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Formal Requirements for the Thesis

Faculties: AC, AMP, AR, BI, EFI, IN, MB/VS, SOH, VT, WT

Theses also have formal requirements. Here you will find an overview of the general guidelines for: format, font and font size, line spacing, page layout, binding, arrangement, and pagination.

Contents

Formatting

Format:

  • DIN A4
  • Justified text with appropriate hyphenation to avoid oversized word spacing

Font and font size:

  • Font family in consultation with the supervisors; recommended is a sans serif font for headings, a serif font for the text, and a monospace font for program code and internet addresses
  • For running text 11 or 12 pt

Line spacing:

  • 1.3 to 1.5

Page layout:

  • Should allow for correction
  • Suggestion for page margins in cm: right 2.0; top 2.0; left 3.0; bottom 3.0
For binding your thesis you should choose a hardcover binding.

The structure of your thesis

Your thesis does not only consist of the content part you have written. The other formal elements should be arranged in the following order:

  • Blank page
  • Title page
  • Declaration according to § 19 (8) APO (for Bachelor’s/Master’s theses)
  • Abstract/Summary
  • Table of contents
  • List of abbreviations and/or formulas (depending on relevance)
  • Content part
  • Works Cited
  • List of figures and tables (optional)
  • Appendix
See also the article: Structuring the thesis.

Page numbers

Not all pages in your thesis will be numbered. Note the following instructions regarding pagination:

  • The title page counts as page 1, but is not numbered.
  • The declaration is also not numbered.
  • The subsequent text pages are provided with page numbers at the bottom right.
  • A (possible) foreword after the declaration is not included in the page numbering, as it is not part of a thesis.
  • Page numbers: Arabic page numbering begins with the introduction; preceding page numbers are Roman.
  • The table of contents begins with Chapter 1.
  • For PDFs, however, the table of contents also serves as navigation – then it may be useful to include the parts before the introduction individually in the table of contents as well.

Frequently asked questions

Which formal requirements must I observe in my thesis?

Observe the requirements regarding formatting, binding, structure, and page numbers.

What is meant by pagination?

The term pagination refers to the page numbers. There are also general rules for this.

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Illustration von einer Person auf einer Baustelle mit einem Bagger und einem Kran im Hintergrund.

Support with Integrating Formulas and Program Code

Formal criteria Write SI prefixes, quantities, constants etc. in italics, but units not in italics. There must be a (non-breaking) space between number and unit. Smaller calculations may be included in the running text. Larger calculations and formulas that are central to the work are formatted in a separate line: centered or left-aligned. If they …

Faculties: AC, AMP, AR, BI, EFI, IN, MB/VS, SOH, VT, WT

Contributors: Autorengruppe Leitfaden efi, Fakultät EFI, Maria Noll, Schreibzentrum, Dzifa Vode, Dennis Christoph Wolff

Illustration: Zwei Personen in einer Bibliothel tauschen Informationen aus.

Tables and Figures

Captions All figures and tables must be captioned and numbered. As a rule, tables have headings, while figures or diagrams are provided with captions. These captions must be self-explanatory, i.e., each figure must be understandable from its caption without having to read the surrounding text. Reference all figures and tables in the text. Figures and …

Faculties: AC, AMP, AR, BI, BW, D, EFI, IN, MB/VS, SOH, SW, VT, WT

Contributors: Autorengruppe Leitfaden efi, Maria Noll, Schreibzentrum, Dzifa Vode, Dennis Christoph Wolff

This article was published in September 2025 and last updated in November 2024.

Faculties: AC, AMP, AR, BI, EFI, IN, MB/VS, SOH, VT, WT

Contributors: Autorengruppe Leitfaden efi, Maria Noll, Schreibzentrum, Dzifa Vode, Dennis Christoph Wolff

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