Bachelor's Thesis Winter Term 2026
General information about the Bachelor's thesis at the BIM chair
Before you consider to apply for thesis supervision at the BIM chair, please carefully read the following:
1) Do not write your thesis under our supervision if at the same time you plan to work full time, do an internship, travel the world, or still need to do a large number of other courses! The thesis is an integral part of your study program and, thus, should be in the focus of your attention. You will need all the time to be able to deliver the best package (we fully understand that most of you have a student job and this is perfectly doable). All students who despite our warnings still started a full-time job or internship struggled with finishing their thesis in time and delivering the desired quality. YOUR thesis should be YOUR first priority!
2) Only write your thesis under our supervision if you are commited, motivated, and responsible as well as willing to accept new challenges! If you consider to write your thesis at the BIM chair, you should be well-organized, be able to motivate yourself to achieve your goals, and be willing to independently learn new skills (e.g., learn new analytical approaches largely on your own). Writing your thesis with us inlcudes to go beyond what you have learned in your seminars and lectures. We expect that you are proactive and motivated. Our job is to reduce uncertainty. Be prepared for all meetings and show us that you invest effort and time to solve issues yourself. This is YOUR thesis, work for it!
3) We are not your personal assistant. Our job is to supervise your thesis with respect to the topic and method as well as the general content and process (e.g., literature search, writing, etc.). It is not our job to remind you of deadlines, to fill out your documents, or to replace your own efforts to understand the submission procedure. All this information is publicly available on the website of our faculty, specifically the examination office. We are not your internet search engine substitude. If you schedule a Zoom meeting with your supervisor, it is your responsibility to send him/her a Zoom link from your official OVGU Zoom account (https://ovgu.zoom.us/). This is YOUR thesis, YOU need to organize it!
- Registration form Bachelor's thesis: Click here
- Submission procedure of your Bachelor's thesis: Click here
- General information for your study program (including all information in case of illness): Click here
4) Time problems on your side do not create time pressure on our side! It is part of the mission of the BIM chair to provide students with timely answers to their questions as well as a timely feedback and grading after submission. Time constraints on your side do NOT create time issues on our side. Our aim is to answer questions and requests via e-mail within two working days. We are usually much faster than that, but if you send your question Friday late in the afternoon, you cannot expect an answer on the same day. Organize yourself and try walking in the shoes of the members of the BIM chair. The same applies to the situation once you have submitted your final thesis. If you want to start a job or internship, have visa requirements or travel plans, if you want to/need to move out of your apartment, or if you want to get back your semester fee, this is all your business and your responsibility. We have eight weeks to finish the grading of your thesis (see the study regulations), and while we aim for a much shorter time, it will not always be possible to finalize within two weeks. Each member of the BIM chair at any given point in time during the year is supervising at least five Master's thesis students, five Bachelor's thesis students, seminars, scientific projects, and several internships, etc. We simply cannot take into account all particularities for each and every supervised student, as this would already completely fill our schedule. All submitted theses are graded on a first come, first served basis. If you need your grade as soon as possible, make sure to submit early. YOUR issues, YOUR business!
Bachelor's Thesis Organization at the BIM chair
Bachelor's thesis supervision at the BIM chair during winter term 2026/27 is organized in the following way:
Application: To participate in the Bachelor's Thesis Seminar, please apply via the Office of Study Affairs' registration form and via the E-Learning platform. For more information, click here.
Topic: Once you are assigned to the BIM chair, you will receive an e-mail asking for your most preferred topics. The topic preferences you send us should not be changed, as we will try to assign you to a supervisor considering your first priority.
Cooperations with companies: It is generally possible to write your thesis in cooperation with a company. Please note that we only supervise theses in cooperation with a company if the topic has a strong connection to Behavioral International Management. Before signing any agreements with external partners, please discuss your thesis plans with us. Supervision is only possible if the topic fits and sufficient capacity is available. A signed agreement with a company does not automatically secure supervision. The regular application deadline and timeline for completing the thesis in collaboration with a company also apply here.
Supervision approach: An important aspect of the Bachelor's thesis is to work independently on the topic. Individual supervision meetings should not exceed two to three appointments of 30 minutes each (not including a meeting to specify the topic). In the meetings, your supervisor is not a substitute for your own efforts to solve problems. Thesis supervision does not include prior review of parts of the thesis or a "first draft". All thesis supervision meetings take place face-to-face on campus.
Formatting guidelines: All material (formatting rules, Word template, presentation examples, etc.) will be provided to accepted students via e-learning.
The thesis should include a minimum of 25 text pages plus references, tables, and figures, etc. Students provide an overview of their findings in a 15-minute presentation held after submission of the final thesis. We will ask questions and discuss the findings afterwards (about 10 minutes). Depending on the regulations of your specific study programme, you can write the thesis in English or German (check the IBE and IM regulations, respectively). Given that the literature is in English, we recommend to write in English.
Registration: For the thesis registration, please check (a) again whether you fulfill all the requirements to register for the Bachelor's thesis before sending us the registration form and (b) then send us your current transcript of records together with the registration form via e-mail. If it becomes apparent after the reading period has begun that you do not meet the requirements (for example, because you have failed a course for which you had not yet received a grade), please let us know IMMEDIATELY.
Submission: Submission of the thesis is no later than December 18th 2026 (see the website of the examination office for further details on the new digital submission requirements and process from ST26 on: Click here).
Defenses: All thesis defenses take place in January 2027 (15 minutes presentation of your thesis and 10 minutes questions - the ppt slides do not need to be submitted earlier) - about 45 to 60 minutes in total to have time for feedback.
Questions: Please read the above carefully. If you have any questions not answered by the above information, contact Ida-Anna Thiele (ida-anna.thiele@ovgu.de).
Important dates summary:
| Issue of topics: | October 5th-October 8th 2026 (usually, students can work on their first preference; start of the two-week reading period is the day after) |
| Mandatory kick-off meeting on campus: | in the first week of the lecture period (tbc) |
| First meeting with supervisor: | October 30th 2026 |
| Registration of the thesis by students: | Until October 11th 2026 |
| Thesis submission: | Latest by December 18th 2026 |
| Thesis defenses: | January 2027 (tbc) |
Bachelor's thesis topics in winter term 2026/27
The final list of topics will be provided here until July 31st 2026. These are broad topics and they need to be specified in the individual meetings with your supervisor. Own research ideas are very welcome, but also need to be discussed sufficiently in advance. Usually, all students can work on their first priority.