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Bachelor and Master theses of Leiden Universtity

As a rule, printed BA and MA theses were not included in the library collection. Starting 2010, BA and MA theses of the Faculties of Archaeology, Humanities, and Social and Behavioural Sciences are included in the Student Repository of Scholarly Publications. These theses are not included in the catalogue, but the titles can be found in Google Scholar.

If you are looking for an unpublished thesis it is advised to contact the secretariat of the department where the author of the thesis concerned has graduated.

At the Wijnhaven library you can find theses of Public Administration that were handed in between 2010 and 2011. The theses are available for loan.

Bachelor and Master theses of other Dutch universities

Erasmus University Thesis Repository

Radboud Educational Repository

TU Delft Education Repository

University of Groningen Thesis Research Portal

Utrecht University Student Theses Repository

UvA Scripties Online

VU Online Scriptiedatabase

Leiden PhD theses

Digitized Recent PhD theses (from approximately 2005 on) by Leiden PhD students are available digitally through Scholarly Publications . The site offers free access to these PhD theses. However, in some cases a thesis may be under embargo temporarily and access to its full-text version will only be granted later. Printed All Leiden PhD theses are included in the Catalogue , file tab Leiden Collections. Narrow down your question by typing dissertation  in a second search field.

Dutch PhD theses

Recent PhD theses (from approximately 2005 on) from all universities in the Netherlands are available digitally through OpenAire , a database with free access. However, in some cases also here a thesis may be under embargo temporarily and access to the full-text version of the thesis may only be granted at a later date.

For paper versions of Dutch PhD theses that cannot be found in the Catalogue  refer to WorldCat . This database contains the holdings of all Dutch university libraries and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. 

International PhD theses

Many recent scientific publications, including PhD theses, are offered full-text in repositories on the internet, free of charge. The websites mentioned below offer access to collections of repositories:

The British site OpenDOAR (The Directory of Open Access Repositories)  offers access to more than 1500 repositories world-wide. All included repositories have been reviewed and approved by OpenDOAR staff members. The site maintains a user-friendly interface.

OATD (Open Access Theses and Dissertations) is a resource maintained by several US University Libraries, for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world. OATD tries to index only graduate-level theses and dissertations that are freely available to download, they leave out closed-access and embargoed ETDs.

The British site ROAR (Registry of Open Access Repositories) also offers access to repositories world-wide, but, contrary to OpenDOAR, is filled automatically.

OpenAIRE (Open Access Infrastructure for Research in Europe) gives an overview of, and offers access to more than 8.000.000 of Open Access publications from 460+ data providers, with links to funding, datasets and more.

OIAster (originally a project by Michigan University, USA) offers access to scientific publications world-wide. Since December 2009 this database has been integrated in WorldCat .

DART-Europe   is a webportal that provides access to more then 360.000 scientific dissertations from more then 500 European universities. DART stands for Digital Archive of Research Theses

EBSCO Open Dissertations : a free database containing hundreds of thousands digital dissertations and theses. Its contents are harvested from repositories of research universities from around the world.

Through the Catalogue (tab Database Search) you are offered access to the following databases of PhD theses:

China Dissertations : contains full-text PhD theses from 1999 on. Access only with a ULCN account and matching password.

Proquest Dissertations & Theses Global  database with data (not full-text, but abstracts) of mainly North American PhD theses beginning in 1637.  It is possible to order the full-text on payment. Access only available with a ULCN account and matching password.

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Business Informatics

Thesis project.

This is the starting point for any MBI student about to begin the thesis project. For questions that are not covered here, send an email to the thesis coordinator (Dr. Gerard Wagenaar).

Before starting the thesis project students are strongly advised to first attend the thesis information session meeting, which is offered at the start of each teaching period. See course INFOMTIMBI for more info .

General description

The MBI Thesis Project consists of a 15 ECs project proposal phase (INFOMMBI1) and a 25 ECs thesis phase (INFOMMBI2); additionally 3 ECs are related to the MBI Colloquium . The thesis project takes about 8 months. The set up phase that is necessary to arrange your project is excluded from the ECs count.

The thesis project requires a project idea, a (first & second) thesis supervisor, and a thesis project facilitator. The project facilitator can either be an external organization or Utrecht University. Original ideas from the students are welcome, as long as they are aligned with the research interests and/or proposed projects by the supervisors: see the KonJoin system .

When can a thesis be started? When all courses are successfully completed, with the exception of Dilemmas of the Scientist (FI-MHPSDL1 and FI-MHPSDL2), for which you can do the second workshop (FI-MHPSDL2) during your theses process. A further exception can be given by the thesis coordinator for students with one pending non-mandatory course. Note that you should start looking for a supervisor and a topic before you have finished all your courses (see “Set Up” below).

Previous theses . To get an overview of how an MBI thesis looks like, you can consult previous theses online.

This preliminary step is executed before the official start of Phase 1. The duration largely depends on how quickly a supervisor is found and a topic is agreed upon. This part is excluded from the duration of the thesis project.

1. Find a topic and a (first) supervisor 

You can do an external or an internal (UU) project. The following tips might come in handy when looking for a thesis topic:  

• Konjoin  always has MBI projects.
• Think about the courses you found interesting and ask the lecturers of these courses if they have/know of any projects. 
• Check staff members’ UU or Google Scholar profile. 

Note that any topic has to be agreed with the UU staff member who will act as a first supervisor. Arrange meetings with staff members to discuss possible options, based on their research interests. 

Students can also try to arrange a project that fits within an internship with an external organization. Any project, however, requires a first supervisor from UU who guarantees the scientific quality of the thesis project, so it is advisable to talk to potential supervisors and/or the thesis coordinator before agreeing on an internship.

2. Define your project  

Together with the first supervisor, describe your project's title, problem, aims, and research goals. Come up with a short textual description (about 200 words). Also make clear arrangements with your first supervisor concerning planning, holidays, supervision meetings and so forth. Please make sure you have a clear understanding with your first supervisor regarding deadlines and extra work, holidays, et cetera to be done during the thesis project. Normally, a thesis project runs for 3 periods/terms, but you can set any reasonable deadline in agreement with your supervisor. Please see below what to do when your thesis is delayed and you have to apply for a thesis deadline extension (part 1 and/or part 2). 

3. Ensure adherence to Ethics and Privacy regulations -  Quick Scan 

From Period 2 of 2022-23, all MBI thesis projects require ethics and privacy approval. For projects that do not involve human users and data privacy issues this will be a brief and straightforward process, but you still need to complete an ethics checklist. 

If you are doing your project with a supervisor who already has ethics approval for his/her range of projects, then ask the supervisor if you need to take further action. Otherwise, please inform your supervisor that you need to obtain an ethics and privacy approval. Go to the website that contains the ethics checklist and sample Information sheets and consent forms: https://www.uu.nl/en/research/institute-of-information-and-computing-sciences/ethics-and-privacy . 

First, download the Word form and discuss how to fill it in with your supervisor. Then fill in the Qualtrics form. Please fill in as the moderator email: [email protected] . 

4.   Work placement agreement

If you conduct a project outside UU, the GSNS Work Placement Agreement (WPA) should be filled in, and signed by the student, company supervisor, and the Science Research Project Coordinator. Deviations to the standard contract shall be discussed with the Science Research Project Coordinator. 

You need to fill out and upload your WPA with your Thesis Project application form (see next step) in OSIRIS. 

5. Formalize the thesis request 

Use Osiris student (select 'MyCases', 'Start Case', ‘Research Project GSNS’) to submit your research project application form; if applicable, you will also upload the signed WPA with your application form in OSIRIS. 

Important: in order to apply completely and correctly, you must have discussed the project setup with your intended project supervisor beforehand! We advise you to study the request form previous to discussing it with your supervisor, or fill it out together, to make sure you obtain all of the information required. 

After submitting your application form in OSIRIS, your form will be forwarded to Student Affairs, your 1st and 2nd supervisor, the MBI thesis coordinator, and the Board of Examiners for checks and approvals. You may be asked for modifications, should they find any problems with the form.  

Please note: You cannot register yourself in OSIRIS for the relevant research project courses (INFOMAI1 and INFOMAI2); you will be automatically registered for part 1 of the project upon approval of the Research Project Application Form.

First Phase (15 EC)

The student defines the research method for the thesis, and conducts a scientific survey of the literature in the field of study. The intended learning outcomes are that the student should:

• Be able of designing and developing a research plan, and
• Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the relevant literature.

The proposal contains at least the following elements:

• Title page, which should include at least working title, student name and number, university name, faculty, master’s name, and the names of the first and second supervisor.
• Problem statement: gap in the literature and/or practice
• Research question and subquestions
• Outline of and justification for a chosen research method
• Literature research protocol
• Milestones for the key phases of the project
• A review of the literature that confirms that the gap exists and that the proposed research method is suitable and can lead to interesting scientific insights. The literature review can be performed using any technique spanning from an enumeration of related work at the one extreme, and a systematic literature study at the other.

The work for this phase will not be graded but only marked as "Voldaan" (pass). Phase 1 is finalized with a presentation in the MBI colloquium, which describes the context of the thesis, research questions, envisaged method and artifact(s), and the findings from the literature. The evaluation of the first part should consider the following factors: project's context, research approach and presentation. The first supervisor will handle the grading through Osiris.

Delays. Part 1 should be finalized within 3 months since the beginning of the project. When this part is ranked as not satisfactory, a retake project proposal should be handed in. For details, see the protocol delay at the end of this page.

Second Phase (25 EC)

This phase concerns the actual execution of the research according to the approach defined in Phase 1.The second part is passed when the student thesis is approved by the two supervisors, and a final thesis presentation has been successfully made. The learning outcomes for the student are the following:

• Conduct sound scientific research according to a predefined plan,
• Contribute to the scientific body of knowledge,
• Critically review the research and its plan,
• Give a convincing presentation about the work, and
• Write a scientific report about the conducted research.

The grade of Phase 2 will take into account the following artifacts

• The thesis report
• The final presentation

The grade is calculated using the criteria defined by the graduate school of natural sciences.

As a reference, a grade of 8 or above is expected to meet the standards for a publication in a respectable scientific venue.

Cum-laude graduation . To obtain cum-laude , Phase 2 should obtain a grade of at least 8.5 .

Delays. The student will receive a grade after 8 months since the beginning of the entire project. In special cases, when students have achieved all the ILOs, the graduation can take place before the 8 months. For retake rules, see the delay protocol at the end of this page. For an MBI thesis, the maximum grade for a retake is 8.0.

When approaching the finalization of the thesis and the scientific paper (i.e, when the supervisors think so!), it is time to wrap up the project and graduate.

• Set date for graduation:  both supervisors should agree on the date, including the time. Please be aware that results have to be registered in OSIRIS before the 15th of the month so that the file can be send to the Board of Examiners and the student can graduate that month. If the grades are in after the 15th, the student cannot deregister from Studielink and (s)he has to pay for another month.
• Ask for MBI Colloquium EC: obtain 3 EC for the MBI colloquium by sending a message including your student number to the MBI colloquium coordinators .
• Thesis defense arrangements:  Always agree on the date and time of the defense with your supervisors first. Important: The thesis defense cannot take place  unless the presentation in the colloquium has been given. This means, the student first has to schedule a colloquium date (see Colloquium / Give a talk at the colloquium ). Then, a defense date after the colloquium presentation date can be negotiated with the supervisor. Thus, the defense must be given after the colloquium talk.
• Arrange a  room with beamer or presentation screen: send an e-mail to the department's secretaries . Please make sure to include the time, date, name of the thesis, and supervisor. (Alternatively, the supervisor might be able to reserve a room via the room booking system in a few seconds. In that case, the room should only be reserved on the name of the supervisor, the calendar entry with invitations is created as follows.)
• Enter a calendar entry in MS Teams  to make your defense visible to all colloquium participants.
• During the defense, it is not required to record the names of participants  with an attendance list, because students who want to get an attendance token will send an abstract of the defense talk to the colloquium coordinators.
• Send a copy of your thesis to your supervisors at least one week before the defense.
• Thesis defense:  the student gives a presentation of 25 minutes, followed by a question-and-answer session that typically lasts about 15-20 minutes. A grade will be decided and probably announced afterwards.
• Upload your thesis through ‘Osiris Case’
• Graduation ceremony : an official ceremony, held in the Academiegebouw in Domplein, where the diplomas are handed out. The dates are available here .

Further information

Constraints and faq.

What happens when a student gets an insufficient result after part 2, even after the retake? The student has to start a new project from scratch.

No part-time thesis

The MBI programme is full-time. As such, thesis projects should not be seen as a side project next to a part time job. Professors are entitled to reject a student's request for them to be a supervisor, if the student wants to finish a graduation project next to a job.

The scope of the final thesis project shoud fit the interests of the lecturers from the department. For an overview, either check the websites of the group members, or KonJoin . Note that internships offered by companies do not automatically constitute a thesis topic; an internship without a supervisor is NOT a thesis.

In principle, admission to start the final thesis project officially is permitted when all courses are passed and is confirmed by the (likely) supervisor of the student, after the supervisor has approved the short proposal. Exceptions can be granted when only one course is pending and close to completion; however, expectations are left to the discretion of the MBI programme coordinator.

Doing your thesis outside the Netherlands

It is possible for highly-motivated students who aim at high-quality projects to conduct their thesis outside the Netherlands, either at a company or in a university. Students who intend to spend time abroad are welcome. The same rules on the quality of the project and the availability of a first supervisor apply to projects abroad too. A supervisor may decline to serve as supervisor for a project abroad, whenever (s)he finds the risk of project failure too high. Students doing their thesis abroad are exempted from attending the MBI colloquium.

What is a bad time to apply for an internship?

Summer is a bad time: generally people are on holidays throughout July and August, slowing down the process by a month or two. If interested in starting in September, please contact companies in May or June.

Procedures and forms for research project and internship

Within all Master's programmes one or more research projects are mandatory. Please see ‘Study programme’ for general information on such projects in your curriculum. In many cases, a research project may be carried out outside of the university, in the form of an internship at a company, research institute, or another university. This can be in the Netherlands as well as abroad, with the exception of ADS (see also: ‘ study abroad ’). 

You are required to apply for approval of your research project by submitting a request via OSIRIS Student . Please select ‘My Cases’, ‘Start Case’ and then ‘Research Project GSNS’. Important: in order to apply completely and correctly, you must have discussed the project setup with your intended project supervisor beforehand! We advise you to study the request form previous to discussing it with your supervisor, or fill it out together, to make sure you obtain all of the information required.

After submitting your request, it will be forwarded to your master’s programme coordinator, the board of examiners and student affairs for checks and approvals. After approval of your project it will be automatically registered in OSIRIS. If something needs to be amended, you will be notified by email. Please DO NOT register yourself in OSIRIS for the relevant research project courses. You will be automatically registered upon approval of the Research Application Form.

• Please note that this  protocol   (English version) applies when a project is delayed
• In case of a project or internship outside of Utrecht University, please make sure you fill out the Work Placement Agreement  in OSIRIS Student / my cases . This agreement will be available for filling out in OSIRIS Student/My Cases when you fill out the form for research project approval.

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Student Awards

Many students of Utrecht University deliver excellent results in the field of their studies or beyond. Utrecht University is proud of these students and to reward them, it has instituted a number of student awards.

Best Master's Thesis and Exceptional Extracurricular Achievements

During the start of the academic year , the Executive Board awards two students: one for Best Master's Thesis and one for Social Impact (formerly: Exceptional Extracurricular Achievements). 

Everyone, inside or outside Utrecht University can nominate a student for the Social Impact award. Check out the criteria and procedure . A Director of Education or Research Director of the Master’s programme can nominate a student for the award Best Master's Thesis. The student has to meet certain specific  criteria .

Other student awards

Every year, the Utrecht University Fund awards the Vliegenthart Thesis Prize . In addition, various faculties, departments or programs present thesis awards within their own organisational units.

News regarding student awards

Utrecht University team will represent the Netherlands in Telders International Moot Court Competition 2024

G.J. Wiarda prize for students awarded to Michael Schut

Moira de Kok and Jarne van der Poel win 2022-2023 thesis awards

Utrecht University Heidelberglaan 8 3584 CS Utrecht The Netherlands Tel. +31 (0)30 253 35 50