Master´s Thesis at LAO – Free Topic
Supervision
Prof. Regine Keller
Coordination
Please send questions and exposés by e-mail to the Thesis Coordinator.
Guidelines Master’s Thesis
Topic
Master's theses in the field of Landscape Architecture should deal with tasks and topics of current research on landscape architecture. As a rule, they include a theoretical (analytical) and a design part. Depending on the topic, the work can be focused on a theoretical or design focus. The topic of the Master's Thesis must be researched independently by the students. When choosing the topic, preference should be given to topics and research areas of the LAO chair.
Title
The exact title and subtitle of the work — in German and English — can be specified and adapted until submission. However, the (original) topic should be described in the first paragraph of the introduction as it has been "published" and the connection with the chosen title should be explained.
Application
It is strongly recommended to have completed all projects and to have carried out the recognition of selected subjects with the board of examiners. For this reason, the status of the progress of studies, documented by Transcript of Records, must be submitted for registration. To request the Master's Thesis, an exposé must be prepared (see below).
Tutoring
The supervision should comprise about 3 hours per work. Appointments will be made by email with Regine Keller. For each meeting it is absolutely necessary to bring all documents that have been prepared so far, especially those of all previous meetings in printed or drawn form. The current work state is to be sent digitally to Regine Keller one week before the supervision appointment. The support is not a presentation test, but serves the support with problems and questions on the part of the processors.
Presentation
The presentation is based on the plans and/or a beamer presentation (PowerPoint, PDF, Prezi). If you need a beamer/ laptop/ remote control/ adapter, please contact the chair in advance.
The beamer must be tested with regard to settings and colour display. The Master Colloquium usually lasts 60 minutes. The student has about 30 minutes to present his Master's Thesis (20-25 min presentation, 5-10 min comprehension questions). This is followed by a disputation which, based on the topic of the Master's Thesis, extends to the further subject area to which the Master's Thesis belongs. The Master's Colloquium is to be conducted by the Master's Thesis subject and an expert assessor. The aim is a public presentation of all Master's Theses during the lecture period, at a common date with the chairs of TUM Landscape Architecture. The date of presentation as well as a second examiner, if desired, should be agreed upon at an early stage. The presentation can take place at the earliest one week — maximum 2 months after submission of the Master's Thesis.
The small printed: Fachprüfungsordnung M.A. Landschaftsarchitektur 2018
The Master's Thesis should be started after successful completion of all module examinations. Students can be admitted to the Master's Thesis prematurely on application if 40 credits have been achieved. The time from issue to delivery of the Master's Thesis may not exceed six months. The Master's Thesis is deemed to have been completed and not passed if it is not delivered on time without valid reasons recognized in accordance with § 10 Para. 7 APSO. The Master's Thesis can be written in German or English. The completion of the Master's Thesis consists of a scientific paper and a presentation on its content. The lecture is not included in the grade. If the Master's Thesis has not been rated as at least "sufficient" (4.0), it can be repeated once with a new topic. It must be re-registered at the latest six weeks after the notification of the result.
Students of other study programmes
For students of other courses of study, Master's Theses are only offered in exceptional cases, for the M.Sc. Urban Studies — Landscape and City, if possible in cooperation with an Urban Planning Chair. For both, the regulations of the respective FPO must be observed!
Exposé
The exposé is largely free in form and scope, but should contain at least the following illustrations and not exceed 2-4 pages:
A Topic: The thesis will be published under a self-chosen topic. The reason, task or problem as well as the intended objective must be described. The relationship of the topic to one or more of the research fields at LAO must also be explained.
B Location and space: Presentation of the project area with spatial delimitation in different scales (analysis, concept, consolidation areas)
C methods: Presentation of the working methods to be applied for analysis and concept development — type and form of induction (e.g. data and map material, planned excursions ...), scope and objective of the theoretical part (e.g. mention of 3 particularly important texts), special methods (e.g. surveys, experiments, scenarios) with their planned 'design', objective and scope of the design work
D Schedule: planned weighting and sequence of work phases
Questions and submission of exposés by e-mail to the thesis coordinator.
Thesis Brochure
The LAO layout template is to be used for the brochure. The brochure must be free of linguistic, spelling and citation errors. The Master's Thesis is a scientific thesis and contains a comprehensive text in the form of a brochure. The title of the thesis must be given in German and English. In addition, the Master's Thesis brochure should contain a summary/abstract in German and English as well as the reduced plans.
The preparation of a conclusive structure is indispensable for the writing of the scientific thesis and must be discussed with the supervisor at an early stage. Structures and text drafts should be sent by e-mail to the supervisor one week before the appointment.
Declaration in lieu of an oath
The brochure must contain an affidavit — firmly embedded at the end of the work. This must include the following points: Declaration of independent production; declaration of identification of external content (with full reference; this applies to quotations and graphics, but also to ideas or theories); permission for examination of the work in digital form by the examination board using appropriate software; exclusion of submission of the work to another university or in another module; place, date; surname, first name; signature.
Notes on scientific writing/quoting
In particular, scientific texts are characterized by a consistent citation method and correct references. Therefore, the rules of scientific writing and citation must be observed for the thesis. This applies in particular to illustrations and graphics. In addition, the copyrights and personal rights must be observed and, if necessary, the reproduction rights must be obtained. The Chair recommends that the TUM Citation Guide, the course "Fit for the thesis" as well as other courses and library tours of the University Library on the subject of scientific work and source management be observed.
Data bases
Basically, the data bases for the master's thesis have to be organized independently.
Plan data GeodatenOnline Bayern
Digital data bases within Bavaria can be obtained from the Landesamt für Vermessung und Geoinformation. For raster data of the digital contour lines, the digital planning map and the DOP20 (aerial photograph) there are no restrictions. For field maps as ALKIS/DFK (DXF) vector data as well as digital terrain models a free contingent of max. 1,000 €/student is available. If no additional vector data or digital terrain models are purchased (DGM with grid width 1m 80€/km2, DGM with grid width 2m 50€/km2, DGM with grid width 5m 20€/km2), a maximum of 555 parcels can be obtained free of charge (1.80€/parcel). For the order of vector data the exact specification of the required contents/ layers is necessary: https://geoportal.bayern.de/geodatenonline/anwendungen/vektordaten?3 (Selection mode: "Digitize polygon" > Select handle > Polygon conversion "All cut parcels" > Check whether number of parcels <555 or adjust selection if necessary > Create screenshot of selection polygon). The data and the surrounding polygon must be calculated independently. The correct selection polygon must be sent as a screenshot with GPS coordinates to the LAO geodata coordinator.
Submissions
Brochures (two copies printed and digital) and presentation plans (one copy printed and digital) must be submitted. Plans are layouted and labelled in such a way that they can be read in DIN A3 size. This is the only way they can be read by the audience during the presentation! The brochure and the plan inscriptions must be free of linguistic, spelling and citation errors.
Digital submissions (USB drive)
Brochure (each named "Year_of_delivery_Last_Name_Short_Title_of_Work_Broschuere_dpi.xyz")
PDF in 600 dpi (print resolution, fonts embedded, not screened) PDF in 150 dpi (screen resolution) packed InDesign folder with IDML file
Plans (each named "Year_of_delivery_last_name_short_title_of_work_plans_dpi.xyz")
DIN A0 plans as PDF in 150 dpi (print resolution, fonts embedded, not screened) DIN A3 reduction as PDF in 600 dpi (print resolution, fonts embedded, not screened) DIN A3 reductions as PNG in 300 dpi packed InDesign folder with IDML file
Publication of the Master's Thesis
Set up your thesis in the library / full text publication on mediaTUM
Set up your thesis in the library / full text publication on mediaTUM
We would like to publish all theses at the chair in printed form in the TUM University Library and make them publicly accessible.
In addition, it is possible to publish the Master's Thesis as an electronic full text on your own responsibility via mediaTUM. The conditions and forms can be found at: https://www.ub.tum.de/publizieren-abschlussarbeit. The completed forms are submitted to the chair when the thesis is submitted.
LAO Homepage
Selected final theses should be shown on LAO Homepage, if necessary in extracts, provided that the authors agree (declaration of consent see submissions).
Faculty of Architecture ePublication
Since the summer semester 2013, the Faculty of Architecture offers all graduates the possibility to publish their final thesis (diploma / master / bachelor) uniformly: https://www.ar.tum.de/publikationen/abschlussarbeiten/. The author independently notifies the Faculty of Architecture and the LAO Thesis Coordinator.
And finally the very small print on special cases
General examination regulations of the TUM: If the first delivery date cannot be met for reasons for which the student is not responsible, the examination board will extend the processing time by a maximum of half of the processing time, if the student requests this before the first delivery date and the topic applicant agrees. If the student proves by means of a certificate that he or she is prevented from processing due to illness, the processing time will be suspended.
Status: August 2019