Welcome! We offer a range of topics for students with a background in computer science or related disciplines who are interested in software technologies. Most of our topics concern methods for checking or improving software quality; where innovative methods are investigated, they often have a strong research component. We also collaborate with colleagues from engineering and other disciplines, and regularly offer interdisciplinary topics.

Where can I learn more about possible topics?

•     Some topics are posted here, but this list is never complete.
•     Some topics continue readings, seminar presentations, or projects a student has done as class work or research assistant at the institute; those are developed together with the student.
•     You may also ask directly the research staff of the institute for current openings; often, students ask during a course our teachers for follow-up topics.
•     Lastly, many students like to get a feeling for the final outcome. In this case, check out previous theses (see here). You are also welcome to stop by our Oberseminar (see here) where ongoing student projects are presented.

How do I apply?

•     Each thesis project builds on an academic paper; you find the link to the paper under "Topic and main paper." Note that you might have to be on the campus network to access the paper.
  If you are interested in the topic of the paper and want to apply for the project, briefly state what, specifically, you find interesting about the paper. Please provide not more than one paragraph of text. You are by no means expected to have understood the paper. You just should have got a rough idea of its gist and methods, and your paragraph should allow us to assess---also in your own interest---whether you are prepared for the project. Adding own ideas for what specifically you wanted to do in the thesis project, will be a plus.
  
  Send this paragraph per Email either to the institute office
  (sts-office@) or to the research assistants or directly to Professor Schupp.  Please include the list of courses you have taken at the institute, along with the year; you may list the individual course work you have done in these courses or mention any positive performance. Do not forget to introduce yourself  (also see "How to get in touch via Email" below).
•     For a first, non-binding contact, you can also talk informally any time to any of our research staff.
   

When do I apply?

•     You can apply any time, but it is advisable to plan ahead---if you wait until you feel like starting, it could be that no topic is available. It is not uncommon that students approach the teachers at the end of a course to indicate their tentative interest, even if they do not want to take up the thesis work right away or are still exploring options.

How is a thesis project organized?

•     For every thesis project, there is a member of the research staff who serves as the immediate supervisor and is in close contact with the student.
•     We organize the thesis project so that it provides also a good opportunity to learn and practice project management. Before a thesis is officially registered, the student and his or her supervisors agree on an initial work plan, time plan, and deliverables. That way it is ensured that the thesis goals are feasible and the thesis project can succeed. In the course of the project work, the student and his or her supervisor will jointly and regularly revise the plans to reflect the current state of the work.
•     We provide the opportunity of an intermediate presentation, which is a free shot that is not graded but which students can use as rehearsal for the final presentation and where they get early feedback (see here).
•     Students get comments on their thesis report before they hand it in officially.

How does a thesis report look like?

•     The reports use Latex, a widely used open-source typesetting system, and can be written in English or German. You can find a template and the STS Logo on our Services page (here).
•     The number of pages of a thesis is not fixed but depends on the kind of problem or research question. Previous theses can give good hints, see here.
•     The institute subscribes to the goals of the Open Science policy at TUHH, which is part of the Hamburg Open Science initiative.

 
How to get in touch via Email?

• Below are links that help you to avoid some mistakes:
   
•     https://www.scribendi.com/advice/how_to_email_a_professor.en.html
•     https://wissenschafts-thurm.de/wie-man-professoren-eine-e-mail-schreibt