Questions and Answers (Thesis)

Usage of terms must (not), should (not), and may according to RFC 2119. See also the Q&A on seminars.

How long should the final thesis be?

A rough guideline is around 40 to 60 pages for a bachelor’s thesis and 60 to 80 pages for a master’s thesis. These numbers depend on factors such as font size (typically 11pt or 12pt) and other aspects such as spacing and layout. However, you must discuss the specific requirements for your thesis with your supervisor, preferably based on a first draft of the thesis structure.

How long does the defense/presentation last?

For bachelor’s thesis defenses, we allocate 45 minutes. The time is split between a talk summarizing the thesis project (20 to 30 minutes), followed by questions (10 to 15 minutes). For master’s thesis defenses, we allocate 60 minutes. The time is split between a talk summarizing the thesis project (30 to 40 minutes), followed by questions (15 to 20 minutes).

Does the defense/presentation have to cover the whole thesis?

The short answer is: no. It is important to provide a high-level overview of the thesis project and then dive into selected aspects. The main target audience for the presentation is the second examiner, as they usually did not participate in the regular meetings over the course of the project. Sometimes, we ask students to address certain questions that might have come up while reviewing the thesis.

Should the thesis and presentation be structured chronologically?

We recommend structuring the thesis and the presentation in an outcome-oriented way, anchoring the story around the final outcome and results. The storyline does not need to follow a chronological order.

How many references should the thesis have?

This really depends on the specific topic. As a rule of thumb, a bachelor’s thesis should reference around 15 to 20 academic articles, a master’s thesis round 20 to 30 academic articles. This does not include references to gray literature, websites, documentation, etc. Most articles should be briefly summarized or mentioned in the related work section, but some might only be needed to support statements in the introduction or discussion sections.

“I” vs. “we”?

Using “I” emphasizes your personal contributions and can be used in combination with “we” to distinguish these contributions from, e.g., outcomes of the supervision meetings. In computer science, however, the “scientific we,” which includes author(s) and reader(s), is more commonly used. Avoid passive voice (“We conducted the experiment…” instead of “The experiment was conducted…”).