Master Theses

I. General

Students who wish to write a master's thesis under Prof. Picht in the areas of expertise of the chair (Swiss and European competition, antitrust, unfair competition, intellectual property and conflict of laws, in particular international inheritance and corporate law) can apply by sending the following documents and information to the email address lst.picht@ius.uzh.ch

1. Academic certificates (Bachelor's/Master's)
2. One graded seminar paper
3. Project outline of the preferred topic incl. table of contents (approx. 3–4 A4 pages) and a list of alternative topics (initially without project outline)
4. Number of ECTS credits intended; indication of the semester for which the Master's thesis is to be credited; planned submission date

If Prof. Picht agrees to supervise the thesis, an appointment will be made with the student for the preliminary discussion, at which the master's thesis agreement will also be signed. This is the only discussion regarding the content, which is why students are advised to prepare their questions regarding content for this appointment.

II. Formal requirements

It is recommended to use the published template of the chair. However, the use of the template is ultimately voluntary. If the template is not used, the following formalities must be observed:

• Font: Times New Roman
• Font size: 12 (footnotes: 10)
• Line spacing: 1.5 (footnotes: 1.0
• Margin top/bottom: 2 cm
• Margin left/right: 2.5 cm
• Space before paragraph: 6 pt.
• Uniform citation method, cf. on this, inter alia, Forstmoser Peter/Ogorek Regina/Schindler Benjamin, Juristisches Arbeiten, Eine Anleitung für Studierende, 7th ed., Zurich 2023
• Required information: first name/last name, address, telephone number, email address, matriculation number, supervising professor(s), submission date, number of ECTS credits, master's program, declaration of independence

The length of the paper is determined by the number of ECTS credits to be credited:

The upper limit for the number of pages must be strictly adhered to; exceeding it will result in a lower grade. The work is to be submitted electronically in PDF and Word format (by email to lst.picht@ius.uzh.ch or by handing in a USB stick) by the agreed deadline at the latest. In principle, late submissions will no longer be accepted.

III. Requirements in terms of content

Master theses should, in particular, also express the author's independent assessment and opinion, which is to be marked as such. The students are therefore required to reflect the legal and opinion status, but not to limit themselves to it. It makes sense to include approaches to such an independent content-related performance in the proposal.

Questions regarding content are only possible on the day of the discussion and are excluded afterwards. Formal aspects can be discussed with the responsible assistant in individual cases.

IV. Administrative Information

Fact Sheet on Assessment [RS 4.1.3]