Title page

Make sure that all essential information is included on your title page:

• Topic of the thesis
• Thesis / Master Thesis / Project Report for the degree Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) or Master of Science (M.Sc.)
• By Jane Doe
• Supervisor: Prof. Prof. Dr. Firstname Lastname
• Nuremberg, DD.MM.YYYY (Summer Semester YYYY)

Examination declaration

The statutory declaration must not be missing from any thesis:

I, Jane Doe, Matriculation No. 123456789, certify that I have written this thesis independently, have not submitted it elsewhere for examination purposes, have indicated all sources and tools used, and have marked literal and analogous quotes as such.

Plagiarism Declaration in Accordance with Examination Rules: I herewith declare that I have worked on this thesis independently. Furthermore, it was not submitted to any other examining committee. All sources and tools used in this thesis, including literal and analogous quotes, have been identified.

Do not forget the date and your signature.

Publication declaration

This page must include the declaration according to § 19 para. 8 APO and the publication declaration of the thesis.

Here is the form.

Acknowledgements

The acknowledgements should not exceed one page. They may also be omitted entirely.

Summary

This section contains a brief summary of the most important results of your work.

Remember that this section is the “business card” of your work.

Structure and features:

• Total 250 to 300 words
• Purpose / Objective (5–10 sentences)
• Method (1–2 sentences)
• Results (2–3 sentences)
• Value / Benefit (2–3 sentences)

The summary is also called “abstract”.

For the Master Project Report, the summary should be written in English only.

Used symbols and abbreviations

This section lists all symbols and abbreviations used as a reference.

Always make sure to follow DIN EN ISO 80000.

Latin symbols:

Greek symbols:

Contents – example

Introduction

The introduction presents the background of your thesis.

It informs readers about the important scientific, economic, or ecological contexts of your task.

It should clarify which current problems exist and why you aim to solve certain tasks in your work.

The introduction typically spans 1–2 pages.

Your introduction should answer the following questions:

• Why is your work important?
• What contribution does your work make?
• What is the objective of your work? (research question, hypothesis, research goal)
• How was the research conducted?
• If applicable: How is the work structured?

Theory or state of the art

The “theory” or “state of the art” section provides information on the most important theoretical and practical foundations of your thesis.

Ideally, use descriptive titles instead of just “Theory” or “State of the Art.”

If applicable, multiple chapters may be useful: Optionally work with subchapters.

Here you present the results of your literature research.

This also includes a critical assessment and discussion of the literature. After this, the readers understand the current state of knowledge or state of the art in the task area.

This section allows your audience to understand the type of work conducted, the analyses, and the subsequent evaluation or discussion of the results.

Focus on the essential aspects of your thesis, not on generally known fundamentals.

Information that is not necessary for understanding your work or not applied should not be described here.

Chapters 1 and 2 should together comprise approximately one-third of your thesis: guideline is 15–20 pages.

Objectives and problem solving

Clarify with your supervisor whether a separate chapter for objectives and problem solving is needed or whether these aspects can be included in the introduction.

If you use a separate chapter “Objectives and problem solving”, make sure not to repeat the introduction.

If you decide to include this chapter for a better understanding of your thesis, ensure that it fully covers the objectives or task description.

If your thesis involves multiple tasks contributing to the overall solution, it is helpful for readers to understand which tasks need to be completed and how you intend to solve them.

Explain your strategy for solving the overall research question so that it is clear why you perform certain experiments or measurements.

Materials and methods

In this section, you document your experiments or measurements.

Separate the description of the equipment used from the explanation of the procedure.

The following questions should be answered:

• Which devices (manufacturer), chemicals etc. were used?
• Which techniques were applied?
• How exactly did you perform the work?
• Why was this specific setup chosen?
• How were the obtained results analyzed?
• Are there factors that could influence the research?

Equipment:

Indicate which chemicals (incl. manufacturer and purity used) / devices were employed and how the experimental setup looked.

Methods:

Describe how you conducted your experiments or measurements.

The description must be such that your procedure is understandable and reproducible for the readers.

This section documents the experimental procedure so that other professionals can reproduce the experiments.

Record all parameters relevant for later analysis (e.g. device parameters, eluents, preparation of standard and sample solutions etc.).

The traceability of your results is a strict requirement of quality assurance systems based on ISO 9000 ff.

Measurement results and interpretations do not belong in this chapter.

If you develop a method, indicate the starting and final method and if applicable relevant intermediate steps.

Results and discussion

Present your obtained measurement results – display them in tables!

Everything presented in tables, figures, or schematics must also be introduced and commented on in the text.

If you have many spectra, chromatograms, or similar data, show only selected examples.

Avoid overly detailed displays in huge tables or too many measurement charts. If necessary, these are better placed in the appendix.

Your experimental results should be analyzed with respect to the fundamentals described in section 2 and, if possible, supported by statistical data, e.g. coefficient of variation, confidence interval, statistical significance of differences, number of replicates etc.

Remember: a picture is worth a thousand words.

In the discussion, evaluate the results. Discuss how well the results fit theoretical frameworks or models, and how well they correspond with known literature results.

Also discuss the consequences of the results with respect to the research question.

It is often useful to combine results and discussion in one chapter and use a thematic structure.

This ensures that the obtained results are immediately interpreted and the derived conclusions are applied to further development.

Results: Neutral (!) presentation; no interpretation or personal opinion; concise and precise numbers, data, and facts; illustration of results using tables or charts (must be introduced in the text and have self-explanatory captions).

Discussion: Discussion based on derived diagrams, tables etc.; interpretation of results; What do the results mean? Why are they interesting? What can we learn from the results? Discussion must answer the research question! Discussion is more than personal opinion; What does the literature say? How can the results be explained or reconciled with the literature? Where are differences compared to the literature? Why do they exist?

Contents of a discussion: Point out similarities and differences; describe causes and effects; compare with literature, derive, confirm or refute hypotheses; support your discussion with derived data (diagrams), calculations, or models.

Conclusion

Provide – in a maximum of two pages – information about the results you have achieved regarding the fulfillment of your research question and the consequences you derive from these results.

The conclusion should consist of three parts:

• Summary
• Limitations
• Outlook / Further Work

Summary:

• Summary of the most important findings from the work
• Should not contain new aspects
• The “promises” from the introduction must be kept

Show once again how great your work is (but do not exaggerate and always stay neutral).

– Prof. Dr. Dirk Sachsenheimer

Limitations:

• Specify limitations of your research (methodological, temporal, data collection)
• 3 to 5 aspects

Outlook:

• What would / could you research next based on your findings?
• 3 to 5 aspects

Literature

All sources used (textbooks, publications etc.) must be cited.

At the end of your work, include a complete literature list that details all sources.

More information on citing in chemistry and the literature list can be found in this article: Citing in Chemistry.

Used tools

All tools used (programs, AI-tools etc.) must be indicated.

This also includes Word, Excel, calculator etc. with version and exact name indicated.

Coordinate with your supervisors regarding whether and to what extent you may use generative AI-tools in your final thesis.

If you have questions or uncertainties, you can always contact your supervisors.

Appendix or attachment

All information necessary for understanding the work, which due to its volume or lower relevance does not fit into the main sections, is placed in the appendix.

Frequently asked questions

Der Beitrag Structuring a Scientific Paper in Chemistry erschien zuerst auf Online Writing Lab.

Initial situation

A consistent format is particularly important to avoid misunderstandings and to ensure the traceability of calculations and experiments.

Modern software tools and mathematical editors support the creation and presentation of formulas and equations in professional quality.

A reference for meaningful formatting of formula symbols is provided by the standard DIN EN ISO 80000-1. This article follows this standard.

Specifying a quantity

A quantity is given as the product of a numerical value and a unit, and always has a clear and unique symbol.

For example, the volume can be specified according to Equation 1:

Here, V is the symbol for the quantity “volume”, cm³ is the unit of the volume, and 3.254 is the numerical value of the volume.

A space must be placed between the numerical value and the unit.

In general, any quantity Q can be expressed as the product of the numerical value of the quantity {Q} and the unit of the quantity [Q].

If only the numerical value of a quantity is needed – for example, to specify it in a chart or in the column heading of a table – the quantity must be divided by its unit, as shown in Equation 2:

So-called dimensionless quantities have the dimension number with unit [Q] = 1.

Use of quantities in mathematical functions

Mathematical functions are defined only for numerical values or for quantities of the dimension number. Therefore, using a quantity with a different dimension as the argument of a mathematical function is not meaningful.

Quantities with dimensions must therefore first be made dimensionless.

This can be done by specifying the unit or by using a standard quantity.

Examples of meaningful use of quantities in mathematical functions are shown in Equation 3:

Formula symbols for quantities

As a rule, formula symbols consist of letters from the Latin, Greek, or occasionally the Hebrew alphabet.

Formula symbols are always written in italics.

If formula symbols have indices, the formatting of the indices depends on their respective meanings.

• An index that represents another quantity or variable is written in italics, like the formula symbol.
• An index that represents a word, an abbreviation of a word, or a fixed number is written in upright type.

Equations 4 and 5 illustrate this for indices that must be italicized or upright, respectively:

Notation of unit symbols

Unit symbols are always represented by unchanged, upright letters.

Note that lowercase letters must be used for unit symbols (s, mol, m etc.).

An exception applies only to unit symbols derived from personal names (V based on Alessandro Volta, N based on Isaac Newton, °C based on Anders Celsius etc.).

Additions or modifications to unit symbols are not permitted.

A valid notation for the mass fraction of component A is, for example: w_A = 23.15 %

In contrast, notations such as 23.15 wt. %, 23.15 m% or 23.15 %(m/m) are not permitted.

Compound unit symbols represent a multiplicative connection of individual unit symbols, which must be separated by a space.

Reciprocal units are expressed using powers, e.g.: m s^-1 or J mol^-1, K^-1.

Notation of chemical elements and compounds

Symbols of chemical elements must be written in normal, upright typeface.

Inserting formula symbols and equations in Word

Formulas and formula symbols can be inserted in Word using the Equation Editor: Tab – Insert, Group – Symbols, Command – Equation.

When using both an equation and equation numbering on the same line, make sure that Word does not interpret the equation as text.

If interpreted as text, this results in font size adjustments, especially for fractions, as shown in Equation 6:

You can avoid this automatic font size adjustment by inserting the equation into a table. In this case, the equation and the numbering must be in different cells, as shown in Equation 7:

The table borders must be hidden.

For complex formulas, using MathType is also recommended, as it offers a wide range of tools for precise and professional presentation of mathematical expressions.

However, using MathType is complex and time-consuming. In addition, compatibility, export, or printing issues may occasionally occur with formulas created in MathType.

Therefore, for complex mathematical content, the scientific typesetting system LATEX is recommended, as it offers significant advantages over e.g. Microsoft Word – especially due to its powerful features and ability to create consistent, high-quality documents.

LATEX also offers the advantage of platform independence and is supported by a large, active community, which facilitates problem-solving and ensures long-term availability.

Frequently asked questions

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