Check list for local submission of MSc Thesis

Overview

• Master Seminar
• Registration of the thesis
• Advisors
• Submission of the Thesis
• Colloquium
• Study and Examination Regulations

Master Seminar

The master seminar is a self-study seminar conducted in coordination with your local thesis advisor. It ends with the submission of an approximately 10-page proposal for the thesis. The proposal must be submitted to the Examination Office. 12 ungraded points are awarded for this seminar. As with any other seminar you must register for the Master Seminar.

For LCT students studying in their second program year at the partner university, you may conduct the master seminar long-distance with your advisor, but you must ensure that this is organized and that you submit the proposal to your advisor.

Registration of the thesis

The thesis has to be registered with the Examinations Office, building C7.2, room 1.10. This is to be done at least 3 months in advance of the actual submission, but keep all deadlines in mind, see below. You must complete this step in person, that is, go to the examinations office, and fill in the form given to you to register the thesis.

If you are an LCT student currently studying at the partner university, an exception can be made and you may contact the examinations office by email. You will be sent the required form and asked to return it signed by fax or scan. The registration will be confirmed by the examinations office, please keep the confirmation mail in your records. The contact email is sek-mp@coli.uni-saarland.de.

Advisors

The registration form will ask you to list your thesis advisors; it is your responsibility to ensure that the advisors named have accepted this function. You are strongly advised to thoroughly discuss the content and scope of your thesis with your advisors before you begin working.

In general, you will have two advisors; in some exceptional cases, three advisors may be listed. At least one of your advisors must be a professor or head of a junior research group at the department of Computational Linguistics at Saarland University; the other advisor(s) may be non-professorial academic faculty, internal or external.

Submission of the Thesis

After the registration of the thesis, you have at most 6 months to submit the thesis. Be very careful to not make a formal mistake here and miss the deadline. An extension to the deadline may be granted in exceptional cases, but must be applied for before the original deadline expires. An extension, if granted, is for at most 3 additional months and only with the approval of the thesis supervisor. You must also here keep in mind the formal requirement that you are also registered as a student.

You must include a signed text at the front of the thesis stating that the work contained is your own. Here are sample texts in German and English:

The thesis must be bound; a simple spiral binding is adequate, can be done at most larger copy shops.

Submit one copy for each advisor and two copies for the archives, so in effect you will probably be submitting 4 or 5 hard copies, depending on how many advisors you have.

The submission is generally done in person; take the thesis to the examinations office before expiration of your deadline.

For LCT students studying in their second program year at the partner university, an exception can be made and the thesis can be submitted by post, but this must be approved by the examinations office in advance.

When submitting postally (only when approved, see above), for your own security, it is strongly advised to submit using a courier service such as UPS or TNT, or send using registered mail. Retain a dated receipt. The examinations office will recognize the postal stamp as meeting the deadline. It is your responsibility to follow up and ensure that your thesis has been delivered.

LCT students also submit an MSc thesis to the partner university, for which you must meet all local requirements and observe all local restrictions. Specific information will be available via the local coordinator at the partner institution.

Colloquium

The thesis must be presented in a colloquium, for which 3 graded ECTS points are awarded. You don't have to register for the colloquium with the registration database.

For LCT students studying in their second program year at the partner university, there are several options for completing this requirement. Your local advisor may travel to attend your presentation, grade this and award the points. You may also do the presentation for your local advisor via video conferencing. The UdS advisor also has the option to coordinate with the advisor of the partner university and award the grade and points in collaboration with the advisor from the partner university.

Study and Examination Regulations

In questionable cases, the original regulations are stipulated in the official study and examination regulations and represent the default.