At Natural Sciences, every Master’s degree programme ends with a Master’s thesis, which can also be written in collaboration with a company/organisation. A thesis collaboration is a chance for students to test their academic skills outside the university and start connecting with the job market.

Thesis collaborations can be established on the initiative of the student or via the AU Job and Project Bank, where companies can promote and search for candidates for thesis collaborations.

Students writing their Master's thesis in collaboration with a company/organisation are assigned a supervisor from the university, who also acts as examiner. In addition, a project supervisor must be assigned from the company/institution where the thesis is written.

The student, the supervisor and the company draw up a thesis contract together, which describes the purpose of the project, defines the topic, includes a supervision and project plan as well as information about the resources that must be made available and deadlines. The contract is created via the Faculty’s contract generator and signed by the student, the company and the supervisor, after which it is approved by the head of the degree programme.  

Thesis collaborations are assessed in the same way as ordinary Master’s theses and with assessment by external co-examiner(s).