Master’s Thesis

• TOPIC SELECTION AND THESIS SUPERVISOR

The student selects the topic of their Master’s thesis in the first year of study (at the beginning of the second semester). Departments publish a list of available thesis topics, including the names of potential supervisors, in the IS/STAG system – My Studies – Final Thesis Topics, no later than the end of January. Students may also propose their topic, which must be discussed with a teacher whose expertise aligns with the subject and who would be willing to supervise the thesis.

Instructions for registering thesis topics are provided in this GUIDE. The final deadline for topic registration is typically at the beginning of March – the exact date is specified in the Academic Year Schedule for the relevant academic year.

Assignment of a thesis topic and appointment of a supervisor are prerequisites for enrolling in and completing the compulsory courses related to the Master’s thesis. These courses are listed in the student’s study plan. If the student does not have an officially assigned thesis topic and supervisor, they cannot receive credit for the courses DIPL1 (Master’s Thesis I) and DIPL2 (Master’s Thesis II).

A student who does not have a properly registered Master’s thesis topic in the IS/STAG system cannot be assigned a Final State Examination (SZZ) date in the future!

 

• PROCESS OF WRITING THE DIPLOMA THESIS

A required component of the diploma thesis is the thesis assignment proposal, which includes the exact title of the thesis in Czech and English, a brief description of the topic and tasks to be achieved, the objective of the thesis, a detailed outline, and a list of basic literature. The student discusses the thesis assignment proposal with their thesis supervisor in the second year of study at the beginning of the winter semester, typically by mid-October. The exact deadline is specified in the Academic Year Schedule. In justified cases, the supervisor may extend the deadline in agreement with the student.

In the second year of study, the student must submit the first complete version of the thesis to their supervisor by January 31st of the relevant academic year. This is a mandatory condition for receiving credit for the course DIPL1 (Diploma Seminar I) in the winter semester. Credit for DIPL2 (Diploma Seminar II) in the summer semester is awarded after the thesis is submitted to the department.

 Student’s Guide to Bachelor’s/Diploma Thesis

 

• SUBMISSION OF THE MASTER’S THESIS TO THE DEPARTMENT

The exact deadline for submitting the final version of the Master’s thesis for defence is specified in the Academic Year Schedule. The deadline depends on the SZZ examination period in which the student will defend the thesis.

The student with a confirmed SZZ date must submit the completed thesis to the relevant department. By the deadline, the student must complete both submission steps:

1. Upload the identical electronic version of the thesis to the eVŠKP system (electronic university thesis repository) before submitting the printed copy.

2. Submit one printed copy of the thesis to the Administrative Assistant at the Department. The printed copy must include the student’s signature in the “Declaration” section. This copy will be returned to the student after the defence. (In exceptional cases, students may submit their thesis even if they are not yet registered for the SZZ. This applies when the thesis is completed in advance and the student wishes to submit it before the registration period for their chosen SZZ term has opened.)

The Administrative Assistant at the Department will validate the electronic version in eVŠKP (provided the printed copy has also been submitted) and assign the opponent (the opponent may also be assigned before submission). The supervisor and opponent will be informed of the latest deadline for submitting their evaluations. Both evaluations must be made available to the student no later than 5 days before the defence date. They will be accessible in the eVŠKP system, and the student will also receive an email with a link to the evaluations via their university email account. It is the student’s responsibility to read these evaluations.

 

• Defence of the Master’s Thesis

The student usually begins with a brief presentation of their thesis, lasting no more than 10 minutes, supported by a visual presentation (e.g. MS PowerPoint). In the presentation, the student explains why they chose the topic, how they approached the research and writing process, what results they achieved, and what challenges they encountered during the preparation of the thesis. After the presentation, the key parts of the evaluations from the opponent and the thesis supervisor are presented, including their final assessments. The student then responds to any comments raised in both evaluations. This is followed by a discussion with the student, based on questions from the opponent and the supervisor, and then from the members of the examination committee.
The purpose of this discussion is to assess how well the student understands the professional issues related to their thesis and how effectively they can respond to the topics raised. As part of the Final State Examination, both the thesis and its defence are evaluated, and both are included in the final grade. A key component of the defence is the student’s ability to demonstrate that the thesis was completed independently.