Master's Thesis

Students can commence work on the Master's thesis when both of the following conditions are met:

• They have completed their Bachelor's degree.
• They have acquired the number of ECTS points required for the Master's degree in all categories, with the except for credits for electives and the Master's thesis itself.
   

The minimum number of credits required in each category is:

• Courses in social sciences: 27 credits
• Minor in natural sciences and engineering: 27 credits
• Case studies: 12 credits

The Master's thesis must be completed within 28 weeks. These 28 weeks include 26 weeks of work and 2 weeks for holidays, sick leave, and other brief absences.

Students are free to choose a start date in agreement with both supervisors. The start date is then registered in myStudies, subject to approval by the supervisor.

This binding deadline for each student is displayed on myStudies. If it is missed without notification, the Master's thesis will be graded as 'failed'. The Director of Studies can extend the deadline under exceptional circumstances. The reasons must be stated in a written request by the student and the request must be approved by the Studies Director.

• Length

There is no required or maximum length. A rule of thumb is 40 - 50 pages, excluding appendices.

• Front-page layout

The front page must contain the following information:

1. ETH and ISTP Logo.
2. Thesis type (Master's thesis).
3. Name of the student.
4. Student ID number.
5. Master’s degree programme in Science, Technology and Policy.
6. Title of the Master's thesis.
7. Supervisor and Co-Supervisor, with their academic title and institution.
8. Date of submission (dd/mm/yyyy).

• Declaration of originality

Students must submit a signed declaration of originality when they submit their Master's thesis. Each copy needs to contain a Download declaration of originality (PDF, 160 KB).

If this student uses AI tools for language editing, this is acceptable but must be declared in the declaration of originality. Using AI tools for the substantive content of the thesis is not allowed.
 

• Citation etiquette

All students are required to follow the guidelines Download 'Citation etiquette' (PDF, 59 KB).

Please also visit the webpage on plagiarism on the ETH student portal.

Please be aware that supervisors will normally run Master's theses through PlagScan or a similar platform to identify plagiarism problems before assessing the content of the thesis.

The Master's thesis should be supervised by two professors, who serve as supervisor and co-supervisor, respectively. One of these professors must be from the social sciences. The other professor should be from the natural or engineering sciences or the social sciences. The supervisor must be an ETH Zurich professor. She or he has the lead role in supervising and mentoring the student and grading the thesis. The co-supervisor can be from ETH or another academic institution. Subject to approval by the ISTP studies director, the co-supervisor (whether from within ETH Zurich or another academic institution) can also be a postdoctoral researcher or senior researcher/scientist with demonstrated experience in advising Master's and doctoral students. Such a co-advisor must be independent of the supervisor, i.e., she or he should not be a staff member of the supervisor.

Subject to approval by the supervisor and the ISTP studies director, the Master's thesis research can also be undertaken outside ETH Zurich under the co-supervision of a professor or postdoc/senior researcher at that institution (meeting the same conditions as for the co-supervisor within ETH Zurich, see above). In such cases, the supervisor (who must be an ETH Zurich professor) should assess the submitted Master's thesis independently of the ETH-external co-supervisor and provide a separate assessment and grading proposal. If both supervisor and co-supervisor are from within ETH Zurich, they may provide a jointly agreed assessment.

The supervisor and co-supervisor must, under any conditions, have full access to data and other material when assessing and grading the thesis, if necessary, under a non-disclosure agreement with the external institution. Research findings reported in a Master’s thesis must be replicable by third parties, normally by everyone in the respective scientific field and, in exceptional cases, at least by the supervisor and co-supervisor. Students are also responsible for determining where their research requires approval by the ETH Ethics Committee and, if applicable, secure approval with support from their supervisor.

According to a directive by the rector of ETH Zurich, research for the Master's thesis as such cannot be paid for. That is, paid work time (e.g., in the context of an internship or as a research assistant) cannot be used for work on the Master's thesis. Reimbursements (e.g., for travel costs, additional charges for food or accommodation) are permitted.

The supervisor and co-supervisor have the following duties:

1. Define the theme of the Master's thesis in consultation with the student.
2. Define the tasks in writing.
3. Determine the date on which the student can begin the Master's thesis and the date on which the student can submit the thesis.
4. Define the criteria for assessment of the Master's thesis.
5. Assess and grade the thesis.

• Finding a topic, supervisors and preparation of the thesis proposal

Students are free to develop their own thesis topic or to select a topic suggested by a prospective supervisor and/or co-supervisor, and they are free to choose a supervisor and a co-supervisor whose interest aligns with a particular topic, subject to the above rules. The thesis must focus on a policy-relevant issue, and policy analysis should play a significant role in the research and resulting thesis. Once a topic is identified and agreed upon by both the student and the supervisor, the student will draft a thesis proposal of around 2 - 5 pages. This proposal must be approved by the supervisor before the research starts. The proposal should cover the following points:

• Supervisor and co-supervisor.
• Research question and its relevance.
• References and relevant scientific literature.
• Potential theoretical arguments addressing this question.
• Empirical research strategy and timeline.

On the following sites, you can find inspiration for potential thesis topics. 

• Student Theses Energy and Technology Policy Group 
• Abschlussarbeiten Institut für Raum- und Landschaftsentwicklung (D-BAUG) (German only)
• external page SiROP

• Registration in myStudies

After the students and supervisors have agreed on a topic and a start date, students need to register for lecture number '860-0900-00 Master's Thesis' on myStudies.

The latest starting date can be 3 months after the end of the semester of registration.

To register the thesis in myStudies, students need to submit:

1. Title of the thesis (the title can be changed later on).
2. Start date.
3. Names of the supervisors.
4. Thesis proposal.

The duration of the Master's thesis is set to maximum 28 weeks (6 months plus 2 weeks), and the submission date will be displayed on myStudies.

• The main supervisor must confirm the thesis in myStudies.

The supervisor must confirm the thesis in myStudies for the student to be able to formally begin the Master's thesis. The student office approves the registration in myStudies. Students can start the Master's Thesis only when the status in myStudies is 'Definite'.

• Submission and evaluation

The final written thesis must be submitted to the supervisors on the day of submission. Any corrections made afterwards will not be taken into consideration when grading the thesis. The declaration of originality must be included with the submitted thesis copy for the submission to be considered valid. Students and supervisors must decide together on whether the final Master's thesis will be submitted in hard copy form or whether a digital submission is acceptable. Both supervisors will evaluate the final version of the Master's thesis (see above).
In addition, students must submit a PDF version of the Master's thesis to the Study Administration: info@istp.ethz.ch

The supervisor will, subject to the consent of the co-supervisor, communicate the grade and the grading sheet(s) for a thesis to the Study Administration within eight weeks after submission, and preferably sooner. The supervisor and co-supervisor must send the grading sheet(s) to the student. They will commonly meet with the student in person or online to provide more detailed feedback.

• Awarding credit points

Students will be awarded 30 ECTS credit points upon successfully completing the thesis.

• Publication in the ETH Research Collection

Students have the opportunity to publish their Master's thesis in the ETH Research Collection. To publish Master's theses in the Research Collection, a letter of recommendation from the main supervisor is required.

• Degree request

Once the Master's thesis is successfully completed and all credits are obtained, students may request their diploma.

The Master's thesis will be graded, and this grade will serve as the student's performance assessment for the lecture unit. Theses are graded on a scale from 1 - 6. Students must earn a 4 or higher in order to pass.

Only the written Master's thesis is evaluated. Presentation of the Master's thesis is not compulsory; however, the ISTP encourages students to present their thesis in a seminar or a poster presentation.

The Master's thesis Download assessment form (PDF, 253 KB) will state the criteria that will be used to evaluate the thesis.

The supervisor and co-supervisor will evaluate a student's thesis separately. The scores for each criterion are averaged. The average of all of these scores will constitute the final grade. The main supervisor will be responsible for coordinating the grading process and for submitting the student's final grade to the Study Administration.

A Master's thesis that receives a grade lower than 4 may only be repeated once. If repeated, it must address a new theme. The repetition may proceed under a different supervisor and/or co-​supervisor.

Repeating a Master's thesis that has received a grade of 4 or higher is not possible.