Question: What is the general time schedule for a thesis?

Answer: This depends specifically on your respective examination regulations according to which you are studying. In any case, check which requirements apply to you!

In general, the procedure is as follows.

First of all, you should present your idea to a lecturer of the Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology, who will be in charge of the thesis, and clarify if

• the topic is suitable for a thesis
• the lecturer is willing to supervise the work
• whether the lecturer has a topic to assign, if you do not have an idea of your own
  

2. if topic and supervision are basically fixed, you should register for the Oberseminar . There is a form for this on our website.

3. when you officially register the thesis, you will receive a corresponding application at the Examinations Office. In this form you have to fill in your own data as well as the surname of the supervisor and the second supervisor. Afterwards, you should get the signature of the second supervisor confirming his or her readiness and then hand in the application to your supervisor.

The supervisor of the thesis completes further details in the application form, in particular he/she enters the topic of the thesis. He/she forwards the application to the chairman of the examination board (PAV). 5.

The PAV examines the application. If it meets the requirements, he/she signs it off, determines the first and second examiners and forwards it to the Examinations Office. 6.

The Examinations Office now informs the student in writing of the topic and the latest submission date of the thesis. This is calculated according to the day on which the notification is made (i.e. not the day on which the application is passed on to the supervisor). The maximum processing time is specified in the examination regulations. Currently applies:

• for Bachelor's theses 3 months
• for master's theses 4 months

7. within 4 weeks after the official start, students can return the topic of the thesis without giving reasons. However, this is only possible once.

8. within the time limit thus set, the student hands in the thesis to the Examinations Office in triplicate. A minimum processing time is not provided for in the current examination regulations.

9. the Examinations Office passes the corresponding copies to the supervisor and the second supervisor. They evaluate the written part of the final examination. If this is passed, invite the student to the oral examination. This should take place within three months of the submission of the thesis. The invitation to the oral examination will be sent in writing. 10.

10. the oral examination will take place in the presence of the student, the supervisor and the second supervisor. Immediately after the colloquium, which lasts about 45 minutes and takes the form of an oral examination, the student must be informed of the evaluation of the written and oral parts of the final examination. The appropriately completed forms shall be given to the supervisorto the PAV.

11. the PAV forwards the documents to the Examinations Office.

After a period of time, which should not exceed 4 weeks, the student receives the degree certificate and the certificate upon presentation of the completed "run sheet" at the Examinations Office. If desired, these can also be sent by mail.

Question : Can I extend the deadline for submitting the work? What if I get sick during the processing phase?

Answer : First of all, let me remind you again: the deadlines are valid from the registration date mentioned on the Examinations Office notice!

The deadline can be extended by a maximum of one month in the case of an empirical, experimental or mathematical topic.

A one-time extension by a maximum of one month is also possible if a delay not caused by the student has occurred. This could be, for example, the late delivery of a machine important for measurements, technical difficulties with a piece of equipment, problems in the production of a company or similar. An application must be submitted to the Examinations Office for an extension. This must be endorsed by the supervisor and approved by the Chair of the Examinations Board.

In case of illness, the deadline will be extended if a medical certificate proves that it was not possible to work on the thesis during the illness. The application for an extension must be submitted to the examination office together with the medical certificate in due time. The Chair of the Examinations Board decides on the recognition.

Question: Who determines the grade of the thesis and how does it factor into the overall grade?

Answer: The grades for the thesis and the oral examination are assigned by the supervisor and the second supervisor. Their grades are awarded independently of each other, but in practical application both usually agree on a common grade.

If the grades of the supervisor and the second supervisor differ, the arithmetic mean is calculated. If the difference between the two grades is 2.0 or greater, the Chair of the Examinations Board calls in another examiner. This examiner also evaluates the work independently. The two best grades are then used to calculate the mean, but the paper can only be considered "passed" if at least two of the three grades are 4.0 or better.

The grades for the written part and the oral examination are included in the overall grade with weighting, depending on the examination regulations and the Bachelor's or Master's Degree programme. If necessary, find out more in your current examination regulations. Currently valid:

• Bachelor PO 2010/2012: thesis 15%, oral examination 5% and the average of all subject examinations 80%.
• Master PO 2010: Thesis 25%, oral examination 5% and the average of all subject examinations 70%.
• Bachelor PO 2017: thesis 20%, oral examination 5% and the mean value of all subject examinations 75%.
• Master PO 2017: Thesis 30%, oral examination 5% and the mean value of all subject examinations 65%.

Question: Can I register for the thesis if I have outstanding examinations? Is this limited to an open examination? What if I have registered but fail the subject exam that I have not yet passed?

Answer: Again, this is determined in detail by the examination regulations.

For Bachelor students, registration is possible if at least 175 credit points have been earned. The number of open examinations over which the missing credit points are distributed is not specified. In particular, it must be taken into account that the credit points for the methods seminar and the upper seminar may already have been acquired prior to registration.

If open examinations are failed, the thesis can be handed in (in due time), but the oral examination cannot be held. As a rule, at least one additional semester of study is then necessary. However, the thesis does not lose its validity as a result.

Question: Can I request to be invited to the oral examination immediately after submitting the thesis?

Answer: No.

Supervisors and second supervisors have up to three months to correct the thesis and conduct the oral examination. However, in practical application this period is rarely used. If there are good reasons to shorten the deadline, a discussion with all persons involved will usually help. However, when planning the time, it must be assumed that there should be at least 14 days between submission and oral examination.

Question: Can I "fail" the thesis?

Answer: Yes, of course.

The thesis is an examination. If the grade is worse than 4.0, it is considered to be failed (see also the explanations on determining the grade). In this case, it can only be repeated once, with a new topic.

Question: Can I also do the thesis at a company? Can an employee of the company then be a co-referee?

Answer: Yes.

Many theses are done in cooperation with companies. However, the topic must be provided by a faculty member of the faculty. Any contractual agreements with the companies (internship contract or similar) are independent of the examination process and may not include the university or the supervisors.

An employee of a company may also be designated as a second supervisor. The following requirements must be met:

• The referee is a professor of the Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology
• the employee of the company has an academic degree with at least the level of the degree to be acquired
• the employee agrees to take over the co-lecture and the travel to the oral examination in Mönchengladbach free of charge
• if the employee is a graduate of the Faculty of Textile and Clothing Technology, he/she should have completed his/her degree at least three years ago.

Question: How do I get a topic?

Answer: There are so many possibilities that this question cannot be answered conclusively here. The following variants are common :

• You have an idea for a topic and suggest it to a lecturer.
• ask a lecturer if he/she has a topic available
• you look up a topic on the faculty's website
• topics are offered on the notice boards of the university teacher / lecturer
• one has (e.g. in the context of an internship semester) contact to a company, from which an interesting question arises
• in the cooperation in projects and research projects arise questions to be worked on

Question: Can I stop the work? Can I change supervisor or second supervisor?

Answer: Yes and no.

The topic of a thesis can be returned within the first 4 weeks after registration without giving reasons. However, this can only be done once.

Supervisor and second supervisor have been assigned to you as examiners for the thesis. After the 4 weeks, a change of examiners by the Examinations Board would only be possible in justified exceptional cases.

Question: Is it allowed to write the thesis in a language other than "German" (for the German Degree programmes)?

Answer: Yes.
However, only if both the student and the lecturer as well as the co-examiner agree. An application to this effect must be submitted to the Chair of the Examinations Board.