Final theses
The faculty-wide rules apply to the allocation of theses. Bachelor's students are assigned to subject areas on the basis of a central allocation procedure. In other words: We at the Department of Controlling have no influence on which Bachelor's students write their thesis with us. Master's students are also allocated on the basis of the central allocation procedure. However, the following applies here: if the number of applicants with a first preference for the department exceeds the number of places in the department, we select students. Our selection criteria include the study profile (in particular, whether and which courses in the subject area you have successfully completed), academic achievements and the degree to which your profile matches the possible topic of the Master's thesis.
You will be notified by e-mail about the allocation of a Bachelor's or Master's thesis place at the department.
The start dates for Bachelor's and Master's theses can be chosen flexibly within the period until the next allocation round. The earliest start of the 13-week (Bachelor's thesis) or 20-week (Master's thesis) processing period is in March if the thesis is awarded in February for the summer semester, and the earliest start is in August if the thesis is awarded in July for the winter semester. If you are allocated a place in February, the latest start of the processing period is in August (August 31); if you are allocated a place in July, the latest start is in February (February 28/29).
Immediately after you have received a place at the department, the department will register you in StudIP for the course "Abschlussarbeitenkolloquium FG Controlling". Find out there about the purpose and procedure of the colloquium.
The chair generally supervises topics from the entire spectrum of controlling. The chair regularly publishes current topics for Bachelor and Master theses (PDF, 157 kB). (The document is password-protected. The password is the same as for old exams). We also supervise theses on the basis of our own topic suggestions; see below for details.
Practical work
We supervise Bachelor's or Master's theses at the department that are written during or after practical work in a company and are co-supervised by company representatives. The prerequisite for the allocation of a practical topic is the submission of an exposé (see below). In addition, support from the company must be guaranteed. As a rule, it is advisable to contact us at an early stage to check the suitability of the planned topic.
Topics for bachelor theses
The chair usually offers specific topics for Bachelor's theses. After you have received a Bachelor's thesis place at the chair, you should immediately send an e-mail to controlling@uni-osnabrueck.de with the following information: a) overview of previous academic achievements; b) planned start date of the 13-week processing period; c) complete preference list of the topics offered by the chair; d) if necessary, additionally: your own topic proposal with exposé.
Regarding d): If you would like to propose your own topic, please refer to the content of the basic course in Controlling with regard to the range of content that we supervise in the department. If we do not accept your topic suggestion, you will be left with one of the topics we offer. Please create a synopsis for your proposed topic (see below).
Topics for Master's theses
As a rule, the Chair also offers specific topics for Master's theses. Master's students send an e-mail to controlling@uni-osnabrueck.de before the application deadline (and thus before the allocation of Master's thesis places) with the following information: a) overview of previous academic achievements; b) planned start date of the 20-week processing period; c) complete preference list of the topics offered by the chair; d) if applicable, in addition: own topic proposal with exposé.
Regarding d): If you would like to propose your own topic, please refer to the content of the basic course in Management Accounting and the Master's courses in Business Valuation, Value-oriented and Strategic Management Control, Management Control, Coordination and Incentives and Data-based Management Accounting with regard to the range of content that we supervise in the department. If we do not accept your topic proposal, you will be left with one of the topics we offer. Please create an exposé for your topic proposal (see below).
Exposé
Each topic proposal requires a synopsis. This applies in particular to practical work. The synopsis must be no longer than one page and contain
- The proposed topic for the thesis
- The research question you want to address in your thesis.
- A precise brief description of the topic (approx. 10 lines). In the case of a practical paper, also a brief description of the practice partner.
- Up to five scientific sources including an explanation of why and how the sources address your research question. At least two of these sources should have been published in a high-ranking academic journal (this corresponds to at least a B ranking in JOURQUAL, usually in the field of accounting or organization). We will also assess the suitability of your proposed topic (especially in the case of practical work) based on the selection of your academic literature.
If you need literature for your thesis that is not available in the library, you are welcome to contact us with a suggestion for a book purchase. The chair provides a certain amount of funds to order the desired books. Please write an e-mail to your supervisor.
You can find information on scientific work in the standard work "Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten" (Scientific Work) by Manuel René Theisen. Important basics are also taught in corresponding courses, in particular in the module "Scientific Work" by Professor Hoppe in the Bachelor's degree program. You are welcome to use the following format template (DOCX, 177 kB) for your paper. You can find the following specifications of the subject area in the format template:
- Font Times New Roman, 12 pt. (or 10pt. footnotes)
- Line spacing 1.5-fold (1-fold in footnotes, figure captions and table headings)
- Margin settings (top-bottom-left-right) 2.5 cm - 2.5 cm - 2.5 cm - 3.5 cm
- References as short references (i.e. "Author (year), p. xxx-yyy") in footnotes, not in the text.
- Length of the Bachelor's thesis: 30 pages; length of the Master's thesis: 40 pages.
Further information on the structure and design of your thesis, on literature research, on formulating scientific texts and on citation will be given in the first thesis colloquium after an assignment date (and only there!).
For the use of AI within the theses, please refer to the website of the schools examinations office.