The degree program regulations include the requirement to complete a Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis.

Students planning to write their thesis in cooperation with a company or another department find essential information in the section on External Theses.

To register the thesis, the fully completed registration form (including the supervisor’s signature and the research group’s stamp) must be submitted to the Examination Office. Forms may be submitted by dropping them in the box next to the Examination Office, handing them in during office hours, or sending a scanned copy by email.

Thesis periods, as defined in the respective degree program regulations:

Computer Science degree programs:

• Bachelor’s Thesis (B.Sc. Informatik) PO 2007: 3 months
• Bachelor’s Thesis (B.Sc. Informatik) PO 2009: 6 months
• Bachelor’s Thesis (B.Sc. Informatik) PO 2015 and PO 2023: 26 weeks
• Master’s Thesis (M.Sc. Informatik (PO 2015 and specialization master’s programs under the PO 2015 regulations)) and PO 2023 (M.Sc. Autonome Systeme und Robotik, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Computer Science, Informatik, IT Security): 26 weeks

Bachelor of Education:

• Bachelor’s Thesis (B.Ed. Informatik): 21 weeks
• Master’s Thesis (M.Ed. Informatik): 6 months

The thesis period begins on the date on which the topic is issued.

It is possible to write a thesis in cooperation with a company or with a professor from another department. The mandatory guidelines for external theses are provided in the Information Sheet for External Theses.

External theses require approval by the Examination Board of the Department of Computer Science.

For all theses written in cooperation with a company or another department, students are responsible for finding a professor from the Department of Computer Science as the first supervisor. The only exception applies to professors who hold a secondary membership in the Department of Computer Science.

All required information for registration is collected through the standard registration form; no separate form is required for external theses.

According to §23 (5) of the General Examination Regulations of Technical University of Darmstadt (APB), it is possible to extend the thesis period by up to half of the standard thesis period as defined in the relevant degree program regulations. To request an extension, a formal application must be submitted to the Examination Board. The following information must be included in the application:

• personal information (name, matriculation number, and email address),
• the requested duration of the extension,
• a detailed explanation and, if applicable, supporting documentation (e.g., a medical certificate).

In addition, the application must include the supervisor’s signature to confirm that the extension request has been discussed and approved by the supervisor.

The application must be submitted via the Examination Office as described in the section ‘Registration of the Thesis’.

• Theses must be submitted electronically by uploading the document in PDF/A format to TUbama within the thesis period. Paper copies are not required. The submission time is recorded automatically, and the Examination Office is notified.
• Important: Immediately after the electronic submission in TUbama and within the thesis period, the completed (including the name entered in the text), signed, and scanned “Declaration on the final thesis” according to §22 (7) APB must be sent to the Examination Office by email.

• Templates that follow the Corporate Design of TU Darmstadt are available to provide a uniform appearance for theses. Use of these templates is optional and should be coordinated with the supervisor.
  • If a Word template is used, the Word 2016 template under Große Berichte, Dissertationen – Vorlagen is the appropriate template for theses.
  • For the LaTeX template, the setting custommargins=true should be replaced with custommargins=false in the document header.

• Compliance with the guidelines on plagiarism is mandatory.
• Consultation on all aspects of academic writing is offered by the TU Darmstadt SchreibCenter.
• Additional materials on academic writing are available in the Moodle course associated with the 2019 lecture ‘Introduction to Academic Writing’. These materials can be used for self-study.

The University and State Library Darmstadt (ULB) supports students in searching for and obtaining literature for their thesis. Subject-specific services for STEM fields are provided by the Team Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).