Admission requirements
You write your bachelor’s thesis in the last semester of your degree programme. You must have completed at least the first two years of the programme. For full-time students, this means that you must already have earned approx. 150 EC (or will do so in the near future). For part-time students this means approx. 160 EC. Following the thesis seminar is obligatory.
Description
You conclude the bachelor’s programme by writing a thesis. Once your thesis has been approved, you will receive a mark. If you wish to have an evaluation meeting with your supervisor, you can request one.
The thesis is worth 10 ECTS and must be between approx. 7,500 and a maximum of 10,000 words in length, including footnotes, bibliography and appendix. Please note: the BA thesis must tie in with one of the courses from the second or third year, with the exception of the introductory courses (such as Philology 3).
For tips and a more detailed description of the procedure, see the website. Below is a summary of the main requirements.
You can graduate every month of the academic year, except July and August. You can graduate in September with 31 August as the date of graduation if you meet the following requirements:
you have submitted your suggested topics by 15 January to the Board of Examiners via the online form
you have submitted your thesis application form to the Board of Examiners before 1 March
you have submitted the final version of your thesis to both supervisors by 1 June;
your final mark(s) are submitted to the Education Administration Office. by 15 August.
if you wish to have a final meeting (this is not compulsory), this has taken place before 31 August.
NB: If you are writing your thesis in the first semester, see the website for more information on deadlines and other matters
If you meet these and the remaining bachelor’s requirements, you will not need to re-enrol (as a bachelor’s student) for the next academic year.
The thesis and graduation procedure takes place in your last semester (generally the second semester, in exceptional cases the first semester) and takes two to three months and a maximum of five months (NB: there is no supervision during the Christmas break and in July and August, so these months do not count).
If you have not finished your thesis after five months, the Board of Examiners will contact you to make subsequent arrangements. In extreme cases, this may mean that you will have to submit a new request and be assigned a new supervisor.
If you wish to graduate at the end of the academic year, you must also:
submit, before 1 July, a completed form applying to graduate to the Education Administration Office. (You can collect this from the Education Administration Office or download it from the website
upload a digital archive copy of your thesis by 15 August. For details see the website
Please note: if you graduate in January, you must submit all documents (with the exception of a digital copy of your thesis) before 1 December. If you graduate in another month, you must submit everything one month beforehand.
If you do not have all your marks or have resits, please state this on the graduation form.
Course objectives
To be determined in consultation with the supervisor, according to the Course and Examination Regulations (OER). See the website website.
Timetable
Kijk op MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
Obligatory Library instruction, thesis seminar and independent research.
You can also use this digital module from Leiden University Libraries at the start of your thesis .
Assessment method
Assessment
Independently written bachelor’s thesis.
The thesis will be assessed on at least the following aspects:
a. an adequate formulation and application of the research question;
b. an adequate critical analysis of secondary literature;
c. an adequate critical analysis of source material;
d. use of language, structure and design of the thesis.
Weighting
The thesis counts for 100% of the mark.
Resit
If your bachelor’s thesis does not demonstrate the learning outcomes, you can resit it once. You must submit the revised version before the end of the first month of the following semester. For more information, see the website.
Discussion of thesis
At student’s request
Reading list
In consultation with supervisor.
Registration
The thesis request form and plagiarism statement are available from the Education Administration Office or through the website.
Contact
Please contact Student administration Arsenaal or the coordinator of studies for questions.
Remarks
Disclaimer: Please note that the course descriptions, in particular the assessment method, might be adjusted (timely) depending on the measures taken regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.