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Master Thesis

This page includes guidelines, as well as information about funding, topics offered by the faculty, and previous students' topics.

M.Sc.-Thesis: Coronation of higher academic education

Many people see the writing of an M.Sc.-thesis as the coronation of higher academic education. And indeed, the importance of the thesis work is reflected by the prominent role it takes within the whole M.Sc.-programme. After completing core and elective subjects in the educational programme the thesis offers the challenge to set up and to carry out a scientific research project in a self-responsible manner under the guidance of an experienced supervisor.
 

Thesis guidelines and application documents

  1. Administrative Guidelines: Administrative matters to start writing a thesis (Choosing a supervisor, registration, deadline, etc)
  2. Guide on how to write a Master Thesis: How to prepare for a master thesis what are the steps to write one (necessary skills, selecting a topic, looking for literature, grading, etc)
  3. Master Thesis registration form 
  4. Master Thesis cover page template 
 
All necessary forms are found on the Faculty website.
 

Funding opportunities

The university provides various sources of grants for Master thesis research. 

 

Previous thesis topics

 

  

Possible Thesis Topics

Please contact the respective supervisors or sponsors if you are interested in any of the following thesis topics.
 

Michael Pregernig (Sustainability Governance)

  • Knowledge politics for sustainability” – with different possible case studies looking at the way how various types of knowledge are created, tested and deployed in:
    • different sectors, incl. biodiversity, food, water, climate, forests, agriculture etc.;
    • different politico-cultural contexts at different levels;
    • different social sub-systems, incl. social movements, companies, (city) administrations etc.
  • “Environmental assessments: Comparison of institutional setups” – with single case studies or a comparison of different assessments (e.g. IPCC, IPBES, IPES Food, IPOS etc.) … with a focus on e.g. the process of validation/review, the role of non-scientific knowledge, interface to politics and society etc.
  • “Dynamics in epistemic authority under conditions of uncertainty and ambiguity” – with possible case studies from the field of forest management and governance *) … or any other environmental policy field
  • “Epistemic disputes as markers of change in knowledge cultures” – with case studies focusing either on inner-scientific debates and/or on disputes in broader socio-political contexts … in the field of forest management and governance *) … or any other environmental policy field
  • “Beyond 'post-truth': Knowledge politics of populist environmental movements” – with single case studies or a comparison of different movement types and/or in different countries
  • “Challenges of long-term orientation in sustainability governance” – with case studies e.g. focusing on questions like how anticipatory knowledge is produced and made policy-relevant, how the “future” is framed in public discourse, which actors shape debates on the future etc.
  • “Epistemic dynamics in public participation” – with case studies focusing on a specific participation process or on a certain type of participation (e.g. citizens’ councils)
  • “Social-ecological systems (SES) as a new research paradigm” – with possible foci on e.g.
    • overview of SES frameworks and their disciplinary foundations;
    • overview or specific case studies on the integration of the social sciences in SES modelling;
    • systematic review on the application of a SES perspective on forests. *)
*) Topics tied to a Cluster of Excellence currently in preparation on “Future Forests – Adapting Complex Social-Ecological Systems to Global Change” (for more information see the University’s webpage on proposed Clusters of Excellence  


Philipp Späth (Sustainability Governance)
 
  • Justice concerns discussed with regard to the German Fuel Emissions Trading Act BEHG [or a similar law, e.g. EU ETS] - A qualitative analysis based on documents from the parliamentary process. 
  • Hamburg’s [or: Rotterdam’s] role in the hydrogen economy - Mapping and scrutinizing current promises and expectations.
  • How to govern the phase-out of the gas distribution network in Hamburg [or: a comparable city] - An idealistic and a realistic governance pathway.
  • The decarbonization of Hamburg’s heating networks. Current challenges to implementation.



Cristina Espinosa (Sustainability Governance)
supervises theses that apply critical, qualitative interpretive methodologies (such as discourse analysis) and are connected to the following topics:

  • Environmental citizenship and education for sustainability and peace
  • Governance for alternative models of mainstream sustainable development, such as buen vivir
  • Knowledge politics in environmental governance
  • Rights of nature and world order
  • Political representation of non-human nature in different settings, such as courts and legal processes
  • SDGS and citizen science
  • Science and environmental activism
  • Contested natural resource governance, particulary in connection to transition minerals


Sustainable Food Economy Lab with Dr. Arnim Wiek of the Sustainable Food Economy Lab: interested students should email arnim.wiek@vwl.uni-freiburg.de



Several chair groups at the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources offer on their chair’s webpages thesis topics and/or instructions on how to apply for a Master thesis with them, e.g.



For more and updated information on research projects and related thesis topics, check the webpages of the different Chair Groups of the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources here