Thesis information Faculty of Law

Thesis information per study programme & additional information

• B - Criminology

  • You may participate in the Research Skills in Criminology course, the bachelor's thesis of the Criminology program, if you have passed the Methods and Techniques course (of criminological research) before the closing of the registration deadline.
  • Registration for the course Research skills in criminology (period 5 + 6) is done via your VU dashboard.
  • The regular registration deadlines are used.
  • After registering on the VU dashboard you can go to the Canvas page of the course.

  Thesis coordinator Criminology: Annika van Baar
  E-mail: a.van.baar@vu.nl

• B - Notarial law

  * You may participate in the Bachelor's thesis course if you have obtained 120 ECs and the Legal Skills course of the Bachelor's degree programme in Law or Notarial Law before the registration deadline closes.

  * The Bachelor's thesis course is offered twice a year:  in periods 2 + 3 and in periods 5 + 6.

  * You register for the course via the VU dashboard.

  * When registering, you must also immediately register for one of the three areas of law below:

  * Tax law

  * Notarial right

  * Private law

  * For the Tax Law jurisdiction, it is highly recommended that you take the Deepening Tax Law course.

  * After the regular registration deadlines have passed, registration for the course is no longer possible.

  * For periods 2 + 3, the course has a limited capacity. Full is full.

  * The course has no limited capacity for periods 5 + 6.

  * After registering on the VU dashboard, you can go to the Canvas page of the course.

  Thesis coordinator Notarial law: C.J. (Niels) de Bruijn and mr. F.A. (Friederike) Groote Wassink. As of March 1, 2021: mr. A.J. (Anne) van der Kuyl

  E-mail: bachelorscriptie.rch@vu.nl

• B - Law

  • You may participate in the Bachelor's thesis course if you have obtained 120 ECs and the Legal Skills course of the Bachelor's degree programme in Law or Notarial Law before the registration deadline closes.
  • The Bachelor's thesis course is offered twice a year: in periods 2 + 3 and in periods 5 + 6.
  • You register for the course via the VU dashboard
  • When registering, you must also immediately register for one of the legal areas below
  • Tax law
  • Private law
  • Legal history (history of private law)
  • Legal theory (legal philosophy & encyclopedia of legal science)
  • Constitutional and administrative law (including employment law)
  • Criminal law
  • European and International Law (European and International Law & IT and Law)
  • For the Tax Law jurisdiction, it is highly recommended that you take the Deepening Tax Law course.
  • After the regular registration deadlines have passed, registration for the course is no longer possible.
  • For periods 2 + 3, the course has a limited capacity. Full is full.
  • The course has no limited capacity for periods 5 + 6.
  • After registering on the VU dashboard, you can go to the Canvas page of the course.

  Thesis coordinator Law: Machteld Geuskens

  E-mail: bachelorscriptie.rch@vu.nl

• B - Law in Society

  • In the LIS thesis project, you work in small groups on a research topic. Together, you construct a research proposal and a methodology to obtain empirical data. You write an individual thesis, however, in which you independently analyze your empirical data and integrate this with your legal research.
  • The thesis project takes place in the last semester (January-June) of the third bachelor year.
  • The Canvas page with more detailed information, containing also the course manual, will be available in December the latest.

  Thesis coordinator Law in Society: J.M. (Jessica) Hill (j.m.hill@vu.nl)

• Bachelor Thesis Prize

  Have you written an excellent thesis? Then make sure that your thesis gets the attention! After all, it is an excellent calling card. And that certainly does not only apply to the master's thesis. An award-winning or otherwise excellent bachelor's thesis will also help you further, especially now that more and more master's programmes are using the option to select students at the entrance gate. With an excellent bachelor's thesis, you have already broken the first barrier.

  Read more about thesis awards

• M Criminology

  • Register on the VU dashboard for the Graduation Project course (this is possible throughout the year).
  • After registering on the VU dashboard you can go to the Canvas page of the course where you will find more information about the thesis process, tips on how to start your thesis and what to do when you have chosen a topic. You will also find information about the supervision, planning and thesis agreement in the manual.

  Thesis coordinator Criminology: dr. J.H. (Janique) Kroese and dr. J. (Janna) Verbruggen

  E-mail: j.h.kroese@vu.nl and j.verbruggen@vu.nl

• M Tax Law

  • Register on the VU dashboard for the Master's thesis course (this is possible throughout the year).
  • After registering on the VU dashboard, you can go to the Canvas page of the course where you will find more information about the thesis process, tips on how to start your thesis and what to do when you have chosen a topic. You will also find information about the supervision, planning and thesis agreement in the manual.

  Thesis coordinator Tax law: J. (Joseph) Kamel

  E-mail: j.kamel@vu.nl

• M Notarial law

  • Register on the VU dashboard for the thesis course Master Notarial Law (this is possible throughout the year).
  • After registering on the VU dashboard you can go to the Canvas page of the course where you will find more information about the thesis process, tips on how to start your thesis and what to do when you have chosen a topic. You will also find information about the supervision, planning and thesis agreement in the manual.

  Thesis coordinator Notarial law: mr. A.J. (Anne) van der Kuyl.

  E-mail: scriptiecoordinator.master.notarieel.recht.rechten@vu.nl

  Tel: +31 20 59 86314

• M Corporate law

  • Register at the VU dashboard for the course thesis Master Corporate Law (this is possible throughout the year).
  • After registering on the VU dashboard you can go to the Canvas page of the course where you will find more information about the thesis process, tips on how to start your thesis and what to do when you have chosen a topic. You will also find information about the supervision, planning and thesis agreement in the manual.

  Thesis coordinator Corporate Law: dr. R. (Rik) Mellenbergh

  E-mail: r.mellenbergh@vu.nl

  Tel: +31 20 59 83309

• M Law

  • Register on the VU dashboard for the thesis course Master of Law (this is possible throughout the year).
  • After registering on the VU dashboard, you can go to the Canvas page of the course where you will find more information about the thesis process, tips on how to start your thesis and what to do when you have chosen a topic. You will also find information about the supervision, planning and thesis agreement in the manual.
  • If you would like to write a thesis on Constitutional and Administrative Law or on Private Law, please also refer to the Thesis List of the research program Public Contracts: Law & Governance (PDF) for possible thesis topics

  Thesis coordinators Law:

  • International Migration and Refugee Law:
    M.C. (Martijn) Stronks (m.c.stronks@vu.nl)
  • International Technology Law:
    S.J. (Sarah) Eskens (s.j.eskens@vu.nl)
  • European and International Law:
    D. (Dion) Kramer (dion.kramer@vu.nl)

  Thesis coordinators specializations Law:

  • Employment Law:
    L. (Lucy) van den Berg (l.vanden.berg@vu.nl)
  • Construction Law:
    C. E. C. (Chris) Jansen (c.e.c.jansen@vu.nl)
  • Conflict handling, jurisdiction and mediation:
    A.M. (Andrea) Zwart-Hink (a.m.zwart-hink@vu.nl)
  • Internet, Intellectual Property and ICT:
    J.N. (Jessie) Levano (j.n.levano@vu.nl)
  • Private Law:
    S.B. (Stijn) Jonasse (s.b.jonasse@vu.nl)
  • Lawyer and government:
    M.C. (Cecile) Wijnen (m.c.wijnen@vu.nl)
  • Criminal Law:
    M. (Maša) Galič (masterscriptiestrafrecht@vu.nl)

• M International Business Law

  Register on the VU dashboard for the thesis course Master of Law (this is possible throughout the year). After registering on the VU dashboard, you can go to the Canvas page of the course where you will find more information about the thesis process, tips on how to start your thesis and what to do when you have chosen a topic. You will also find information about the supervision, planning and thesis agreement in the manual

  Thesis coordinator International Business Law: D. (David) Rossati

  E-mail: d.rossati@vu.nl

• M International Crimes, Conflict and Criminology

  Register on the VU dashboard for the thesis course Master's Thesis - International Crimes, Conflict and Criminology (this is possible throughout the year). After registering on the VU dashboard, you can go to the Canvas page of the course where you will find more information about the thesis process.

  Thesis coordinator International Crimes, Conflict and Criminology: J. (Joris) van Wijk

  E-mail: j.van.wijk@vu.nl

• M Law and Politics of International Security

  Register on the VU dashboard for the thesis course Master of Law (this is possible throughout the year). After registering on the VU dashboard, you can go to the Canvas page of the course where you will find more information about the thesis process, tips on how to start your thesis and what to do when you have chosen a topic. You will also find information about the supervision, planning and thesis agreement in the manual.

  Thesis coordinator Law and Politics of International Security: prof. dr. W.M. (Wolfgang) Wagner

  E-mail: w.m.wagner@vu.nl

  Tel: +31 20 59 86904

• Planning

  • The process of writing a Master's thesis takes 10 months
  • For Criminology, this period starts when a student has been assigned a VU supervisor
  • For the other master's programmes, this period starts from the moment you have registered your plan with the thesis coordinator / supervisor.
  • After these 10 months, your thesis will be assessed on the basis of the latest version in the possession of the thesis coordinator / supervisor

  The process for writing a thesis is as follows:

  • Intake 1 September - start preparation of thesis in period 1, submission of final version last week of period 6
  • Inflow 1 February - start preparation of thesis in period 4, submission of final version week 2 period 3

  Guidance in the summer

  • Please note that escorts are less available in July and August.
  • In principle, no guidance is offered during these months.
  • So make sure you finish your thesis on time, or make good agreements about this with your supervisor.
  • The same rules and terms apply to part-time and full-time students.

• Accompaniment

  • If you want to start with your thesis, please report to the thesis coordinator of your master's programme or specialization with a provisional research plan.
  • In the research design, describe briefly how you arrived at the topic, the problem definition you have in mind, the research method you want to apply and provide an initial list of consulted literature or case law.
  • The preliminary interview is mandatory.
  • The thesis coordinator will pair you with a supervisor who will guide you further during the writing of your thesis.
  • Ultimately, the thesis supervisor determines your grade in consultation with a second assessor.
  • A fully completed thesis of which the progress has not been supervised by a faculty supervisor cannot be assessed.

  As a rule, you can contact your thesis supervisor with all problems related to writing your thesis. In addition, you can always contact the faculty's study advisors. If you have a dispute with or a complaint about your supervisor, you can turn to the thesis coordinator of your study program. If you cannot resolve it that way, you can turn to the study advisor or the Examination Board.

• Combination with internship or other training

  Between different courses

  Combination theses between different study programs is not possible. You must write your own thesis for each study programme.

  Between graduation options

  Combination theses for different specializations / specializations within one study program are only possible for Tax Law and Criminology (see OER of the relevant study programme).

  With an internship

  In some cases it is possible to combine a thesis with an internship. However, always and only do this in consultation with your thesis supervisor.

• Master Thesis Prize

  Have you written an excellent thesis? Then make sure that your thesis gets the attention! After all, it is an excellent calling card.
  Read more about thesis awards.

• Upload thesis

  As of 2023-2024 master programmes (master Law as of 2024-2025) use OnStage. OnStage is the system at the VU to support the thesis trajectory. On the Canvas page of the thesis you find the Thesis guide and also the thesis coordinator of your programme or specialisation will provide you with the information you need about working with OnStage.

  Started writing your thesis in of before 2022-2023?
  You might have to upload your thesis to the VU thesis database of the VU in order to submit your graduation request for your master. More information is on VU thesis database.

  Confidential theses

  • Even if your thesis is confidential, it must be uploaded (with the exception of confidential Criminology thesis).
  • The supervisor indicates on the assessment form that it concerns a confidential thesis.
  • When the upload is checked, the settings are then adjusted so that the thesis is not visible.

Do you want to know more?