During the course of the programme, students will become familiar with methods for preparing the thesis  and get to know the possible framework topics. This is achieved by the Research Methodology course in the Bachelor programme, and typically by the Professional Seminar (Diploma Seminar)/Advanced Research Methodology (Research Methods) course in the Master’s programme.

In the vocational programme, the thesis (project work) is based on the student's practical training, and does not require the use of scientific methodology.

Announcing the topics of the theses is coordinated by the head of the programme. This involves consulting with the course lecturers on the proposed topics and evaluating the proposals in terms of their relevance to the course's learning objectives. Proposals can be both framework topics and suggestions for specific topics. The head of the programme approves the (framework) topics for the semester and requests the heads of the educational units to appoint the topic supervisors. 

The deadlines for the announcement of the topics and the period for applying for the topics are indicated in the faculty schedules. 

In case of progressing according to the model curriculum, students must register for a thesis topic in the Neptun system in the penultimate semester or at the beginning of the last semester; in case of progressing outside the model curriculum, in the semester preceding the planned completion of studies or at the beginning of the semester of completion. For more information on this, please consult the faculty information leaflets.

For some programmes, students are required to submit a short outline with their approach or a concept paper in Neptun when applying for a topic, which will enable the chosen supervisor to assess the student's application for the topic. 

It is the responsibility of the topic supervisor to accept the application for the topic. A student can also apply to a lecturer by submitting his/her own proposal for a topic and a proposal for an external consultant. For some programmes, the designation of an external consultant may be compulsory. (For the exact information, see the individual faculty information leaflets.) If necessary, the topic supervisor will consult the head of the programme on the acceptability of the student's proposal. 

Before choosing the topic, students are reminded of their tasks and deadlines via a Neptun message, but these can also be found in the deadline table on the faculty website. 

IMPORTANT! The student's choice of topic and its approval by the consultant is valid for the given semester! If the student fails to meet the requirements for the thesis in the given semester and the thesis is not submitted, he/she will have to choose again/change the topic of the thesis in Neptun! The exact procedures for this administration and the related student tasks are set out in the faculty information leaflets.

IMPORTANT! In Bachelor and Master programmes, the successful completion of the Thesis course included in the model curriculum is a prerequisite for graduation and gaining admission to the final examination. This requires:

1.   Enrolling to the Thesis course during the course enrolment period.

2.   Successful completion of the published requirements of the Thesis course, which determines the student's evaluation of completing the course with a grade other than unsatisfactory/not satisfactory. IMPORTANT! The assessment of the successful completion of the course (and its evaluation other than unsatisfactory/not satisfactory) is not determined by the successful submission of the thesis (i.e. the course can be completed without the final submission of the thesis), but by the student's attitude and effort towards the semester's work regarding the thesis and the student's performance during the semester (the conditions for achieving course completion are - we stress again - set out in the course description).

The thesis concluding the studies is written with the support of a consultant, but essentially requires the student to work independently. The thesis is therefore assisted by one or two consultants. The choice of an internal (university) consultant - together with choosing the topic - is compulsory for the student. The student's thesis may be supported by an external (e.g. company) consultant, but choosing an external consultant is usually not mandatory in Bachelor and Master programmes. For some Bachelor, Master and vocational programmes, choosing an external consultant may be compulsory. More information on this is available in the faculty information leaflets.

Information about the content and format of the thesis, the references, and the research plan for some Bachelor and Master programmes is also available on the faculty webpages.

The student must consult with his/her consultant on the scheduling and content of the thesis during the course of writing the thesis in order to be able to submit the thesis in the end. (According to the rules of the SRR, a minimum of 3 consultations is required, but the consultant may require more.) Only those essays may be submitted which were accepted by the consultant. 

Attributing another author's ideas or results as our own without acknowledging the source constitutes plagiarism. Such a situation should be avoided at all costs, as it can have serious consequences: in mild cases, the student will be asked to correct the work, in more serious cases to withdraw the thesis. In the case of theses withdrawn for plagiarism, the person concerned must write a completely new thesis. To avoid this, consider which cases constitute plagiarism:

• It is plagiarism to quote writings without an author, either verbatim or in spirit, or translated from a foreign language. This risk is particularly high for online sources. 
• It is also plagiarism to fail to put quotation marks around a verbatim quote.
• The primary source of the methods (tests, questionnaires) should also be indicated, as these tools are also the intellectual property of another person. We will probably also need references for discussing the results. Failing this is also considered plagiarism. 
• It is also plagiarism to fail to indicate the source of figures, illustrations, tables, pictures, photographs, drawings or any graphic elements from other works. 

Students can use Moodle for the plagiarism check of their work. (The option is available to students several weeks before the thesis is uploaded in Moodle.) The theses uploaded here (even after each new upload and after replacing an existing thesis file) are automatically checked for plagiarism in Turnitin, which will show the percentage of matches found with documents in the plagiarism filtering software database. This number does not in itself mean that this percentage of the thesis is plagiarism, it only refers to the detected textual associations that may be otherwise completely correctly referenced in the thesis. At the same time, too high a percentage may indicate - even in the case of perfectly correct citations - that too much information and quotations are taken from elsewhere without change, which indicates a low degree of originality and independent creative work, and that may lead to the thesis being withdrawn. The student should always check with his/her internal consultant regarding the maximum acceptable percentage before uploading the final version of the thesis!

 The official copy of the thesis is the electronic version, available in pdf format uploaded to Moodle  where plagiarism check will also take place.

The thesis includes a declaration of originality, which states that the thesis is an original work. 

If the thesis was produced with the contribution of a company, the appropriate form to request encryption for a maximum period of 5 years is also available. 

Information on how to upload the thesis and any necessary forms and how to check for plagiarism can be found in the individual faculty library handouts.

The thesis (project work) is assessed by one or two reviewers in the case of vocational programmes, and the thesis in the case of Bachelor and Master programmes is assessed by two reviewers. The reviews(s) and grades(s) of the bachelor’s/master’s/vocational thesis will be available on Moodle at least 5 days before the final examination. 

The final examination can only be initiated if the reviewer, or both reviewers in the case of two reviewers, give the thesis a grade at least satisfactory.  

If the thesis is not accepted by the reviewer, or by one of the reviewers in the case of two reviewers (i.e. it is assessed as unsatisfactory), it must be sent to another reviewer for assessment. In the same way, if there is a difference of more than two grades between the grades given by the two reviewers, the essay must be sent for assessment to another reviewer.

If the thesis is not accepted by any of the reviewers, or if it is deemed unsatisfactory by the other reviewer invited for assessment, the student will not be allowed to take the final examination. In this case, the student will have to write a new thesis, which will be defended in the next final examination period.