Master's Thesis

You should complete all core courses before beginning work on your master’s thesis, and we strongly recommend attending the relevant advanced courses and/or seminars before applying for supervision.

If your thesis includes an empirical component, a solid understanding of econometrics is essential. Students in the (International) Business Administration programs (curricula 2016) are therefore advised to take the lecture VO Data Analytics from the Introductory Module of the master’s program in Business Administration before starting the thesis.

For empirical work, prior familiarity with the data you intend to analyze is recommended. The faculty provides access to a wide range of data, including asset prices, accounting and management data, macroeconomic statistics, and market microstructure data (LOBSTER). For details on data availability and support, please consult the Vienna Data Center (VDC): https://vdc.uni-vienna.at/.

To help you identify a suitable research direction, we encourage you to explore recent publications in leading finance journals. These journals are accessible through the University of Vienna library using your u:account: https://bibliothek.univie.ac.at/en/uaccess.html.

Supervisor Assignment Procedure

Students who plan to write their master’s thesis in the Department of Finance follow a centralized application process that takes place twice per year. If you intend to begin in the summer semester, please submit your application by December 15. For a winter semester start, the deadline is June 15. Students can apply online by first enrolling in the dedicated Moodle course, accessible via the following link: https://moodle.univie.ac.at/course/view.php?id=459104.
Once enrolled, please complete and submit the application form available on this Moodle site.

As part of the application, you will be asked to provide a preference ordering of all eligible supervisors, taking into account your research interests and the supervisors’ areas of expertise. Once the application period closes, supervisors are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis until each supervisor’s capacity is reached.

You will be notified of your assigned supervisor in late December (for summer starts) or late June (for winter starts). After receiving your assignment, please contact your supervisor promptly to discuss possible thesis topics and next steps.

While your interests matter, the thesis topic must be agreed upon with your supervisor. The final topic must meet the academic standards of the department and align with the supervisor’s research area. Below you will find a list of eligible supervisors and their corresponding areas of expertise.

Eligible Supervisors and Areas of Expertise

Please note that confirmation of supervision will only be granted to:

• Students in the master's programme in Banking and Finance who have successfully completed
  
  • the Introductory Module (A.1),
  • all Core Courses in Finance 1 (Module A.2),
  • the KU Introductory Econometrics, if the thesis contains an empirical part.
• Students in the master's programme in Applied Economics who have successfully completed
  • the mandatory courses of the module Banking and Financial Markets,
  • the mandatory module Introductory Econometrics, if your thesis contains an empirical part.
• Students in the master's programmes in Business Administration, International Business Administration or Business Analytics who have successfully completed all mandatory courses of the Minor (“Vertiefungsmodul”) in Banking and Finance.

Master´s Thesis Seminar

Students are required to present their master theses shortly before the completion in the presence of the respective supervisor.

The SE Master's Thesis Seminar (2 ECTS) for the master's programme in Banking and Finance is offered every semester.

Registration for the seminar only is possible if you have successfully completed the Introductory Module A1.

Note that you should only register for this seminar if you

• are at the end of your studies,
• have successfully passed all the core courses and most of the electives,
• have a well-formed idea for the master thesis, which you could execute within a short period
  of time. You may only present when your thesis is in its final phase.
• The presentation should include the following items:
  • research question,
  • literature review,
  • research strategy and preliminary results.

Students of the Master's programmes in Business Administration or International Business Administration will only be registered for the Master´s Thesis Seminar in Banking and Finance if they have successfully passed the VO Basics of Finance.

Writing Mentorship Programme

The Center for Teaching and Learning organizes "writing mentoring", in the course of which students trained as peer mentors work with their fellow students on all topics related to academic writing. A separate English writing mentoring group for all English master programs is offered.

Location: Seminar rooms of the CTL
(Universitätsstraße 5, 3rd floor, 1010 Wien)

Writing mentoring is an extracurricular service offered regularly by the University. The mentees will not receive ECTS, but a lot of support by our competent and motivated mentors instead.

Note that the dates are not (and cannot be) coordinated with the Department. Therefore, participation is not an excuse for missing regular courses.

>> Academic Writing in English

Formal requirements

• Registration of the thesis and the supervisor
• Co-supervision of the work, to be requested by the supervisor
• Format requirements of the thesis
• Submission of the thesis and assessment

>> more information (website of the StudiesServiceCenter)

Master's Examination

Please find information on the final oral examination (defense) and on the graduation at the website of the SSC as well as at the information site on the master's program Banking and Finance:

• Final examination
• Graduation
• Master Banking and Finance > Master's Examination