Bachelor's thesis

The thesis will not be accepted if it does not meet the following requirements:

Title page with the school's letterhead, title of the thesis, name of the author and supervisor, place of publication, and year. The following template, valid for the entire Masaryk University, must be used for the title page.

The thesis template can be downloaded here. Instructions for the thesis template can be found here.

Bibliographic record

An abstract summarizing the basic information about the content of the thesis and its findings, 500–600 characters including spaces. The same text of the abstract must be entered into the Thesis Archive in the MU Information System.

Statement of integrity

If you work with AI tools, add the following sentence to the declaration: "I declare that I have used AI tools in accordance with the principles of academic integrity and that I refer to the use of these tools in my thesis in an appropriate manner."1

Acknowledgements

The content of the thesis, which must be complete (including all appendices), with the initial pages of chapters (subchapters) indicated. If the appendices form a separate, separately bound part of the work, the table of contents is included at the beginning of the text and also includes the Table of Appendices.

The text of the work itself

Conclusion. This summary must provide a complete and clear picture of the content of the work and recapitulate the basic findings.

Notes, if not included as footnotes on the relevant page of the text.

List of tables, graphs, and figures with references to pages in the text (if the text contains them).

Name index (optional) Indexes must be arranged alphabetically and must contain references to all pages where a name appears in the work. If any author

Bibliography. Complete and correctly formatted (see below), containing all cited sources and sources referenced in the bachelor's thesis.

The length of the bachelor's thesis is 10,000–17,000 words of basic text (the actual number of words must be stated in the thesis – it will be checked). This information must be included in the bibliography. The main text is considered to be the text of the thesis itself, including notes, without the bibliography, appendices, abstract, and table of contents. Theses that exceed the specified length will not be accepted. All pages must be numbered consecutively. If the topic of the thesis requires it, the appendices may include one coherent text with a maximum word count of 15 percent of the main text of the thesis. This appendix is listed first in the order. The quality of the appendix and its logical connection to the text of the thesis are part of the evaluation. The number of words in other types of appendices is not monitored.

The thesis must meet the standards set for professional theses in terms of its external layout. Students may (but are not required to) use the Masaryk University template (the template can be found here). (Only the title page from the template is mandatory, see above.) If students decide not to use this template, their work must comply with the following basic format. It must be typed on a computer using a standard text editor and printed either on one side or both sides of A4 office paper. (Theses printed on recycled paper are welcome.) Modest formatting is required (graphic formatting such as large fonts is not permitted). The text should be written with 1.5 line spacing. Any font can be used, but a proportional font is recommended. The font size for the main text should be 12 points. Secondary text (explanations, historical digressions, etc.) should be written with 1 line spacing and a font size of 10 points.

The Czech language used in the bachelor's thesis must comply with current language standards: gross spelling, grammatical, or stylistic errors will disqualify the thesis regardless of its merit. A space of 1 keystroke must be left after punctuation marks. It is not recommended to enliven the text with various witticisms, personal confessions, or ironic tones, etc.

The internal organization of the text must correspond to the substantive structure of the message. It is up to the student to decide whether the thesis will have one or more parts, whether the individual chapters will be numbered or not and how, whether to use subheadings in the chapters, or to use a decimal classification system for chapters and subchapters throughout the thesis (the latter option is particularly suitable for empirical work). In any case, the table of contents must provide a clear picture of the chosen organization of the text. Individual chapters of the work may be preceded by an abstract (a few lines of keywords summarizing the chapter, indented).

Notes on the text can be included either as footnotes at the end of the relevant page of the text (in which case they are written in a denser font size than the main text) or at the end of the work in a separate section entitled "Notes" (in which case they are written in the same font size as the text). References to notes are marked with Arabic numerals superscripted. If the text of the notes is written below the line, they can be numbered consecutively from the beginning of each chapter or consecutively throughout the text. If they are included after the text of the thesis, all notes in the thesis must be numbered consecutively throughout the text. Tables and graphs cannot be placed in the text of the notes.

Citations
In consultation with their supervisor, students choose the most appropriate citation system for their work from the following three options (A, B, or C, described in the Citations tab) according to the nature of their work. These citation system standards are binding and cannot be further modified.

1MU, Working Group for AI in Education. Recommendations for the use of artificial intelligence tools in fulfilling study obligations. Masaryk University [online]. May 2023 [cited 2023-11-20]. Available from: https://kvalita.muni.cz/en/education-quality/recommendations-on-the-use-of-ai-in-education.

General principles for working with literature

The method of referencing source works varies across academic disciplines. Given that the Department of Environmental Studies draws on multiple academic traditions, it is necessary to consult with your thesis supervisor regarding the appropriate citation style and citation standards.

We recommend that students use citation software (e.g., Zotero), which greatly facilitates working with sources and cataloging them. We recommend that you thoroughly familiarize yourself with the Statement on the Application of Artificial Intelligence in Teaching at Masaryk University (April 2023) and the Recommendations on the use of artificial intelligence tools in fulfilling study requirements (May 2023).

Bachelor's and master's theses require (with the possible exception of some areas of mathematics) the citation of sources from which the text draws. Citations allow readers to verify the authenticity of data/claims and to use the original sources for further study or research.

If the author's words are quoted verbatim, their text must be placed in quotation marks (or distinguished according to citation standards) and the pages from which the quotation comes must be indicated. If we reproduce a specific idea or piece of information, it is necessary to indicate the specific page even in indirect quotations! If we freely reproduce a specific idea or opinion contained in the entire work, we do not indicate the page number. For longer quotations (more than 3-4 lines), the entire quotation may be written in narrower line spacing and indented. If we quote text from a work that has not been translated into Czech in our own translation, this fact must be indicated (write "own translation").

The information in the list of sources used (bibliographic data) must be provided according to a uniform key and in such a way that the source can be identified and traced as accurately as possible. Printed sources are generally considered more reliable than electronic ones. However, there are a number of exceptions, as contemporary professional journals are often only available in electronic form. Similarly, professional sources (i.e., those that cite sources, have footnotes, have been reviewed, etc.) are considered more reliable than "popular science" or explicitly "popular" sources. If I use such texts, I must justify their use. However, there are many transitions between the two types of sources, so it is necessary to critically evaluate your sources yourself, e.g., according to the author's reputation in the professional community and your own assessment of their history, coherence, and credibility, etc. Personal communications are generally considered the least credible because they cannot be verified by the reader. Nevertheless, such sources can be a valuable, albeit exceptional, addition to your work (e.g., statements by experts, research subjects, etc.). However, it is then necessary to provide as accurate information as possible regarding the date and place where this information was communicated. We proceed in a similar manner when we cite a film or a datable statement from a lecture, etc. as a source – again, it is important to provide as much information as possible about the source of your information. It is essential that the reader knows where you got the opinion, argument, or fact presented in your work.

We do not cite sources for matters that are generally known and for our own opinions.

In any case, if possible, it is advisable to use primary sources (e.g., if I am writing about the work of personality XY, I should use texts written directly by XY) rather than secondary sources (texts written about the work of XY) or tertiary sources (texts written about texts written about the work of XY). Even if the work is explicitly focused on secondary sources, primary sources should be taken into account (e.g., if I am writing about a reflection on the work of thinker XY).

Sources should be listed alphabetically in the bibliography, preferably by author. If the author or editor is not listed, it is appropriate to use "kol." or "anonymus" instead. In the bibliography, we do not distinguish between individual categories (e.g., academic texts, popular texts, and electronic sources); everything is listed alphabetically. Exceptions may be made for legal norms or other atypical sources in agreement with the thesis supervisor.

If the text was published only electronically, cite it as accurately as possible (e.g., for electronically published articles, cite them as you would a normal journal). The more information you can find about an electronic source, the more valuable it is. For all texts that were published only electronically, it is necessary to include the date when you downloaded the text from the Internet (e.g., downloaded on...).

Before submitting your thesis, please note the following:

a) The deadline for submitting your bachelor's thesis is set by the department's schedule and is usually approximately three weeks before the defense.

b) The MU Study Regulations require that bachelor's theses be submitted in electronic form. One copy is submitted to the KES secretariat, which students take home after the defense. The deadline for personal submission of the thesis to the department secretariat is the same as the deadline for uploading the text to the IS and is announced in the department's schedule for the relevant semester.

c) A bachelor's thesis will not be accepted if it does not meet all the prescribed requirements (see Formatting of the bachelor's thesis and its requirements).

d) The department (faculty, MU) does not cover any costs associated with the preparation and implementation (copying questionnaires, travel expenses, data collection, data analysis, etc.), supervision (if the thesis is supervised by an external supervisor), consultations, etc.

The thesis defense is conducted by a committee and is open to the public. The thesis is evaluated by an opponent and the thesis supervisor. The opponent is appointed by the department.

a) Course of the defense

Presentation of the thesis (five to ten minutes by the graduate). The aim is to inform the committee about the reason for choosing the topic, the basic results (opponents usually do not deal with the content of the work in their assessment), and possibly further research on the topic. If interesting, mention the main difficulties encountered during the work. It is often interesting to say "what I would do differently now."

Notes:
Do not comment on the reviews at this stage.
ATTENTION. Anyone who exceeds the ten-minute time limit will be interrupted. We recommend sticking to five minutes, especially so that there is time for the discussion, which is usually interesting.

Review by the thesis supervisor
Review by the opponent
Response to reviews – the core of the defense. It is not always necessary to respond to all comments. However, it is necessary to prepare responses – the committee, together with the reviewers, will decide on the spot which parts of the reviews can be omitted.
Reactions of reviewers
Discussion in which the members of the committee and other participants debate the thesis with the student.
Committee meeting without the student and guests present
Announcement of the defense results (can also be done in groups, e.g., morning and afternoon)

b) Evaluation

The committee decides during the defense whether the thesis meets the requirements and what grade it should receive. Generally, the committee bases its decision on the text of the thesis and the course of the defense, while the reviews of the thesis supervisor and opponent are advisory. The final classification of the thesis may therefore differ from the proposals of the supervisor and opponent. From September 1, 2024, the new Study and Examination Regulations of Masaryk University will apply. The changes also apply to the evaluation of all components of the state final examinations.

Note: We recommend that students familiarize themselves with the structure of the opponent's reviews proposed by the department to the opponents while writing their thesis. This allows them to better understand what will be emphasized in the evaluation of the thesis.