To graduate, all students must complete a thesis, according to the following group sizes:

Research-Based Bachelor's Thesis: 2-3 students
Engineering-Based Bachelor's Thesis: 5-6 students
Master's Thesis: 1-2 students

This page covers the process of getting a thesis topic, supervisor, and examiner for the following theses:

Bachelor's Thesis in Software Engineering and Management (GU, DIT837)
30 credit Master's Thesis in Software Engineering and Technology (Chalmers, DATX05) or Software Engineering and Management (GU, DIT910), under the standard time window (Spring semester, LP3 - LP4).

If you are doing a 60 credit master's thesis, or doing a master's thesis during an alternative time window, click here.

If you do not follow this process (e.g., do not submit preferences), you may not get a thesis topic that matches your interests.

Pay attention and ask questions if any aspect is unclear!

Table of Contents

Example Submission

Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction and Timeline

Timeline of the process, also described below.

To get a thesis topic, students can either:

Work on a pre-defined topic suggested by a supervisor (see "How to Find Topics").
Propose their own topic. This can either be a well-developed idea or, at minimum, a specific problem area that a student is interested in (e.g., automated test generation). See "Proposing Your Own Topic" for more information.

By October 1st, a complete list of supervisors will be posted with their areas of expertise and specific topics that they suggest.

Before November 1st, each student (if working individually) or group (if working in a group) must submit their topic preferences. This is a ranked list of topics, either pre-existing or proposed by the student/group. See "How to Submit" for more information.

Then, before November 15th, each student or group will be assigned a topic, based on their preferences, as well as a supervisor and examiner.

Afterwards, you will proceed with the thesis process and timeline outlined on the Canvas page for your respective thesis courses.

Please note that you must fulfill the entry requirements for your thesis course and be admitted to the course before you can start your thesis. See the Canvas page for your respective program or thesis course for more information.

Contact Information

If you have questions about this process, you may contact the following:

Thesis Coordinator and Program Manager, Bachelor's Program (N1SOF): Richard Berntsson Svensson (richard@cse.gu.se)
Thesis Coordinator and Program Manager, Master's Programs (N2SOF, MPSOF): Gregory Gay (ggay@chalmers.se)

Working on a Topic Proposed by a Researcher

You can find a list of all potential supervisors, along with their areas of expertise and pre-defined topics here:

For supervisors and topics for bachelor theses, see this page.
For supervisors and topics for master theses, see this page.

Do not e-mail supervisors to ask to be selected for a particular topic. The supervisors will make their own selection from the students that apply. Only contact a supervisor if you have concrete questions about a particular topic.

Each page will be periodically updated. The supervisors and topics are subject to change before October 1st. Make sure you check after October 1st to ensure that your preferences reflect the final list.

When you express a preference for a pre-defined topic, you must explain (1-3 sentences) why you are qualified for that topic.

Proposing Your Own Topic

You are required to propose at least one of your own thesis topics, as well as preferences for who would supervise these topics.

Theses in software engineering must relate to a research area within the software engineering field. The Software Engineering Body of Knowledge provides a list of topics, which can be used as a (non-exhaustive) starting point.

Project suggestions can be found within the department and related departments. External projects can be found at companies (for example, on a company's webpage or the Chalmers Exjobbsportalen).

Be aware that proposals from industry may not be accepted directly as thesis topics, as they are often too implementation-oriented and lack a sufficient research component. In such a case, the topic must be changed or enhanced to incorporate a software engineering research component. However, be aware that this may take substantial work or result in a project that the company is not interested in any more.

For each topic you propose, you must provide the following information:

Short description of the topic (one paragraph).
Why you want to work on this topic/why you are qualified for this topic (1-3 sentences).
If the topic is with a specific company, specify who the company is, along with a contact person (if known).
2-4 potential supervisors, ranked by your preference.

A topic, ideally, should be a clear research problem that you would like to work on. However, we understand that having a well-developed topic is rare this far in advance. Therefore, at minimum, you should express a concrete topic area you would like to work in. For example, rather that just saying "software testing", you should try to pick a specific topic within the field such as "automated test generation", "performance testing of web applications", or "automated program repair".

To identify potential supervisors for bachelor's theses, see the subject areas on this page.
To identify potential supervisors for master's theses, see the subject areas page.

You may contact researchers about your topic if you have specific and concrete questions that they could answer. However, please respect their time and do not contact unless you need to. Do not contact potential supervisors to ask if they will supervise your topic. They will make that determination after preferences are submitted.

How to Submit

Before November 1st, you must submit a ranked list of topic preferences (one per group).

This list must contain 3-5 projects.
At least one of these projects must be one that you have proposed.
These projects must be ordered by your preference, with the first project being the one you most want to take on.

For each project, you must include the following information:

If the project is a pre-defined project with existing supervisor:
- Project ID (from the topic page)
- Why you are qualified for this project (1-3 sentences)
If you are proposing your own project:
- Short description of the topic (one paragraph).
- Why you want to work on this topic/why you are qualified for this topic (1-3 sentences).
- If the topic is with a specific company, specify who the company is, along with a contact person (if known).
- 2-4 potential supervisors, ranked by your preference.

You must fill out this template with your preferences.

To submit your preferences, upload the filled template to the appropriate assignment:

To submit, you must have self-enrolled for this Canvas page. To do so, visit this link.

If you do not submit preferences, you will not be able to complete your thesis.

Note that you are not guaranteed to be assigned your top-ranked topic.

Example Submission

As an example, consider a master's student, Ami Mizuno. Ami is working alone, and has submitted the following topic preferences:

Rank	Project ID, or “Own”	Required Information
1	M-14	I am qualified for this project because I have taken an elective course on environmental sustainability, where I received a 5. In addition, I have contributed to the TensorFlow project, adding a patch that reduced carbon footprint of model training (link to pull request).
2	Own	Description: Software carbon footprint can be measured using known quantitative formulae. Web applications are popular and often have a heavy carbon footprint. I want to study how to automatically generate API test cases that profile the carbon footprint of web applications. Why: I am passionate about reducing software carbon footprint. I am qualified for this project because I have taken an elective course on environmental sustainability, where I received a 5. I also received a 5 in "Software Quality and Testing" Company: This topic is with Amazon Web Services (Contact: Naoko Takeuchi, naoko@amazon.com) Potential Supervisors: Gregory Gay, Hans-Martin Heyn, Birgit Penzenstadler
3	Own	Description: I am interested in exploring the topic of genetic programming. Why: I am qualified for this project because I received a 5 in "Software Quality and Testing". I have also studied evolutionary algorithms. Company: This topic does not have a connected company. Potential Supervisors: Robert Feldt, Gregory Gay, Francisco Gomes de Oliveira Neto

Ami has submitted a list of three projects:

Her top preference is a per-defined project, with ID "MS-014", related to studying the carbon footprint of machine learning models. She has specified reasons why she is qualified for this project, including a good grade in a related elective course and participation in a relevant open-source project.
If she is not picked for this project, her second choice would be her own project, related to using test cases to profile the carbon footprint of web applications. She briefly explains what she is interested in pursuing in this project, as well as why she is qualified to pursue this project. In addition, as this is a project with a company, she specifies what company is involved and her contact person at the company. She also indicates her preferences for a supervisor, offering three names of researchers working in the department of Computer Science and Engineering.
Finally, if none of those three supervisors want to take on this project, her third choice is also a project that she is proposing. In this case, she has not developed a detailed idea. Instead, she specified that she is broadly interested in a project related to the topic of "genetic programming". Again, she indicates why she is qualified and who could supervise the project.

We will take her submission, and attempt to connect her to an appropriate supervisor - starting with the top choice, when working down the list.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I contact a supervisor about a particular posted topic?
- You can contact a supervisor if you have specific questions about the topic. Do not contact them to ask if you can be the student chosen for that topic.

When should I contact a potential supervisor about a topic I plan to propose?
- You can contact researchers working in areas related to your topic for advice. However, please respect their time. Do not contact them just to ask if they will supervise your topic.

What should I do if I am doing a 60-credit master's thesis or a master's thesis during an alternative timeframe (e.g., LP1-LP2)?
- In this case, you may contact researchers listed on the topic page to see if they have additional topics available or if they are interested in supervising a topic that you are interested in. You may also contact the program manager (ggay@chalmers.se), indicating the area you would like to do a thesis in, and they can help you find a supervisor.