Selection and Submission of Final Thesis

For bachelor theses, the latest deadline for choosing a thesis topic is the end of September in the third year of the bachelor's study program. It is possible, and students are welcome to choose topics earlier, even during the second year of their bachelor's studies.

Master's thesis topics are chosen in the autumn semester of the 1st year of master's studies.

The first place to look for inspiration is the pool of available final thesis topics in IS MU. Supervisors - thesis advisors insert topics into the pool that correspond to their research focus and activities of the Department of Anthropology.

It is certainly beneficial to inform oneself about available topics and actively search for them within the pool of themes.

If you find a topic in the pool of topics that you like and the topic is still available, you apply for it.

Then follows the refinement of the topic - communication and discussion with the supervisor. When both the student and the supervisor are satisfied with the assignment, they confirm it by clicking on the "Yes - I confirm the assignment" button (first the student confirms, then the supervisor). The thesis assignment is then handed over to the agenda of the head of the department, who finally approves the assignment. The head of the department reviews the assignment, consults it with the supervisors, and if necessary, returns it for revisions. If there is a change in the wording of the topic, the entire approval cycle starts again (student - supervisor - department director).

We recommend that you start negotiating the topic with your supervisor earlier (for bachelor thesis topics during the spring semester of the 2nd year of the Bachelor's program) to allow time for approval of the topic. It's definitely a good idea to inform yourself about available topics and actively search for them in the pool of topics or preliminarily negotiate with a potential supervisor.

Supervisors annually update topic bundles. The topics most closely align with the current focus of the department, ongoing projects, and the research of individual supervisors.

However, it may happen that you have an idea for your own topic. In that case, contact a supervisor from the pool of academic staff at the Department of Anthropology whose research interests align most closely with your topic. He/she will assess whether the topic is feasible and under what conditions. If both sides agree, the topic will be approved, and the process will proceed as described in the preceding point.

We recommend paying attention to topics announced by foreign academic staff of our department. Choosing from this selection of topics allows students to broaden perspectives on the topic to be addressed, and the ability to discuss a scientific topic in a foreign language at an international level increases the graduate's chances on the job market.

In the months and weeks before the submission of your thesis, consultations with your supervisor become more frequent. You will also agree on a timeline for submission and deadlines for when he/she wants to have the final version of the thesis or any potential 'pre-final' versions available.

If the supervisor agrees with the state of the thesis (in relation to the assignment and the fulfillment of the objectives), it is then submitted in the following steps:

• After reviewing the final version of the thesis, the supervisor will grant a credit for the corresponding course (e.g., Bachelor’s Thesis II).
• Once the credit is granted, you will upload the thesis to the Thesis Archive in the Information system (IS), add any required supplementary materials, and submit the thesis to the student office.
• If everything is in order, the Student Office will accept the thesis and the system will notify the supervisor to perform a final readability check in the system (including a plagiarism check).

At the beginning, you will be asked to present your final thesis. After the presentation, the supervisor and the opponent will present their comments and reviews. You will then have the opportunity to respond to the reviews and defend your thesis. It is advisable to have a few slides prepared on which you can illustrate your responses – however, do not include these reactions in the initial presentation (the one that takes place before the reviews).

After the review part of the defense is concluded, the chair of the committee will open a general discussion. Members of the committee and the audience will ask questions about your work, which you should respond to. The entire defense should take approximately 30 minutes.

Your presentation should briefly introduce your work. While there is no official format for the presentation, it is advisable to follow these recommendations:

• Prepare your presentation to last ten minutes and strictly adhere to this time limit.
• Prepare the presentation in pptx format or using a tool that works online without any issues and without the need for installation.
• The first slide should include the title of your thesis, the name of your supervisor, and the name of your institution.
• The presentation should then quickly introduce the problem being addressed, present the materials and methods used, and your results.
• Pay maximum attention to the essential findings, their interpretation, and the discussion. Avoid presenting complex and uncommented tables; everything should be prepared in the most clear and intuitive form possible.
• Your presentation (presented before the reviews) should only contain information that is part of your thesis. You can simplify tables and graphs for the presentation, but they should contain the same values as in your thesis.
• Any modified data prepared for the defense should be presented in the second part of the presentation, which occurs after the reviews are read.
• A good rule of thumb is to include only those elements (tables, information) in the presentation that you intend to comment on.
• It is recommended to consult your presentations with your supervisors before the defense.