The HPL is exclusively responsible for the final theses of all B.Ed. and M.Ed. students, even if the thesis is written in Educational Sciences, Social Studies or Sport. Please inform yourself there about the procedure.

There is a special procedure here. Please read the homepage of the Journalistic Seminar.

• Two-subject Bachelor’s degree program: usually at the beginning of the sixth semester, provided that at least 120 credit points have been earned, of which at least 80 in the core subject. Exception: Journalism Studies – usually at the beginning of the fourth semester, provided at least 80 credit points have been earned, of which at least 60 in the core subject
• Bachelor of Sport and Sport Science: at the beginning of the sixth semester, provided at least 120 credit points have been earned.
• The following applies to all: Credit points are only credited once a module has been fully completed. Credit points from modules that have not yet been completed are not included in the calculation.

Bachelor’s degree programs: You must register for the Bachelor’s thesis by the end of the sixth year of study (end of the 12th semester), otherwise you will receive a failed attempt due to missing the deadline. If you have reasons for extending the deadline (illness or disability, pregnancy, raising children, caring for relatives, studying abroad, membership of statutory university committees), please contact the Legal and Examinations Office in good time before the deadline (see “Examinations Office” for contact details).

Master’s degree programs: You must register for the Master’s thesis by the end of the fourth year of study (end of the 8th semester), otherwise you will receive a failed attempt due to missing the deadline. If you have reasons for extending the deadline (illness or disability, pregnancy, raising children, caring for relatives, studying abroad, membership of statutory university committees), please contact the Legal and Examinations Office in good time before the deadline (see “Examinations Office” for contact details).

You can find out who may be the supervisor of a thesis for the two-subject Bachelor’s degree program from § 8 para. 2 of the regulations for the examination in the two-subject Bachelor’s degree course or the corresponding paragraphs of the regulations for the examination in the Bachelor’s degree courses in Sport and Sports Science or Psychology or the Master’s examination regulations applicable to you.

As a rule, these are all professors, habilitated professors, research assistants, lecturers and teaching staff for special tasks. If in doubt, please contact the central examination office.

At least one reviewer should be a university lecturer in Faculty 02 or habilitated. Consequently, a thesis can, for example, be supervised by a research assistant as the first reviewer, while the second reviewer is a university lecturer.

If the Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis is to be completed at an institution that is not part of Faculty 02, the Chair of the Bachelor’s Examination Board or the Chair of the Master’s Examination Board must give their prior consent. In this case, please contact the Central Examinations Office (Legal and Examinations Office – Mr. Bieniakonski) at an early stage before contacting potential external supervisors.

This is possible if you print out the relevant application and both reviewers sign that they agree to it.

You think about a topic for your thesis and contact potential supervisors. The topic must be discussed with them in advance, as the examiners are responsible for issuing the topic and candidates are not entitled to a specific topic. Then print out the application for registration of a Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis. Then have the form signed by the examiner after the topic has been agreed. The examiner may modify or reject your topic. You are also not entitled to a specific examiner as the supervisor of your thesis.

Please note: Some institutes have an overview on their homepage of which examiners are available for which subjects and how many supervisions are still available.

If the supervisor agrees to supervise your thesis, complete the application form and have it signed by him or her. He or she will recommend a second supervisor, who will then be entered on the form.

You must submit the completed application to the Central Examination Office by email (PruefungsamtFB02@uni-mainz.de) within a maximum of three working days.

You will then receive a written admission letter stating your topic and the submission date by e-mail and post.

The processing period begins with the registration of the thesis at the examination office.

Here are the individual production deadlines:

• Core subject Educational Sciences: 9 weeks
• Core subject Political Science: 8 weeks
• Core subject Journalism: 9 weeks
• Core subject Sociology: 9 weeks
• B.A. Sport: 9 weeks
• Master Empirical Democracy Research: 4 months
• Master of Educational Sciences: 16 weeks
• Master Communication: 4 months
• Master Political Economy and International Relations: 4 months
• Master Sociology: 5 months
• trinational Master “European Master”: 4 months
• Master’s program in Sports Science: 6 months

A topic can be returned once within the first two weeks of the processing time in both Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs. A new topic must be agreed immediately within four weeks. The application form must be completed and signed again by the supervisor.

If you miss the submission deadline, the work is deemed to have been failed. You will then only have one more attempt.

Deadline extensions are only possible in the following cases and only with written proof:

In the event of illness, provided that a certificate specifically states the duration of the illness and inability to take examinations – a simple certificate of incapacity to work is not sufficient. An extension is also granted in the event of death in the family or other reasons for which the student is not responsible.

You submit your written application and proof to the central examination office by email. The reason will be checked there. You will receive written notification as to whether or not the application has been granted and when the processing period ends.

The thesis is submitted to the central examination office by e-mail to: PruefungsamtFB02@uni-mainz.de. Please do not forget to confirm in writing that you have written the thesis independently and have not used any sources or aids other than those specified. You will find a template for this declaration in the download area on the right. You will also receive the declaration and a sample title page from us by email after registration.
You must also confirm that you have taken note of the regulations for safeguarding good scientific practice in research and teaching and the procedure for dealing with scientific misconduct. You can find these regulations here.

Your thesis will then be forwarded to the two reviewers by the Examination Office.

The assessment procedure for Bachelor’s and Master’s theses should not exceed six weeks.

If the work is not handed in on time, it will be graded as “insufficient” (5.0).

As soon as the grades of the first and second assessor are available, they will be published in Jogustine. Please arrange a date for the final oral examination in good time. This should take place within four weeks of the end of the assessment procedure.

As soon as your grade has been published, you can request your reports by e-mail (PruefungsamtFB02@uni-mainz.de).

Please note: The Examination Office does not give out grades in advance; neither during consultation hours nor by telephone or email. Please refrain from asking such questions!

In the Bachelor’s degree program:

The candidate presents the content of their Bachelor’s thesis for a maximum of five minutes. Then questions and tasks are asked about the context of the Bachelor’s thesis and questions about another module, which has been agreed in advance with the examiners.

Oral final examination in the core subject of Journalism:

The subject of the examination is two topics from the modules of the core subject, which must be agreed with the examiners in advance.

In the Master’s program:

The candidate presents the content of their Master’s thesis for a maximum of ten minutes. Questions and tasks relating to the context of the Master’s thesis are then asked. In some subjects, a further module is the subject of the final oral examination. This can be found in the subject-specific appendix of the examination regulations for your degree program.

Students of FB 02 may be present as listeners if the examination candidate does not object. They can express their veto until the start of the oral examination.

Interested parties must submit an application 3 weeks before the oral examination to the examiner of the oral examination, who will decide on such applications according to the number of places available. The public nature of the examination does not extend to the deliberations and the announcement of the examination result.

• Core subject Educational Sciences: 30 minutes
• Core subject Political Science: 30 minutes
• Core subject Journalism: 30 minutes
• Core subject Sociology: 30 minutes
• BA Sport and Sport Science: 20 minutes
• Master Educational Sciences: 30 minutes
• Master Empirical Democracy Research: 45 minutes
• Master Communication: 45 minutes
• Master Sociology: 30 Minutentrinational
• Master “European Master”: 45 minutes
• Master Sports Science: 30 minutes

After the oral examination and after all outstanding examinations have been taken, the Examination Office will issue your certificate, transcript of records and diploma supplement in German. You will be informed immediately by email when you can collect your final documents from us (during office hours, Mondays to Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 12 noon with prior registration at: https://www.sozialwissenschaften.uni-mainz.de/bachelormaster/sprechstunde/). Your documents can only be issued if you have already successfully completed all modules at this point. Please bear in mind that it takes some time to prepare your documents and that we have six weeks to complete your documents in accordance with the examination regulations.

If your final oral exam is not your last exam, please inform us by email as soon as all your modules have been completed so that we can prepare your documents.

If you are unable to collect your certificate during office hours, you are welcome to authorize someone else to collect it. Please authorize the person collecting it to do so. We will also send you your documents on the following condition: Please send us a stamped envelope. Make sure that the envelope (B4) has sufficient postage. You will receive your certificate, transcript of records and diploma supplement. Alternatively, you can send us an electronic stamp. Please always state your current address.

Plagiarism or citation errors are not a trivial offense, but lead to failure of the thesis. Please avoid this risk in your own interest.

You have two attempts at both the Bachelor’s and Master’s thesis. If you have failed for the first time, you must register a new topic within six weeks of receiving notification of failure by submitting the form to the Examinations Office again.

There are three attempts at the final oral examination for the Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, whereby the second and third attempt must take place within six months. If this deadline is missed, a further 5.0 will be recorded.
To obtain a further appointment, the candidate must contact the examiner to arrange an appointment. To do so, please use the appropriate form and submit it to the Examinations Office 14 days before your examination date so that an official invitation can be issued. Oral final examinations without a prior official invitation are invalid.