Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

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Bachelor's seminar and thesis

Alongside the Bachelor's thesis students take part in the Bachelor's seminar during the fifth and sixth semester, in which students learn scientific writing and presentation.

Contents

Bachelor's posterfair
Students present the results of their work at the Bachelor's posterfair.

Bachelor's seminar I and II

In the Bachelor's seminars I and II, students gain an insight into scientific work. Important aspects are efficient scientific research and the processing of scientific findings as well as their oral and written presentation. Special emphasis is placed on scientific ethics and correct scientific work.

In the Bachelor's seminar I, students learn important research skills, such as how to efficiently search scientific literature and present scientific research in orally and in writing.

The Bachelor's seminar I is major specific.

The Bachelor's seminar II is completed by students of both majors alongside the Bachelor's thesis.

In the Bachelor's seminar II, students apply what they have learned in writing their Bachelor's proposal and Bachelor's poster. The highlight of the second seminar is the Bachelor's posterfair, where students present their Bachelor's poster.

651-3698-01L Bachelor's seminar II

Bachelor's thesis

The Bachelor's thesis is the final project of the Bachelor's programme and is written in the chosen specialisation. It is carried out in parallel with the Bachelor's seminar II.

The Bachelor's thesis consists of:

  1. Literature study, approximately two weeks
  2. Practical work, approximately three weeks (laboratory, fieldwork, etc.)
  3. Written Bachelor's thesis, approximately three weeks

For writing the Bachelor's thesis in the other specialisation, a request to the director of studies is required.

The Bachelor's thesis is written in the area of the chosen major.

Students can either propose a topic or choose a project from the list of topics within their major. A clear outline of the project is essential.

The Bachelor's thesis can also be carried out in collaboration with industry or a geological office. The students organise the collaboration in industry independently.

Bachelor's Thesis topics

Topics Bachelor's theses in Earth and Climate Sciences

The Bachelor's thesis is supervised by two persons:

  1. one main supervisor
  2. one co-examiner

At least one person must be a lecturer of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences or the Institute for Atmosphere and Climate. Both supervisors may belong to the same research group.

The supervisors follows the progress of the thesis with regular meetings and supports the student in writing the Bachelor's thesis.

The Bachelor's thesis is carried out independently by the students. The writing of the text is the responsibility of the student. It is important that supervisors and student outline the project in detail at the beginning and that there is a common understanding of the methods and the expected results. The supervisors provides the infrastructure needed such as samples, instruments and/or data series, which must be in place at the beginning of the work. All parties involved are familiar with the scope of work, time and deadline defined in the Bachelor's proposal.

Both Bachelor's seminar II and Bachelor's thesis must be registered in the same semester.

  1. Provisional registration of the Bachelor's thesis (651-3698-00) in myStudies by mid-March (“project/paper/theses”) incl. indication of the main supervisor and co-examiner.
  2. The Bachelor's proposal must be uploaded in myStudies by mid-April, the Bachelor's thesis is considered as definitely registered only after the confirmation of the main supervisor in eDoz.

The students write their Bachelor's proposal for the Bachelor's thesis in the Bachelor's seminar II.

  1. Discuss and correct the Bachelor's proposal together with the main supervisor and the co-examiner.
  2. Upload the accepted Bachelor's proposal to myStudies as assignment.
  3. By confirming the registration for the Bachelor's thesis in eDoz the main supervisor accepts the Bachelor's proposal.
  4. The Bachelor's proposal has to be sent as a PDF to the lecturers of the Bachelor's seminar for grading.

Refer to the guidelines for writing a Bachelor's proposal for more information (only available in German).

The Bachelor's poster is prepared in the Bachelor's seminar II.

The students design a scientific poster for their Bachelor's thesis, which is presented and graded at the Bachelor's posterfair (end of spring semester, the exact time is communicated in the Bachelor's seminar II).

Bachelor's poster

In order to design the Bachelor's poster, students can download the ETH scientific poster templates and the D-EAPS logo. Please refer to the ETH logo guidelines if you choose to use another poster template.

Downloads

The outline of a Bachelor's thesis consists of the three main parts:

  1. Introduction
  2. Main part
  3. Summary

The formatting of the Bachelor's thesis is as follows:

  • Length: recommended between 4,500 - 12,000 words (excluding appendices).
  • Paper size: A4, min. 80 g/m2
  • Font: Times New Roman
  • Font size: 11pt or 12pt
  • Paragraph justification
  • Line spacing: 1.5
  • Margins: inside 3 cm, outside 2 cm, top and bottom 3 cm each
  • Binding: ring or adhesive binding

For details please refer to the guidelines for writing a Bachelor's thesis (only available in German).

The Bachelor's thesis must be submitted to all supervisors in time (printed or in electronic form as a PDF by arrangement).

Deadline: 30 June

Late submission will result in a fail according to the Ordinance on Course Units and Performance Assessments at ETH Zurich Art. 11.

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