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Dept. of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering

Projects and master's thesis.

Master's students are required to complete one (2018 regulations) or two (2008 regulations) semester projects and one Master's thesis. The projects and the thesis are supervised by a professor of the Department (including adjunct professors ) or by a Download professor associated (PDF, 97 KB) vertical_align_bottom with the Department. Most projects are carried out under the guidance of, and in close contact with, a PhD student of the supervising professor. If two semester projects are carried out, to broaden your horizon, they should be carried out with two different professors.

Semester projects

A semester project should take about half of a student‘s time during one semester, i.e., about 300 to 400 hours has a duration of 14 weeks . It is possible to do a semester project in 7 weeks full-time outside a semester, but it is not recommended. The project includes an oral presentation and a written report, and it is graded. Before starting, the project must be registered in mystudies ("Projects/papers/theses").

Students from outside ETH are advised to pick and to start a semester project right at the beginning of their first semester at ETH and to take these projects seriously.

Master's thesis

The Master's degree programme concludes with a Master's thesis that lasts six months. The project includes an oral presentation and a written report (the Master's thesis), and it is graded. Before starting the project, the Master's thesis must be registered in mystudies ("Projects/papers/theses"). You will be admitted to the Master's thesis only if both semester projects (2008 regulations) are or one semester project (2018 regulations) is successfully completed.

Once the Master's thesis is successfully finished and all credits are obtained, students may request their diploma .

Information: Publication of Master Thesis in the Research Collection

Students have the possibility of publishing their master theses in the Research Collection . To publish master theses in the Research Collection, a letter of recommendation from the respective supervisor is needed. You can find further information on the webpage .

Semester project, Bachelor's and Master's theses offers at D-ITET:

If projects are taken, sometimes related projects may be available. Often, labs are willing to customize a project to match the students' interests. Many labs welcome students' own ideas for projects.

Below an overview of labs offering semester project and Master's thesis by specialisation:

• chevron_right Communication Technology Laboratory
• chevron_right Signal and Information Processing Laboratory
• chevron_right Chair for Mathematical Information Science
• chevron_right Computer Engineering and Networks Laboratory
• chevron_right Computer Vision Laboratory
• chevron_right Chair for Computer Science
• chevron_right Computer Security Group
• chevron_right Computer Architecture (SAFARI Research Group)
• chevron_right Institute for Electronics
• chevron_right Institute of Electromagnetic Fields
• chevron_right Integrated Systems Laboratory
• chevron_right Millimetre-wave Electronics Laboratory
• external page call_made Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics at EMPA
• chevron_right Photonics Laboratory

Booklet Download Semester/Master's theses "Energy and Power Electronics" (PDF, 78.2 MB) vertical_align_bottom

• chevron_right Advanced Power Semiconductor Laboratory
• chevron_right Laboratory for High-power Electronics Systems
• chevron_right Power Electronic Systems Laboratory
• chevron_right High Voltage Laboratory
• chevron_right Power Systems Laboratory
• external page call_made Institute of Neuroinformatics
• chevron_right Institute for Biomedical Engineering

For further ITET projects see external page SiROP website call_made .

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Institute of Science, Technology and Policy

Master's thesis.

The Master’s thesis concludes the Master’s degree programme in Science, Technology and Policy. With the Master’s thesis, students demonstrate their ability to conduct scientific research based on the theoretical and methodological knowledge acquired during the MSc programme.

The thesis addresses a particular policy issue chosen by the student and does so in an interdisciplinary manner. Policy analysis plays a significant role in the research and the resulting thesis. Writing the Master’s thesis involves a full-time semester workload (six calendar months full-time, 30 ECTS). Because the thesis must be completed within six months, students are advised to refrain from taking additional courses and/or, as far as financially possible, from pursuing paid employment during this time.

Master's Thesis in short

On this page you can find a short overview of the features and requirements of the Master's thesis.

The complete regulation can be found in the documents below:

• Please check the Download Master's Thesis Guidelines (PDF, 228 KB) vertical_align_bottom .
• Please download the Master’s Thesis Download Assessment Form (PDF, 253 KB) vertical_align_bottom (fillable PDF document).

Students can commence work on the Master's thesis when both of the following conditions are met:

• They have completed their Bachelor's degree.
• They have acquired the number of ECTS points required for the Master's degree in all categories, with the except for credits for electives and the Master's thesis itself.  

The minimum number of credits required in each category is:

• Courses in social sciences: 27 credits
• Minor in natural sciences and engineering: 27 credits
• Case studies: 12 credits

The Master's thesis must be completed within 28 weeks. These 28 weeks include 26 weeks of work and 2 weeks for holidays, sick leave, and other brief absences.

Students are free to choose a start date in agreement with both supervisors. The start date is then registered in myStudies, subject to approval by the supervisor.

This binding deadline for each student is displayed on myStudies. If it is missed without notification, the Master's thesis will be graded as ' failed ' . The Director of Studies can extend the deadline under exceptional circumstances. The reasons must be stated in a written request by the student and the request must be approved by the Studies Director.

There is no required or maximum length. A rule of thumb is 40 - 50 pages, excluding appendices.

• Front-page layout

The front page must contain the following information:

• ETH and ISTP Logo.
• Thesis type (Master's thesis).
• Name of the student.
• Student ID number.
• Master’s degree programme in Science, Technology and Policy.
• Title of the Master's thesis.
• Supervisor and Co-Supervisor, with their academic title and institution.
• Date of submission (dd/mm/yyyy).
• Declaration of originality

Students must submit a signed declaration of originality when they submit their Master's thesis. Each copy needs to contain a Download declaration of originality (PDF, 183 KB) vertical_align_bottom .

If this student uses AI tools for language editing, this is acceptable but must be declared in the declaration of originality. Using AI tools for the substantive content of the thesis is not allowed.  

• Citation etiquette

All students are required to follow the guidelines Download 'Citation etiquette' (PDF, 67 KB) vertical_align_bottom .

Please also visit the webpage on plagiarism on the ETH student portal.

Please be aware that supervisors will normally run Master's theses through PlagScan or a similar platform to identify plagiarism problems before assessing the content of the thesis.

The Master's thesis should be supervised by two professors, who serve as supervisor and co-supervisor, respectively. One of these professors must be from the social sciences. The other professor should be from the natural or engineering sciences or the social sciences. The supervisor must be an ETH Zurich professor. She or he has the lead role in supervising and mentoring the student and grading the thesis. The co-supervisor can be from ETH or another academic institution. Subject to approval by the ISTP studies director, the co-supervisor (whether from within ETH Zurich or another academic institution) can also be a postdoctoral researcher or senior researcher/scientist with demonstrated experience in advising Master's and doctoral students. Such a co-advisor must be independent of the supervisor, i.e., she or he should not be a staff member of the supervisor.

Subject to approval by the supervisor and the ISTP studies director, the Master's thesis research can also be undertaken outside ETH Zurich under the co-supervision of a professor or postdoc/senior researcher at that institution (meeting the same conditions as for the co-supervisor within ETH Zurich, see above). In such cases, the supervisor (who must be an ETH Zurich professor) should assess the submitted Master's thesis independently of the ETH-external co-supervisor and provide a separate assessment and grading proposal. If both supervisor and co-supervisor are from within ETH Zurich, they may provide a jointly agreed assessment.

The supervisor and co-supervisor must, under any conditions, have full access to data and other material when assessing and grading the thesis, if necessary, under a non-disclosure agreement with the external institution. Research findings reported in a Master’s thesis must be replicable by third parties, normally by everyone in the respective scientific field and, in exceptional cases, at least by the supervisor and co-supervisor. Students are also responsible for determining where their research requires approval by the ETH Ethics Committee and, if applicable, secure approval with support from their supervisor.

According to a directive by the rector of ETH Zurich, research for the Master's thesis as such cannot be paid for. That is, paid work time (e.g., in the context of an internship or as a research assistant) cannot be used for work on the Master's thesis. Reimbursements (e.g., for travel costs, additional charges for food or accommodation) are permitted.

The supervisor and co-supervisor have the following duties:

• Define the theme of the Master's thesis in consultation with the student.
• Define the tasks in writing.
• Determine the date on which the student can begin the Master's thesis and the date on which the student can submit the thesis.
• Define the criteria for assessment of the Master's thesis.
• Assess and grade the thesis.
• Finding a topic, supervisors and preparation of the thesis proposal

Students are free to develop their own thesis topic or to select a topic suggested by a prospective supervisor and/or co-supervisor, and they are free to choose a supervisor and a co-supervisor whose interest aligns with a particular topic, subject to the above rules. The thesis must focus on a policy-relevant issue, and policy analysis should play a significant role in the research and resulting thesis. Once a topic is identified and agreed upon by both the student and the supervisor, the student will draft a thesis proposal of around 2 - 5 pages. This proposal must be approved by the supervisor before the research starts. The proposal should cover the following points:

• Supervisor and co-supervisor.
• Research question and its relevance.
• References and relevant scientific literature.
• Potential theoretical arguments addressing this question.
• Empirical research strategy and timeline.

On the following sites, you can find inspiration for potential thesis topics. 

• Student Theses Energy and Technology Policy Group  
• Abschlussarbeiten Institut für Raum- und Landschaftsentwicklung (D-BAUG) (German only)
• external page SiROP call_made
• Registration in myStudies

After the students and supervisors have agreed on a topic and a start date, students need to register for lecture number '860-0900-00 Master's Thesis' on myStudies .

The latest starting date can be 3 months after the end of the semester of registration.

To register the thesis in myStudies, students need to submit:

• Title of the thesis (the title can be changed later on).
• Start date.
• Names of the supervisors.
• Thesis proposal.

The duration of the Master's thesis is set to maximum 28 weeks (6 months plus 2 weeks), and the submission date will be displayed on myStudies .

• The main supervisor must confirm the thesis in myStudies.

The supervisor must confirm the thesis in myStudies for the student to be able to formally begin the Master's thesis. The student office approves the registration in myStudies. Students can start the Master's Thesis only when the status in myStudies is 'Definite'.

• Submission and evaluation

The supervisor will, subject to the consent of the co-supervisor, communicate the grade and the grading sheet(s) for a thesis to the Study Administration within eight weeks after submission, and preferably sooner. The supervisor and co-supervisor must send the grading sheet(s) to the student. They will commonly meet with the student in person or online to provide more detailed feedback.

• Awarding credit points

Students will be awarded 30 ECTS credit points upon successfully completing the thesis.

• Publication in the ETH Research Collection

Students have the opportunity to publish their Master's thesis in the ETH Research Collection. To publish Master's theses in the Research Collection, a letter of recommendation from the main supervisor is required.

• Degree request

Once the Master's thesis is successfully completed and all credits are obtained, students may request their diploma .

The Master's thesis will be graded, and this grade will serve as the student's performance assessment for the lecture unit. Theses are graded on a scale from 1 - 6. Students must earn a 4 or higher in order to pass.

Only the written Master's thesis is evaluated. Presentation of the Master's thesis is not compulsory; however, the ISTP encourages students to present their thesis in a seminar or a poster presentation.

The Master's thesis Download assessment form (PDF, 253 KB) vertical_align_bottom will state the criteria that will be used to evaluate the thesis.

The supervisor  and co-supervisor will evaluate a student's thesis separately. The scores for each criterion are averaged. The average of all of these scores will constitute the final grade. The main supervisor will be responsible for coordinating the grading process and for submitting the student's final grade to the Study Administration.

A Master's thesis that receives a grade lower than 4 may only be repeated once. If repeated, it must address a new theme. The repetition may proceed under a different supervisor and/or co-​supervisor. Repeating a Master's thesis that has received a grade of 4 or higher is not possible.

Master's Thesis Interviews

To gain deeper insight into how the Master's thesis process could look like, check out our interviews with previous Master's students:

• A thesis abroad: Bridging technology decision making and local engagement in Laos

Outstanding Master’s theses are honored with the Silver Medal of ETH Zurich and a financial sum. Please find the directives here. Past STP programme medal recipients include:

• Felix  Zaussinger,  MSc 2021 ( 2022 Medal Recipient)

Since the number of medals awarded is capped, the D-GESS is typically allocated with one medal over the three MA programs (MA CIS, MA GPW and MSc STP) each year. The directors of study will nominate the candidates and take a joint decision. The ETH Medal will be awarded at the Master's degree graduation ceremony.

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Department of Earth Sciences

Master's thesis in earth sciences.

The Master's programme in Earth Sciences is concluded with the Master's thesis. The subject of the thesis is in the major study area and represents either an applied or fundamental research project.

In most cases, the project will be integrated into one of the research groups at the Department of Earth Sciences. Students may contact the lecturers directly for a project or choose from the list of Master's thesis projects at the department .

If geological mapping or sampling are required, early planning of the project is essential to provide flexibility in scheduling time in the field.

Guidelines Master's thesis in Earth Sciences

Before starting the Master's thesis, students must:

• Have obtained their Bachelor's degree .
• Have fulfilled all additional requirements (if any).
• Have successful completed the MSc Project Proposal (651-4060-00).

The project is supervised by:

• Main supervisor (mandatory)
• Additional supervisor (optional)
• Examiner (if necessary )

Supervisors are involved in the Master's thesis. If the supervisor(s) belong to the same group an examiner belonging to another research group is necessary . The examiner will evaluate but not necessarily supervise the thesis. At least one supervisor or examiner must be a professor/PD of the Department of Earth Sciences, the Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science or one of the department's authorised senior researchers . Exceptions must be approved by the Director of Studies.

Registration for “651-4062-00 Master’s Thesis”  in myStudies   "projects/papers/theses"

• Students starting their Master’s thesis between August and January register for Autumn Semester. Students starting between February and July register for Spring Semester.
• Please do not register twice if the start and the end of the Master’s thesis are not in the same semester, but choose the option “leave of absence” (Urlaubsemester) on myStudies for the subsequent semester.
• myStudies calculates the individual deadline automatically a t the time of registration  (plus six months).

The students present their Master’s thesis in a group seminar. At least one member of the supervising committee must be present. The time of the presentation can be selected individually in consultation with the supervisors/examiner.

The presentation counts towards the final grade.

Besides the individual deadline  (calculated automatically at the time of registration) there is an annual deadline  for each cohort, which is defined each year by the department depending on the date of the graduation ceremony.

Individual deadline

The individual deadline is calculated automatically in myStudies based on the start date (plus six months) of the Master's Thesis. This deadline is binding and the student must submit the Master's thesis no later than this date (by midnight). Students whose individual deadline is set before the annual deadline will be officially invited to the graduation ceremony.

Annual deadline

The annual deadline  or cohort deadline depends on the date of the graduation ceremony and is defined each year by the department. Only students whose individual deadline is set before the annual deadline will officially be invited to the graduation ceremony.

• Submission of Master's thesis: 26 August 2024
• Grading in eDoz: 13 September 2024
• Request for diploma: 16 September 2024
• Submission of Master's thesis The student hands in the Master’s thesis (physical copy or PDF) to the main supervisor (incl. the Download signed declaration of originality (PDF, 183 KB) vertical_align_bottom ) no later than midnight of the individual deadline. The main supervisor confirms the submission in eDoz.
• Grading in eDoz The main supervisor enters the final grade in eDoz based on the protected page Master’s Thesis - Assessment and Grading Form lock . A missed deadline results in a fail.
• Request for diploma The student must submit the request for diploma (Diplomantrag). He/she can only do so after the grade for his/her Master’s thesis is validated (verfügt) by the study administration.

If the Master's thesis is handed in after the annual deadline, the grades cannot be validated in time for the graduation ceremony. Thus the students will only be invited the following year.

The grades from all supervisors and examiner have equal weight for the final mark.

The main supervisor calculates the final grade ( protected page see assessment and grading form lock ) and enters the final grade in eDoz no later than four weeks after submission of the Master's thesis. A shorter submission of the grade applies to theses submitted by the annual deadline (see annual deadlines above) .

An excellent Master’s thesis (grade 6.0) can be suggested for the Silver Medal of ETH Zurich . The main supervisor must state reasons for the outstanding and excellent thesis by submitting a report.

The department encourages the publication of excellent Master's theses in the ETH Research Collection . Publcation of the Master's theses requires a letter of recommendation from the respective supervisor and a declaration of consent f rom the student.

The graduation ceremony takes place in late autumn (end of November). Only students who submit their work before the annual deadline are officially invited to the graduation ceremony.

Please contact the D-ERDW study administration in case of questions.

• Location location_on NO D 55
• Phone phone +41 44 632 64 83

Dep. Erdwissenschaften Sonneggstrasse 5 8092 Zürich Switzerland

Master in Space Systems

The Specialised Master in Space Systems starts in Autumn Semester 2024 and information about the Master's thesis in Space Systems is currently being prepared.

Master in Atmospheric and Climate Science

For information about the Master's thesis in Atmospheric and Climate Science visit the Institute of Atmospheric and Climate Science website.

Master in Applied Geophysics

For information about the Master's thesis in Applied Geophysics visit the external page Joint Master Programme page on the IDEA League website call_made .

Study grants

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Master in Comparative and International Studies (MACIS)

Master's thesis guidelines.

You may write your MA thesis in either during the spring or fall semester. The registration deadline is March and September respectively. The exact dates will be released a few weeks prior to the deadline with the 'MA Thesis Guidelines'.

MA Thesis Colloquium : you must attend the MA thesis colloquium, present your initial proposal and (later in the semester) the full research design, and actively participate in the discussions. Typically, there are around 5 meetings. You will need to register for the colloquium in myStudies. 

MA Thesis Workshop: you must attend the MA thesis workshop and present the results of your MA thesis research in front of all MACIS students. This workshop usually takes place March and July respectively.

Download MA Thesis Guidelines Fall 2024 (PDF, 619 KB) vertical_align_bottom Download MA Thesis Guidelines Spring 2024 (PDF, 624 KB) vertical_align_bottom

ETH Medal Outstanding Master’s theses are honoured with the Silver Medal of ETH Zurich and a financial sum. Please find the directives here Since the number of medals awarded is capped, the D-GESS is typically allocated with one medal over the three MA programs (MA CIS, MA GPW and MSc STP) each year. The directors of study will nominate the candidates and take a joint decision. The ETH Medal will be awarded at the Master's degree graduation ceremony.

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Department of Materials

Master thesis.

The Master’s thesis concludes the Master’s degree programme. It constitutes a six-month, full-time project aimed at advancing the skills and capabilities of students to work independently and creatively toward the solution of a research problem.

Students are asked to register on myStudies for the Master's thesis and submit the  Download registration form (PDF, 868 KB) vertical_align_bottom  to the D-MATL Study Administration before starting to work on the thesis.

The Master's thesis generally takes place during the entire 4th semester of the Master’s degree programme and is conducted under the supervision of a D-MATL research group or an associated professor . During those six months the students are supported by doctoral students and other researchers of the respective research group. In specific cases it is possible to do the Master's thesis in another department of ETH or at another university.

The Master's thesis is concluded with a report and oral presentation that are graded by the supervisor. Please submit a copy of the report as a PDF to the D-MATL study administration.

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Department of Health Sciences and Technology

Master's thesis.

According to the Study Regulations, a Master's Thesis is only admissible to those who

a) have fully completed their Bachelor studies and b) have fulfilled any extra requirements needed for admission to the Master Programme HST.

protected page Postings for Master's Thesis projects lock (nethz login required)

Guidelines for conducting a Master's Thesis see Documents .

The ETH Zurich library offers the course " Ready for take-off: how to start your Bachelor's and Master's thesis " (login reqired)

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Master in Energy Science and Technology

Master's thesis.

The Master’s degree programme culminates in
 the Master’s Thesis (6 months full time). The thesis is aimed at enhancing the student's capability to work independently towards the solution of a theoretical or applied engineering or techno-economic problem.

The Master’s thesis and the semester project are supervised by two different professors. The tutor may grant an exception if a convincing case can be made.

The student discusses the subject of the thesis with their tutor. If approved, the student then elaborates the thesis plan together with their thesis supervisor. All master theses must be supervised by an ETH Professor authorized to supervise master theses for the MEST programme.

The thesis is a 6-months full-time workload including an oral presentation and a written report (the Master Thesis). It is graded.

Before starting the thesis, it must be registered online via myStudies

The semester project and the internship in industry must be completed before beginning the Master's Thesis, as should be the courses.

Upon successful completion of the thesis, students will be awarded 30 credit points ECTS.

How to find a semester project or a master thesis?

Each chair and individual laboratory at ETH offers semester projects and master theses: check their websites and noticeboards for a list of topics. If you follow a course you particularly like, you might ask the professor or the lecturer about their project offer. Your tutor will also be able to help you making the right choice for a semester project or master thesis.

Occasionally, opportunities for a master's thesis are displayed on this site, please see Open Master's Thesis Positions

Department of Computer Science | Institute of Theoretical Computer Science

CADMO - Center for Algorithms, Discrete Mathematics and Optimization

• Honors and Awards
• Best Paper Awards
• Scholarships
• Publications
• Current Lectures and Seminars
• Guidelines for Theses
• Typesetting and Style
• Thesis Template
• Thesis Archive
• BSc in Computer Science
• BSc in Mathematics
• MSc in Computer Science
• MSc in Mathematics
• PhD program
• Syllabi of our Courses
• Lecture Guidelines
• Graduate School

Computer Science students who want to write their Master thesis with us: please consult also the general regulations for master theses of the Department of Computer Science (in German only).

In any case, please make sure you have read and understood the ETH regulations on plagiarism .

The CADMO groups offer a wide range of possible topics for a Bachelor, Diploma, or Master Thesis. There is a list of topics on the web, but these are not exclusive. If you have other ideas or interests, you are welcome to contact a advisor of your choice and talk about possibilities for a tailor-made topic. This makes sense, for example, if you have attended an advanced course, and there was a topic that you really liked and want to study in more detail.

Subject to availability (usually, this is no problem), we can offer you an office space in the CAB building (equipped with desk and computer) to work on your thesis. You don't have to accept this offer, but if you do, this has the advantage that you are close to your advisor, other members of CADMO, and other students that are writing their thesis. Obviously, discussing things, asking questions, and getting answers to them quickly is much easier then.

You can expect a weekly meeting with your advisor, of one up to two hours, depending on the state of your work. Usually, short meetings in between are always possible, and if you work in CAB, they can usually be arranged spontaneously.

In general, we offer a lively and research-oriented environment. The two major platforms for communicating the research performed by members or guests of our workgroups are the Mittagsseminar and the SOS , which usually take place once or twice a week, all year round. You are welcome to join: to listen, or even to give a talk about the work of your thesis (this is mandatory for obtaining a grade of 5.75 or 6 for a Master thesis).

Expectations

The role of your advisor is to guide you through your thesis: give possible directions, suggest ways out of dead ends etc. But the actual work has to be done by you. This should be self- evident, but let us make the point clear explicitly: we expect you to work independently in the sense that you tackle upcoming questions and problems yourself, before contacting your advisor about them. This is not because we're too lazy, but because the process of doing independent work is an indispensible part of any thesis. Also, you are expected to do independent literature search and reading. If all the papers you read in the course of the thesis work and all the references in your thesis were pointed out by your advisor, this is a bad sign. (On-line search is a great tool, but note: There is also a library which offers many older articles and in particular books that are not available on- line.)

You may get stuck, of course, after exhausting your possibilities, and then you are welcome to solicit help.

You are not required to find new theoretical results during your thesis, although this is always a goal that one should strive for. It is even possible to obtain the best grade without having new results, but in that case, other aspects of the thesis must be excellent (for example, the style of presentation, or software that you produced during the thesis).

There are research-oriented topics with the clear goal of finding new results, and there are topics that are more about implementing or summarizing known methods in a novel way. By choosing the topic, you can determine the research level of your thesis yourself.

Although it may seem picky to talk about page numbers (after all, some great research in history only took very few pages to write down), we still have to do it. If you produce a great new result, we're in fact satisfied with whatever number of pages it takes you to write it down properly. But in other cases, we also want to convince ourselves that you are a good craftsperson. And this means to carefully and understandably write down the problem covered by the thesis, the history, and your contribution. In our experience, this requires a certain minimum number of pages; here the following table can serve as a guideline.

Let us also emphasize that writing a lot per se is not a virtue either. So unless you have good reasons, to be discussed with your advisor, do not exceed the lower page limit by more than 50%, i.e., be selective in what you include in your thesis. After all, not everything that can be written down is worth being read. To quote Blaise Pascal: "Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parceque je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte" ("I have made this letter so long only because I did not have the leisure to make it shorter", also attributed to Mark Twain and others).

Please also note: it is not your advisor's job to repeatedly proofread your thesis. As a rule of thumb, you should expect that he or she will read each chapter of your thesis only twice: once to give feedback, and once after you submitted the final version. You should therefore make sure that the parts you ask your advisor to read are not rough first drafts, but in as good a shape as you can manage on your own. Also, it is usually a good idea to produce solid write-ups of your findings as you go along; dont postpone "writing things down" to the end of your thesis. In this way you can also incorporate feedback on how to improve your write-up that you got from your advisor for one chapter already in preparing the next chapter.

Formalities

There are not many: you should supply the final result of your work (the thesis) in electronic form (PDF). Every thesis or semester paper must include with it a completed and signed declaration of originality . This declaration is a component of the written work and must be included in every copy of it. In order to obtain a grade of 5.75 or 6 for a Master thesis, you have to present your work in the Mittagsseminar or the SOS ; your advisor will arrange this. Note: if you present your thesis in the Mittagsseminar, your talk should last 30 minutes (like almost everybody else's), not 45 minutes (which is the time for regular student talks).

ETH E-Collection is a publication platform provided by ETH-Bibliothek outside traditional publishing. Master theses can be published there if they are considered worthy of publication. To fulfill this condition, a grade of 6.0 is usually necessary but not sufficient.

The grade of your thesis is based on the written document you hand in at the end and the performance you demonstrate throughout the thesis work. The grading scheme for all accepted theses is as follows:

• 6.0 : work and results are truly excellent (in case of Master theses the rule of thumb is that the quality of the thesis should be equivalent to work publishable at international workshops/conferences)
• 5.5 : thesis quality significantly exceeds expectations
• 5.0 : thesis meets expectations
• 4.5 : thesis partially meets expectations, minor deficits
• 4.0 : thesis meets minimal quality requirements; it has major deficits and it is significantly below expectations

Quarter grades (5.25 etc.) are also possible; the above rules extend in the natural way.

Helpful documents

• We recommend that you write your thesis with LaTeX. There is an introduction to latex and typesetting on a separate page. We also have a thesis template that you can/should use.
• We have compiled a few simple but important rules for writing scientific texts in English. They are mandatory reading if you want to write a thesis with us.
• There is also a helpful guide on scientific writing by Don Knuth (the author of TeX), Tracy Larrabee and Paul Roberts. It is quite extensive and not everything in it is relevant to our purposes, but you should read at least the first 13 pages (§1 - §5). The full text can be downloaded in plainTeX-Format from Knuth's homepage ; here s a precompiled version for your convenience.
• Also, there is a handy guide on writing mathematical papers in English by Jerzy Trzeciak, providing countless examples and sample phrases you can use in your work. It is available from the EMS for the modest amount of 8 Euro. Your advisor also might have a copy that he/she is willing to lend you.

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Department of Computer Science

Semester and master's thesis projects.

The Semester Project and the Master's Thesis are mandatory courses of the Master's programme in Cyber Security. They have to be supervised by a professor of the cyber security faculty list .

Semester Project

Before starting, the project must be registered and a project description must be uploaded via myStudies.

Master's Thesis

The Master's Thesis requires 6 months of full time study/work, and we strongly discourage you from attending any courses in parallel. We recommend that you acquire all course credits before the start of the Master’s Thesis.  

Before starting the Master’s Thesis, it is important to agree with your supervisor on the task and the assessment scheme. Both have to be documented thoroughly. You electronically register the Master’s Thesis in myStudies.

Further details on internal regulations of the Master’s Thesis can be downloaded from the following website: www.inf.ethz.ch/studies/forms-and-documents.html .

Information Security Group

• Prof. Dr. David Basin

System Security Group

• Prof. Dr. Srdjan Capkun

Applied Cryptography Group

• Prof. Dr. Kenny Paterson

Network Security Group

• Prof. Dr. Adrian Perrig

Secure & Trustworthy Systems Group

• Prof. Dr. Shweta Shinde

Secure and Private AI (SPY) Lab

• external page Prof. Dr. Florian Tramèr call_made

Information Security and Cryptography Research Group

• Prof. Dr. Ueli Maurer

Foundations of Cryptography Group

• Prof. Dr. Dennis Hofheinz

Computer Security Group

• Prof. Dr. Kaveh Razavi

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Department of Environmental Systems Science

Master’s thesis.

The Master’s thesis is a scientific thesis written independently by the student. In his / her thesis, the student specialises and elaborates on the chosen subject during six months.

Permission to write the Master’s thesis is only granted to students who

• have successfully completed their Bachelor's studies,
• have fulfilled all prerequisites for admission to the programme,
• have completed at least 32 of the required 40 CP in the core subjects of their specialisation.
• The Master’s thesis shall closely reference to the scientific field of the chosen specialisation subject or be linked to another interdisciplinary field.

Online you will find a list of available Master’s thesis topics in the field of Environmental Sciences.

• Various projects on different subjects and from different institutions, on both the national and international level, can be found on external page sirop call_made
• You have the option to create your own subject in agreement with your supervisor.
• The Master’s thesis can be executed as a group work, provided that the supervisors approves it.
• Writing the Master’s thesis is a full-time semester workload (30 CP). It is advised to restrain from gaining other credit points or working during this time.
• Ready for take-off: how to start your Bachelor's and Master's thesis . This course was developed by the ETH Library. In case of uncertainty the UMNW documents apply.
• The supervisor as well as at least one more co-supervisor (an expert in the topic) will grade the Master’s thesis.
• All names of authorised supervisors for Master’s theses can be found on the List of Authorized Supervisors on Moodle.
• If the Study Administration agrees, the Master’s thesis can also be executed outside of the D-USYS (national and international scope). In these cases, an authorized ETH-supervisor will be responsible for the supervision.
• External supervisors must be entered as co-supervisors on myStudies.
• Choose a supervisor and agree subject and form of thesis with him / her.
• Register online on myStudies > Functions > Register for, view and edit research projects/papers and Master's theses > Master's Thesis.
• Enter the name of your main supervisor, the name of co-supervisor, and the title of your thesis.
• The duration of the Master’s thesis is set to maximum 28 weeks (6 months plus 2 weeks) and will be displayed on myStudies.
• The Director of Studies can extend the deadline under exceptional circumstances. The reasons must be stated in a written request (post or e-mail). Medical reports must be sent to the Study Administration.
• In consultation with the supervisor, the Master's thesis can be written in a national language or in English.

There is no layout restriction e.g. order, picture, Logo (not ETH) but the front page must contain the following information:

• Thesis type (Master's thesis)
• Name of the student
• Student ID no.
• Degree Programme Environmental Sciences
• Title of the Master's thesis
• Supervisor and Co-Supervisor, with their academic institution note : both grade the thesis
• Advisor, with academic institution note : only if applicable; doesn't grade the thesis
• Date of submission (dd/mm/yyyy)
• Note "Confidential" note: only if asked
• Example: Download Front Page (PDF, 173 KB) vertical_align_bottom
• On the day of submission, the final written thesis must be in the supervisors’ possession. Any corrections afterwards will not be taken into consideration.
• All supervisors will evaluate the final version of the master’s thesis. The declaration of originality , signed by the student, is a necessary component.
• The form of submission (printed, bound, PDF, etc.) of the Master’s thesis needs to be agreed with the supervisor.
• With the agreement of the main supervisor, an excellent Master ’s thesis can be published in the Research Collection ETH . You can find further information on the webpage: https://documentation.library.ethz.ch/display/RC/Theses

A failed Master's thesis can be repeated only once. In this case, the student choses a new subject within his / her chosen scientific field. The student is free to choose another supervisor for the second attempt.

Here you find all documents in the overview .

• Phone phone +41 44 633 60 82

Study administration Universitätsstrasse 16 8092 Zürich Schweiz

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ETH Library

Get ready for your bachelor’s or master’s thesis.

• #ETHLibrary4Students
• Writing, managing references
• Books and Library

Now, learn as part of self-study why research question, outline and proposal are crucial.

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How to approach your Bachelor’s and Master’s thesis? The brand-new course  “Ready for take-off: How to start your Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis”   teaches you the most important prerequisites for a research or writing task, i.e. writing the research question and the proposal and creating the initial outline. The course offers tips for communicating with your supervisor, as well as information about the relevant services of the ETH Library, such as research and management of literature.

You will also listen to an interview with a former Master’s student and her professor at the Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (D-ITET): enthusiasm for your topic, independence, good collaboration with your supervisor, constructive feedback and good planning are crucial elements on the path to a successful Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis.

The course can be accessed on the Moodle teaching and learning platform and can be completed in about 75 minutes of self-study.

Moodle requires user authentication from ETH Zurich.

Good to know: The course on Moodle is also conducted as a webinar , for which you have to register online. 

More information can be found at: library.ethz.ch/writing

# KnowMore – The prepared content issued by the ETH Library is at your free disposal and gives you a head start.

#ETHLibrary4Students – Practical support in your studies.

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3 Format of the Master and Bachelor Theses

3.1 – language.

The Master thesis has to be written in English and Bachelor thesis in English or German, comprehensibly and in an appropriate style. It is recommended to have the thesis corrected by a third person before handing it in.

3.2 – Formal Layout

If the research group, in which the thesis project is carried out, does not have formal guidelines for the layout of the thesis, the following are recommended:

Format: A4 Page margins: top and bottom: 3 cm, left 3 cm, right 2 cm Font & Font size: 11-12 points, Arial recommended Columns: single-column Paragraph: line spacing 1.5, justified Page numbers: bottom, starting from introduction Paper quality: minimum 80 g/m2 paper

There may be additional (partially discipline specific) guidelines for figures and reference formats. Ask your supervisor.

3.3 – Number of Pages

The number of pages is no criterion for the quality of a bachelor or master thesis. The content and the engagement with the subject are the key factors (quality is more important than quantity; a typical range is 20-30 pages for the Bachelor thesis and 30-50 pages for the Master thesis).

3.4 – Paper Form

It is possible to write the master thesis directly in the form of a scientific paper. This possibility will be discussed and agreed with the Examiner as early as possible ( see section 2.6 Affiliation with Publications ). In this case, the formal requirements of the corresponding journal apply (e.g. layout, number of pages). It is even more important in this situation that the contribution of the student is traceable for grading purposes.

Guidelines for Scientific Communication: Guidelines for Scientific Communication - Copyright © 2017 by Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH Zurich. All Rights Reserved.

Info about Bachelor and Master theses

if anything in this article is outdated or a link does not work, please contact Hopo: hopo ät vis.ethz.ch

Short information

• Regulations: https://inf.ethz.ch/de/studium/dokumente.html
• List of all research groups: https://inf.ethz.ch/studies/semester-and-master-theses.html
• Mailing list: [email protected], subscribe via: https://lists.vis.ethz.ch/sympa/info/thesis (login required)

The Bachelor and Master thesis is part of the Computer Science Bachelor and Master program at ETH. The goal of both theses is to learn independent structured and scientific work methods.

The most important information about the Bachelor's and Master's thesis can be found in the study regulations and the information sheets of the respective study program. These documents are listed on the following page of the D-INFK: https://inf.ethz.ch/de/studium/dokumente.html In the following we summarize the most important points.

Both theses take 6 months to complete. The bachelor thesis is worth 10 KP and the master thesis 30 KP. The bachelor thesis can be written over 6 months in a part-time workload or as a full-time workload in a shorter time frame. The master's thesis is written over 6 months in a 100% workload.

Under certain conditions, the Bachelor thesis can also be written in a group (see Bachelor regulations Art 36.6). However, this is not common.

In order to be admitted for the Master thesis, sufficient credit points must have been acquired from some categories: see Master regulations 2020 Art 35.2 and the regulations of 2009 Art 32.2. In order to be admitted for the Bachelor thesis, 5 basic subjects must have been passed, see information sheet Bachelor thesis. If these conditions are fulfilled, you can start the thesis at any time. But note that the submission date is before the end of your study deadline and the start date must also be convenient for your supervisors.

The Bachelor thesis is supervised by one or more professors. From our experience (HoPo-Team) this supervision can vary a lot:

• The supervision can be done directly by the professor or by PhD students or PostDocs of the respective group.
• Supervision can be very time intensive (meetings at least once a week) or only as needed (if questions arise, they are clarified).

Both theses are completed with a written report and a presentation. The form of this presentation (audience, duration) may vary from group to group. The standard of the written work also varies.

The work can also be done externally, i.e. in industry or at another university. However, the work must still be supervised by an ETH professor. This professor also assigns the grade at the end and, depending on the project, also takes over part of the supervision. For the Data Science and Cyber Security Master there are some additional regulations regarding external master theses: See section 3 of the Data Science Master thesis leaflet, section 4 of the Cyber Security leaflet or Data Science study regulations art. 28.2. or Cyber Security study regulations art. 33.4.

For more and detailed information, check out the documents linked above.

How to find a topic:

Take your time to find a topic and a group. You should expect at least one month from your first mail to the start of your work. This process may also take longer. So if you want to start on a fixed date, you should start looking early enough. For some groups, half a year before the start is too early. This varies from group to group.

Subscribe to the mailing list: Once you are looking, you should subscribe to the mailing list to get possible proposals from there ( https://lists.vis.ethz.ch/sympa/info/thesis ). When you have found a thesis, you can unsubscribe.

Find a subject: First of all, you should think about what field you are interested in. Especially for the bachelor thesis, you probably don't have very concrete ideas yet. It can help to think about which lectures you were interested in and which you enjoyed. And then look at the field of the professorship.

Find a group: The department lists all professorships and their research groups at the following link https://inf.ethz.ch/studies/semester-and-master-theses.html . The links sometimes point to the general website of the research group, then you can get an idea of their work, or to a page for writing papers in the respective group. Such pages often contain possible topics or already prepared proposals, requirements to you and email addresses of the contact persons. It is worthwhile to study such pages. It should be noted, however, that the lists of proposals are usually not complete and often not up to date. However, the proposals will give you a good idea of what you can do as work in this group. The new topics will be similar. Even if no concrete proposals are announced, it is worth asking. There is also a new mailing list where topics for papers are advertised. Both from research groups of the department and from externals: https://lists.vis.ethz.ch/sympa/info/thesis

Write to the groups: The above sites often tell you who to contact to find a paper. If you are unsure, write to the professor personally. You can also write to several groups, and then choose the topic that interests you the most. This process can take some time. Professors are very busy and often take 2 days or more to respond. If you don't get an answer within a week, you can ask nicely. Unfortunately, it also happens that emails are ignored completely, then you should look for another group. Even if it sometimes takes a while with the professors; try to write back within 24 hours.

Have a meeting: It's best to set up a meeting where you can talk about possible projects and get to know the potential supervisors. Have them explain the topic and ask questions. Also find out a bit about how the group will supervise you (and if that's right for you) and when you can start working. Additionally, for the bachelor's thesis, clarify whether you will be working on it part-time for 6 months (the normal case) or full-time for a shorter period of time.

Decide: When deciding on a topic, it is certainly important that it interests or even excites you. You have to work intensively on it for 6 months. But it is just as important that the supervision is right for you. Do you prefer intensive collaboration or are infrequent inputs enough for you? Can you imagine working together with the supervisor? Are the expectations realistic? Also, exchange ideas with friends or stop by the VIS office, someone may already know the group you want to learn about.

Finish in time: If you do the Bachelor thesis and an ETH Computer Science Master: The Bachelor thesis grade must be there at the beginning of the Computer Science Master, so that you can still enroll (Friday second week of the first Master semester at the latest). In case of doubt please ask Denise Spicher (or Hopo). Note that your supervisors need time to give you the grade (up to 4 weeks, in rare cases more).

Other useful links:

• Latex template: The CADMO provides the following template: https://www.cadmo.ethz.ch/education/thesis/template.html
• Links from CADMO: On the page of CADMO about master and bachelor theses is a list of useful links: https://www.cadmo.ethz.ch/education/thesis/guidelines.html (at the bottom)