What you should do if you want to write your thesis with us

You would like to write your thesis at the Department of General Psychology: Cognition? Here you will find general information about the procedure and the supervision.

1. Read your examination regulations

Read your examination regulations to find out about the general conditions for writing and registering your Bachelor's or Master's thesis in your degree program.

Check on your own whether you already meet the requirements for registering a thesis (number of accumulated credit points).

We cannot offer a supervision if you still have to complete a course in the third attempt.

2. Find an idea for the topic of your thesis

Theses are empirical research papers. You conduct your own scientific study, which you describe in your thesis.

• It should be about a topic that interests you personally.
• The thesis should contain a theoretical and an empirical part. Consider whether your topic is suitable for an empirical study.
• It should be recognizable as being related to a research topic in the department.

We also have a variety of topics for your thesis, which are derived in particular from the current research topics of our researchers.

Topics:

• Affective and cognitive processes and predictors of computer gaming disorder
• Affective and cognitive processes and predictors of problematic pornography use
• Motives, emotion regulation, predisposing variables (e.g. personality traits) in gaming
• Motives, emotion regulation, predisposing variables (e.g. personality traits) in social network use
• Adaptation processes to artificial intelligence and new mobility technologies
• Adaptability in the digital transformation

3. Get a first overview of the current state of research.

Research psychological literature in a timely manner, mainly primary literature

a) empirical studies published in international peer-reviewed journals

b) Overview articles (reviews) published in international peer-reviewed journals

c) Scientific books or book chapters

Publications from our team, especially from your (potential) supervisor, often help as well, as your topic should be related to current research in our department.

4. Consider initial ideas for empirical implementation.

Narrow down your research topic to the point where you can finish in the allotted time. Consider in time which methods you can use to operationalize your research questions and which statistical procedures you can use to evaluate your results.

5. Prepare a project outline and write a synopsis.

Once you have decided on a topic, you should write a short exposé. This is usually most useful if you have already agreed on the topic with your supervisor.

A synopsis consists of about 2-3 pages, briefly and concisely describing the theoretical background, the main research question, the concrete hypotheses, and the methods used. This serves to structure your work and ensures that you and your supervisor did not "talk past each other" when it came to the concrete implementation of the topic.

6. Get in touch with us

For the first contact, please write an e-mail to the following address only. Please state your preferred topic, initial ideas or research questions, and the desired start date for your thesis. You will then be forwarded to the appropriate staff member.

Please also keep in mind that capacities are limited - unfortunately, we cannot always guarantee a prompt processing of your request and an immediate support.

Contact: abschlussarbeiten.allgpsy[at]uni-due.de