Spring 2023:

• Application start: January 16, 2023
• Application stop: February 05, 2023
• Kick-off meetings: February 15 and February 23, 2023, 10:00-12:00
• Registration at the student administration: until May 05, 2023*
• Latest submission: May 21, 2024*

Fall 2022:

• Application start: September 8, 2022

• Application stop: September 25, 2022
• Kick-off meetings: October 04 and October 12, 2022, 10:00-12:00
• Registration at the student administration: until November 04, 2022*
• Latest submission: November 20, 2023*

Spring 2022:

• Application start: January 17, 2022
• Application stop: February 06, 2022
• Kick-off meetings: February 21 and 23, 2022,09:00-11:00
• Registration at the student administration: until May 06, 2022*
• Latest submission: May 22, 2023*

Fall 2021:

• Application start: August 30, 2021

• Application stop: September 19, 2021
• Kick-off meetings: October 06 and October 13, 2021, 10:00-12:00
• Registration at the student administration: until October 29, 2021*
• Latest submission: November 21, 2022*

Spring 2021:

• Application start: January 18, 2021
• Application stop: February 07, 2021
• Kick-off meetings: February 17 and 25, 2020,10:00-12:00
• Registration at the student administration: until May 7, 2021*
• Latest submission: May 23, 2022*

(*Please double check with the dates on StudentWeb.)

Important Information:

• Prerequisites: Applicants who have attended at least one course offered by the Institute of Retail Management (Prof. Dr. Thomas Rudolph) will be given special consideration. In addition, we expect all applicants to be familiar with the basic rules of academic writing (e.g. citation rules). Finally, we expect that all students complete their final thesis within two semesters after the kick-off meeting.

• Topics: We ask you to carefully study the list of topics on our website. We do not accept applications with self-developed topics. Please apply for only one topic.

• Timing: We will supervise about 10 theses every semester. Every semester you can apply for one of these topics during 1.5 month or until all topics are taken. For the spring semester, applications will open mid-January until the end of February and for the fall semester, from mid-august until the end of September. We will notify all applicants after the application period has ended. After a successful application, we invite you to concretize your topic together with Prof. Rudolph and a PhD-student during a 20min Kick-off meeting.

Application Process:

1. Familiarize yourself with our application process and important information above.
2. Carefully chose a topic from our topic list that interests you.
3. Please consider the application deadlines (see timing).
4. Send your application (CV, grades, thesis application form) to abschlussarbeiten-irm<at>unisg.ch. Please note that we only accept applications sent to this email address. Applications sent to Prof. Rudolph directly or to the secretariat can unfortunately not be considered
5. Please consider the application deadlines (see timing).
6. After you have been notified about your acceptance (one week after application deadline), we will contact you to schedule the Kick-off meeting with Prof. Rudolph and your assigned co-supervisor. We will offer you limited time slots for this meeting (see above). The 20min-slots will be assigned on first-come first-served basis. We therefore ask you to block at least two of those time slots.
7. During the kick-off meeting, you will discuss and focus your topic together with Prof. Rudolph and a PhD-Student from the IRM. You will officially start your thesis after this meeting. Please bring the official application form and our publication permission to this meeting.
8. Please note: Our internal process does not replace the University’s official thesis process. You will still have to officially register your topic at the student administration.

Writing Process:

1. Familiarize yourself with the IRM information sheet. There you will find a detailed description of the writing process and our requirements for excellent theses.
2. After the first meeting with Prof. Rudolph and your co-supervisor, start with your literature review.
3. As soon as you have gained a good overview over the literature, you will start writing the disposition (structure), the problem definition (two pages) and the approach (one page) of your thesis. Send this document at least 2 working days prior the meeting to your supervisor and schedule a meeting with her/him. She/he will give you feedback in a 30min meeting.
4. The second meeting should take place not later than six months after you have started with your thesis. Here again, you should send the required documents (introduction/disposition of the main part/theoretical framework/methodical approach) at 2 working days prior the meeting to your supervisor via email.
5. Finish and hand in your thesis.
6. If you conducted qualitative interviews for your thesis, please enter all your interviewees in this form after you submitted your thesis: https://forms.office.com/r/T5YfRDBZkf

Topic List