Writing a Thesis at Informatik 1

This page describes some general points that should be considered if you wish to write a thesis at Informatik 1.

Workflow

  1. Look at theses page for an overview of topics offered by Informatik 1
    • If a thesis topic sounds interesting, directly contact the advisor mentioned there.
    • If you cannot decide, contact Felix Freiling for some orientation.
  2. Decide on a concrete thesis topic and an advisor
  3. Write an abstract of what the thesis is about (“Expose”)
    • After discussing the topic with your advisor, write down on 1-2 pages how you understand the topic
    • The abstract should basically contain these sections: 1. Motivation, 2. Problem Statement, 3. Concrete Goals 4. Bibliography
    • The section “Problem Statement” should contain research question (or multiple questions) that you are going to answer with your work.
    • Bibliography should contain first literature (3-6 sources) that you are going to use, and all the mentioned literature should be cited at some point in the text of your expose.
    • In the “Concrete Goals” section, try to be as concrete as possible about what you should do. It is possible to mark certain goals as optional to get some flexibility in time.
  4. Get an OK for the abstract from your advisor and your examiner (usually Felix Freiling)
  5. Register the thesis and start work
  6. for Diploma and Master’s theses: At halftime (usually about 3 months) you are expected to give an intermediate presentation (“Zwischenvortrag”) to get some feedback on the work. This presentation does not count towards the final grade of the thesis.
  7. After submitting your thesis, you will have to give a final presentation in which you defend your thesis. This presentation will be part of the grade of your thesis.
  8. During your thesis, you are required to visit a couple (3-6) of intermediate and final presentations of your fellow students in order to comply with the requirement of a “Begleitseminar” for your thesis. Please synchronize visits with your advisor.

Thesis Layout

There are generally no real layout restrictions for the thesis. We nevertheless strongly recommend using LaTeX for writing the thesis. We can provide limited support for LaTeX and related tools, but unfortunately not for office suites.

If you decide to write your thesis using LaTeX, you can use a file set that contains a basic LaTeX frame and looks good:

Thanks to Johannes Götzfried for these files.

If you are feeling adventurous and your advisor is okay with it, you can also try the (currently in beta) modernized layout for writing an exposé, thesis or project report:

Please print your thesis in duplex mode and use a binding that is narrow (e.g., “Leimbindung” or similar). Try to avoid hardcover for the submitted version. (You can produce a hardcover version for youself, though.)