Theses at the FCM

  • ​​Application for Bachelor and Master Theses

    With the preparation of the thesis, the student should demonstrate the ability to independently work on and prepare a scientific topic with the help of the knowledge acquired during his or her studies. The thesis is therefore an essential part of the studies and should therefore be well prepared. On this page all information can be found that is needed for completing the final thesis at the Finance Center Münster. The general information initially deals with organisational matters that apply to both Bachelor's and Master's theses. Here you will learn when and how to register your thesis at the FCM, how to pick up the topic, how to work on it and how to submit it. Specific information for Bachelor's and Master's theses can be found in the following subitems.

    Contact persons

    • Chair of Banking (Alexander Nitschke) (Note: Beginning with 1st April 2024, new theses topics won't be issued at the Chair of Banking any longer. Theses topics collected before this date will be regularly supervised by the Chair of Banking until the end of the writing process.)
    • Chair for Derivates and Financial Engineering (Timo Wiedemann)
    • Chair of Finance (Nils Lohmeier)
    • Chair for Sustainable Finance (Christoph Domnick)
    • Professorship of Finance (Fabian Wening)

    Application period

    Registration for final papers at the FCM is on a quarterly basis, i.e. registration must take place for the quarter in which the desired date for the collection of the topic lies. The registration period ends 2 months before the beginning of the respective quarter. The following table shows the exact delimitation of the quarters and the corresponding registration period:

      1. Quarter 2. Quarter 3. Quarter 4. Quarter
    Topic issue period 01. Jan - 31. Mar 01. Apr - 30. Jun 01. Jul - 30. Sep 01. Okt - 31. Dec
    application period 01. Aug - 31. Oct 01. Nov - 31. Jan 01. Feb - 30. Apr 01. May - 31. Jul

    Application process

    As a prerequisite for a thesis at the FCM, the following two registration steps must be completed within the application period:

    ​Important note: Regardless of the topic desired, registration at the Examination Office at the Chair of Derivatives and Financial Engineering is made with Prof. Branger as the topic speaker. After the candidates have been assigned to their professorship, their allocation is automatically changed by the Examinations Office.

    If a candidate does not meet the above requirements, the FCM cannot guarantee supervision in the desired quarter.

    Allocation to a chair

    The assignment to a supervisor at the FCM is based on the specified requests. However, no guarantee can be given that these requests will be fulfilled. For this reason, it is recommended to specify topics from several chairs so that a possible redistribution can take place in the interest of the students.

    Start and finish of the work

    Topic issue

    The topic is generally picked up on Mondays from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m. at the chair's office (ifk: Room J262, LSF: Room 269, LSDFE: Room 259, PIFM: Room 177). To calculate your submission date in advance, you can use the tool to calculate the processing period.

    Submission of the paper

    Since 01.03.2023 (collection date), the exclusively digital submission of bachelor and master theses via the "Thesis Uploader" is mandatory. For seminar papers, it is sufficient to send an e-mail to the supervisor containing the paper as a PDF file as well as the files used to create the paper (e.g. excel worksheets, program codes)). Please inform yourself early about the procedure of the “Thesis Uploader” at the following link on the website of the examination office.

    Formal requirements

    Scientific work must formally meet certain minimum requirements which must be complied with. The following document summarizes the formal requirements for seminar papers and final papers at the FCM and serves as an aid in the preparation of a scientific paper.

  • Possible topics for final theses at the FCM

    The chairs of the Finance Center offer topics for final theses according to their areas of research and teaching. The following lists contain more information on possible topic areas for final theses at the respective chairs:

  • Bachelor theses (PO 2010/2017)

    Requirements for registration

    According to § 11 Para. 3 of the PO Bachelor BWL 2010 and PO Bachelor BWL 2017, the candidate must have earned 90 credit points from academic achievements in order to be able to register for a bachelor thesis. The same regulations apply to the courses of study economics and information systems.

    Completion of the bachelor thesis

    In the bachelor thesis at the FCM, the student should show that he/she can work on a scientific question from the financial sector with the appropriate methods and within a given period and prepare it appropriately. As a rule, the topic is examined on the basis of literature. At all chairs, however, it is also possible to conduct one's own empirical analysis as part of the Bachelor's thesis. A corresponding interest can be indicated when filling in the online registration form. The processing time of the Bachelor thesis is 8 weeks or can be extended to 12 weeks upon application if the Bachelor thesis is completed during the studies (see below).  The volume of the bachelor thesis is 25 pages in the main text.

    Thesis processing time extent (in pages)
    PO Bachelor 2010/2017

    8 weeks or

    12 weeks, if the thesis is completed during the studies (on application)

    		 25

    Bachelor thesis during studies

    According to § 11 Para. 4 of the PO Bachelor BWL 2010, an extended processing time of 12 weeks can be applied for a bachelor thesis completed during the course of studies. A bachelor thesis is considered to accompany the course of study if the candidate has to complete further module parallel to the final thesis. To apply for the extended processing time, you must submit the corresponding application and a current extract of grades. Further information and the necessary application form can be found on the website of the examination office.

  • Master theses (PO  2008/2010)

    Requirements for registration

    According to § 11 of the PO Master BWL 2008 and PO Master BWL 2010, there is no minimum number of credits that the candidate must have achieved for registration. 

    Completion of the master thesis

    In the master thesis at the FCM, the student should show that he/she can independently work on and adequately prepare a scientific question from the financial sector within a given period. As a rule, the topic is empirically investigated. In principle, however, purely literature-based work is also possible. The classification of our own interests in mathematics and statistics within the framework of the online questionnaire serves as a first indicator for the orientation of the topic. The master thesis takes 5 months to complete. The volume of the work is 50 pages in the main text.​

    Thesis processing Time extent (in pages)
    PO Master 2008/2010 5 months 50