Graduation and Master's Thesis

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  • Formal prerequisites for the registration of the Master's Thesis

    Modules that have to be completed before the formal start of the Master's thesis process:

    • B-I-CS Introduction to Cognitive Science I (5 ECTS)
    • A-I-CS Introduction to Cognitive Science II (10 ECTS)
    • B-M-CS Into Research I (5 ECTS)
    • A-M-CS Into Research II (10 ECTS)
    • 4 disciplinary modules (20 ECTS) *
    • 2 methods modules (10 ECTS) *

    *Disciplinary and method modules depend on your background discipline(s) and need to meet the requirements of the curriculum.

Master's Thesis

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  • Step 1: Identifying Your Master's Thesis Supervisor

    The formal requirements for supervision of master's theses are specified in the "Satzung der Universität Wien", §14. (1), (2) and (5). See http://satzung.univie.ac.at/studienrecht/ [German only].

    A potential supervisor must have a habilitation. (Exceptions are possible if no person with a habilitation can be found). If you are unsure whether your supervisor is eligible, contact meicogsci@univie.ac.at.

    Co-supervision is only possible for post-docs employed at the same faculty as the supervisor. The supervisor has to issue the respective form.

  • Step 1.2: Procedure for an External Supervisor

    Any supervisor that is not from the University of Vienna is an external supervisor (including supervisors from MEi:CogSci partner universities).

    A potential supervisor must have a habilitation or equivalent qualification. (Exceptions are possible if no person with a habilitation can be found). If you are unsure whether your supervisor is eligible, contact meicogsci@univie.ac.at.

    The following procedure is required for an external supervisor to be acknowledged:

    1. The student sends a request for external supervision to meicogsci@univie.ac.at including the following information in three separate documents:
      • Master's Thesis Concept
      • CV of the Supervisor should include:
        • name and contact information,
        • academic career as well as research field/discipline of his/her doctorate,
        • affiliation (i.e., university, non-universitary/independent research institute, company)
        • current position (full professor, adjunct professor, postgraduate)
        • a list of publications from the last 3 years
        • proof of experience in interdisciplinary research/work
      • Rationale for why this person is qualified for supervision in the field of cognitive science and, in particular, for the master's thesis. (The rationale is provided by the student.)
    2. The MEi:CogSci programme director discusses the request in consultation with the local MEi:CogSci consortium and the Studienpraeses of the University of Vienna.
    3. The Studienpraeses decides about the request for supervision.
    4. The student is notified about the decision via email.  (This can take up to 10 days.)

    Please prepare three separate files as PDF and follow these naming conventions before you send your request for external supervison:

    • MastersThesisConcept_FirstnameLastnameStudent_StudentIDnumber.pdf
    • CV_FirstnameLastnameSupervisor_LastnameStudent.pdf
    • Rationale_FirstnameLastnameSupervisor_LastnameStudent.pdf

    Important

    Please be aware that the University of Vienna cannot cover expenses or organise trips to the University of Vienna to your master's thesis defense. Your master's thesis has to be defended in Vienna. (Exception: Defense at MEi:CogSci Conference or online.)

    Please inform your external supervisor about this constraint in advance.

    You can also share the following guidelines for external supervisors with your supervisor.

  • Step 2: Formal Procedure for Starting Your Master's Thesis

    Before you start to work on your master's thesis, you have to hand in three documents:

    The master's thesis concept has to be approved by your supervisor and the study programme director. Please send your concept to the programme coordinators (meicogsci@univie.ac.at) after your supervisor has approved it. We forward it to the study programme director. You will receive feedback via email.

    By signing the regulations relating to good scientific practice form you acknowledge that you understand and follow the regulations relating to good scientific practice. (Bring the original form with your signature to the programme coordinators, or send a scanned version via emai to meicogsci@univie.ac.at.)

    The title of master's thesis form is required to register the title of your master's thesis. When your title is registered no other master's thesis can be conducted under the same title. By handing in this form you officially start your master's thesis. (Bring the original form with your signature to the programme coordinators, or send a scanned version via emai to meicogsci@univie.ac.at.)

  • Step 3: Check the Master's Thesis Criteria

    The international MEi:CogSci consortium has agreed on the following requirements for a master's thesis:

    • 50-60 pages* for an experiment-based/empirical or modelling thesis.
    • 80-120 pages* for a theoretical thesis.
    • The interdisciplinary aspect of your thesis has to be explicitly stated.

    *) Page numbers refer to the content and do not include title page, table of contents, references, etc.

    Formal requirements:

    • Format: Only DIN A4 (210 x 297 mm), portrait format
    • Pages have to be printed double-sided
    • Edge distances have to be chosen so they allow for binding
    • The title page can be automatically generated in u:space. Please check whether the data on it are correct. This page has to be included in the thesis pdf.
    • One abstract in English and one in German (each min. 500 characters incl. spaces) have to be included in the thesis.
    • Citation rules must be followed and auxiliary aids have to be documented in the thesis.

    Detailed information in German can be found in the Mitteilungsblatt.
    Information on the use of publications in a thesis can be found on website of the Büro Studienpräses.

     

  • Step 4: Submit Your Master's Thesis as PDF in u:space
    1. Upload a PDF-version of the Master's thesis  (one pdf document, including the title page and the German and English abstract) to u:space for automatic plagiarism check. Make sure this pdf has no password protection.
      You will receive a confirmation of upload/"Hochladebestätigung".
    2. If the automatic plagiarism check detects passages that are identical to other texts, the SPL will check, whether it is plagiarism or not. Please only print your thesis after you have received the confirmation of successful plagiarism check (email to your u:account).

    Important

    Once you have uploaded your Master's thesis you cannot make any changes to it anymore. Please do not upload your thesis unless it is approved by your supervisor.

  • Step 5: Hand in the Two Hardcopies
    1. After uploading the Master's thesis via u:space, students will receive a confirmation of the upload.
    2. Please print this confirmation, sign it and hand it in electronically via the SSC Philosophie Service Desk and the print-out together with the two hardcopies of your thesis.
    3. After approval of the plagiarism check by the programme director, the pdf-version of the Master's thesis and the assessment/evaluation form will be sent to the examiner, who has eight weeks to return the form.
    4. Hand in the two hard copies (with hard cover!) at the StudienServiceCenter (SSC) Philosophie, NIG Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Wien within 10 days after uploading. Be aware that the hardcopies have to be exactly the same as the uploaded pdf.

    Important

    Please be aware that registration for the defense is only possible when the SSC Philosophie has received the hard copies of the thesis.

Graduation Procedure

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  • Notify us about the Completion of all courses

    As soon as you have completed all coursework (excluding the master thesis and the master exam), please upload your Transcript of Records in the Moodle Course Master Exam Slots MEiCogSci.

    Please attach a Transcript of Records.

    IMPORTANT: Recognition of Courses

    At this time, make sure you have had all courses recognised that you took outside of the University of Vienna. For example, courses from the Medical University must be recognised at the University of Vienna using the document available from our downloads page.

  • Wait for Our Feedback!

    After you send your Transcript of Records, we check your status, i.e., if all requirements for graduation are met. We inform you when you can proceed with the next step.

    (In case you are still missing a grade, you can proceed with the upload of your thesis, but you cannot register for the defense.)

Defense

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  • Prerequisite

    The registration for the defense is only possible if

    • the SSC Philosophie has received the hard copies of the thesis.
    • your supervisor has returned the evaluation form for your master's thesis
      (Please note that the supervisor has 8 weeks to grade your thesis.)
    • all your grades have been entered and the Record of Examinations has been approved
    • you have agreed with your two examiners on a time slot in the exam blocks.
    • you have completed the questionnaire "Have you completed all steps?"
  • Step 1: Assembling the Defense Committee
    • A committee consists of three course instructors from MEi:CogSci courses (committee chair, first examiner and second examiner). 
    • The study programme director (Univ.-Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. -Ing. Moritz Grosse-Wentrup) is usually the committee chair. In exceptional cases the study programme director can approve someone else.
    • At least one of the three persons needs to be habilitated. (The head of the committee does not need to be habilitated, if the programme director agrees.)
    • The first examiner is your supervisor. They ask questions about the the topic area of your master's thesis.
    • The second examiner should have expertise in the field of your master's thesis. Typical candidates for the second examiner are professors and course instructors from MEi:CogSci courses.

     

     

  • Step 2.1: Master Exam Blocks

    The master Exams take place in the end of every semester:

    Winter Semester 2025/26:

    Monday Jan. 26th 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

    Summer Semester 2026:

    Monday September 21st 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (you will receive information about the new Process soon)

    Please coordinate a time slot with your first and second examiner. The defense can also be held online or in a hybrid form.

  • Step 2.2: Registering the Defense

    The earliest date to register for your defense by handing in the registration form is the day your supervisor returned the filled in evaluation form.

    The registration form has to be submitted at the latest 14 days before your defense takes place. (Your defense is a public exam and has to be announced publicly 2 weeks in advance.)

    Please pick a Time Slot in the moodle course. Note: The time slot has to be be agreed upon with both the first and the second examiner!

    Once you have selected a time slot, please complete and sign the registration form and upload it to the Moodle page.

  • Step 3: The Structure of the Defense

    Note: the separate second topic area for examination has been eliminated. The Defense consists of only one examination on the topic of your Master's Thesis presentation and all three members of the 

    The defense lasts for 60 minutes. The language is English. It is structured in the following way:

    StepDuration RoleContent
    115 min.

    Student

    		Presentation of the master's thesis
    2

    30 min.

    Exam Committee

    Questions concerning the topic(s) of the presentation (the first examiner may begin, for max. 5 min. questioning is open to the audience)

    35-10 min.Exam CommitteeThe committee is deliberating on the grade. Student and audience are asked to leave the room. Afterwards the grade is announced.

    The head of the committee is responsible for the exam protocoll and tracking the time. As member of the exam committee he can also ask questions throughout.

    You will receive a grade for the two parts of the exam (each worth 1 ECTS, 2 in total - they are part of S-I-CSM module).

  • Upcoming Defensiones

    Dates of current MEi:CogSci defensiones are posted at the SSC, NIG, 3rd floor.

Graduation

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  • Getting Your Degree Certificate

    After you successfully defended your master's thesis you have officially graduated the joint master's programme.

    Your official degree certificate will be issued by the SSC.  You will recieve a link to an online statistics form you need to fillout in order to receive the graduation documents.

    You will receive the graduation documents via the Servicedesk. Please download and save them.

    If you need hand signed versions of the documents, please contact us right away. It can take up to four weeks until you can pick up your documents. You will receive a notificaion as soon as the documents are ready.

    It is required that you pick up your documents personally. The StudentServiceCenter cannot send the documents via (e)mail.

    To pick up the hand signed documents you need a photo ID.

    In case you are not able to pick up your documents personally someone else can pick them up for you. This person needs:

    • His/Her photo ID
    • A copy of your photo ID
    • A written and signed warrent from you for the person who picks up your document.
  • Overall Assessment/Final Grade

    In order to receive a "pass with distinction" (mit Auszeichnung bestanden) on your degree certificate as the overall grade (Abschlussprädikat) three requirements have to be met:

    • your master's thesis is graded with "excellent" (sehr gut = 1)
    • your grade point average for all courses has to be ≤ 1,5
    • the grade for the defensio has to be ≤ 1,5 (that means that both parts of the defensio are graded with "excellent", or one with "excellent" and the other examiner with "good")