Master's thesis

Are you interested in writing a master’s thesis on European law, international economic law, or the relationship between Swiss law and European law? You’ll find all the information you need on this page.
Please follow the general guidelines of the law faculty. Certain special rules apply to master’s thesis.

Choosing a topic

  • 2 weeks before the project begins: preliminary meeting, develop topic options
  • 2-week reflection period

The deadline begins to run as soon as the specific topic is determined.

The deadline specified in the Faculty of Law’s guidelines applies. If difficulties arise that cause a delay and for which the students are not responsible, a justified request for an extension may be submitted.

Supervision during the writing

Students are eligible for three hours of mentoring by the supervisor. These three hours do not include the timeframe for concluding the choice of topic. Please take note of the suggested three phases of work:

  • Collecting literature; Reading into the topic; Working out a concept
  • Writing
  • Revising the text; Bringing it into a coherent form

Within the first weeks a short proposal must be handed in to the supervisor. This proposal will be discussed with the student. Suggestions will be made towards elaborating a definitive outline.

Concept / Regulations

Use an example publication as your guide (e.g. Swiss Papers) and consult the relevant literature on citation techniques for legal publishing (e.g. Forstmoser Peter, Juristisches Arbeiten, Zürich 2018).

No draft may be submitted for the preliminary review to ensure impartiality in grading. However, Prof. Pirker and the staff are available to answer specific questions as long as the supervision quota has not been exceeded.

If plagiarism is detected, the paper will not be accepted (e.g., if text passages are copied from the Internet without citing the source). Please note that plagiarism detection software may be used during the grading process to identify any instances of plagiarism in cases of suspicion. In such cases, a second paper cannot be written at the IEW.