The MA thesis should be roughly 18.000 to 22.000 words in length (excluding footnotes and bibliography). There are no additional binding stipulations about the format. If in doubt, you should communicate any questions about the format or length with your primary supervisor.

Your topic can be changed once within the first 4 weeks, without it counting against you. However, if you prepare the topic well and discuss it thoroughly with your supervisor, this is highly unlikely to happen.

The MA thesis must be submitted as PDF to the examination office of the ‘Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften’ Department via email the lastest 23:59 the day of you deadline as communicated by the examination office.

Upon submission, you must state in writing that your thesis was independently written and that you have not made use of any unnamed sources or aid using the faculty’s declaration of independence.

The Prüfungsbüro then forwards the MA thesis to your supervisors. The supervisors then have 4 weeks to evaluate the MA thesis, as stipulated by the Prüfungsbüro.

As per the general study and examination guidelines of the Free University Berlin (FUMitteilungen 32/2013 from 22 Aug. 2013), the arithmetic average will then be taken as the grade.

Your MA thesis must meet at least the ‘satisfactory’ (4,0) mark to be considered passing. Constant and intensive contact with your supervisor in the preparation and writing stages helps prevent an unsatisfactory mark!