Application
Applications for a final thesis at the Professorship of Digital Marketing may be submitted at any time. However, acceptances and rejections are only made once per quarter.
At the end of each quarter, it is decided which applications can be accepted for the following quarter and which research associate will supervise them. Therefore, the following application deadlines apply:
| Desired start of final thesis: | Application deadline : | Notification of acceptance or rejection: |
|---|---|---|
| January, February, March | End of CW 49 | End of CW 50 |
| April, May, June | End of CW 10 | End of CW 11 |
| July, August, September | End of CW 23 | End of CW 24 |
| October, November, December | End of CW 36 | End of CW 37 |
To apply, the following documents must be uploaded as a PDF using our online form (each with the prefix "Surname_Firstname_"):
- Short cover letter mentioning:
- your desired topic (with an outline if proposing your own topic, see below)
- a self-assessment of your coding expertise and corresponding programming languages
- Current transcript of records
- Curriculum vitae (including contact details)
Please refrain from preliminary inquiries and submit your complete application documents immediately. We can only decide on the supervision of a final thesis based on complete documents.
Topic
The selection of a topic is made in close coordination with the professorship. The same topics can be used for a bachelor's thesis, with the scope and level of detail of the work being reduced accordingly. The same applies to master's theses in the MBA and EMBA programs.
Practical theses are possible. In this case, the practical partners can be proposed by you. In the case of a practical thesis, a specific problem existing in practice should be addressed. At the same time, the scientific requirement of the work is essential.
Topics are possible in all areas of business administration related to digital marketing. For self-proposed topics, you must prepare a project outline (1-3 pages). Here is an exemplary guideline from the Chair of Controlling on how the outline should look and what it should contain. This outline forms the basis for topic finding and coordination between you, the professorship, and potentially the practical partner.
The team's current research topics to which the theses can (but do not have to) relate:
- Virtual influencers
- AI-generated digital ads
- Multi-modal LLMs for digital marketing
- AI-generated product designs
- Marketing-optimised GenAI models
Duration
In accordance with the TUM examination regulations, the timeline is:
- Master thesis (TUM-BWL/TUM-WIN/TUM-NAWI/TUM-WITEC/MBA/EMBA): six months
- Bachelor thesis: three months
Submission
The submission is made via email to the Grade Management (email) and not to the professorship. The Grade Management forwards it to the supervisor after review and approval:
The following must be submitted:
- Thesis with a signed Declaration of Authorship (a digital signature is sufficient)
- Einsichtnahmeerklärung/Permission to View... (as an additional PDF) https://www.wi.tum.de/downloads/
Defense ("Verteidigung")
For MBA master's theses, an oral defense ("Verteidigung") is held after the written work is submitted. Please arrange a date for this well in advance (at least four weeks prior). For all other final theses, a presentation is not mandatory, but may be requested by the professorship supervision.
Buddy Program
Upon request, we offer all students who are writing a final thesis at the Professorship of Digital Marketing the opportunity to participate in our Buddy Program. In this program, we connect you with other students who are working on a similar subject area in their final thesis with us, allowing you to exchange experiences and useful tips.