Master thesis procedures

The following instructions are intended for the MA students who wish to write their thesis with one or more supervisors from the Center for the History of Hermetic philosophy and related currents. To prevent problems in planning and writing your Master Thesis, please read them carefully.

1ST AND 2ND SUPERVISOR
The first step towards writing the thesis consists in contacting one of the teachers to discuss the topic of your thesis, and ask him to act as your main supervisor. You are strongly advised to do this as early as possible: teachers try to share the workload fairly among themselves, so if you wait too long, you run a risk that your preferred supervisor may no longer be available.
As soon as the two of you have reached an agreement, you also need to decide (together) upon whom to ask as your second supervisor, and contact the latter as well: that is to say, finding a 2nd supervisor should not be postponed until a later stage. Please note that the 2nd supervisor is not required to be actively involved in the supervision, but may choose to do so if s/he wishes; in any case s/he must be kept informed of how your research and writing of the thesis develops.

1ST VERSION
Like a research paper, an MA thesis always goes through a 1st and a 2nd version. While you’re working on the 1st version, it is up to you and your 1st supervisor to arrange among yourselves how you want to plan and organize the details of the supervision process (how often do you want to meet, do you discuss the thesis in person or by email, etc.).
The deadline for submitting the first version is July 1. At this date – but preferably earlier – an electronic version of your first version must be sent to both your 1st and your 2nd supervisor, and your 1st supervisor must receive a printed copy as well. Please note that “1st version” does not mean merely a first draft or rough outline that you still expect to thoroughly revise, but a carefully written and edited thesis that is as complete and final as you can make it at that point (i.e. including cover page, table of contents, footnotes, bibliography etc.).

2ND VERSION
Prior to July 1, you should already have made clear arrangements with both your 1st and the 2nd supervisor about the supervision schedule after July 1. Teachers go on holiday too! Therefore if you forget to set up a clear schedule of deadlines for the summer period, you run a serious risk of not getting your thesis read and commented upon (by both supervisors) in time for the crucial August 31 deadline (on which see below).
The supervisors’ deadline for sending you their critical feedback on the 1st version, and your own deadline for submitting the 2nd version will both depend on the summer schedules of all three of you. They should leave you sufficient time for revising your 1st version (which might involve the necessity of doing some extra research) and writing the 2nd one; and they should leave your supervisors sufficient time to read the 2nd version before August 31.

THE AUGUST 31 DEADLINE
Students often realize too late that the deadline of August 31 is a final one, and missing it can have unpleasant consequences. If your thesis is not finished (i.e., has not been awarded a grade) on this date, you will not be able to complete it unless you enroll as a student for the next academic year, which means you have to pay the tuition fee as well. If you then finish a few months later, the university will pay you back the fee over the remaining period; but even so, you will be forced to advance a full year’s tuition fee.
It is important to emphasize that it is your own responsibility to plan carefully and make clear arrangements with your supervisors. For example, it is not acceptable to suddenly surprise them with an unannounced thesis on the 20th of August, and expect them to read and grade it right away just to prevent you from having to pay the next year’s tuition fee.

STANDARD REQUIREMENTS FOR THE THESIS
- The thesis (2nd, or final, version) must be submitted both in printed and electronic format. The printed version must be submitted in four copies (one for each supervisor and two for the archives).
- It must include at least (1) a cover page that mentions your name, the title of the thesis, the field of study and the Master’s trajectory, the names of the two supervisors, the date of completion, and your student number; (2) a table of contents; and (3) a bibliography.
- In principle the length should not exceed 45 pages for the 1-year master thesis, 60 pages for the research master thesis (12 pt main text/10 pt footnotes; 1.5 spacing in main text and footnotes), excl. cover pages, table of contents and bibliography. This corresponds to ca. 16,000 words [1-year’s master] and 20,000 words [research master], including footnotes, but excluding bibliography). Supervisors may accept a longer thesis if you can manage to convince them, but they are not required to.

ROLE OF THE SUPERVISORS
The 1st supervisor carries the main responsibility for discussing and commenting upon your thesis. The 2nd supervisor (1) must be kept informed about the progress of your work and about other relevant developments, (2) must receive both the 1st and 2nd version; (3) is expected to read at least the 2nd version, but (4) is not required to comment upon either of the two version in detail unless s/he so chooses. When both supervisors have read the 2nd version, they contact one another to compare their opinions, and together reach agreement about the grade; the 1st supervisor then contacts the student to inform him/her about the outcome, and takes care of the remaining administrative paperwork.