The exact administrative, content and formal requirements for writing a master’s thesis vary from university to university and result from the respective examination regulations. The topic of the thesis is usually chosen by the candidate for the Master’s degree and worked on in four to six months.
Common formal requirements are: a volume of 60-120 pages, A4 format, bound form, pagination, bibliography, table of contents and an affidavit stating that you have created the work yourself and that the quotations and sources used have been identified (i.e. has not submitted any plagiarism).
After the work has been assessed by two professors or lecturers, usually a written exam and always an oral exam, the author of the work is awarded the academic degree Magister Artium (MA for short). In Germany it is traditionally referred to by the family name, in Austria the degree Magister is awarded (short Mag.) in front of the family name.
