While the Universities Act 2002 classifies diploma and master's theses as academic papers, this does not apply to bachelor's theses. These are referred to as "independent written theses". Section 51 para. (2) subpara. (7) states: "Bachelor's theses are the independent written or artistic works to be prepared in the bachelor's program, which are to be written as part of a course." They are also to be graded as part of the assessment of this course. Students should demonstrate that they are able work on a topic independently.

Independent

Students must write the thesis independently. Bachelor's theses may be written by several students, but only if the individual work of each student can be clearly identified and assessed separately. The workload increases accordingly depending on the number of students working on the thesis.

In writing

If a bachelor's thesis is to be written, this usually means that the thesis must be written in one or more structured documents and must also be submitted to the supervisor in this form. The choice of format must comply with the department's standards for bachelor's theses and quality assurance requirements in the context of plagiarism and AI exams.

A written bachelor's thesis means that a coherent text in the sense of scientific writing and explanation must be available. A written bachelor's thesis therefore requires a comprehensible and technically appropriate documentation of the independent performance in accordance with the standards of scientific writing and argumentation. The presentation can be made in a coherent text or, if logically appropriate, directly at the relevant points of a calculation. The decisive factor is that the result is available in one or more files that are documented in a generally recognized format that is customary for expert third parties.

The work must contain everything that is necessary for an understanding of the independent work performed.

When writing an academic text, the aim is to show that the subject matter has been understood or, for example, reworked, that the student has dealt with the concepts independently and critically and shows that he/she has understood and mastered them.

In addition to, but not as a substitute for, the bachelor's thesis the following formats can be used:

1. Oral presentations: Work that is presented exclusively by means of an oral presentation or a paper.

2. Visual projects: Posters, infographics or other visual representations that do not include detailed written explanations.

3. Multimedia projects: Videos, podcasts or other digital media that are mainly based on visual or audio content.

4. Practical work: Projects that are based on practical applications or experiments and whose results are not documented in detail in writing.

5. Creative works: Artworks, design projects or other creative works that are not accompanied by a scientific text.

 

The bachelor's thesis is usually written in German or English. In accordance with the by-laws, academic theses can also be written in another foreign language if the supervisor agrees.

Topics

Students can propose a topic of their choice or select a topic suggested or assigned to them by the thesis supervisor. Students should select a topic that can be completed within the agreed-upon time frame. Two or more students can work on a joint topic for their bachelor’s thesis, as long as each student’s individual contribution can be clearly identified and graded separately. The combined workload involved in writing a joint bachelor’s thesis is proportionally higher than that required for a single-author thesis. Papers which the students are required to complete as part of their coursework (e.g. project papers) may be integrated into a bachelor’s thesis. It is important to note, however, that the workload required is higher for a bachelor’s thesis than for a project paper. A bachelor’s thesis must be more than simply a slightly expanded project paper. Parts of an existing master’s thesis may not be reused as a bachelor’s thesis.

Content-related evaluation criteria

• Independent work: A bachelor’s thesis is considered to contain independent work by the student if it is more than just an overview of different sources. The primary criterion for evaluating a bachelor’s thesis is independent work, defined as work that clearly separates content taken from other sources and the author’s own arguments. Special emphasis is to be placed on the student’s own contributions when evaluating the quality of the thesis.

• Fulfilling objectives: Did the author succeed in answering the research question specified at the beginning of the thesis? The bachelor’s thesis should deal with the research question in a way that is clear and coherent. This means that the goals set must be achieved by the end of the thesis. For this reason, the sections containing the summarized results and conclusions at the end of the thesis are particularly important for evaluating the quality of the work.

• Clear arguments: Did the student succeed in giving the thesis a coherent, logical structure and developing his or her own position based on sound arguments? The author should develop his or her ideas and arguments in a way that is consistent and guides the reader through the thesis. The arguments should be logical and coherent, not just loosely grouped together.

• Use of technical terms and literature: Are technical terms used correctly and only where useful and appropriate? Does the referenced literature show that the student has familiarized him or herself with the topic using solid literature searching skills? A bachelor’s thesis should use language that is as clear and plain as possible, without overusing technical and unusual terms. During the writing process, students should immerse themselves in their topic and familiarize themselves with the relevant literature.

• A bachelor’s thesis is generally not a suitable format for presenting an empirical study. For this reason, empirical work should preferably be done on the master’s level. If a bachelor’s thesis is nevertheless based on an empirical study, the following criteria apply: Is the choice of the method(s) used justified and suitable for the questions at hand? Did the student use the selected method(s) properly? Students should demonstrate their ability to do empirical work and to properly analyze, interpret, and contextualize the results.

Formal evaluation criteria

• Completeness of the submitted thesis (cover page, table of contents, references section, if applicable, list of abbreviations, tables and figures, annex)

• Clear thesis structure (overall structure, chapter structure)

• Correct language use and orthography

• Correct use of sources (it must be possible to find and check the referenced sources)

• Correct citations

Which conditions must be met for you to be qualified to grade and (co-)supervise a bachelor’s thesis?

• Academic staff members with a PhD or doctoral degree are qualified to grade bachelor’s theses, regardless of whether they are teaching any courses in the respective semester.

• Emeriti and retired faculty members (with a PhD or doctoral degree) may grade bachelor’s theses upon approval by the head of the respective academic unit.

• Persons external to WU (e.g. faculty members of other universities in Austria or abroad) may only grade WU theses upon approval by the Vice-Rector for Academic Programs and Student Affairs. If you have any questions in this regard, please contact the Student Support.

• All of WU’s academic staff members may co-supervise bachelor’s theses. Each bachelor’s thesis can only have one co-supervisor.

• External lecturers may only supervise bachelor’s theses if they are actively teaching courses at WU in the respective semester and appear on the list of available supervisors.

At the beginning of the supervision, the requirements and expectations of the thesis must be clarified. The student must submit a short proposal or a text sample. The specific topic will be agreed and the time schedule for the thesis will be discussed.

The electronic recording of agreed supervisions of bachelor's theses is mandatory. The thesis supervision agreement must be recorded in the BACH supervision database at the start of supervision.

In the course of supervising bachelor's theses, at least four personal meetings with the students are planned.  An initial meeting and a final feedback meeting are planned. In addition, at least two further meetings should be arranged during the writing process to discuss the progress of the thesis and any questions or problems

In at least one of the supervision meetings, the advanced bachelor's thesis should be discussed with the student and written feedback should be provided.

Once the thesis has been graded, the supervisor is required to give the student comprehensive feedback on the thesis and explain the reasons for the grade assigned.

Please note: The whole process, including the start of supervision, the submission and evaluation of theses, can only be done electronically.

Step 1

At the beginning of the supervision, the requirements and expectations of the thesis must be clarified. The student must submit a short proposal or a text sample. The specific topic will be agreed and the time schedule for the thesis will be discussed. In view of the 10 ECTS and the associated workload, it is recommended to allow 4 - 6 months after the thesis supervision agreement and to assess the thesis within the prescribed period of 4 weeks. The actual processing time will be discussed and agreed with the supervisor.

Thesis supervision is set up in the BACH course administration tool under 'Betreuung von Abschlussarbeiten' (supervising theses). Here, you will find instructions on how to set up thesis supervision. Once thesis supervision has been set up, the student will receive a confirmation email to their WUnet account.

Please note: The whole process, including the start of supervision, the submission and evaluation of theses, can only be done electronically.

Step 2

Students submit their theses online via myWU. All uploaded papers are automatically checked for plagiarism, and the plagiarism report is also accessible in myWU. You can either approve the thesis if it is ready for publication and the plagiarism check raises no concerns, or return it to the student for revisions. The affidavit is confirmed by the student directly in myWU. If the paper was written jointly by two or more people, only one author uploads the paper and indicates the co-author(s).

Important: Once you approve the plagiarism check results, both the thesis title and the submitted document (including any attachments) can no longer be changed!

For detailed instructions, please refer to the step-by-step guide.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact studentsupport@wu.ac.at.

Step 3

After approving the plagiarism check result, you can evaluate the thesis in the WU Supervision Database by completing the evaluation grid and entering the final grade. You can find instructions for grading the thesis here.

Students must be given appropriate feedback in writing or verbally when their work is graded. The submission of rubrics is also an option for this.

Bachelor’s theses are not regarded as actual academic theses in the proper sense of the term and do not have to be made publicly available, and for this reason it is not possible to place bachelor’s theses under embargo.

The applicable rates for evaluating a bachelor’s thesis are specified in an operational agreement negotiated between WU, in its capacity as employer, and the Academic Staff Council.