Master Thesis
Master Theses at the Chair of Work and Organizational Psychology
We welcome MTEC-students (MSc and MAS) to write their Master's thesis in our research group. Thesis topics can be chosen from the list of currently offered topics below, but can also be individually defined based on students' interests together with the tutor and supervising research assistant. Often, theses in our group are written in close cooperation with companies. To provide ideas on possible topics, see also the overview of past theses supervised in our group below.
Theses can generally be written in German or English.
Our aim is to support students in investigating concepts from work and organizational psychology (leadership, team dynamics, work design, creativity, career management, to name a few) in relation to broader questions in the management of organizations, such as improved work flows, resource and project management, risk management or organizational change. In preparation for the thesis, MSc students are required and MAS-students strongly encouraged to take the following three courses: HRM Leading Teams, Work Design and Organizational Change, Empirical Methods in Management. Additional courses to build the proper knowledge base for the particular field of the thesis are to be discussed with the tutor. Further formal requirements by the department are found by following these links: MSc-thesis; Download MAS-thesis (PDF, 42 KB).
We are also happy to supervise BSc and MSc-theses by students from other departments at ETH and other universities, if the topics can be linked to on-going research in our group. All details regarding the duration of work and other administrative details should be clarified with the corresponding institution by the student.
Any student interested in doing their thesis with us is asked to send an application (short bio, grade sheet, description of motivation and topic of interest) directly to the research assistant supervising the desired topic. All general enquiries about writing a thesis in our group should be directed to Jacqueline Hohermuth ().
Current Master Thesis Topics
For the topic of “New Technologies at Work” exemplary subject areas in which theses can be conducted are:
- Design: E.g., How can technologies be designed in a human-centered way?
- Employee attitudes and reactions: E.g., How do employees perceive and react to novel technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, in work contexts
- Implementation: E.g., How can technologies best be implemented to enhance employee well-being and productivity?
- Decision-making: E.g., How are organizational decision-making processes and outcomes impacted by decision-support systems?
Please see the descriptions of the group’s ongoing projects in this area here. Interested students should bring in their own ideas for specific research questions and potentially practice partners.