Timeline and deadlines

A thesis is either based on the literature review/study or reports the empirical study that you carried out. The entire process of writing a bachelor thesis, from topic selection to receiving a final grade, covers a major part of the third academic year.
 

Important deadlines

Timeline

Below are important subsequent phases, helping you to meet the deadlines mentioned above. Students who feel uncomfortable with deadlines are advised to be earlier than a deadline specifies, as such a date/time is the final possibility to submit but does not preclude from submitting earlier. The official deadline for publication of grades also applies to students who submit earlier. MarRBLe students may want to consult the coordinator MarRBLe on certain deadlines. Under certain conditions, students who failed the bachelor thesis in a previous year or postpone the bachelor thesis, can make use of the extra thesis submission option. If you do not match the conditions for the extra thesis submission option, the official deadlines of the current academic year apply to you, with the final version to be submitted in April. Also check the FAQ page for extra information for students who failed the bachelor thesis in a previsour year. 
 

September to November: prepare yourself

● Consult the handbook writing skills which provides a no-nonsense guide to clear scientific writing. Keep the handbook handy throughout the process of thesis planning and writing.

● Think and (re-)read about the topic of your interest. Become an expert so that you have enough knowledge to formulate a fitting research question, and you know which topics are needed to answer this question.

● Read also Supervision and Assessment for more information about finding a supervisor. 

● Alsways (except for MaRBLe) use the Bachelor Thesis Matching System on "Collent" to contact and agree with a supervisor.
 

November and December: refine the topic

Students often underestimate the required work in this period.

● Create a thorough overview of your main topic and refine the scientific problem and research question. You should become an expert on that topic so as to write clearly about it. This is the time to create detail in your personal summaries and/or mind maps. Realize that this knowledge must still be restructured to formulate a problem and to introduce a specific research question, and to create a clear and enticing storyline. Assessors do not like it when a bachelor thesis has no storyline and does not specify a research question. Mind that the quality of both thesis versions will determine your final grade. See also: handbook writing skills.

● Start writing parts of the first version. The earlier you start the actual writing of your thesis the better, as you need time to revise a number of times until your first version has sufficient quality. Having it read by a fellow student also helps. Be critical of your own work and do not hesitate to kill your darlings [William Faulkner]: These are parts of your text that you are very fond of, but that you sadly have to delete as they actually make your thesis less convincing and less readable.
 

January: work on the first version

Finalize the first version of your thesis. Be thorough about it as your final grade will reflect the quality of the two versions of your thesis. The criteria for a written thesis are found in handbook writing skills. These criteria pertain to writing style and thesis structure, and to the content of both versions. See also: Assessment >>
 

February: hand in the first version

●Submission of your first version is only possible between between 10 and 12 February 2025, 13:00 via collent-fpn.maastrichtuniversity.nl.
Missing the deadline for the first version implies you are not allowed to hand in a final version and cannot finish your bachelor thesis in the current academic year.

● For a literature review, your first version must be complete including all required components (and research question) as specified by the handbook writing skills. Incomplete first versions are rejected and such a student must start a new literature review the next academic year.

● For an empirical or marble bachelor thesis, you are required to hand in a complete first version of the Introduction and the Methods section (not the Results and Discussion-section).

● Use the correct filename, in line with the file naming convention.

No later than 17 March 2025, your supervisor provides feedback on your first version. You have about a month to revise the first version both on the basis of this feedback, and your own progressive insights on topics, writing style and physical form of your thesis.
 

April: submit the final version

Submission of your final version is  possible between 14 and 28 April 2025, 13:00 via collent-fpn.maastrichtuniversity.nl. Missing the deadline for the final version implies you are not allowed to finish your bachelor thesis in the current academic year. Use the correct filename, in line with the file naming convention.
 

June and July: results are in. 

No later than 11 June 2025 the Education Office publishes the average grade of your supervisor and a second (anonymous) assessor, including concise feedback. See also: Assessment >>

If one or both grades of your final version are below 6.0, you must resit the bachelor thesis. Exact dates for handing in and grading of the resit will be announced later in the academic year.
 

Related links

Handbook Writing Skills v001 of 31 Aug. 2019
Bachelor thesis 2024-2025 information video