Are you writing a thesis or another major assignment?

Thesis groups are for thesis students who want to spar with each other and with a group supervisor

In the group, you will meet other thesis students from different study directions. You will be presented with academic inputs and tips for the thesis process. The group is led by two experienced group leaders who are used to talking to students who are writing a thesis and therefore have knowledge of the problems that can arise during a thesis process.

Sparring with others in the same situation

In the group, the focus is on you being able to share your experiences of being a thesis student with others in the same situation. Therefore, a large part of the activities consist of sparring between the participants.

Is there academic sparring?

No, it is not the aim of the group to offer a space for academic sparring. That being said, we can certainly discuss an issue that is academic. If you cannot get an answer in the group, we will certainly help you find the answer elsewhere.

What do we do when we meet?

The meetings in the Thesis Groups can consist of many activities. It can be anything from small presentations from the facilitators or group participants, group discussions, sparring, curiosity about each other’s processes, reflection exercises and generally talking about how it’s going, and what you’re struggling with at the moment.

In the spring of 2024, the following themes were on the program:

1. Get to know each other a bit and then something about the requirements for a thesis
2. Planning of the semester and everyday life with the thesis
3. The supervisor collaboration and collaborations in general
4. Thesis cup
5. Sustainable thesis writing and thesis time
6. Out of the thesis time - defense of thesis and in job afterwards

The themes will probably be roughly the same here in the fall of '24, but since we always adjust the themes after what the participants need, the themes may be different.

Community outside the meetings

One of the things that we know from experience has great value for the thesis groups, is that you meet with each other also outside the 6 meetings. The content and form of these informal meetings, we will make sure are planned for the first meeting. But the group itself is responsible for organizing the operation from there.

The target group is you, who need a community during your thesis process

A Thesis Group is a community where you can meet with other students who are also writing a thesis. It is thus a group for thesis students who would like to take advantage of the community to ensure the best possible thesis process. This also means that you must be willing to engage in the group’s discussions and sparring if you sign up.

The group is obvious for you, who have fallen behind compared to the team you started on, or you who could imagine that extra sparring and community was what could get you safely through the thesis.

So expect to meet thesis students from all five faculties at SDU, who despite very different thesis topics and ways of writing a thesis, will have a lot in common with.

For you who write a thesis over two semesters

You are also very welcome in our thesis groups.

For you who do not live in Odense

In the fall of 2024, we unfortunately only offer thesis group courses in Odense. But you are welcome to participate in Odense, even if you study in one of the other campus cities.

Who is the thesis groups not for?

The group is not for students who are already writing a thesis in a group, as you are already part of a writing community.

In the spring of 2025, there will be thesis groups at SDU Odense and SDU Kolding.

All group meetings will be held in person.

We will meet 6 times during the spring semester

The group will meet a total of six times with approximately two to three weeks between each meeting. Each group meeting lasts two hours. We start at the beginning of february and finish in May.

• SDU Odense: Mondays from 13:00-15:00
• SDU Kolding: (Day and location yet to be determined)

The exact dates will be provided after the registration deadline.

For students writing their thesis over two semesters:

Since we have not yet tried to create a thesis group for students writing their thesis over an entire year, the framework for the meetings will be discussed at the first meeting in January 2025. However, we expect to meet 6 times in the spring of 2024 and 6 times in the fall of 2025.

For students who write a thesis both fall 2024 and spring 2025

Since we have not yet tried to create a thesis group for students who write a thesis over a whole year, the framework for the meetings will be discussed at the first meeting in September 2024. But we expect to meet 6 times in the fall of 2024 and 6 times in the spring of 2025.

If you want to join, you must be able to attend all the meetings

If you want to participate in a thesis group, you should be able to attend all the meetings. This means that you also mentally have to prepare for this when you sign up.

If you sign up for the group course and are admitted, you will receive an email with the time and date of the meetings. There you will have the opportunity to finally sign up or cancel depending on whether you can participate or not on the selected days.

Of course, we can all be hit by illness, and then it is perfectly okay to cancel.

Great you want to join :-)

Registration for the spring thesis groups is now open. Sign up by completing this survey by Monday, January 26, 2025. 

There are limited seats in the Thesis Groups

Thus, we cannot necessarily offer all interested a seat. In case of overbooking, and you do not get a seat, we will make sure to suggest some other relevant offers to you.

Are you curious about what happens in a Thesis Group?

Then read this article from SDU’s own news service (only in danish): “Sammenhold i stedet for specialesump”.

Or read the article from RUST (only in danish): “Farvel til specialesumpen”

A couple of quotes

“I think overall, it worked insanely well to get out among fellow students and I especially think the help around structuring the process was good!”

“I just want to thank you for a super good course! I sense a clear interest from both of you in students’ well-being, and it has helped to provide a calm in the process, knowing that you could reach out to you. Even if you didn’t, it has just been really nice to know".