# Thesis supervision

> More than 86 bachelor's and master's theses supervised since 2015, through regular one-to-one meetings, written feedback on drafts and the final assessment.

- Role: Supervisor and examiner
- Format: One-to-one supervision with regular meetings and written feedback
- Competence: Helping people build their own judgement, and saying clearly when work is not there yet.
- Relevant for: Mentoring, Coaching, Feedback, People development, Research methods

## Supervision

Since 2015 I have supervised more than 86 bachelor's and master's theses at the University of Cologne and the University of Bremen. Each thesis runs over several months, with regular one-to-one meetings, written feedback on drafts and a final assessment.

## How I supervise

- Students should learn to help themselves. I point to the method and to published examples rather than hand over step-by-step solutions, so that they build their own judgement.
- On how to report results, my answer is nearly always the same: completely and transparently, with the analysis scripts in the appendix.
- Drafts get written feedback, which students work through between meetings.
- The final assessment includes telling a student clearly when the work is not good enough yet.

## Topics and methods

Recent theses include topics about AI and trust, innovation management, agile project management, and digital transformation.

Methods across theses include structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), systematic literature reviews, design science research and qualitative analysis.

## Transfer

Supervising a thesis is close to the work of regular one-to-ones in a team: agree on goals, check progress, give feedback people can act on, and have the difficult conversation when it is needed. The aim is the same in both: people who can judge their own work.