The KU Research Institute for Taxation jointly assigns master’s theses at the Chair of Business Administration and Business Taxation (Prof. Dr. Koch) and at the Chair of Economics, esp. Public Finance (Prof. Dr. Langenmayr). In the following, we provide further information on the process.The KU Research Institute for Taxation jointly assigns master’s theses at the Chair of Business Administration and Business Taxation (Prof. Dr. Koch) and at the Chair of Economics, esp. Public Finance (Prof. Dr. Langenmayr). In the following, we provide further information on the process.

Requirements

Apart from the generally valid admission requirements resulting from the relevant examination regulations, there are no further restrictions. However, we recommend that you attend a seminar at the Chair of Business Administration and Business Taxation or at the Chair of Economics, esp. Public Finance prior to writing a Master's thesis in the field.

Supervising master’s theses is only possible within available capacities at the Chairs. If capacities are not sufficient, we will give preference to students who have acquired the most ECTS credits in the field of taxation and have achieved particularly good grades in these courses.

Process

The following deadlines and rules apply for the registration of your Master’s thesis:

Issuance of a topic/start of thesis:

• Jan 01 - Mar 31 (first quarter) ⇒ Deadline for application: Nov 30
• Apr 01 - Jun 30 (second quarter) ⇒ Deadline for application: Feb 28
• Jul 01 - Sep 30 (third quarter) ⇒ Deadline for application: May 30
• Oct 01 - Dec 31 (fourth quarter) ⇒ Deadline for application: Aug 30

Please submit the registration form including all annexes listed therein (by e-mail to tax-masterarbeiten(at)ku.de) observing the above deadlines.

A selection of possible topics will be available here approx. four weeks before the application deadline. Approx. two weeks before the end of the application period, the Chairs will present possible topics for Master’s theses. The next event for presenting the topics will be on February 14, 2023, at 9.00 a.m. (via Zoom - please register via e-mail). Furthermore, you are also free to submit own topic suggestions. If you want to suggest your own topic, please summarize your idea in a short problem description (approx. half a page). In this summary, please outline the objective of your thesis and which methods you want to use. It is possible to write your Master’s thesis in English.

We will inform you about the topic of your thesis at the start date of your thesis. The time allocated for working on the thesis depends on the respective examination regulations.

The length of the text part (introduction, main part and conclusion) of a Master's thesis is 100,000 to 130,000 characters, including spaces and footnotes. This corresponds to approximately 50 to 70 pages. When preparing quantitative theses, it is possible to deviate from this length after consulting with your supervisor. Please refer to the formal requirements for all other formalities.

Master’s Thesis Colloquium in Taxation

If you study Taxation, you also have to present your findings and your plans for further analysis in the Master's thesis colloquium. The presentation will take place approximately halfway through your thesis. The duration of the presentation is 20 minutes.

You will receive interdisciplinary feedback from the members of the institute and the other participants. Taxation students should attend the colloquium regularly during their Master's thesis.

Contact

If you are interested in writing your Master’s thesis at the KU Research Institute for Taxation, please feel free to contact us via tax-masterarbeiten(at)ku.de.