Final Thesis

Start early! In the Master´s program, it is recommended to search for possible topics at the beginning of the second year of your studies. In this way, you still have time to take matching study modules to acquire specialised knowledge you will need for the thesis. At the very latest, you should start looking for a topic at the end of your penultimate semester.

The topic is normally issued by a fulltime university professor of the Faculty of Engineering whose lab/institute is participating in the lectures offered in the Medical Engineering program (master’s program: module groups M2, M3 or M5). Master’s theses with lecturers from module group M1 are possible after previous consultation with the director of the study program, Prof. Tobias Reichenbach. Please send him a proposal of your desired thesis topic (template here) and ask for his ok.

You can find a topic by searching the websites of the different labs (all of them have a “research” and/or “thesis” section) and contacting the responsible persons. You can also consult the “job offer” section of this website, the facebook group “Medical Engineering Erlangen” or check the bulletin boards in the Faculty of Engineering. Moreover, if you are interested in non-advertised subjects, you can contact the researchers of a lab (mostly PhD students) directly and inquire if it is possible to work on a subject of their research field. In some cases,  they might even invite you have personal chat with them to discuss the projects they currently offer. 

Please note: Only professors and junior professors can officially supervise your Master’s thesis. Companies cannot issue thesis topics (see below)!

In principal, it is allowed to carry out a final thesis in cooperation with a company or external research institution, provided that an academic supervisor (=professor) from the Medical Engineering program agrees to supervise you beforehand. Important: Companies cannot issue you a thesis topic, as they are not academic institutions. Only a professor from the Medical Engineering program can issue you a thesis topic and grade your thesis. Do not sign any contracts with a company regarding a potential thesis if you do not have a supervisor at FAU!
Experience shows that almost all professors will reject supervising thesis topics proposed by a company they don’t know or haven’t had own projects with in the past. This is due to the fact that research topics proposed by companies oftentimes don’t meet academic standards and/or have little in common with the FAU lab’s research foci. Please keep in mind that the company’s interest is merely economic and that it doesn’t care about you receiving a good education or a good thesis grade!

Your best chance to pursue a thesis project in cooperation with an industrial partner is to inquire at an FAU lab involved in our Medical Engineering program which already maintains research cooperations with companies (more information can be found on the respective lab’s website). This way, you know that the person on the company’s side is trustworthy and that the joint supervision between them and the FAU professor will run smoothly.

The other way round, i.e. agreeing to a project with an external partner and then trying to find a supervising professor at FAU is hardly ever successful and therefore not recommended. In the rare case the FAU professor agrees, the above-mentioned regulations for the thesis also apply without exception. It is the student´s responsibility to coordinate and communicate the requirements between the issuing university teacher and the external partner.  For more information please consult the information sheet for issuance and procedure of “external” Bachelor’s and Master’s Theses and dissertations.

Not every topic must have a direct relation to Medical Engineering. You can also work on a more common engineering topic. However, at least one subsection (about one page) should describe how the topic could be applied in Medical Engineering. In any case, you need a medical supervisor (see below).

The thesis paper is supervised by the issuing university professor or one of his/her employees (usually PhD students).

In addition to this supervisor from the technical sciences/engineering, it is mandatory that you have a medical supervisor (staff member of the university hospital or a similar institution, i.e. member of a different clinic/radiology centre, or a licensed physician; in any case the supervisor must hold an academic title). Many supervisors in the Medical Engineering program already have contacts to medical supervisors and can help you with finding one. Please discuss with your medical supervisor early on to which degree he/she wants to be involved in the process of your work – whether you should report on your thesis regularly or whether he/she will only read your final paper before you hand it in.

You can register your Master’s thesis as soon as you

• have completed your conditional subjects (if applicable)
• have completed the mandatory modules marked as such in your module catalog
• have completed at least 75 ECTS credits your study program
• and have found a topic and supervisors.

You must register your thesis paper at the Examinations Office through your supervising lab using the German registration form for thesis papers (a non-official translation in English is available for your support but not intended for communication with FAU). You submit a copy of the German form at the Examinations Office and keep the original as it is needed for the final registration at the time of submission (see below).

The time required to complete the final thesis is predetermined. For every ECTS credit, you are supposed to work for about 30 hours, i.e. for the 30 credits of the Master’s thesis module, 900 hours are assumed. For the Master’s thesis, you will receive a period of six months for completion, i.e. the last semester should be entirely devoted to your Master’s thesis.

Important: If you get ill during your thesis project, make sure to get a medical certificate. When you submit it to our Examinations Office the time for the thesis project will be on hold during that period.

You have to hand in the final written thesis at the supervising lab until the official deadline.  You must always submit your thesis as a PDF file on a storage device (e.g. USB stick). Your supervisor can additionally ask you to submit the thesis in a printed and bound version, please ask in due time whether they want you to submit such an additional hardcopy or not (if the latter is the case, this has to be documented in written form). The thesis presentation and the grading can take place after the deadline. The presentation often takes place in a seminar/colloquium setting at your supervising lab. In principle, the presentation is ungraded, but many labs will give you bonus points for a good presentations. After the presentation and the grading of the written thesis, one final grade will be communicated to the Examinations Office by your supervisor within four weeks, using the bottom section of the Registration form for thesis papers (see above).

• Final research papers in engineering range from concrete technical applications to more theoretical topics. In any case they should demonstrate that their author has the ability to work on a chosen task independently, scientifically and methodologically within a limited period of time.
• Establish a working plan.
  • First, make a detailed plan, in which you consider the opening hours of the workplaces you go to, as well as the availability of your supervisor. It is also important not to over-charge and set clear short-term deadlines.
  • Be aware of your time management: in order to control the time factor, it is essential to plan the thesis by formulating realistic goals. You should create a concrete plan which has to be discussed with the supervisor as well. It is certainly helpful to schedule certain time buffers and check from time to time if the schedule works for you. Disturbances and distractions should be avoided as well as unclear goals or overloading your schedule.
  • It may be helpful to consult with fellow students who are either working within a similar time frame or on a related topic.
  • Break your thesis into defined stages: collection of ideas, project phase, data analysis, writing and polishing.
  • According to experience, the greatest level of stress comes towards the end of your project. Plan as few other activities as possible around this time, so that you can meet your submission deadline.
• Collaboration with your thesis supervisor: Remember to work independently and taking into account the deadlines so that your supervisor can rely on you. Let your supervisor always know what the status of your work is. Let him/her know early on if you are struggling with a certain task. Although your supervisors cannot do the work for you they can help you with useful hints on how to solve your problem.
• Once you have chosen your topic, you can start to research the resource material to get an overview of the current status of your topic. You must consider which concrete questions you would like to answer in your thesis and which methods you will apply. Once you have those questions, the university library database or academic search engines are extremely helpful.
• Set a clear deadline in your working plan for completing your initial research.
• By using an electronic organization system (e.g. Citavi, the RRZE offers courses) for organizing your sources, you can gain the best overview of the material you have read. Please ask your supervisor which citation style you should use. In any case it is crucial that you stick to one citation system. It is important that your organize your sources (articles, quotes, etc.) as you go through the writing process.
• In order not feel overwhelmed by too many tasks, a good outline is crucial. Your outline should be clear, well-structured and comprehensible for the reader and supervisor. A good outline is an important foundation for good advising. On the basis of your outline, you can discuss your specific questions, the structure, and length of your thesis with your supervisor.
• Remember to always write down your acquired knowledge/results!
• Cite correctly.
  • One of the hardest tasks when writing your thesis is correct citation. You must indicate the source of every idea that is not your own and every fact on which you have based your argument.
  • A literal quote (direct quote) must be referenced.
  • Paraphrases (indirect quotes) also have to be referenced.
  • A list of all citations (direct and indirect quotation), tables and graphs must be included in the source of your bibliography.
  • Recommendation: Indicate all citations and enter their sources in your bibliography or reference list as you draft your thesis.
• Save your data when you stop writing at the end of day or when you finish a task. Always back up your data on various storage media!
• Always keep your initial questions in mind during the writing phase. It can easily happen that you get off the track.
• Format your thesis according to the requirements of your supervising lab. Many labs will provide you with a template.
• Allow sufficient time for proofreading. At best, look for someone (friends, family, fellow students, etc.) who is willing to take a close look at your work.
• Check that all references as well as the format and form of the work are correct. LaTeX is definitely more helpful than Word in this respect. Alternatively, you can also find courses offered by the RRZE for scientific work.
• Remember that your work must be submitted to your supervisor in time, usually in one hardcopy version and definitively in one digital version (PDF document) on a storage device. Please consult with your supervisor early on if they want you to submit a hardcopy version or not.

Prof. Andreas Maier has published a comprehensive video on how to give a good scientific presentation. Please find it here.