Starting the master thesis
Before starting your master thesis, you should in principle have achieved all your teaching units. Additionally, if you have been admitted to this master program under the constraint to pass a complement to the master, you must have successfully completed your additional academic requirements before starting the master thesis.
The student is responsible for finding the topic of the master thesis (see available topics on the websites of the JMCS research groups).
To start your master thesis, please follow these steps:
- If you have agreed with your supervisor about the thesis topic, complete the first part of the Master Thesis Form and send the completed form by email to the JMCS secretariat.
- If you meet the conditions to start your master thesis, the JMCS secretariat will send the signed form back to you and your supervisor.
Working on the master thesis
According to the regulations, the master thesis is worth 30 ECTS and has to be completed within 6 months (corresponding to 24 weeks) in case of full-time studies. In case of part-time studies, the duration of the master thesis is adequately extended. In such a case, your supervisor has to validate an exact plan before starting your master thesis.
Finishing the master thesis
To finish your master thesis, please follow these steps:
- Once you complete your thesis, submit the report to your supervisor.
- Your supervisor has to review your report and to evaluate it within 4 weeks.
- Once the final version of your report is accepted:
- You and your supervisor have to complete the second page of the Master Thesis form electronically (use the electronically signed form you received from the JMCS secretariat at the beginning of your master thesis). He/she then has to submit the form by email and hand in a printed version of the form to the JMCS secretariat (see contact).
- You have to send the final version of your thesis as a PDF (ensure the cover follows the specified guidelines: Word and LaTeX) the abstract as a text file to the coordinator (see contact).
- Ask your professor/supervisor if they need a print version of the thesis. Depending on where you are matriculated
– Bern: submit the PDF to the deanship
– Neuchâtel: submit 2 print versions to the JMCS secretariat in Neuchâtel
– Fribourg: submit 1 print version to the JMCS secretariat in Fribourg
If your report contains confidential data, inform the JMCS secretariat and the report will not be distributed to the library.
Often, the master thesis is the last step in the master program and after performing the steps mentioned above, you can directly start the process of completing the master (see finishing the master program).
Deadline to avoid paying the full fee for the new semester
If you fail to finish your master thesis (in Bern including finishing the master program) before the last Friday 1 week before the start of the next course period, you will have to pay the full fee for the new semester. What has to be submitted before this deadline is dependent on your home university (not where you did the master thesis).