Final theses

Application Process

To apply for a thesis, please send the following information to Aida Cehajic (aida.cehajic(at)tum.de):

• Curriculum Vitae
• Current Transcript of Records
• A preference list indicating your preferred research area in one of our competence fields

In the case of applying for a bachelor or master thesis please include Bachelor thesis - Application or Master thesis - Application in the subject. Please refrain from preliminary inquiries and always send all the documents listed above.

Topics

If you are interested in writing a thesis at the chair, please send us your preference list (see above). We will try to find a topic that fits your interests. A list of exemplary topics from the past can be found here. Occasionally, we post offers for theses topics on the news section of our web page.

Note: If you want to work on a self-selected topic or if you want to write your thesis in cooperation with an industry partner, you are asked to hand in a short two-pager with a thesis proposal. This proposal should (at least) (i) define the research question, (ii) indicate the data and methodology to be used and (iii) discuss the related literature.     

BACHELOR THESES specific information and requirements

NOTE: New bachelor's theses will start in September 2025. The application deadline is 19 September, 2025. Please send your application to aida.cehajic(at)tum.de.  After the registration is confirmed, the students will be invited to an info session, where the supervisor will provide all the details regarding the topic. The info session will take place in March 2025.

Afterwards, new bachelor theses will only be available as of February 2026. In the meantime, you can apply on a rolling basis since in exceptional cases, there might be topics available to be supervised individually.

All students that have passed the course Corporate Finance (WI000091) can apply for bachelor theses.

MASTER THESES specific information and requirements

For master's theses, students must have a specialization in "Finance & Accounting" from the Master in Management and Technology (TUM-BWL), or Finance and Information Management (FIM) degree program or should have passed two of the following four courses: Asset Management, Derivatives, International Capital Markets and Investment Practice or Advanced Seminar Finance & Accounting. If the grade of any of these courses is not in your transcript yet, please include it in the email body. In exceptional cases, students who passed only one of the four courses can apply for a master thesis at the department  (i.e., students should then explain why they could not pass two of these courses or demonstrate that they passed comparable courses). We will then see whether we can find a suitable topic for you. 

Additional requirements

It is expected that all students writing their master thesis at our Chair visit our Finance Research Seminar  series. In this way, the students can familiarize themselves more with the current state of research in their respective fields. 

Duration

• Bachelor: 3 months
• Master thesis (MBA/EMBA): 3 months/6 months
• Master thesis (TUM-BWL/TUM-WIN): 6 months                       

Procedure

For a Bachelor thesis, students are expected to meet with their supervisor as follows:

• Info session
• Kick-off meeting (specification and registration of the topic)
• 3–4 Q&A meetings
• Optional meeting to address final questions related to submission

For a Master thesis, students should meet with their supervisor approximately four times:

• Kick-off meeting (specification and registration of the topic)
• 3 Q&A meetings
• Optional meeting to address final questions related to submission

Guidelines

A final thesis has to adhere to scientific standards. It is the duty of the student to become familiar with those standards. Guidelines concerning the thesis itself (formal requirements, layout, etc) can be found here. For orientation, you will find templates for Microsoft Word or LaTeX here (The templates include our guidelines, but are not necessarily up-to-date. Thus, the guideline document is binding.).

Databases

On a regular basis, there are workshops on Refinitiv Workspace and Datastream (see TUMonline). Students who wish to write their final thesis at our department are highly recommended to participate in these workshops in order to be able to handle financial data necessary for their thesis.

An overview of accessible databases is provided here.

For other helpful student resources have a look at our Student Resources section.

Disclaimer

Please notice that legally binding are only the examination regulations that can be found on the website of the TUM School of Management.