Theses

If you are interested in having your final-year dissertation supervised by our department, please note that there is high demand for supervision of Bachelor’s dissertations. It is therefore necessary and advisable to get in touch at an early stage and discuss your proposed topic with the supervisors. You should get in touch by 1 April (for enrolment in the summer semester) or by 1 October (for enrolment in the winter semester). Proposals for your own topics are expressly welcome, but must be in line with the supervisors’ research foci. Guidance on choosing a topic and structuring a BA thesis can be found in the Guide to Writing Academic Papers at the Chair of Organisation and Management. Information on the research foci can be found under ‘Research Foci’ on the Chair’s webpage and on the webpages of the department’s employees.

Once you have narrowed down the topic area initially, you should independently draft a short synopsis (1–2 pages) outlining the subject matter and the planned course of the research in more detail. You should therefore outline the problem statement, the objectives and the approach to implementing your idea in broad terms; this includes a list of relevant literature.

The final determination and allocation of the topic for the Bachelor’s thesis will be based on this proposal.

Once you have been assigned a supervisor for your BA thesis, you must enrol for the relevant module in the appropriate semester by the deadline.

To be allocated a topic for your BA thesis, you will need to submit two copies of the completed form ‘Application for Allocation of a Topic for the BA Thesis (Baccalaureus Thesis)’ for the BA Political Science programme. Binding registration is completed by submitting the completed form, signed by your supervisor. One copy of the form remains with the supervisor; you will receive the other. From the date the topic is allocated, you have 7.5 weeks to complete your final dissertation.

This statement applies to written coursework and examinations, as well as to final theses within the remit of the professorship of Organisation and Management. It supplements the current examination regulations and – in the case of seminar papers – the assignment brief. 

Definitions and Delimitations 

An AI tool, for the purposes of this statement, is a digital tool that generates new content in response to inputs, or structures, expands, summarises, translates or evaluates existing content. AI-generated content includes, in particular, text, images, code, outlines, translations, analyses or similar outputs from such a tool. Supportive use means: the tool assists with the work process but does not replace the student’s own academic work. 

Principle of independence 

The work must, on the whole, remain the student’s own independent achievement. Students are fully responsible for the content, argumentation, sources, data, translations and conclusions. Permissible use of AI may support the student’s own academic work, but must not replace the academic substance or the relevant judgements.

Permitted and prohibited use 

AI tools may be used in the work phases described below, provided that their use as a support tool is transparently documented and critically reviewed. Simple proofreading tools, reference management programmes and non-generative search tools do not require documentation.

The supportive use of AI is permitted for: identifying topics, structural suggestions, linguistic revision, translation, summarising one’s own notes, coding assistance, data analysis or visualisation. The use must be appropriate to the task at hand. Suggestions made by the AI may only be adopted after independent examination. It is not permitted to adopt AI analyses, data or quotations generated with the aid of AI without examination or attribution, nor is it permitted to submit work that is essentially AI-generated as one’s own work.

Documentation and reflection report    

In the event of any relevant use of AI, please append a short reflection report of no more than two pages to your work, following the bibliography. In this report, explain which AI tools you used for what purposes at which stages of your work, and how you verified the results. The reflection report may be used to clarify the originality of your work.

Data protection and confidential content 

Do not enter any personal, confidential, sensitive or copyright-protected data into AI tools unless you have permission or a suitable legal basis to do so. This applies in particular to interview transcripts, examination papers, case studies involving individuals, unpublished research data and unauthorised third-party texts. Where possible, use AI tools or access points that have been approved by the university or are data protection-friendly.

Consequences of breaches 

Unauthorised, undisclosed or misleading use of AI may be regarded as the use of unauthorised aids or as deception. The applicable examination regulations and the decisions of the relevant examiners or examination boards shall prevail.

At the Chair of Organisation and Management, supervision of Master’s theses is provided exclusively by the Chair holder. If you would like to be supervised, please contact Professor Talaulicar in good time. Please refer to the examination regulations for information on the deadlines and the procedure for the allocation of topics.

Please note the information provided by the MA examination board of the Faculty of Economics, Law and Social Sciences.