Regl. 2017: Master's thesis and graduation ceremony

According to regulations, the following criteria must be fulfilled before commencing the Master's Thesis:

• Completed Bachelor studies
• Matriculation for the Master course
• Fulfillment of any further requirements for admission to the Master programme
• Attainment of at least 30 CP in the Master programme

The Master's Thesis has to be registered in advance with the Study Secretariat who will submit it for approval to the Department Conference according to the Regulations of the Master study programme.

For the registration, the Downloadregistration form (PDF, 91 KB)vertical_align_bottom has to be filled out, signed, and handed in by e-mail (PDF) at the Study Secretariat.

Students register the thesis electronically on myStudies after submitting the registration form. If a master’s thesis is carried out across two semesters, the registration must be made in the semester in which the major part of the work is completed. The thesis has to be registered only once. The study administration office will confirm the registration after the DK has approved the master’s thesis.

Also see information on the student portal (tab "Registering for project papers, Bachelor's or Master's thesis and semester papers")

The duration of a Master's thesis is 28 weeks (full time). Prolongations have to be approved by the Director of Studies following a well-justified written request by the student. The appropriate form has to be used. The form is published in the Documents section.

30 CP are acquired after successful completion of the thesis.

Each Master's Thesis in the study programme Food Science is made up of the following components:

• Written, scientific report (80% of the grade)
• Presentation of 15-20 minutes in front of a subject related audience. The presentations are held together twice a year, as a rule at the beginning of July and the end of November (week 27, respectively week 47).
• Poster (PDF and printed version format A0; not graded) with results or introduction of methods or the project. The poster is shown at the Master ceremony in an exhibition.

The presentation are held two times per year, as a rule at the beginning of July and the end of November (week 27, respectively week 47).

Duration per presentation: Time slot of max. 30 minutes (presentation 15 to max. 20 minutes, followed by questions). At the end of the round of questions, the presentation will be evaluated by the examiner and the co-examiner. The grade of the presentation is 20% of the overall grade for the Master's thesis.

Dates for the presentations 2024:

• Thursday, 4 July 2024
• Thursday, 21 November 2024

The poster (not graded) must be created in consultation with the supervisor. The poster with results, descriptions of methods or the project is a mandatory component of the Master's thesis. It is shown at the Master's ceremony in an exhibition, and it is a prerequisite for participation in the ceremony.

Submission deadline for poster

The Master's graduation ceremony will take place on Friday, 19 April 2024. Deadlines for poster submission:

• PDF: Thursday, 29 February 2024, by email to
• Printout A0: Friday, 12 April 2024, LFW C 13.2 or LFW C 13.1

The poster has to be layouted in portrait format.

Students who wish to graduate before the official poster submission deadline are requested to hand in the the poster along with the request for the diploma certificate.

Prolongations have to be approved by the Director of Studies following a well-justified written request by the student. The appropriate form has to be used. It can be found in the Documents section.

The Master's Thesis is an independently written work. It is compulsory for each student to sign a Declaration of Originality and to include it with the Master's Thesis. The Declaration of Originality must be bound into the work. The Declaration of Originality form and further information can be found on the Student portal.

The supervisor and co-supervisor grade the presentation and the written work. Weighting: presentation 20%, written work 80%.

The presentation is graded immediately after the presentation. The grades are submitted to the Study Administration Office.

After the written work is completed, the Study Administration Office submits a copy each to the supervisor and co-supervisor for grading. As a general rule grading takes place 4-6 weeks after submission.

The grades are passed on to the Study Administration Office who calculates the end grade from the presentation and written work.

The theses are not archived in the Study Administration Office.

Requests for certificates can be submitted to the Study Administration Office at any time. The application will be examined. The Study Secretariat prepares the final academic record in German and English and forwards them to the Academic Services Department who issues the diploma (degree) certificate.

Certificates are issued at any time throughout the year.

The Academic Services Department issues the diploma certificates and the diploma supplement – a description of the courses taken.

In the case that a final academic record has not yet been issued, on request the Study Administration Office can give a transcript of performance assessments in German or English, which can be used for applications for employment.

The legal basis is founded on Art. 31 of the Regulations 2017 for the Master study programme Food Science (in German)