaard Library.

2. The formal procedure for starting your thesis

The first step is to apply to the Board of Studies for assignment of a thesis supervisor. In a normal course of study, the supervisor is assigned at the end of the 3^rd semester. The Application Form for Assignment of a Thesis Supervisor is available here or in the AAL Studies conference in FirstClass.

Once you have been assigned a supervisor, the next step is to set up a meeting with your supervisor as quickly as possible. It is your responsibility as a student to take the initiative to set up this meeting.

Together, you and your supervisor should complete a Thesis Agreement containing the choice of topic and the supervision plan. The choice of topic should be considered a working title for the thesis and should reflect an assignment that can be completed within six months and counts 30 ECTS credits. In the supervision plan, you and your supervisor agree on the framework for the supervision; for instance, you might agree on how many meetings you will have and on deadlines for synopses or chapters, and in this way clarify your expectations of each other.

Finally, the Thesis Agreement should also take into account the thesis format; cf. the academic regulations (monograph, portfolio or product), on which you have agreed.

You should submit the Thesis Agreement to the Board of Studies within 28 days after being assigned a thesis supervisor.

The Thesis Agreement Form is available here or in the AAL Studies conference in FirstClass.

Once the Board of Studies (through the subject manager) has approved the Thesis Agreement, the six-month period for completing your thesis formally begins. This means that from the day the subject manager has signed the Thesis Agreement, you have six months to prepare and submit your thesis.

Approx. one month before the submission deadline, you and your supervisor agree on the final title of your thesis in both Danish and English. You then send an email with the title of your thesis to the secretary of the Board of Studies who will take care of your registration for the thesis exam. 

3. What to do if you are unable to submit your thesis within the six-month period

Failure to submit the thesis by the established deadline counts as one examination attempt.

If you realize that you will not be able to submit your thesis within the thesis period, you should contact your supervisor as quickly as possible.

It is important that you get in touch with your supervisor prior to the end of the first thesis period, in that the next period automatically begins at the termination of the first one. You and your supervisor discuss and revise your Thesis Agreement in respect to your choice of topic, timeline, and the supervisory process.

You must submit the revised Thesis Agreement to the Board of Studies. Within 14 days of the original deadline for submitting the thesis, the subject manager, on behalf of the Board of Studies, approves the revised Thesis Agreement.

The next deadline for submitting the thesis is three months after the original deadline for submission. July does not count as part of the extended period. The thesis period may be extended twice, for each time you exceed it you fail one examination attempt.

Approx. one month before the deadline for submission, you and your supervisor agree on the final title of your thesis in both Danish and English. You then complete a Title Form, which is available from the secretary of the Board of Studies, to whom you should also submit the completed form.

If you and your supervisor have submitted a title in connection with the first thesis period, you should take note that you cannot use precisely the same title again.

4. What to do if your thesis does not pass

If your submitted thesis does not pass, your supervisor will call a meeting with you at which you will be informed of the basis for the assessment. You will also discuss what must be done for the thesis to be resubmitted.

Next follows the same procedure as above of preparing a revised Thesis Agreement (provided of course that you have not failed all three examination attempts). In this case, the next period (3 months) will not begin until the subject manager has approved the revised agreement.

5. What to do if you change your topic in the middle of your thesis period

If, while working on your thesis, you decide to change your topic to one in a different disciplinary field, the Board of Studies can give you a new six-month period in which to prepare your thesis. It should be emphasized that the topic should be completely different for the Board of Studies to give you a new thesis period.

You must give substantiated reasons for your decision in an application to the Board of Studies.

6. What to do in connection with maternity leave/paternity leave or illness

For maternity/paternity leave and illness, the same rules apply as with all other examinations. You must apply to the Board of Studies for exemption from the deadline for submission based on a doctor’s note or other documentation.

7. What to do if you would like to start your thesis before having passed all the examinations in the first 3 semesters

The thesis should be the final examination passed in your Master’s degree programme. It is, however, possible to start your thesis before passing all the preceding examinations, though you cannot lack more than 20 ECTS credits.

If you would like to start your thesis before passing all preceding examinations, you and your supervisor should prepare an overview of which examinations you need to pass, and establish when you plan to sit for these examinations prior to submitting the thesis. The overview should be attached to the Thesis Agreement.

If the subject manager approves the plan, your thesis period will be extended by 2 months for every 10 ECTS credits you lack.