Welcome to the theses information page of the Department of Sociology at the University of Hohenheim. Here you will find all relevant information for writing your Bachelor's or Master's thesis at our department.

The Department of Sociology offers topics related to the transformation of work. We are happy to supervise your thesis on a sociologically relevant research question. You are welcome to explore our research areas, research projects, or teaching activities for inspiration. A catalog of possible topics is available for you to browse as a source of ideas. You are also warmly encouraged to approach us with your own topic suggestions.

Sociology is an empirical discipline, which is why we especially welcome theses with an empirical focus. Depending on your research question, both qualitative and quantitative empirical work are suitable. You should already have some prior experience with empirical research methods.

Application process
Students interested in writing their thesis at the department are encouraged to familiarize themselves in advance with the application process. Detailed information on requirements and deadlines can be found on this website.

Guidelines and formalities
To ensure a smooth process, we have established clear guidelines and formal requirements for writing theses at the department. You can find these details in our Thesis Guide, available for download here. Please read this document carefully and make sure you understand and follow all requirements.

Supervision process
The supervision of theses follows several structured steps and includes three mandatory in-person meetings (the exact dates for the current semester are listed below):

1. Please fill out the following form, including a brief abstract (250–500 words) and a preliminary outline of your planned thesis. Send the completed form to constanze.halsband@uni-hohenheim.de. Based on the topic, a co-supervisor will be assigned to you.
2. The first in-person meeting – the initial consultation – brings together your (co-)supervisors and other students currently writing their theses at the department. In this meeting, you will give a short presentation (5–8 minutes) of your proposed topic, outlining your research question, theoretical framing, and planned methodological approach. You will receive feedback from the group to refine your topic.
3. After the first meeting, you will have approximately two weeks to revise your abstract and refine your topic and research question (including an updated outline and methodology). During this phase, you can consult with your co-supervisor as needed. After these two weeks, your thesis will be officially registered with the Examination Office using the appropriate form.
4. The second in-person meeting takes place a few weeks later and focuses on the methodological design of your study. By this point, you should have familiarized yourself with the relevant literature and theoretical background and finalized your research design. This session deepens methodological discussions (e.g., interview guides, questionnaire design, sampling strategies, search strings for systematic literature reviews, transcription issues, and ethical or practical aspects of data collection).
5. A third in-person meeting follows a few weeks later and centers on the analysis of empirical data. For qualitative theses, this session focuses on data interpretation strategies and steps (e.g., using MAXQDA). For quantitative theses, statistical analysis methods and corresponding software tools are discussed.

Between these scheduled meetings, you work independently on literature review, theoretical development, data collection, and analysis. The aim of this structured process is to accompany you closely through all main phases of your thesis—from refining your topic to data analysis—and to support high academic standards.

General rules regarding theses (e.g., formatting requirements, faculty deadlines, use of ILIAS and Nextcloud) can be found in the additional information and linked documents on this page.

 Scheduled dates for the summer semester 2026:

Due to the high number of theses, there will be separate sessions for Bachelor’s and Master’s students to present their topics. Subsequent meetings will take place jointly.

For Master’s students:

• Abstract submission deadline: by Monday, April 13, 2026 (inclusive)
• First in-person meeting (topic presentation): Thursday, April 16, 2026, 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. (room tba)

For Bachelor’s students:

• Abstract submission deadline: by Monday, April 20, 2026 (inclusive)
• First in-person meeting (topic presentation): Thursday, April 23, 2026, 12:00–4:00 p.m. (room tba)

For Bachelor’s and Master’s students:

• Second in-person meeting (methodological session): Thursday, May 7, 2026, 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. (room tba)
• Third in-person meeting (data analysis session): Thursday, May 21, 2026, 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. (room tba)