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1 -Theses.WebHome
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1 1  This page is the collected wisdom and advice after supervising about 100 theses, from short study reports to dissertations. We recommend to study it **before** you start with your thesis work. Some topics are discussed on these separate pages:
2 2  
3 +
4 +
5 +{{children/}}
6 +
3 3  **Table of Contents**
4 4  
9 +
10 +
5 5  {{toc/}}
6 6  
7 -//Note: Most of this page is in German. Future additions should be done in English. At some point, some good soul might translate the German "legacy documentation" to English as well.//
13 +//Note: Most of this page is in German. Future additions should be done in English. At some point, some good soul might translate the German "legacy documentation" to English as well.//**
14 +**
8 8  
9 9  = Interaction With Your Adviser(s) =
10 10  
11 -A good interaction with your adviser(s) is key to success. Unless you happen to have substantial work experience and to already be an expert in your field, your adviser is ahead of you in terms of experience and expertise. Take advantage of this to improve your own work.
18 +A good interaction with your adviser(s) is key to success. Unless you happen to have substantial work experience and to be already an expert in your field, your adviser is ahead of you in terms of experience and expertise. Take advantage of this to improve your own work.
12 12  
13 13  Advisers are humans. They like to help you with your thesis topic; they don't like to have to "drive" it, or to get the feeling that their advice (including the hints on this page) is ignored. You, and not your adviser, should be the one who is pushing your work, asking questions, initiating discussions, and handing over thesis/chapter drafts without having to be explicitly asked for it. In short, your adviser should be convinced that your work is on track.
14 14  
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16 16  
17 17  Usually, your thesis is a full-time job, also meaning **full-time presence at your desk**. In case you also have other regular work to do, discuss this with your adviser at the beginning of your thesis work.
18 18  
19 -= Thesis Proposal =
20 -
21 -The first thing to do after you familiarized yourself with the topic and problem of your thesis is to write a short proposal (~~2-4 pages). The proposal should be prepared as early as possible (within the first or second week) and should show your adviser that you understood the problem and have a rough idea how to solve it. It may be structured as follows.
22 -
23 -* Problem description
24 -* Planned Solutions/Goals
25 -** Hard requirements that have to be fulfilled by the end of your thesis
26 -** Soft requirements that can be solved if time permits
27 -* Schedule outlining your proceeding (this includes writing the thesis, see next section)
28 -
29 -You should send your thesis proposal to your advisor and (if he is not already your advisor) the professor. After you finished the proposal, you should give a short (informal) talk of about 15 minutes during our daily tea meeting presenting your topic to all members of our group.
30 -
31 -As part of your final presentation, you should reflect on the schedule in your proposal.
32 -
33 33  = Timing is (Almost) Everything =
34 34  
35 -Technically, the only hard deadline that you have regarding your thesis submission is the one concerning the submission to the examination office (//Prüfungsamt//), which is at the end of the semester for Bachelor thesis and six months after registering the thesis for master thesis. However, at RTSYS (as with most other groups) we offer to look at your thesis before the official submission. This not only helps to improve your thesis, it also is more satisfying for the advisor to look at a thesis in detail if it's not just to determine a grade but also to help improve the result.
28 +Chances are your adviser has already supervised one or more theses. Take advantage of his or her experience! Send him drafts of the chapters of your thesis before submitting the final thesis. Of course, the drafts should be as good as possible from your point of view. Your adviser can only improve your drafts so much. If your draft is of low quality, (s)he can help you push it to an okay-ish level; but if the draft is already of high-quality to start with, (s)he can help you elevate it to pure awesomeness. Note that your drafts need not be complete yet: you can always hand in missing bits and pieces later on. Here's a schedule that has proven to work well regarding when to hand in what.
36 36  
37 -Thus, in your own interest, we advise //strongly// to send drafts of the chapters of your thesis to your advisor(s) before submitting the final thesis. Of course, the drafts should be as good as possible from your point of view. Your adviser can only improve your drafts so much. If your draft is of low quality, they can help you push it to an okay-ish level; but if the draft is already of high-quality to start with, they can help you elevate it to pure awesomeness. Note that your drafts need not be complete yet: you can always hand in missing bits and pieces later on.
38 -
39 -The process is usually that 1) you send a draft to the doctoral student(s) directly advising you, 2) you get feedback from them, 3) you implement that feedback, 4) you send the revised draft to the Prof. Yes, this pipeline takes time, and often there are holidays and travel plans to take into account as well, in particular for deadlines at the end of the summer semester. Here's a schedule that has proven to work well regarding when to hand in what to your direct advisors. Of course, sticking to that schedule is YOUR responsibility, you should not rely on your advisors to remind you of it.
40 -
41 -(% class="wrapped" %)
42 42  |=(((
43 43  What
44 44  )))|=(((
45 -When (AT THE LATEST)
33 +Master's Thesis
46 46  )))|=(((
35 +Bachelor's Thesis
36 +)))|=(((
47 47  Motivation
48 48  )))
49 49  |(((
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51 51  )))|(((
52 52  3 months before final submission
53 53  )))|(((
44 +6 weeks
45 +)))|(((
54 54  Once you are halfway through your thesis, you should have a basic idea of which topics you want to cover in your thesis. This must be discussed with your adviser.
55 55  )))
56 56  |(((
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58 58  )))|(((
59 59  4 weeks
60 60  )))|(((
53 +3 weeks
54 +)))|(((
61 61  The first drafts you submit are used to make you aware of basic problems of your writing style. Getting this feedback as early as possible in your writing process means that you won't have to change the whole thesis after you submit your final draft.
62 62  )))
63 63  |(((
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65 65  )))|(((
66 66  2 weeks
67 67  )))|(((
68 -Submitting a draft of your complete thesis **before** the final submission gives your adviser enough time to find problems and gives you enough time to incorporate corrections into your final thesis.
62 +10 days
63 +)))|(((
64 +Submitting a draft of your complete thesis **before** the final submission gives your adviser enough time to find problems and gives you enough time to incorporate corrections into your final thesis. This doesn't only improve the quality of your thesis, but also satisfies your adviser.
69 69  )))
70 70  
71 71  Theses done in collaboration with industry partners follow the same schedule. The drafts you submit to your adviser at the university, however, should previously be run past your industry adviser.
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84 84  
85 85  The bottom line: write clean and proper code that adheres to our coding guidelines and document it. The quality and the readability of your code and of your documentation will influence your grade.
86 86  
87 -== Code Reviews ==
83 +== Reviews and Ratings[[url:http://trac.rtsys.informatik.uni-kiel.de/trac/rtsys/wiki/Hinweise_Arbeiten#ReviewsundRatings||style="text-decoration: none;" title="Link to this section" shape="rect" class="anchor"]] ==
88 88  
89 -To make sure that code is of a certain quality, it must be run through code reviews. For this, create a pull request on GitHub, note which classes and changes are most relevant for the PR and assign your advisor(s) to review it. The reviews are not only intended to improve the quality of your code, but also to give feedback to you as a programmer to help you improve.
85 +To make sure that code is of a certain quality, it must be run through design and code reviews. The way this works is explained [[on this page>>doc:KIELER.Review Process]]. The reviews are not only intended to improve the quality of your code, but also to give feedback to you as a programmer to help you improve.
90 90  
91 91  = What Grade Do I Get For All This? =
92 92  
93 -Zur Beurteilung einer Abschlussarbeit wird generell ein schriftliches Gutachten erstellt, welches die jeweilige Arbeit individuell würdigt (incl. Note) und an das Prüfungsamt weitergeleitet wird. Es hängt dabei von der jeweiligen Aufgabenstellung ab, welche Leistungen im Einzelfall erwartet werden; so sind z.B. die Anforderungen hinsichtlich der konkreten Umsetzung bei einer stark anwendungsbezogenen Arbeit anders als bei einer eher theoretischen Arbeit. Gewisse Anforderungen und Erwartungen hinsichtlich der Qualität der Arbeit und der Vorgehensweise des Studierenden sind jedoch allgemein gültig, und z.T. auch bereits in der jeweiligen Prüfungsordnung konkret genannt. So sieht z.B. § 9(6) der Bachelorprüfungsordnung vor: „Die Note der Bachelorarbeit berücksichtigt die Problembearbeitung, die Bachelorarbeit und den Abschlussvortrag einschließlich der sich anschließenden Aussprache."
89 +Die Benotung studentischer Arbeiten richtet sich zunächst nach der jeweils anzuwendenen Studienordnung; für eine Diplomarbeit im Diplomstudiengang Informatik sieht z.B. §20(2) der Diplomprüfungsordnung vor: „Die Diplomarbeit ist von der Lehrkraft, die sie ausgegeben hat und einer oder einem weiteren Prüfungsberechtigten zu beurteilen.“
94 94  
95 -Ein etwas detaillierterer Kriterien-/Bewertungskatalog ist in den beiden folgenden Tabellen angegeben. Diese sind zunächst für Bachelorarbeiten ausgelegt, finden aber - mit entsprechenden Abwandlungen - auch für Masterarbeiten Anwendung.
91 +Zur Beurteilung einer Diplomarbeit wird generell ein schriftliches Gutachten erstellt, welches die jeweilige Arbeit individuell würdigt (incl. Note) und an das Prüfungsamt weitergeleitet wird. Es hängt dabei von der jeweiligen Aufgabenstellung ab, welche Leistungen im Einzelfall erwartet werden; so sind z.B. die Anforderungen hinsichtlich der konkreten Umsetzung bei einer stark anwendungsbezogenen Arbeit anders als bei einer eher theoretischen Arbeit. Gewisse Anforderungen und Erwartungen hinsichtlich der Qualität der Arbeit und der Vorgehensweise des Studierenden sind jedoch allgemein gültig, und z.T. auch bereits in der jeweiligen Prüfungsordnung konkret genannt. So sieht z.B. §19(1) der Diplomprüfungsordnung vor: „Die Diplomarbeit [...] soll zeigen, dass die Kandidatin oder der Kandidat in der Lage ist, innerhalb einer vorgegebenen Frist ein Problem aus dem Fach Informatik selbständig nach wissenschaftlichen Methoden zu bearbeiten.“ Hier sind also bereits drei Kriterien genannt (Fristeinhaltung, Selbständigkeit, Wissenschaftlichkeit). Ein etwas detaillierterer Kriterien-/Bewertungskatalog ist in den beiden folgenden Tabellen angegeben. Diese sind zunächst für Diplomarbeiten ausgelegt, finden aber - mit entsprechenden Abwandlungen - auch für Studien-, Bachelor- und Masterarbeiten Anwendung.
96 96  
97 -(% class="wrapped" %)
98 98  |(((
99 99  **Merkmal**
100 100  )))|(((
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159 159  max. 24
160 160  )))
161 161  |(((
162 -//Interaktion mit Betreuer//
157 +//Anwesenheit und Interaktion mit Betreuer//
163 163  )))|(((
164 -Interaktion nur auf Initiative des Betreuers; schwer erreichbar; selten anwesend, weist nicht auf Probleme hin
159 +Selten anwesend, Interaktion nur auf Initiative des Betreuers; schwer erreichbar; weist nicht auf Probleme hin
165 165  )))|(((
166 166  Unregelmäßige Interaktion, jedoch generell erreichbar und häufig anwesend
167 167  )))|(((
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207 207  max. 16
208 208  )))
209 209  |(((
210 -//Aufbau und sprachliche Qualität der Ausarbeitung//
205 +//Qualität der Ausarbeitung//
211 211  )))|(((
212 212  Ausarbeitung mit schweren Mängeln: fehlende Systematik, Schreibfehler, schlechtes Deutsch, unübersichtliche Verzeichnisse usw.
213 213  )))|(((
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246 246  
247 247  Die Umrechnung einer Punktzahl in eine Zensur ergibt sich unter Anwendung dieses Katalogs aus der folgenden Tabelle.
248 248  
249 -(% class="wrapped" %)
250 250  |(((
251 251  Note
252 252  )))|(((
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296 296  
297 297  = Further Links =
298 298  
299 -* „Einige typographische Grundregeln und ihre Umsetzung in LaTeX“ by [[Werner Struckmann>>url:http://www.cs.tu-bs.de/ips/struck/index.html||shape="rect" style="text-decoration: none;" class="ext-link"]] (TU Braunschweig), [[PDF>>https://www2.informatik.hu-berlin.de/sv/lehre/typographie.pdf||shape="rect"]]
300 -* „Anmerkungen zur Rechtschreibung“ by [[Werner Struckmann>>url:http://www.cs.tu-bs.de/ips/struck/index.html||shape="rect" style="text-decoration: none;" class="ext-link"]] (TU Braunschweig), [[PDF>>https://silo.tips/download/anmerkungen-zur-rechtschreibung||shape="rect"]]
293 +* Prof. Luttenberger at the [[Communication Systems Group>>url:http://www.comsys.informatik.uni-kiel.de/||shape="rect"]] regularly offers a very good course on writing and presenting scientific work.
294 +* „Einige typographische Grundregeln und ihre Umsetzung in LaTeX“ by [[Werner Struckmann>>url:http://www.cs.tu-bs.de/ips/struck/index.html||style="text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" class="ext-link"]] (TU Braunschweig), [[PDF>>url:http://www.ips.tu-braunschweig.de/struckmann/unitext/typographie.pdf||shape="rect"]]
295 +* „Anmerkungen zur Rechtschreibung“ by [[Werner Struckmann>>url:http://www.cs.tu-bs.de/ips/struck/index.html||style="text-decoration: none;" shape="rect" class="ext-link"]] (TU Braunschweig), [[PDF>>url:http://www.ips.tu-braunschweig.de/struckmann/unitext/rechtschreibung.pdf||shape="rect"]]
301 301  * If you write your thesis in English, you can find advice and further links (among them the classic "Strunk & White" on good writing style) on [[Henning Schulzrinne's>>url:http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~~hgs/||shape="rect"]] page "[[Writing Technical Articles>>url:http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~~hgs/etc/writing-style.html||shape="rect" class="icon"]]".
297 +* "[[Wie schreibe ich eine gute Diplomarbeit?>>url:http://www.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de/studium/azwa/wie.html||shape="rect" class="icon"]]" — a guide written at Oldenburg University. This is in part specific to that university, but also contains further links.
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1 -6160527
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1 -https://rtsys.informatik.uni-kiel.de/confluence//wiki/spaces/RTSYS/pages/6160527/Writing and Grading Theses
1 +https://rtsys.informatik.uni-kiel.de/confluence//wiki/spaces/RTSYS/pages/9471865/Writing and Grading Theses