Master's thesis in Space Systems

Before starting the Master's thesis, students must:

• Have obtained their Bachelor's degree.
• Have fulfilled all additional requirements (if any).
• Have successful completed all core courses and scientific introductory courses.

The details are outlined in the official programme regulations.

Students are responsible for submitting a proposal outlining the topic and tasks of their Master’s thesis to their designated supervisor. The proposed topic should be closely aligned with the supervisor’s current research activities.

The Master’s thesis must be supervised by a professor from the list of eligible supervisors. Any exceptions require prior approval by the steering committee.

It is strongly recommended to appoint a secondary supervisor, who may be your tutor or an ETH researcher with doctoral degree.

Master’s thesis projects may be conducted outside ETH Zürich, provided they are supervised by an eligible professor from the approved list. In addition, the external project must be confirmed by the external supervisor and formally approved by the Director of Studies.

Registration for “651-7777-00 Master’s Thesis” in myStudies "projects/papers/theses"

• Students starting their Master’s thesis between August and January register for Autumn Semester. Students starting between February and July register for Spring Semester.
• Only eligible supervisors from the list can be selected as main supervisor.
• Please do not register twice if the start and the end of the Master’s thesis are not in the same semester, but choose the option “leave of absence” (Urlaubssemester) on myStudies for the subsequent semester.
• myStudies calculates the submission deadline automatically at the time of registration (start date plus 28 weeks).

The Master's thesis project includes an oral presentation, delivered in a group seminar. At least one member of the supervising committee must be present. The oral presentation schedule is arranged individually in consultation with the supervisor.

The oral presentation counts towards the final grade.

The individual deadline is calculated automatically in myStudies based on the start date (plus 28 weeks) of the Master's thesis. This deadline is binding and the student must submit the Master's thesis no later than this date (by 23:59).

• Submission of Master's thesis
  The student hands in the Master’s thesis (physical copy or PDF) to the main supervisor (incl. the Download signed declaration of originality (PDF, 160 KB)) by the deadline. The main supervisor confirms the submission in eDoz. Late submission results in a fail.
• Request for diploma
  Students can submit their request for diploma (Diplomantrag) only after the grade for their Master's thesis haas been validated (verfügt) by the study administration.

• Grade calculation
  The final grade is calculated by the main supervisor using the Master's thesis assessment form. Grades from all supervisors and examiners have equal weight.
• Grade entry
  The main supervisor enters the final grade promptly in eDoz.
  For theses submitted in August, timely entry is crucial to ensure students can request their diploma in time and attend the graduation ceremony.
• Group projects
  If the Master's thesis is conducted as a group project, each student’s performance is evaluated individually.
• Silver Medal nomination
  Exceptional Master's theses (grade 6.0) may be nominated for the ETH Zurich Silver Medal. The main supervisor must submit a justification report outlining the reasons for the nomination.