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.

You will be notified by email to your WU account as soon as a thesis supervision agreement has been created and registered for you. Your thesis can only be graded if you have a valid supervision agreement. Please note that additional supervision conditions may apply as specified by your supervisor and co-supervisor. If you fail to comply with the conditions specified by your supervisor and co-supervisor, the supervision agreement may be cancelled.

A list of aids used supplements the correct citation in the context of your bachelor's thesis. Here you will find information on which aids used must be documented in each case, what a list of aids used should look like and how it should be submitted. Please note any other requirements of your supervisor.

Once you have completed your bachelor's thesis, create a cover page and place it at the very beginning of your document. Save your thesis, including the cover page and all appendices, in PDF/A format. Then, upload your thesis via myWU, following this step-by-step guide. You must confirm the affidavit directly in myWU. Make sure to include a list of aids used in your thesis. A template can be found here.

If the paper was written jointly by two or more people, only one author uploads the paper and indicates the co-author(s).

After submission, your thesis will undergo a mandatory plagiarism detection check. More information on plagiarism is available here.

Once submitted, your thesis and the plagiarism detection check results will be forwarded to your examiner. The evaluation must be completed within four weeks. Your grade for the bachelor's thesis will be available in LPIS.

All academic WU staff members who have completed their doctoral/PhD studies are eligible for supervision, regardless of whether or not they are teaching a course in the respective semester. For up-to-date information on possible supervisors, please contact the academic units directly.

In the course of writing your bachelor's thesis, you should contact your supervisor several times (as a guideline, at least four supervisory contacts are considered) to discuss the progress of the thesis and to clarify any questions/problems.

The supervision of bachelor theses by teachers from other educational tertiary institutions is only possible with special permission from the Vice Rectorate for Academic Affairs. You can apply for this permission by sending an email with the completed application form to: studentsupport@wu.ac.at. Unfortunately an external co-supervision of Bachelor theses at WU is not possible.The recognition of a bachelor thesis (written at another university in Austria or abroad) is not permissible.

It is very important to WU to ensure that all theses and coursework papers comply with the standards of academic integrity. For this reason, WU takes a very clear and strict stance on plagiarism. Any violations of the standards of academic integrity will be punished accordingly. The Directive on plagiarism and academic fraud and the resulting legal consequences issued by the Vice-Rector, Academic Programs and Student Affairs (Richtlinie der Vizerektorin für Lehre und Studierende zu Plagiaten und den damit verbundenen Rechtsfolgen) contains all the relevant information on plagiarism and on how cases of plagiarism or suspected cases of plagiarism are dealt with at WU. For more information, please see the courses and exams pages on on our website.