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Faculty of Management, Economics and Social SciencesMarketing Area

Master Thesis

1.     General Information and Contact

The Marketing Area offers the possibility to apply for a master thesis 3 times a year (March 1, July 1, and November 1).

2.     Requirements

  • You have chosen Marketing as your major.
  • You have successfully completed a main seminar at the Marketing Area.
  • Basic knowledge in statistics/econometrics and market research is essential (acquired in either bachelor or master studies).
  • You have at least 60 ECTS points.

3.     Application Process

  • Students need to apply first before they receive the list of topics.
  • Please note that the deadline for the application period is the 10th of March/July/November. Applications (including all the required documents) are only being accepted within the announced application period (1st to 10th of March/July/November).
  • A list of topics will be sent to the applicants on March/July/November 20 when at least 2 students apply.
  • Students need to send their topic preferences back before March/July/November 27, noon.
  • Your registration with the examination office has to be fulfilled within the first month after you have received your thesis topic.

4.     CEMS-MIM Students

  • CEMS MIM-students wishing to write a master thesis have to fulfil the same requirements and have to follow the same application procedure as major marketing master students. Hence, only students with minor/supplementary section in marketing can apply.

  • CEMS-MIM students can choose when to start their master thesis within the following periods (starting date is always the 1st of the preferred month): March applicants can start their thesis between April and July, July applicants can start their thesis between August and November, November applicants can start their thesis between December and March.

  • A list of topics will be send to the applicants only if two or more students have chosen the same starting date. Otherwise a topic will be assigned to you.

5.     Application Documents

  • Completed application form for master theses
  • Bachelor certificate (copy)
  • Current list of grades provided by the examination office (copy)
  • Curriculum Vitae

6.     Suggesting a topic for master theses

  • Proposals for own thesis topics can be submitted three times a year, between February 1st to February 15th, June 1st to June 15th, and October 1st to October 15th. In exceptional cases, students are allowed to pursue topics also in cooperation with external companies or organizations. The conditions are that the student has achieved above average grades and that the topic lies within the research focus of the respective supervisor.
  • It is critical that the academic contribution of the thesis is well developed. Towards this end the theoretical basis has to be properly outlined. Furthermore, the proposed research question has to fit into the context of the relevant academic literature. This is typically accomplished by relating it to at least 5 relevant academic sources from high-level international journals. 
  • Based on the information in the application form, we will decide whether the topic has sufficient academic relevance and whether it fits well enough into the existing research portfolio. You will receive feedback from us, whether we accept or decline your topic proposal before the start of the upcoming application period. Your working time also starts with this announcement.
  • The application for own thesis topics in February should be sent to M.Sc. Nicklas Engels [nicklas.engels[at]wiso.uni-koeln.de].
  • The application for own thesis topics in June should be sent to M.Sc. Vincent Weidenbörner [weidenboerner[at]wiso.uni-koeln.de].
  • The application for own thesis topics in October should be sent to Dr. Martin Hirche [hirche[at]wiso.uni-koeln.de].

7.     Formal requirements

There are formal requirements for scientific papers. Follow the rules of proper citation and note that every student paper is checked for the potential violation of rules against plagiarism via special software programs. Make sure that your thesis meets these requirements.

In addition, please ask you supervisor for a document with detailed formal requirements of your thesis.

8.     Literature

The following books are helpful for successfully writing a master thesis:

  • Baumgarth,C./Eisend, M./Evanschitzky, H. (2009): Empirische Mastertechniken: Eine anwendungsorientierte Einführung für die Marketing- und Managementforschung, Wiesbaden.
  • Herrmann, A./Homburg,C./Klarmann, M. (2008): Handbuch Marktforschung, 3. Aufl., Wiesbaden.