By the beginning of the 4th semester at the latest, you should have given some initial thought to topics and contacted potential supervisors. However, you should already make initial preparations for your thesis during your studies by setting certain priorities in your assignments and presentation topics.

The colloquium for MAGEA students takes place during the 4^th semester and is designed for presenting and discussing the planning and interim results of your Master's thesis. Attendance is mandatory.

The Master's thesis should demonstrate that you are able to work independently on a specific topic in the field of global East Asia at an advanced academic level and to present, classify and document the results appropriately.

Consider your areas of interest and reflect on previous courses or instructors that you found engaging. Additionally, you may want to explore topics from successful term papers and expand upon them for your thesis. Once you have a specific topic in mind, discuss it with your supervisor to ensure it is appropriate for your program. Any topic is possible for your Master's thesis, as long as you receive confirmation of supervision. You can approach a supervisor with a rough idea, such as 'I am interested in this topic, what aspects or questions could I address in my Master's thesis?' You can also develop the thesis from any module or course, or choose a topic and supervisor freely, without any connection to a course you have attended.

On a form that you submit with your application, you formulate the topic (proposed title/subtitle of the thesis) in consultation with your Master's thesis advisor.

It is important to note that the topic you submit in your application is binding and cannot be changed once it has been approved by the chairperson of the examination board. While you may add headings and subtitles later, they will not appear on your graduation documents. If your topic includes an unusually high number of special characters, please also send it informally via email to the examination office to facilitate processing.

Speak to an instructor who is authorized to conduct examinations or contact the lecturers of the module from which you would like to develop your thesis, provided they are authorized to conduct examinations. If you are considering a topic on your own and do not know which lecturer is best suited for it in terms of skills and interests, then ask the respective Academic Advisor of the area or the MAGEA Program's Coordination.

A second assessor is required to ensure fairness. You can contact a second examiner of your choice yourself.

The supervisor (usually the first examiner, see above) and the second examiner must be "authorized lecturers". As a rule, "university lecturers", i.e. professors, honorary professors, private lecturers, are authorized to examine in this sense. Members of the academic "Mittelbau" and external teaching staff / lecturers are generally not included. Please make sure (if necessary by asking directly) when you approach a potential examiner. Otherwise, the Examination Office will draw your attention to this when you register and you will have to search again.

There are no special deadlines or cut-off dates for registration. You can register for the Master's thesis at any time.

The examiners either manually or digitally sign the registration form, and you will then submit the original registration form by postal mail to the Examination Office or send the digital version by e-mail (preferably using your FU address); in the latter case, please include the examiners in the CC so that their signatures can be verified.

Please do not forget to fill in the declaration according to RSPO §23 para. 1 sentence 2, which is attached to the registration form.

If you use an e-mail program other than Outlook, please make sure to separate the examiners' email addresses with a semicolon and a space, otherwise both email addresses may not be visible to the exam office.

You can find the forms online on the service pages in the download area of the Department of History and Cultural Studies: https://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/studium/downloadbereich

To register for the Master's thesis, you must provide proof of

1. enrollment at Freie Universität according to the examination regulations.

2. successful completion of modules of the Integrative Area for a total of at least 30 credit points, as well as additional modules in the Specialization Area for a total of at least 20 credit points 

3. the signature of both authorized examiners confirming their willingness to assess the Master's thesis.

The writing time for the Master's thesis is 20 weeks.

The start of the processing period is the date on which the topic is issued by the Examination Board. There is a processing time of a few days to a few weeks between the complete registration of the Master's thesis at the examination office and the issue of the topic sent to you by post. However, you should already be prepared to start working on your thesis when you register.

An extension of the processing time can be requested informally. Unless otherwise specified in the examination regulations, the following applies:

The Bachelor's and Master's Examination Board has determined that the maximum total extension period is half of your writing time and will be considered on a case-by-case basis upon receipt of a reasoned request. To apply for an extension of the processing time, you and your supervisor must sign the application. The student is required to email the fully signed request to the Examination Office. To verify the signature, the supervisor should be cc'd.

The maximum extension period for the Master's thesis may be extended by up to six weeks for health reasons, as certified by a doctor's certificate of incapacity for examination.

The Master's thesis should comprise approx. 15,000 to 18,000 words. If you realize while writing that the thesis will be significantly longer, discuss this with your supervisor.

Depending on the study and examination regulations, the topic can be returned once within the first two weeks and is then deemed not to have been issued. If you prepare the topic well and discuss it carefully with your supervisor, this is extremely unlikely to happen.

The Master's thesis must be submitted digitally by e-mail (as a non-editable PDF file) in English to the Examination Office at any time before 4:00 PM on the day of the deadline.

It is important that the digitally submitted version includes your scanned signature on the declaration of plagiarism on the last page. The Master's thesis and the declaration of plagiarism must be sent together in one file to the Examination Office.

The Examination Office will forward the paper to the two examiners. You also have the option of sending the paper to the assessors after submitting it to the Examination Office. The examiners will have four weeks to evaluate the paper after being notified by the Examination Office.

Once both assessments for your Master's thesis have been delivered, you will be able to view the results in Campus Management. If you no longer have access to Campus Management, you can request the result by emailing the Examination Office.

You can request copies of the assessments from the Examinations Office via e-mail. The request form can be obtained from the Examinations Office upon request.

If an examination is assessed by several examiners, the grade is calculated as an arithmetic mean. (Example: "2.0" in the first assessment and "2.3" in the second assessment results in "2.15").

The Master's thesis is failed if it is not graded at least 'sufficient' (4.0). Intensive contact with the supervisor during the preparation and writing phase helps to avoid this situation! The Master's thesis may be repeated twice. Examinations graded 'sufficient' (4.0) or better may not be repeated.

The Master's thesis is weighted with 30 credit points and is included in the overall grade accordingly.

You will receive your degree certificate when you submit an application for graduation to the Examination Office. In order to receive the certificate, you must provide proof of the achievements required in accordance with the examination regulations (120 CP). All coursework and examinations must be fully documented in the Campus Management. It takes approx. four weeks to issue the documents after submission of the complete documentation. The documents will then be sent to you by post.

You will receive an examination certificate and a certificate of the degree of Master of Arts. You will also receive a Diploma Supplement with details of the course content, the academic and professional qualifications acquired with the degree and the awarding university. A translation of the certificate and the diploma into English is possible on request and must be applied for in writing.

Depending on the nature of your questions, please contact the supervisor of your thesis, the department's Examination Office or the Master's Academic Advisors. You can reach the contact person coordinating for the Master's degree program in Global East Asia here.