Bachelor Thesis Writing
Steps to be completed
The bachelor thesis is one of the essential parts of the study, in which each student demonstrates the ability to think independently and analyse problems. Therefore, it is necessary to pay great attention to the elaboration of the final thesis and to follow the rules that determine its formal and content requirements.
When you violate the established rules (whether intentionally or through negligence), you risk obtaining "N" from subjects related to the creation of the final thesis. These are the courses Bachelor's Thesis Assignment and Bachelor's Seminar 1 and 2. You will then be classified by "F" from the final thesis defence. At the same time, the Dean may impose a disciplinary sanction on you, specifically expulse you from studies.
According to the Schedule of the Academic Year, the student selects the topic of their thesis first, choosing from a Package of Topics. You find the topics in your IS profile (Student - During studies - Topic List) or you can use the Help section of IS here. Think of the topic of your bachelor thesis very well - if your study programme has specializations (tracks), your topic must be connected to the specialization (track) you chose.
In order to help students with the creation of the final thesis, the faculty implemented a system of courses that allows good cooperation with the supervisor. Students enrol in the course Bachelor's Thesis Assignment in the 4th semester of their Bachelor's studies (provided that you plan to complete the study in the standard length of study of 6 semesters).
1. Course Bachelor's Thesis Assignment
- According to the Schedule of the Academic Year, the student selects the topic of his/her thesis first, choosing from a Package of Topics. You find the topics in your IS profile (Student - During studies - Topic List) or you can use the Help section of IS here. Think of the topic of your diploma thesis very well.
- If you want to come up with your own topic, you can. In that case, you have to find your supervisor yourself, or you may ask the study advisor for a recommendation on who your supervisor could be.
- Once you choose the topic, get in touch with the supervisor. Send them an e-mail informing them that you registered for their topic and that you would like to set up a plan for the semester in order to complete the course Bachelor's thesis assignment successfully. The aim of this semester is to create a binding document called Bachelor's thesis description. This document specifies what topic your thesis will be about, what structure it will have, and what literature you will use. According to this document, you will write the thesis in the upcoming semesters.
- The Bachelor's thesis description is stored in the student's IS profile and later creates an inseparable part of the thesis.
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Students receive credits based on the submission of the Bachelor's thesis description.
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The course is not scheduled.
2. Course Bachelor's seminar 1
- Students are obliged to enrol in this course after completing the course Bachelor's thesis assignment. They have to stay in touch with their supervisor and work on their thesis according to their instructions.
- Make sure you respect the rules specified in Directive N. 9/2019 (you can find it on the right side of the page)! At the same time, make sure you write your thesis in the official template (also on the right side)!
3. Course Bachelor's seminar 2
- Students are obliged to enrol on this course after completing the course Bachelor's seminar 1.
- This course is aimed at finishing the thesis. Stay in touch with your supervisor, and make sure you complete the thesis on time. Credits are awarded for submitting the final thesis.
- Make sure you check the Schedule of the Academic Year to find out the deadline for uploading the thesis in the IS Archive!
Students are allowed to take the Final state examination only if they receive credits for all three courses.
Useful links
- Directive No 9/2019 Preparation, Submission, Publication and Evaluation of Bachelor’s, Final and Master’s Theses
- MU study and examination regulations Section 22,23,24,31,34 and 40 in particular.
- Schedule of the Academic Year thesis submission and final state examination dates
Submission & defence
The rules for the Bachelor's or Diploma thesis defence and submission are governed by the MU Study and Examinations Regulations (Section 22, paragraph 2), 3) and 4) and DIRECTIVE No 9/2019 (Section 5).
Deadline
The Bachelor's or Diploma final thesis must be uploaded in your archive in the MU Information System (the procedure to follow when entering the final work is described in the MU Information System) to a date set by the Academic year schedule. The secretary of your department is supervising the correct form of the thesis.
Versions of thesis
Only the electronic version of the thesis is required for the purposes of long-term archiving and it is also used as a base document to draft its assessment and report. You do not need to submit the printed version. Please, follow the webpages of the faculty for the actual information on the form of the FSE.
Only in the event of the unsuccessful thesis defence at the state examination when the examination board rates your thesis with the „F“ grading, may you make changes to your thesis or write a brand new one and submit it the newly created archive – your previous final thesis will, however, remain deposited in the MU IS. The basic rules of thesis writing, submission and defence are governed by the MU Study and Examinations Regulations (Chapter V, Sections 31, 33 and 34).
Changes in uploaded thesis
A copy once submitted may not be handled in any way, it is not possible to make any alterations to it, whether formal or content-specific.
Only in the event of the unsuccessful thesis defence at the state examination when the examination board rates your thesis with the „F“ grading, may you make changes to your thesis or write a brand new one and submit it the newly created archive – your previous final thesis will, however, remain deposited in the MU IS. The basic rules of thesis writing, submission and defence are governed by the MU Study and Examinations Regulations (Chapter V, Sections 31, 33 and 34).
- MU Study and Examination Regulations Chapter V, Sections 31, 33 and 34; Section 22 paragraph 2-4.
- MU Information System
- Directive no. 9/2019 Section 5
Non-public Data
Should the final thesis contain data and information (e.g. company accounting or data subject to a trade secret) which may not be publicised...
What to do?
Students are required to conclude an agreement with the data provider, the binding template of which can be found in Appendix No. 3 of DIRECTIVE No 9/2019.
This signed agreement is part of the Application for making part of the diploma work non-public, which is submitted by the student in the Document office in the IS at least 30 days prior to the submission deadline:
IS MU – Student – Document office – Submitting new application – Application for making part of the diploma work non-public.
Further students have to divide the work into two sections to make it possible for some parts of the text to be publicised and for other parts to remain stored in a non-public archive. Usually, it is divided into a theoretical part (which is publishable) and practical part (which is considered as non-public). These parts need to be properly named so the administrator knows what part is supposed to be hidden.
Uploading
Students enter their thesis in its entirety in your MU IS archive, but divided into individual files including the non-public sections as mentioned above. We recommend that on thesis submission you ask the administrator of the international office to tick the concealment of the required files (should you fail to do so, all the parts will become publicly accessible on thesis submission).
The ultimate decision on which parts are to be concealed is, however, made by the thesis supervisor. It is advisable to discuss the extent of concealment with the supervisor beforehand. This may even be included in the thesis assignment. In any case, it is essential that the parts intended for publication contain a clear statement of the thesis goals and results including the reasons for non-publication of some of its parts.
- Directive no. 9/2019 Appendix No. 3
Formal rules of thesis writing
The formal arrangement, length, font type and size, chapter structure, manner of printing and binding, submission, etc.; are governed by DIRECTIVE No 9/2019 which refers to the norm regulating the bibliographic references (ČN ISO 690). Students are required to read the Directive and not later than from 2020/2021 use the presented template.
Official description
The Bachelor's or Diploma thesis includes its Official description. The binding Thesis Description is deposited in the MU IS and its printed form signed by the Dean acts as a supplement to the Final examination record (the printed version is stored in the International office).
It is your responsibility to include in the electronic as well as printed form of your thesis the Thesis Description which may be downloaded from the following MU IS application:
Student – End of Studies – Print Thesis Desription.
The Description included in the thesis does not include the signatures.
Plagiarism
The gravest violation of rules of thesis writing (the greatest offence in the academic world in general) is constituted by plagiarism, i.e. a theft or fraudulent adoption of intellectual property of another. Plagiarism by its definition is always perceived as an intentionally committed offence. It is in your own interest to fully familiarize yourselves with the definition of plagiarism and with the binding rules of source acknowledgement (i.e. quoting the sources of adopted passages and ideas) which are governed by DIRECTIVE No 9/2019.
Teachers (thesis supervisors) and supervisors are obliged to inspect adherence to these rules and ask the Dean to initiate disciplinary proceedings with a student in question. The Faculty disciplinary board is guided by the Disciplinary Code and the proceedings may even result in an unconditional expulsion from the study programme. There is a tool in the IS MU called „Vejce vejci“ (Find similar documents) which you can use to check your work for plagiarism. You just need to upload your work in your IS Depository and use the „Vejce vejci“ tool (it is a symbol of 2 eggs). The similar parts of the text are then highlighted.