Since January I have been working on my master thesis. As I study political sciences the way of writing is quite different from for example engineering programmes. So, in this blog I want to give you an impression of the entire process and more importantly the ups and downs.

So first off, in my programme we choose our thesis topics ourselves. This is easier said than done. I started off by writing down general topics that I find interesting and are connected to international relations. With those in mind I started reading previous paper, news outputs and books that seemed relevant. This helped in narrowing down the topic to a doable size within the timeframe I have.

From the start I knew I wanted to do a discourse analysis. This was also important during my research of the topic. Without the proper material this type of analysis is not applicable. I’m not gonna lie. It has been difficult. I was stuck for quite some time on my material and methods section, reading and rereading papers to understand the concepts and how to apply them to my topic.

While in Germany I would have needed to find my own supervisor, here I got one assigned to me. I got lucky and got the professor I had put down as a preference. It took me a while to get used to the thesis process. Your supervisor will not tell you what to do, they will just suggest certain things you could look into and in which direction to go. But overall I found it every helpful to talk to my supervisor to make sure I’m on track.

My friends and I, while each is working on a different topic, like to get together at SH or A-Huset and write together. We discuss issues or ideas we have and what we are working on at the moment. IT is a really great thing to have these exchanges and the overall company which comes with a bit of pressure to actually get work done. However, there is a thin line between these conversations being helpful and making you feel insecure because others are much more advanced than you are. It is never helpful to compare your progress to others and stick with your goals and timeline.

It is important not to be too hard on yourself. It is impossible to be productive every single day. You need breaks and distractions. What I like to do is either read a fun book (not scientific!!) or go to training. Working out and doing some physical activities are great ways of getting your brain off of things. Otherwise the days are just really dull and all the same. Also I try to not work on the weekends just have some time for myself and concern myself with other things.

And then suddenly you have breakthrough and you write and write and write. I’m convinced that in the end it will all turn out okay.

All the best,

Emily

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