Bachelor and Master Theses

General procedure

  1. You must participate in the centralized allocation process to write your thesis at the Chair of Finance. It is not possible to write your thesis without participating in the official allocation process. See the Department’s and Finance Group’s websites for details on the procedure for BSc and MSc thesis supervision, respectively.

  2. We will contact students as soon as the allocation procedure has been concluded. It is not necessary to reach out to us before we have contacted you. Please remember to check your student email address (e.g., s1234567@stud.uni-frankfurt.de).

  3. Allocated students will be invited to send us a research proposal about an interesting research idea (approximately one page). You can pick a topic from the research areas listed below, but it is also possible to propose another topic.

  4. We will match students to supervisors based on their chosen topic.

  5. You can register your thesis anytime until the end of the semester but the registration must happen before the end of semester.  We recommend that you start early in the semester. Also consider that our availability for supervision might be constrained during semester breaks.

Suggested research areas

  • Empirical Asset Pricing
  • Machine Learning in Asset Pricing
  • International Finance and FX
  • Monetary Policy and Financial Markets
  • Analysis of Option-Implied Information
  • Banks and Global Dollar Funding
  • Non-Bank Financial Intermediation 
  • Textual Analysis in Finance
  • Money Markets

Finding a topic

A good orientation for your topic are recent (i.e., up to 5 years ago) papers in leading journals (e.g., Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial Economics, American Economic Review, Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy, Review of Economic Studies, Quarterly Journal of Economics) or leading working paper series (e.g., NBER, CEPR).

Frequently asked questions

  • When can I start writing my thesis?
    You can start as soon as you have been successfully allocated to our chair and agreed on a topic with your supervisor. 

  • Can I already discuss the topic with my supervisor and register the thesis at a later point in time?
    The thesis must be registered with the examinations office as soon as you agree on a topic with your supervisor. Do not schedule a meeting with your supervisor unless you would like to start writing your thesis.

  • Can I begin writing my thesis after the exam period?
    Yes, but you will have to register the thesis at least six weeks before the end of the semester in which you were allocated to our chair.

  • When do I have to submit my thesis?
    The deadline will be set by the examinations office. Please visit their website for further information.

  • Can I write my thesis in German?
    As the academic finance literature is written in English, we generally expect you to write your thesis in English. Please also consider the official regulations of your study program.

  • Can I write a literature review?
    A Bachelor thesis commonly includes a (small-scale) empirical analysis. A Master thesis includes an empirical analysis, and requires good knowledge of statistics/econometrics as well as the ability to work with statistical software.

  • Can I write my thesis on a certain topic?
    You have the flexibility to choose any subject within the specified domains, provided that your research proposal is approved by the supervisor.

  • Do you provide a list of topics?
    You can choose any topic from the suggested research areas, but you should  develop your own research question in the research proposal. The final topic will be set in accordance with your supervisor.

  • Can I write my thesis in cooperation with an institution outside of Goethe University?
    This depends on the topic and can only be discussed once you have been allocated to our chair.

  • Is it possible to write my thesis at the Chair of Finance without participating in the official allocation process?
    Unfortunately we can only supervise students which have been allocated through the centralized process.

  • Which software for empirical work am I allowed to use?
    You can use any standard programming language or computer program such as STATA, Excel, Python, R, or MATLAB. Please consider the possibility of remote access to the software (in case you do not have the license already) available through the university (link to remote desktop application).

  • Which data sources are available?
    You can use any reliable data source, such as public databases or Yahoo Finance. Furthermore, the SAFE Data Room offers many high quality resources such as Bloomberg, Eikon, CRSP, Compustat, etc.

  • Do I have to format my thesis in a certain way? Is there a page limit?
    You will get a set of thesis guidelines specifying all formal requirements, page limits, etc. once you have been allocated for supervision. 

  • How and when will I receive my grade?
    You will usually be able to see your grade in the university grade portal (QIS) within 6 weeks after handing in your Bachelor thesis. For a Master thesis there will be a second (anonymous) reviewer who also has 6 weeks to submit her / his report.


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