Write a master’s thesis in a company?

The course includes a lot of theory. Many students therefore consider writing their master’s thesis in a company. Is this a good idea?

Many of the students decide to do a master’s thesis in a company. How successful is this work? 

These master’s theses are usually successful. In contrast to works that deal with a topic very theoretically and with the help of literature, the author can incorporate more of his own ideas and experiences. Many works produce a result that has an impact on the real world. For example, an improvement to a process in a company or a software that is used. In purely literature-based works it is very difficult to create something new.

So is choosing a very practical topic a way to get away from dry theory altogether? 

No, because it doesn’t work without theory and specialist literature. For example, you take concepts and solutions from the literature, which you then apply to your problem. It is common practice in science to first present the methods used to solve the problem in the paper. Practical thesis also has a theory chapter. 

However, many supervisors in companies do not seem to be that interested in theory and solutions; they are primarily interested in the solution 

This may be. But even if you write your master’s thesis in a company, someone from the university will still grade it. The lecturer wants to see the solution. This is how he can tell whether your solution is plausible. A master’s thesis, even a practical one, is a type of text to which certain rules apply. For example, you need a question, describe the initial situation, get ideas from the literature and develop a comprehensible result. Professors also pay attention to formalities such as spelling and citations. If you are unsure here, send your work to a master’s thesis proofreader.

What is a good topic for a practical master’s thesis? 

A topic that can be completed in the time available. Many students take on a topic that is too complex for their work and then end up running out of time. You should choose the right level of complexity. The topic is not too easy, so it is difficult to get a good grade, even if the elaboration is successful. But not too complex either so that you can finish it in time. Just as important as being clear about what you want to cover in your master’s thesis is deciding which aspects you can leave out so that the work doesn’t become too extensive. 

Determining what to include in the topic and what not seems quite difficult to me 

That’s right. If you are unsure about something, ask your professor or supervisor. With his wealth of experience, he can better assess the situation. Unfortunately, some supervisors at universities take very little time to advise their students. But that’s not the case everywhere. Give it a try, most people are more helpful than they initially seem. 

You may also have the opportunity to discuss your outline with someone else in your community. The more you exchange ideas with others, the more clues you will get for your master’s thesis. There are also freelance lecturers outside the university who help students with their master’s thesis.

Suryateja Pericherla

Suryateja Pericherla, at present is a Research Scholar (full-time Ph.D.) in the Dept. of Computer Science & Systems Engineering at Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. Previously worked as an Associate Professor in the Dept. of CSE at Vishnu Institute of Technology, India.

He has 11+ years of teaching experience and is an individual researcher whose research interests are Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, Computer Security, Network Security and Blockchain.

He is a member of professional societies like IEEE, ACM, CSI and ISCA. He published several research papers which are indexed by SCIE, WoS, Scopus, Springer and others.