Tips for your thesis
Your thesis demonstrates that you can independently address a complex problem in your field using academic methods. Here, you will find practical tips for every stage of your bachelor’s or master’s thesis, from choosing a topic and researching the literature to writing and submitting it.
You should not tackle a project as large as a thesis without a work plan. Your plan should cover every stage, from finding a topic to submitting your thesis.
How much detail you include and how much time you allocate to each step will depend on your topic and method. The important thing is that your plan provides direction while remaining flexible.
-
Do not plan in too much detail. If your plan is too detailed, you can quickly end up spending more time adjusting it and less time doing the actual work.
-
Account for closures and absences. For example, keep in mind when the laboratory or university will be closed and when your supervisor will be on vacation.
-
Plan realistically and allow enough buffer time. It is frustrating to find yourself behind schedule as early as day two.
-
Set firm milestones. Make the deadlines you set for yourself more binding by linking them to meetings with your supervisor or other students. This will help you stay on track.
-
Do not underestimate the final stage. Set aside enough time to revise, proofread, and format your thesis.
Every supervisor works differently. Some value regular updates, while others only want to be involved when you have specific questions. However, a few things are helpful in any supervisory relationship:
-
Take the initiative. Schedule meetings well in advance and ask to meet if problems arise or you get stuck.
-
Let your supervisor know if something comes up. If you cannot attend a meeting, inform your supervisor as early as possible.
-
Come to meetings prepared. Briefly summarize what you are currently working on, what progress you have made, and where you are still having difficulties. Also write down in advance any questions you would like to clarify.
Finding the right topic is often not easy. After all, you will be working on it for several months. Take your time choosing and make sure the topic is a good fit for you:
-
Choose a topic that genuinely interests you. This will make it easier to explore it in depth over a longer period.
-
Build on what you already know. Perhaps you have already taken courses on the subject or have some initial ideas about how to approach the task.
-
Consider your future plans as well. A topic can be particularly worthwhile if it is relevant to your career goals or further studies.
Many chairs post thesis topics on their websites or in the TUM-wide Themenbörse (thesis topic listings). If you do not find a suitable topic there, you can work with your prospective supervisor to develop one or refine an idea of your own. Find out about the chair’s research areas beforehand and get in touch early.
You can also write your thesis at a company, another university, or a non-university research institution.
Please note: A TUM professor must still be responsible for the official thesis topic, registration, and grading. Therefore, discuss with your supervisor well before registration how the collaboration with the external organization will be structured.
Get an initial overview of the literature while you are still choosing your topic. Once your topic is set, you can make your search more focused and in-depth:
-
Start with introductory books and articles.
-
Compile key search terms and relevant authors.
-
Use these to search for additional literature in TUM OPAC and databases.
-
Check the reference lists of relevant publications to find additional sources.
-
Set a firm deadline for completing your first intensive research phase. This will leave you enough time to evaluate the literature you have found and begin writing.
The TUM University Library offers courses that teach you how to develop a search strategy, use databases and other tools effectively, and find relevant academic literature. If you would like to improve your literature search skills, you can take the advanced literature research course.
Record complete details for each source from the start. To make important information easy to find later, it is best to note:
-
brief summaries of the key content,
-
page numbers for relevant quotes,
-
your own thoughts and connections to your thesis.
Reference management software helps you keep track of large numbers of sources, insert citations, and automatically generate bibliographies.
TUM provides free campus licenses for Citavi and EndNote. The University Library also offers introductory courses on Citavi, EndNote, and Zotero.
A work plan, an outline, a mountain of literature you have read, and perhaps even completed experiments, surveys, or studies are of little use if you do not start writing down your thoughts. It sounds simple, but often it is not.
You do not have to put complete chapters on paper right away. It is best to start with a subsection that comes easily to you. Especially at the beginning, bullet points and incomplete sentences are perfectly fine. You can flesh them out and revise them later.
As you research, read, and write, you may gradually lose sight of your research question or hypotheses. Take a moment every so often to check: Does your argument still address the research question? Is the line of argument clear?
If you are unsure, ask fellow students, friends, or family members for an honest assessment. People who are unfamiliar with your topic often have a particularly good sense of whether your argument is easy to follow.
Academic work must be verifiable. You should therefore identify all content and ideas drawn from other sources and cite the respective source. This applies to text as well as images, tables, and data:
- Put direct quotes in quotation marks and cite the source.
- Cite the source of any content you paraphrase.
- Cite the sources of images, tables, and the underlying data as well.
- Include full details of all sources used in your reference list.
Add citations as you write. This will prevent information from being omitted or becoming difficult to match to the correct source later. When you submit your thesis, you confirm in writing that you completed it independently and used only the sources and resources listed (Section 18 (9) APSO).
In the University Library’s Citation Essentials course, you will learn how to create in-text citations and reference lists and how to correctly cite images, tables, research data, and AI tools.
Nothing is more frustrating than losing a carefully worded thought or even several hours of work. Therefore, do not save your thesis only at the end of the day, but regularly while you are working.
You should also store backup copies in a second location. With your TUM Account, you can use TUM’s central storage. It provides you with personal file storage that only you can access. Snapshots allow you to restore deleted or damaged files as well as older versions of files.
All chapters complete? Congratulations! But you are not quite at the finish line yet: The next step is to prepare your thesis for submission. Set aside enough time and make sure you can work without distractions.
-
Have someone proofread your thesis. After working on your own text for many weeks, it is easy to lose perspective and overlook typos, spelling mistakes, or grammatical errors. Ask fellow students, friends, or family members for help.
-
Check your tables of contents, lists, and cross-references. Are all page numbers correct? Are figures, tables, and charts labeled and numbered correctly? Is the reference list complete?
-
Follow the formal requirements. Check with your School well in advance to find out which requirements apply to formatting, the cover page, and submission. Depending on your degree program, these may specify, for example, whether you need to submit your thesis digitally or in print and how many copies are required.