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Prepare for your Master Thesis

We help you to prepare for your Master (or Ph.D. or Bachelor) thesis process. In preparation, we cover the following topics:

The research question

The research proposal, invest in skills beforehand.

• General tips on the thesis process

Go through the following 4 steps and come across all the resources relevant for your thesis writing process:

• Preparation phase : The current page
• Coding, Workflow, and Data Management : The core foundation of your research.
• Thesis structure : The standard structure of a thesis and chapter-specific insights.
• Academic Writing tips : Learn effective academic writing and thesis formatting.

Whether you are still thinking about the subject or you are already writing your thesis proposal, refining your research question is crucial work. Starting early on this is key as it takes time to narrow down and revise your topic.

A good research question:

• addresses a real-world problem, contributing to existing research in your field
• is personally interesting, and you can imagine yourself spending time exploring it in the next months

How to come up with a good research question?

Use academic journals.

Academic journals are a crucial resource in shaping your research question.

Begin by examining (recently published) academic journals within your field. The table of contents might already give you a good overview o “hot topics” and emerging trends.

When you have identified relevant articles for your topic, browse through their reference lists to follow these references and discover other relevant papers. This is called backward reference searching .

Also forward reference searching is useful, where you identify articles that cite the article you have in your hands. This will help you find new developments on your topic.

As you begin to form an idea about the direction of your subject, review relevant papers in more depth. Read the introduction to see the research question from the author’s perspective. Pay extra attention to their suggestions for “future research” (mostly found at the end of the paper), these might give you good ideas for your research!

Other sources of inspiration

To shape your research topic, it is a good order to go outside and start from a “real world” issue. Don’t limit yourself by staying in your field and go beyond academic journals. Think outside the box. Some ideas are:

• Engage with the business community by reading corporate blogs, white papers, and content on platforms like LinkedIn to connect with real-world issues and industry perspectives.
• Read news sites to remain informed about recent developments.
• Talk to colleagues and friends , also the ones that are not in your field. Their input can give you a good idea whether your etopic is something relevant in real-life scenarios.
• Read practitioner journals like the Harvard Business Review and insights from policymakers (e.g. European Commission), scientific research institutes, and specific industry-focused organizations.

For example, the Marketing Science Institute publishes a list of important research topics regularly, e.g. the list of 2022-2024 research priorities .

• Reflect on your own experience! Did you encounter a question somewhere in your studies that interested you and left you with a sense of curiosity about potential solutions?

By blending insights from academic journals with real-world observations and diverse perspectives, you can come up with an impactful research question for your thesis.

Take notes from every interesting resource you encounter and avoid losing good resources for later in the process. Be consistent and note down at least the author(s), title, and URL.

Contribution to existing research

When you’ve identified a relevant topic, it is crucial to articulate how your research contributes to existing knowledge. You can make a relevant contribution, by for example:

Testing assumptions on which existing research relies: Test their validity through empirical research, potentially leading to modifications of existing theories.

Probing external validity : Evaluate the generalizability of findings to different contexts. For example, will these results hold with different background factors, like different periods, countries, or other common background factors?

Exploring new domains of inquiry : Investigate unexplored topics that have the potential to significantly impact the field if it is better understood.

Working backward in the causal chain : Examine a crucial variable, that by being understood better, can potentially lead to shedding light on fundamental relationships underlying observed phenomena.

Intervening in an accepted causal chain : Reconsider existing assumptions or relationships in your field. What happens if they disappear?

Challenging conventional managerial practices : Identify gaps in management practices, offering an alternative perspective that can lead to better managerial decision-making processes.

Resolving inconsistent findings : Revisit contradictory research findings by critically evaluating the methodologies, contexts, and variables involved.

Examining research holistically : Analyze existing research comprehensively, and create a deeper understanding of research that is already there.

The three-question pitch Formulate a convincing pitch about your research question by summarizing your answers to the following questions:

What’s new about it? E.g. new data, new variables, new method?

Is it useful? And to whom? Formulate potential outcomes for specific stakeholders, can they implement your findings? E.g. policymakers or managers. Keep it realistic: don’t overstate your contribution and make a realistic assessment of how your study will affect different stakeholders.

Is it interesting? If it is an already known fact, it is not interesting. Do you get other people excited about it?

In a short document, you give your supervisor a clear description of your research question and the method you want to use to answer this question. The proposal is the core of your research. Some tips on what to include are:

• Clearly articulate how your research question will contribute to the field. (Go back to the research question section for tips on how to do this.)
• Think about the methodology. Also, try to find data sources you can use.
• Do a literature review. This does not need to be the final version but identify key works relevant to your research.

Coding skills

Chances are this will be the biggest independent coding project you have done so far in your studies. Investing in skills beforehand can ease the workload during the thesis process. This includes familiarizing yourself with the software programs you will use and developing skills for data preparation. Also revising your knowledge on model estimation etc. can be useful to do beforehand.

The following resources on the Tilburg Science Hub website and beyond can help you with that:

For programming languages:

• Getting started with Stata : Tutorial for coding in Stata
• Getting started with R : Tutorial for coding in R
• Learn Python and Julia : A bundle of great resources for getting started with Python and Julia

Learn LaTeX

• Tutorial on LaTeX : LaTex is a typesetting system ideal for academic documents, like your thesis, enabling precise formatting and presentation.
• LaTeX Thesis Template : Get started with our ready-to-use LaTeX Thesis Template.

Other skills

• Use ChatGPT for your research
• Web scraping and API Mining tutorial : A tutorial that shows you how to scrape static and dynamic websites and how to extract data from APIs.

DataCamp is a great platform to grow your data skills. It offers courses on everything that involves data (importing, manipulating, analyzing, etc.), and programming languages (like R, Python, and SQL) and it has courses on AI. You can request free access as a student of Tilburg University.

General tips

Communication with your supervisor.

• Prepare for meetings. Have a list of topics to discuss to make it an efficient meeting and ensure you don’t forget anything.
• Ideally, have new progress on your thesis before every meeting, recognizing that opportunities for direct interaction with your supervisor are probably limited.
• Take responsibility for your progress and preparation for each meeting, as this is mainly your project and not that of your supervisor.

Mental health

Writing a thesis can be stressful. Unexpected problems may arise, related or unrelated to your thesis project. Generally, it is good to address any arising issues early with your supervisor. This allows you to come up with a solution together, by for example narrowing down the scope of your thesis.

If you are facing delays due to special circumstances, the program coordinator can provide you with an official extension of your deadline.

If you need professional support, the university offers individual therapy and guidance through student psychologists.

Mental health tips

• Follow your own pace and avoid comparing your progress to others.
• Acknowledge that ups and downs are inevitable.
• Stay active in hobbies and activities that recharge you. Enough recharging will also make you more productive when working on your thesis!
• While being ambitious is good, also set expectations and realize that your thesis most likely will not single-handedly change the world.
• Interact with fellow students for mutual support.

Information is based on the Thesis Guide for Marketing Analytics of Hannes Datta .

Related Posts

Coding, workflow, and data management in a research project/thesis.

Coding, workflow and data management as the core foundation of your research.

Chapter Structure of a Thesis or Academic Paper

The thesis or paper structure, with tips for the content of each chapter

Master Thesis Resource Bundle

The Master Thesis Guide will serve as a guidance throughout the whole writing process of a thesis that consists of an empirical research project, for studies in marketing, economics, management, etc..

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• Help & FAQ

Center Ph. D. Students

• Tilburg University
• TS Economics and Management
• Website https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/research/institutes-and-research-groups/center/graduate-school/

Netherlands

Research output

• 329 Doctoral Thesis
• 277 Article
• 196 Discussion paper
• 53 Working paper
• 49 Conference contribution
• 3 Other contribution
• 2 Special issue
• 2 Web publication/site
• 1 Book editing
• 1 Comment/Letter to the editor
• 1 Editorial
• 1 Erratum / corrigendum
• 1 Review article

Research output per year

• 1 - 50 out of 329 results
• Publication Year, Title (ascending)

Search results

Analytics for humanitarian networks in uncertain and data-scarce environments.

Research output : Thesis › Doctoral Thesis

• Data-scarce Environments 100%
• Humanitarian Networks 100%
• United Nations 100%

Balancing multiple solutions through enhanced diet optimization for food and nutrition security

• Multiple Solutions 100%
• Food Security 100%
• World Food Programme 100%
• Diet Optimization 100%
• Tilburg 100%

Clearing in financial networks and dynamic investment under uncertainty

• Investment under Uncertainty 100%
• Dynamic Investment 100%
• Financial Networks 100%
• Network Investment 100%
• Financial Dynamics 100%

Enhancing social, environmental, and economic impact efforts in and through universities

• Social Economics 100%
• Economic Impact 100%
• Environmental Impact 100%
• Social Impact 100%
• Third Mission 100%

Essays in entrepreneurial finance

• Private Equity 100%
• Entrepreneurial Finance 100%
• Finance 100%
• Investors 100%
• Decision-Making 100%

Essays on consumer finance

• Consumer Finance 100%
• Fintech 100%
• Finance Companies 100%
• Medical 100%
• Importation 100%

Essays on extreme returns and investor behavior

• Investor Behavior 100%
• Return Behavior 100%
• Expected Stock Returns 100%
• Extreme Returns 100%

Essays on incentive contract and corporate finance

• Corporate Finance 100%
• Incentive Contract 100%
• FAS 123R 100%
• Incentive 100%
• Incentives 100%

Essays on labour economics and industrial organization

• Industrial Organization 100%
• Labor Economics 100%
• Economic Organization 100%
• Leiden 100%

Essays on liquidity provision in wholesale funding markets and on financial fragility

• Financial Institutions 100%
• Financial Fragility 100%
• Wholesale Funding 100%
• Liquidity Provision 100%
• Colombia 100%

Essays on real options: Triopoly dynamics, disconnected investment regions, and multiple investment options

• Real Options 100%
• Investment Options 100%
• Triopoly 100%
• Investment Regions 100%

Guarding the digital cookie jar: An interdisciplinary study of automated privacy preference negotiation, monitoring, and enforcement

• Cookies 100%
• Privacy Preferences 100%
• Privacy Tools 100%
• Digital 100%

Historical and contemporary perspectives on labor

• Labor Unions 100%
• Historical Perspective 100%
• Contemporary Perspective 100%
• School Shootings 100%
• Contemporary 100%

Individualized pension contracts: risks, welfare losses and investment choices

• Investment Decisions 100%
• Welfare Loss 100%
• Pension Contracts 100%
• Contractual Risks 100%
• Welfare 100%

Navigating crises in family businesses: Unraveling the Role of the Family

• Family Roles 100%
• Crisis Management 100%
• Family Business 100%
• Crisis 100%

Operationalizing analytics to improve food security

• Sustainable Development Goals 100%
• Best Practice 100%
• COVID-19 100%
• Operations Research 100%

Optimization under uncertainty for food security

• Methoden 100%
• Optimization under Uncertainty 100%
• Food Assistance Program 100%

Performance analysis of optimization methods for machine learning

• Optimization Methods 100%
• Performance Analysis 100%
• Optimization Analysis 100%
• Machine Learning 100%
• Learning System 100%

Promotion and technological change in the music industry

• Technological Change 100%
• Music Industry 100%
• Streaming Platforms 100%
• Streaming Platform 100%
• MUSIC INDUSTRY 100%

Three essays on wage compensation and flexible contracts

• Compensation Contract 100%
• Euro Area 100%
• Flexible Labour 100%
• Flexible Contract 100%
• Wage Compensation 100%

Behavioral preferences and beliefs in asset pricing

• Asset Pricing 100%
• Behavioral Preference 100%
• Ambiguity Aversion 100%
• Underreaction 100%
• Overreaction 100%

Commitment-Based smart contracts using CommitRuleML

• Smart Contract 100%
• Action 100%
• Theses 100%
• Formal Logic 100%
• Execution 50%

Conic optimization with applications in finance and approximation theory

• Applications in Finance 100%
• Finance Theory 100%
• Conic Optimization 100%
• Approximation Theory 100%
• Generalized Moment Problem 100%

Cyber defensive capacity and capability: A perspective from the financial sector of a small state

• Financial Sector 100%
• Small States 100%
• Comparative Analysis 20%
• Secondary Data 20%

Distortions and industrial upgrading in China

• Industrial Upgrading 100%
• Industrialized Countries 100%
• Developed Countries 50%
• Technological Gap 50%

Distributionally robust views on queues and related stochastic models

• Stochastic Model 100%
• Distributionally Robust 100%
• Worst Case 100%
• Probability Distribution 100%

Essays in corporate finance and ESG

• Corporate Environment 100%
• Environmental Governance 100%

Essays in corporate risk

• Corporate Risk 100%
• Investment Risk 100%
• Careers 100%
• Illustrates 100%

Essays in economics of crime prevention and behavior under uncertainty

• Behavior Uncertainty 100%
• Crime Prevention 100%
• Economic Crime 100%
• Crime Behavior 100%
• Economics of Crime 100%

Essays in empirical finance

• Corporate Bonds 100%
• Empirical Finance 100%
• Corporate Bond 100%
• Prevalence 100%
• Bond Risk Premia 66%

Essays in finance & health

• Life Expectancy 100%
• Life Cycle 100%
• Health Shocks 66%
• Economic Model 33%

Essays on corporate disclosures, innovation, and investments

• Corporate Investment 100%
• Corporate Disclosure 100%
• Corporate Innovation 100%
• Research and Development 100%

Essays on credit rating agencies in China

• Credit Rating Agencies 100%
• Rating Agency 100%
• Credit Rating 100%
• Fourth Chapter 25%

Essays on equity incentive and share pledging in China

• Equity Share 100%
• Share Pledging 100%
• Equity Incentives 100%

Essays on incentive contracts, M&As, and firm risk

• Agency Costs 100%
• Firm Risk 100%
• Relative Performance Evaluation 66%

Essays on innovation, cooperation, and competition under standardization

• Innovation Collaboration 100%
• Patent Policy 100%
• Technology Standards 100%
• Innovation Competition 100%

Essays on work and retirement

• Older Workers 100%
• Retirement Plans 100%
• Gradual Retirement 100%
• Older Worker 100%
• Retirement Plan 100%

Expectation, anticipation, and identification: Essays on subjective expectations and economic decision-making

• Economic Decision-making 100%
• Subjective Expectations 100%
• Reform 100%

Fostering sustainable land management in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from Ghana and Burkina Faso

• Deforestation 100%
• Sub-Saharan Africa 100%
• Forest Fire 100%
• Agricultural Productivity 100%

Integrality and cutting planes in semidefinite programming approaches for combinatorial optimization

• Combinatorial Optimization 100%
• Semidefinite Programming 100%
• Programming Approaches 100%
• Cutting Planes 100%
• Integrality 100%

IT Governance in the digital era: Insights from meta-organizations

• Digital Age 100%
• Internet Governance 100%
• Meta-organization 100%
• Information Technology 100%
• Decision Making 100%

Managing the nanostore supply chain: Base-of-the-pyramid retail in emerging markets

• Retail 100%
• Supply Chain 100%
• Base of the Pyramid 100%
• Nanostores 100%
• Emerging Economies 100%

Motifs: From theory to practice

• Practice Theory 100%
• Motif Discovery 100%
• Motifs 100%
• Preprocessing Techniques 66%
• Methoden 33%

Non-standard preferences in asset pricing and household finance

• Asset Prices 100%
• Household Finance 100%
• Financial Market 100%

On the behavioral effects of tax policy

• Tax System 100%
• Corporate 100%
• Income Effect 100%
• Tax Policy 100%
• Personal Income 100%

Polynomial optimization: Matrix factorization ranks, portfolio selection, and queueing theory

• Queuing Theory 100%
• Portfolio Optimization 100%
• Polynomial Optimization 100%
• Matrix Factorization Rank 100%

Risk and rewards of residential energy efficiency

• Residential Energy Consumption 100%
• Energy Conservation 100%
• Housing Market 100%
• Mortgages 50%

Solutions in multi-actor projects with collaboration and strategic incentives

• Nash Equilibrium 100%
• Game Theory 100%
• Nonoperative 100%
• Mathematical Tools 100%
• Mathematical Analysis 100%

Standard-essential patents, innovation, and competition

• Standard-essential Patents 100%
• Patent Innovation 100%
• Innovator 100%

Sum-of-squares representations for copositive matrices and independent sets in graphs

• Sum of Squares 100%
• Sums of Squares Representations 100%
• Copositive Matrix 100%
• Square Approximation 100%
• Matrix (Mathematics) 100%

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Accountancy and Control

Successful decision-making in organizations rests on the use of accurate and reliable information. Accounting is at the cross-section of data analysis, information provision, and human decision-making. In the Master’s program Accountancy and Control, you gain in-depth knowledge in leading international accounting standards, forecasting a firm’s value, and executing management control, as well as the emerging topics of sustainability (reporting) and data analytics.

All education takes place on campus again , now that the coronavirus measures have been scaled back. Of course, we will always maintain a safe environment for our students and staff. Therefore, a few basic measures still apply. For the latest updates on the COVID-19 situation, see our FAQs for prospective students .

QS World University Rankings , 2024

with its unique practice- and academic-orientated  Master File 

National Student Survey 2024 (n=40)

Short overview of MSc Accountancy and Control

• An innovative way to write your Master's thesis, giving you the entire year to work on it.
• You train your professional skills, learn to negotiate, and participate in workshops organized in collaboration with companies.
• You choose one of two tracks, depending on your interests.

Program and courses 

Our 1-year program offers you a challenging but also rewarding curriculum, with experienced lecturers helping you to prepare for your professional life. The program provides you the opportunity to pursue your personal interest and career ambitions by offering two specializations: Auditing and Business Analysis and Control .

• Reinvented Master Thesis.  Instead of one extensive document at the end of your studies, our so-called Master File Accountancy consists of multiple consecutive reports which complement each other in terms of their learning goals: a  Business Application  in which academic research is used to give advice on a real-life company problem; a  Replication Study   that focuses on the collection and analysis of data; and a  Research Note   in which students perform their own academic research study.
• Excellent integration with practice. The content has been developed in close collaboration with leading (international) companies and is regularly adjusted to current developments, such as sustainability and the use of data analysis and digital assets. You will work on real-world issues and also engage with industry professionals during various sessions. Additionally, you can participate in multiple activities or do an internship to further strengthen the link with practice.
• Focus on Interaction and Discussion. Our instructors encourage you to actively participate in lectures to enhance your learning experience and develop your critical thinking skills. By being on campus, interacting in smaller groups, and working on assignments in teams, we create a conducive environment for connecting, collaborating, and developing into a responsible young professional.
• Auditing  Are you interested in verifying financial and non-financial information of organizations? Do you want to help provide accurate information to investors, banks, and other stakeholders to make relevant business decisions? Then the track Auditing is the right one for you.
• Business Analysis and Control Do you want to plan and forecast the business activities of a company? Do you want to prepare data to support internal decision-making? This track offers that for you.
• The Extended Master's Program , which adds a traineeship of half a year to the regular Master's program.
• The QTEM network program , which adds an additional year to the program which you spend at a QTEM partner university and corporate partner.
• The Entrepreneurial Literacy Initiative (ELI) provides Master's students at TiSEM with tools to reflect and plan for an entrepreneurial career. 

More on program and courses

"The diversity of courses allows you to work towards your own goals. In my case, I chose courses that aligned with working at one of the Big 4 companies and becoming a RA."

Facts and figures about this program

Career prospects

Upon graduating you will receive a Master of Science with a specialization in Auditing or Business Analysis and Control . 

• Graduates from the Auditing track typically pursue a career as external auditor (registered accountant), internal auditor, IT auditor, financial accountant, forensic accountant, compliance officer, tax accountant, or financial analyst, amongst others. 
• Graduates from the Business Analysis and Control track usually pursue a career as finance or business controller (registered controller), project controller, management consultant, financial advisor, treasurer, financial business partner, data analyst, or entrepreneur, amongst others. 

Your Master's degree in Accountancy and Control from Tilburg University opens outstanding career opportunities, whether your future is here in the Netherlands or internationally.

This Master's degree is also an excellent stepping stone to the Post-Master Accountancy , European Post-Master Accountancy and the Post-Master's program Executive Master of Finance and Control  offered in Tilburg.

Graduates work or start for example as:

• Senior Financial Accounting Advisory Services at Ernst & Young
• Business Intelligence Consultant at Achmea Holding
• Finance Compliance Analyst at Nike
• Business Controller at stichd
• Associate at PwC
• Corporate Treasury Director at NXP Semiconductors
• Business Controlling Manager EMEA at ECCO
• Audit Trainee at Ministry of Finance
• Finance Trainee at ABN AMRO
• Commercial Management Accountant at Royal FrieslandCampina
• Financial Accounting and Reporting at Van Lanschot Bankiers

Alumni facts

• The majority find their first job within 3 months after graduation.
• The average starting salary is €2947.

Source: National Alumni Survey, 2023 | n=9

More on your career prospects

Application and admission

This master’s program starts:.

End of August and end of January

Best preparatory programs:

• Most Bachelor’s programs of Tilburg University School of Economics of Management will qualify
• Bachelors with a solid basis in Mathematics and Statistics, Academic Training, Accounting, Finance, and Economics, Management or Marketing

Pre-Master’s program:

Available for both Research University students and students from a Dutch University of Applied Sciences (HBO). 

Tuition fees and scholarships

International students, please find all information about the  tuition fees  and the  scholarships available .

Interested in this Master’s program?

Check your eligibility

More information on this Master's program

Create your own e-brochure with information on program content, admission requirements, career prospects, and student life in Tilburg. Throughout the year you can take part in various types of events: on-campus, abroad or online.

All information in one e-brochure

Check out our events calendar

Master's Virtual Orientation days

From October 7 until 10, you can join interactive webinars about our study disciplines, student life and more. Ask students and staff your questions and find out which Master’s programs interest you.

Campus Experience - International edition

Are you curious about life as a student at Tilburg University, or not sure which university you want to attend? Join our Campus Experience on November 12! Discover our compact and green campus with one of our students and find out if Tilburg University is your future home.

Master's Open day

Are you interested in doing a Master's program? Do you want to specialize or are you looking for a Master that broadens your possibilities? Join us at the Master's Open day on November 16 to find out which (pre-)Master's program suits you best. Learn all about our (pre-)Master’s programs and tracks, and ask teachers, students, and education coordinators your questions.

Related Master’s programs

Information Management

International Business Taxation (LLM)

Interested in the msc accountancy and control.

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