Master Theses
Requirements for master's theses
Please note: Master's theses supervised by Prof. Darbellay can be written in German, English, or French. The thesis is credited with 12 ECTS (see §43 RVO RWF).
I. General
Students who wish to write a master's thesis under Prof. Darbellay’s supervision in the chair's areas of specialization (corporate law, financial market law, banking and capital markets law) can apply by sending the following documents and information to the email address lst.darbellay@ius.uzh.ch:
1. Academic transcripts (bachelor's/master's)
2. Curriculum vitae
3. A case study / seminar paper
4. Project outline of the preferred topic, including a table of contents and a list of alternative topics (without project outlines for the alternative topics)
5. Indication of the semester for which the master's thesis is to be credited and the expected submission date
If Prof. Darbellay agrees to supervise your thesis, a meeting will be arranged to discuss the outline and bibliography, at which the master's thesis agreement will also be signed.
To obtain the ECTS credits, the master's thesis must also be presented orally. One week before the presentation, you will send a first draft of your master's thesis and one day before the presentation, you will send your slides for the presentation.
After the presentation, Prof. Darbellay will provide you with feedback. You will then have time to revise your thesis before submitting the final version.
The grade is based on the written final version (75%) and the oral presentation (25%).
II. Formal requirements
The following formal requirements must be observed:
- 75,000-85,000 characters (including spaces and footnotes, excluding title page and tables of contents)
- Font: Times New Roman
- Font size: 12 (footnotes: 10)
- Line spacing: 1.5 (footnotes: 1.0)
- Top/bottom margin: 2 cm
- Left/right margin: 2.5 cm
- Space before paragraph: 6 pt.
- Uniform citation style: It is recommended to adapt the citation style to the respective language.
- For German: Forstmoser Peter/Ogorek Regina/Schindler Benjamin, Juristisches Arbeiten, Eine Anleitung für Studierende, 7. Aufl., Zürich 2023
- For English: OSCOLA, Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities, Fourth Edition, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford: OSCOLA
- For French: Tercier Pierre/Roten Christian, La recherche et la rédaction juridiques, 8th edition, Zurich 2021
- Required information: First name/last name, address, telephone number, email address, student ID number, semester, supervising professor(s), submission date, number of ECTS, declaration of independence/originality
The thesis must be submitted electronically in PDF and Word format by email to lst.darbellay@ius.uzh.ch on the agreed submission date (by midnight) at the latest. It is not necessary to submit a paper copy. Late submissions will not be accepted.
III. Content requirements
Through a master's thesis, students should demonstrate that they:
- can work independently on a legal problem according to scientific principles;
- can find relevant legal sources, literature and case law on a topic and reproduce them in a structured manner;
- are able to present different approaches to solving problems logically and critically and to make a reasoned choice between these approaches or develop new approaches; and
- have mastered the legal methods of argumentation.
A master's thesis should express the author's independent assessment and opinion, which should be identifiable as such. Students are required to reflect on current legal positions and prevailing opinions, but should not limit themselves to them.
IV. Further information and fact sheets
Declaration of independence (PDF, 107 KB)
4.1.3. Fact Sheet on Assessments of the Faculty of Law of the University of Zurich of 6 October 2021