No, the final colloquium has to be held after finishing your thesis. That means that every change to your thesis after the colloquium is not valid and will not have any influence on your grade. Your grade must be given to you after the colloquium and also be uploaded on TUCaN shortly after. So your grade can’t be hold back for you to change your thesis.

This depends, among other things, on how specific the desired topic is. You can expect that it will take a month until you have found a suitable topic, the task has been written and signed by the professor and then the work can be registered in the MechCenter. Sometimes it may take longer. The thesis must be registered in the MechCenter as soon as the written task is available. From then on, the period of 20 weeks (360 hours) academic work begins. You should make sure that the induction period also counts towards this processing time.

Yes, according to the curriculum, in addition to the thesis, the examination ‘Numerical Simulation Methods’ and two to three subjects from the compulsory elective area are planned. The subject ‘Introduction to Scientific Work and Writing’ must be taken parallel to the Bachelor's thesis. However, it is also possible to take other subjects during this period. In addition, the thesis does not have to be the last work completed in the Bachelor's programme. It is important that you consult with your supervisor about examinations during the thesis period. The examinations should be taken into account in the schedule for the thesis so that there is no unnecessary stress at the end.

The Bachelor's thesis is credited with 12 CP, which corresponds to 360 hours of work or a maximum period of 20 weeks. If you realise during the course of the work that the 360 hours of work are not sufficient, you should contact your supervisor in good time. Experience has shown that the average length of a Bachelor's thesis is around 60 to 80 pages without appendices. However, the number of pages depends on the supervisor and the chosen topic! More details should be discussed with the supervisor.

In principle, the Bachelor's thesis is a scientific paper. Accordingly, not only the results, but also the procedure must be documented and substantiated with the most comprehensive and scientific sources possible. The text must be written in a scientific form. It is advisable to start early with the detailed documentation, preferably parallel to the realisation. The module ‘Introduction to scientific work and writing’ also provides support here. The type of processing and elaboration depends on the respective topic and should be discussed in advance with the supervisor.

To register for a master's thesis, the following must be fulfilled:

• at least 65 CP in the master's degree
• two ADPs or one ADP and one external internship successfully completed
• tutorium successfully completed
• if conditional subjects have been issued, these must be passed.
• one module each from the elective areas Ia and Ib successfully completed

Additionally, the following rule must be observed: If both ADPs have been completed at one institute, no master's thesis may be registered at this institute.

All information on registration and Master's theses in general can be found on the MechCenter website

How you get to your topic varies:

• Topics are offered at the institutes of the Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Some papers are posted on the bulletin boards or in the Maschinenbauer-Forum or published on the institute's website.
• General announcement of the theses of Faculty 16 on theFaculty Homepage
• Ask the institutes about topics on your own initiative
• An alternative and recommended method is to first consider which topics and correspondingly which subject areas are interesting for you. In this subject area, you can then specifically address WiMis who deal with the desired topic and ask whether they have published or could advertise a thesis. You can find out more about this on the websites of the respective institutes.

The topic may be returned once within 8 weeks of registration without justification, without this being counted as an examination attempt. Accordingly, it is better to invest a little more time in the search for the right topic and supervisor right from the start. So, choose wisely!

The department professors often assign topics that support or supplement ongoing doctoral theses by scientific staff in these departments. As a result, you usually don't research something completely “new” directly but support the research assistant. There are also bachelor's theses in which you design and construct visual objects for the subject areas or develop completely independent projects, but these are rather rare. Your thesis might serve the greater thesis. Possible topics are the development of demonstration objects, construction and/or measurements from/on the test bench or numerical simulations.

During the time that the thesis is being written, the supervisor should be at your side. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. It is better to discuss this in advance with the person looking after you and agree on fixed times at which you can meet, for example once a week. In the master's degree, you tend to be on your own.

With the bachelor's degree PO 4.0, the compulsory course “Introduction to scientific work and writing” must be completed in parallel with the bachelor's thesis. There you can get help with the structure, structuring, design and presentation of your own topic. This event is offered every semester and you can join at any time during the semester. The university's writing center also helps when formal problems occur.

Yes, in principle this is possible if, for example, you completely miss the point and show virtually no commitment. It can also happen that your own time management fails. It is important to note that the Bachelor's thesis can only be repeated once! Therefore, if you notice that things are not going well, contact your supervisor, the student advisory service at the MechCenter or your fellow students in good time!

In general, an extension is only possible up to a maximum of half the processing time (max. 10 weeks)! You can only extend the submission deadline under the following conditions:

• in the event of illness or similarly reasons (e.g. illness or death in the family), the deadline can be postponed with a medical certificate submitted to the MechCenter.
• when reasons arise for which you are not responsible (extension for operational reasons, e.g. machine failure or required components / spare parts are not delivered in time), the deadline can be postponed. To do this, you must submit an informal application to the Dean of Studies, stating the reasons and the desired period of time for the extension. This application must always be discussed with the supervisor and signed by the head of department ( professor) where you are writing your thesis.This application has to be submitted to the MechCenter.

An external thesis is often sought when an interesting topic is offered to the students by a company. The be-all and end-all of the external thesis is communication between the two supervisors from the institute and the company. The supervisors often have different ideas about the goal of the thesis.

In general, the following should be noted:

• A supervisor from the company is also required. This person must have at least a Master's degree or diploma from a university.
• If the industrial internship has already been completed in this company, the topic of the thesis must not correspond to the topic of the internship.
• First a supervisor must be sought from the institute for this topic. This must always be one of our institute heads (professors) who can provide specialist support for this topic and is willing to take on this task. Note: Our professors do not have to supervise external theses, but decide voluntarily whether they want to do so. If no supervising professor can be found, professors from other institute and departments may be asked in an emergency. Otherwise there will be no external thesis.
• An informal “Application to the Dean of Studies for approval of an external thesis” must then be submitted to the MechCenter.
• More detailed information can be found as a download PDF (opens in new tab) on the MechCenter website and on the university website as an Information sheet on external theses
• The task can only be registered in the MechCenter once approval has been received.

Staying on schedule always helps.

Communicate with other WiMis at the institute. If you're stuck, they can often help with advice.

Ask your trusted supervisor about bachelor theses. Theses are often not advertised on the institute's website, but are written on the fly.