Master's Thesis

It forms the completion of the Master's degree programme. Students are required to demonstrate their ability to work independently and with a structured and scientific approach for the Master's thesis. It needs to be written on a subject from the selected specialisation.

The Master's thesis is written in the subject discipline of the selected specialisation and supervised by a professor of the specialisation in question. The maximum permissible period for writing the Master's thesis is six months.

Repetition

Students can repeat an unsatisfactory Master's thesis only once. If it is repeated, then a new topic has to be adopted within the selected specialisation subject. The thesis can be repeated with a different professor to the one who supervised the first attempt.

Students cannot repeat a passed Master's thesis.

Breaking off the Master's Thesis

The Master's thesis can only be abandoned in exceptional circumstances. An official written request stating the reason must be submitted to the Director of Study. There needs to be a compelling reason for abandoning the Master's thesis from the second half of the allotted time onwards, otherwise abandonment is impossible.

Master's Thesis at another University

If a student wishes to write a Master's thesis at another university, it is imperative that a professor of Environmental Engineering at the ETH be involved as a supervisor. The professor is responsible for ensuring that the standard and quality of the thesis correspond to the requirements of the ETH. The supervisor will also be responsible for awarding the definitive grade.