Final thesis

Table of contents

Application

In order to obtain permission to write your final thesis, you must

The first and second supervisors for your final thesis must sign the application. If the first supervisor is unable to sign the application, send an email requesting his or her written agreement to supervise your thesis. Print out the email of agreement and attach this to your application.

  • Check with the examination board for your study programme or the Examinations Office whether you need to submit any other documents.
  • Further requirements regarding writing your final thesis can be found in the Framework Regulations for Study Programmes and Examinations.
  • Formal requirements for the final thesis, e.g. structure and number of pages, are stipulated by the examination board for your study programme.

If only the oral examination (colloquium) is missing before successfully completing your study programme, you do not have to re-register for the new semester in the event of passing your thesis.

If you do not re-register or if you successfully complete your studies you will get de-registered from HTW Berlin you are losing your right for possessing the HTW StudentCard (HSC). The HSC has to be emptied from all credits and has to be returned immediately and evidently to the Student Services Department of the HTW Berlin, Treskowallee 8, 10318 Berlin. You will receive your final certificates only after evidently handing in your HSC.

First and second supervisors

  • You choose the person who you wish to act as the first supervisor for your final thesis. This person must be a professor at HTW Berlin.
  • The second supervisor can either be chosen by yourself or by the examination board for your study programme. As a minimum requirement, this person must hold at least the university degree for which you are currently studying. This could therefore be a qualified individual from a company, a different study programme at HTW Berlin or at a different university. External supervisors generally agree a teaching contact to supervise the thesis.

The final examination panel — first and second supervisor — is assigned by the examination board for your study programme.

Admission

At the beginning of the semester, the examination board for your study programme will decide

  • whether to grant you admission to write your final thesis
  • who will serve on the examination panel — comprising the first and second supervisor
  • the title of your final thesis
  • when the period of time for writing your thesis will start and finish

You will receive confirmation of this information from the faculty administration.

Extension

If requested for the purposes of disadvantage compensation for disability or any other reason, the examination board may define a longer completion period. To apply for an extension for writing your final thesis, submit the following documents to the examination board:

  • An application for extension of the completion time [PDF]. For Faculty 1: School of Engineering – Energy and Information you must submit the application for students of Faculty 1 [PDF].
  • If you are pregnant, a copy of your maternity record (Mutterpass) with the expected date of birth. The deadline is extended by the period of statutory maternity leave.
  • In the event of illness, a medical certificate from a doctor or medical officer must be presented with a precise description of the reason why you are currently unable to write your thesis and the duration of your medical
    condition. The medical certificate must be presented within three working days. A certificate of incapacity for work is not sufficient.

Changing or withdrawing the topic of your final thesis

Even if you have already been granted permission to write your final thesis, the topic can be

Submission of your thesis

Please submit ONLY ONE PDF file containing all components (cover sheet, affidavit, etc.).The thesis may only be submitted once and not in multiple versions. Please refrain from sending paper copies or CDs. Send your thesis only to the e-mail address of your department (FB 1: Fb1@htw-berlin.de, FB 2: fachbereich2@htw-berlin.de, FB 3: Fachbereich3@HTW-Berlin.de, FB 4: FB4-Service@htw-berlin.de, FB 5: f5absch@htw-berlin.de).

Publication of the final thesis

If you agree to the publication of your thesis, please enclose this "Publication of the Final Thesis Freely Given Consent according to Art. 7 GDPR" to your thesis.

HTW Berlin publishes the final theses of its students in the university library. Users of the library can view and lend the published theses. For this purpose, personal data are collected in the online catalogue (webOPAC) of HTW Berlin and in Dandelon. The data processed in the online catalogue of HTW Berlin is also capable of being searched and referenced by global web search engines/webcrawlers, which do not fall within the power of control of HTW Berlin. HTW Berlin is only responsible for the processing of data in the webOPAC and Dandelon catalogues.

Amongst those personal data are the author’s first and family name, the title of the thesis and the year of graduation. Furthermore, the title page and the table of contents of the thesis are digitised as pdf files and included in the online catalogue. This allows machine-based research in indexes for all users of the online catalogue.

 

Repeating your final thesis

Your thesis will be graded with a "fail" (grade 5.0) if

  • you fail to submit your thesis to the examination board on time,
  • your notification of inability to take an examination is not recognised or
  • you deliver work of inadequate content.

Can your first attempt be considered a free attempt (Freiversuch)? In the event that the first attempted final examination takes place within the standard study period and all required modules have been successfully completed in advance of this attempt, all or part of the final examination attempted shall be annulled if it is graded with “5,0”. If the final thesis is failed, the final examinations must be completed on a new topic without delay.

The Examinations Office will send you a request to submit a topic proposal for repeat theses [PDF]. You will be granted admission by the examination board.