Student Guide

This guide walks you, the student, through everything the Thesis Management platform can do for you — from finding a topic that fits, through writing your thesis, all the way to receiving your grade.

If you get stuck at any point, look at the section headings to jump straight to the relevant step. Short demo videos are embedded next to the sections they cover.

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1. Getting an Account

You sign in with your university identity provider (Keycloak). The first time you land on the platform and press Login, you are redirected to the university's login page. On return, an account is created for you automatically and the platform reads your name, email, and matriculation number from your university profile.

If your browser supports it, the platform offers to register a passkey for faster future sign-in — you can accept, dismiss, or manage passkeys later in Settings → Account.

2. Landing Page — Finding a Topic

The landing page (/) is the public entry point. You can browse topics even before logging in, but you will need to sign in to apply.

The landing page offers:

• A search bar that filters topics live as you type.
• A research-group filter that narrows the list to a specific chair / research group.
• A thesis-type filter (Bachelor, Master, Project, Seminar).
• A view toggle between grid cards and a compact list.
• A tab switch between Open Topics (topics you can still apply to) and Published Theses (theses whose result is public).

Two special variants of the landing page pre-filter for you:

• /<research-group-abbreviation> — shows only the topics of that research group. Chairs often link to this URL directly.
• /supervisor/<supervisor-name> — shows only the topics owned by a particular supervisor. This link is meant to be shared: any URL a supervisor gives you can jump straight to their list.

3. Reading a Topic in Detail

Clicking a topic opens /topics/<id>. The topic page shows:

• Problem statement, requirements, goals, and references (rich-text sections).
• A side panel listing the research group, supervisors, examiners, allowed thesis types (Bachelor/Master/…), and the language the thesis is expected to be written in.
• An Apply Now button. If the topic is closed, the button is disabled and labelled accordingly.

4. Submitting an Application

The application flow (/submit-application/<topicId>) is a three-step wizard.

Step 1 — Topic Selection

If you started your application from a specific topic page, this step is skipped and the topic is pre-selected. Otherwise you pick a topic from the list, or you can apply without a topic if the research group allows suggested topics.

Step 2 — Your Information

The form is pre-filled from your university profile. Read-only fields include your name, email, and matriculation number. You can edit:

• Gender
• Nationality
• Current study degree (Bachelor, Master, …)
• Study program
• Semester in the current program
• Interests, Projects, and Special skills (rich text, up to 1000 characters each)

You must upload the following PDF documents (max 2 MB each):

• Examination report (required)
• CV (required)
• Bachelor report (required only if applying for a Master's thesis)

Some research groups configure custom fields that appear here (e.g. "Which programming languages have you used in projects?"). Fill them in as requested.

At the bottom you tick the privacy consent checkbox confirming that you have read the privacy statement.

Step 3 — Motivation

• The selected topic is shown as an accordion for reference.
• Choose the thesis type you want to pursue (the options are restricted to what the topic allows).
• Pick a desired start date.
• Write a motivation letter (up to 1000 characters).

Press Submit Application. A confirmation modal asks you to confirm, and on success you see a green "Your application was successfully submitted!" card.

Walkthrough: submitting a thesis application end-to-end.

5. Editing or Tracking an Application

Until a supervisor has reviewed your application you can edit it. Open the application from your dashboard and press Edit — this opens the same wizard as before, but every field is pre-populated, and the final button is labelled Update Application.

Applications are subject to automatic expiration: if the supervisors do not react within the deadline configured by the research group (at least two weeks), the platform rejects the application on their behalf and sends you the standard rejection email. You are then free to reapply elsewhere.

Walkthrough: editing an already-submitted application before it is reviewed.

6. Booking an Interview Slot

Some research groups run an interview round before accepting applicants. If they do, you will receive an email with a booking link of the form /interview_booking/<processId>.

The booking page shows:

• A carousel of available slots. Each slot displays the date, start and end time, duration, location, and (if it is a remote interview) a stream URL.
• A summary panel with topic information (title, research group, supervisors, examiners) and — once you pick one — the details of the slot you are about to reserve.

Press Reserve Interview Slot to confirm your booking. Once booked, the page changes into a confirmation card showing the reserved slot. If you need to change slots, press Cancel Interview and re-book from the carousel.

If the process has been closed by the research group, you'll see an "Interview Process Completed" message and cannot book anymore.

Walkthrough: browsing and booking an interview timeslot.

7. Your Thesis Page

Once your application has been accepted, a thesis is created for you. Open it from the dashboard or from /theses/<id>. The thesis page is divided into sections that light up as the thesis progresses through its states:

Proposal → Writing → Submitted → Assessed → Graded → Completed

At the top of the page you see the header with the current thesis title and a badge for the current state. The sections you interact with most as a student are:

• Info Section — title, additional-language titles, abstract, extra links.
• Proposal Section — visible during the Proposal state.
• Writing Section — visible from the Writing state onward.
• Presentations Section — appears once writing begins.
• Assessment, Final Grade — read-only, filled by staff.

Info Section

You can edit the title (in every configured language), the abstract (max 2000 chars), and any additional information / links while the thesis is not yet closed. Press Edit to switch the section into edit mode and Save when you are done. The platform occasionally proposes an auto-generated abstract; you can Accept or Dismiss the suggestion.

8. The Proposal Phase

During the Proposal state you upload the document describing what you are going to work on.

• Press Upload Proposal to attach a PDF (up to 25 MB).
• Every version is kept in the history table below the preview — you can see who uploaded which version and when.
• Your supervisors will either request changes (see the Feedback section) or Accept the proposal, which moves the thesis into the Writing state.

Walkthrough: uploading a proposal PDF and reviewing supervisor feedback.

9. The Writing Phase

The Writing section is where you upload your actual thesis and any additional artefacts.

• The left side shows a PDF preview of the latest thesis upload.
• The right side lists all expected file slots: the thesis file (required) and any additional file types configured by your chair (e.g. appendix, code archive, dataset).
• Each slot has an eye icon (preview), a download icon, and an upload icon. You can re-upload as often as needed; the file history at the bottom keeps every previous version.
• An orange reminder at the top warns that uploading here does not replace the official university submission (e.g. TUMonline). Follow the link in the reminder for the correct procedure.

Walkthrough: uploading thesis files and iterating on versions before final submission.

10. Comments and Feedback

There are two kinds of comment threads you will see:

• Student-visible comments — a two-way conversation between you and your supervisors. You can post here, edit your own comments, and attach files.
• Supervisor comments — a private thread among supervisors. It exists on the page but is clearly labelled "Not visible to student" — you will not see this thread at all, so don't be surprised that supervisors sometimes refer to internal notes you can't see.

Feedback requests are structured to-do items rather than free-form comments. When a supervisor requests changes on your proposal or thesis, each line becomes a row in a feedback table with a checkbox. Tick a row when you have addressed it; supervisors can then verify that everything is done.

11. Presentations

Both intermediate presentations and the final thesis defense are managed on the platform.

• Press Create Presentation Draft in the presentation section.
• Fill in the date and time, type (Final, Intermediate, …), language, location, and — optionally — a stream URL for online presentations.
• The presentation is saved as a draft until your supervisors approve it, after which its status changes to Scheduled.
• Once scheduled, invitees are notified by email and the presentation appears in /presentations for everyone who has been invited.
• The public URL /presentations/<id> can be shared with people outside the platform so they can join.

You can edit or delete a draft yourself; once it has been accepted, ask a supervisor to reschedule.

Walkthrough: drafting a presentation, having it approved, and inviting attendees.

12. Final Submission

When you have uploaded all required files in the writing section, the platform enables the Mark Submission as Final button. Pressing it opens a confirmation dialog:

"Are you sure you want to submit your thesis? This action cannot be undone."

Confirm to move the thesis into the Submitted state. From this point you cannot upload new versions.

[!IMPORTANT] Marking your submission as final on Thesis Management is not a replacement for the official university submission process. Follow the orange reminder in the writing section for the university's own procedure and deadline.

13. Assessment, Grade, and Completion

• The Assessment Section appears once your supervisors have submitted their evaluation. You will see a summary, strengths and weaknesses, and a proposed grade.
• The Final Grade Section shows the grade set by the examiner and any written feedback attached to it.
• When the examiner marks the thesis as completed, its state moves to Completed and the record becomes read-only.

You cannot post to the assessment section — it is filled in by staff.

14. Overview Page (Gantt Chart)

Open /overview for a Gantt-chart timeline of your thesis (and any earlier theses on your record). Bars are colour-coded by state, and hovering a bar shows the timeline details. Filters at the top narrow the view by thesis type, state, or free-text search.

For most students this page shows a single thesis, but it is useful to double-check the intended start and end dates.

15. Settings and Profile

/settings has three tabs:

My Information

Your personal profile — the same data you entered during the application, but you can update it at any time. In particular:

• Upload or replace your avatar by clicking on the current picture. You can also import from Gravatar — the platform does the Gravatar lookup on the server so your IP address is not exposed to third parties.
• Keep your study program and semester up to date so that supervisors see the current information.

Notification Settings

For students the important toggles are:

• Presentation Invitations — email when someone invites you to a public presentation.
• Thesis Comments — email when a new comment is posted on one of your theses. Below the master switch, a table lets you toggle notifications per individual thesis.

Account

• Passkeys — see the passkeys you have registered, add another, or delete one you no longer use.
• Delete account — a destructive action, confirmed with a modal. Your personal data is removed as far as retention policy allows.

Walkthrough: updating profile, notification, and account settings.

16. Privacy — Data Export and Account Deletion

The platform is GDPR-compliant. Two features you should know about:

• Data Export — open /data-export (or use the button on the Privacy page) to request a ZIP archive containing all your personal data on the platform: profile, applications, theses, uploads, comments, and assessments. The archive is prepared overnight; you receive an email with a download link once it is ready. Downloads are available for 7 days, and you can request a new export every 7 days.
• Rejected applications are automatically deleted after 1 year. Data export files are automatically deleted after 7 days.

For the full retention policy see Data Retention Policy.

17. Getting Help

• The About page (/about) lists the people behind the platform.
• The Imprint (/imprint) has the legal contact.
• For direct support write to thesis-management-support.aet@xcit.tum.de.
• Short video walk-throughs for each feature are embedded directly next to the relevant sections of this guide.