As a general rule, only students enrolled in the master’s program can register for master’s program courses in PLUSOnline!

PLUSOnline checks whether you meet the respective admission requirements when you register for courses that are subject to examinations:

Prerequisite for admission to the unit Advanced Empirical Research: Positive completion of the module examination (Module 1).

Admission requirements for module 6 (Master): Positive completion of the module examination (Module 1) as well as KO Key Texts and VU Statistics MA.

Project Access Requirements:

Part 1 and Part 2 of the project (UE Project – Part 1 and UE Project – Part 2) can already be attended in the first semester of the master’s program according to the course offerings.

Prerequisite for participation in an SE Project – Part 3 is the positive completion of Parts 1 and 2 of the same project.

All other courses can and should be taken beginning in the first semester.

A project consists of three identical courses that belong together, namely two exercises (Project I and Project II) and a seminar (Project III). A project spans two or three consecutive semesters. The LV are limited to 20 participants. The composition of the students remains the same throughout the two to three semesters of the project. Part 1 of the project can already be attended in the first semester of the master’s program.

A description of the content of each project and its different parts will be published in the student information and in PLUSOnline.

As part of the Master’s program, the Department of Communication Studies offers two specializations (“Communication Studies: Comparative Communication and Media Research” or “Digital Communication Cultures”), between which students must make a mandatory choice at the beginning of the Master’s program.

These specializations each consist of three “Bound Elective Modules” (3A, 4A, 5A or 3B,4B, 5B) totaling 38 ECTS each. The courses in modules 3-5 impart specific subject knowledge as well as competencies in research practice and media production that prepare students for the master’s thesis. A change between the bound elective modules is not possible!

In the MA program, 12 ECTS Free Electives must be taken. Courses from all fields of study can be taken for this purpose. It is recommended to complete free electives as a study supplement (12 ECTS) at the University of Salzburg. Free electives taken at the University of Salzburg are entered in the examination passport and require further credit via PLUSOnline.

Examination achievements from the bachelor’s program that have not yet been submitted can be credited as free electives in the master’s program upon application, if applicable.

Examination achievements completed at other domestic and/or foreign universities or recognized post-secondary educational institutions can also be credited as free electives. For this purpose, an “Application for Credit Transfer of Examination Achievements” must be filled out in PLUSOnline, printed out, signed and handed in to the KoWi secretary’s office or to Manuel Gruber together with a copy of the certificate of achievement (Zeugnis, Transcript of Records, etc.).

Submit either in person during office hours (Tuesday, 3-5 p.m. in Room U36), to the Registrar’s Office, or as a scan via email to studieninfo.kowi@plus.ac.at.

The master’s thesis is written in the master’s module. In the accompanying Master’s Conversatory, students engage with different substantive, theoretical, and methodological approaches and present their work for discussion.

Students are entitled to propose the topic or to choose it from the supervisors’ suggestions. The task must be chosen in such a way that it is possible and reasonable to complete it within six months. The master thesis has a minimum length of 120 pages (270. 000 characters, including spaces and bibliography). It serves as proof of the ability to work on scientific topics independently as well as in terms of content and methodology at a high level.

Possible supervisors for the Master’s thesis are listed in the list of examiners with their examination subjects.

Once the question of supervision is decided, students complete a supervision agreement (PAAV) online and turn in the printed form to the Registrar’s Office (Ms. Hacker).

The end of your diploma or master’s degree is coming up? Congratulations and all the best for the remaining exams! This information sheet is designed to help you complete the final administrative steps of your degree quickly and easily.

Please note: To avoid waiting and frustration, be sure to complete the steps in the order described here. Please check in each case whether all requirements are met, otherwise no processing can take place!

1.submission of the diploma/master thesis

Prerequisites:

• Diploma/Master thesis in PAAV has status “approved”.
• Logging of the support (at least 1 appointment)

Now make the following entries there:
o Abstract of the paper in German or original language
o Abstract in English (max. 4,000 characters each)
o at least 3 keywords
o Branch of science (ÖSTAT)

Upload diploma/master thesis (PDF format). The plagiarism check is now carried out by the reviewer. If the plagiarism check is negative you can print out the diploma/master thesis. Now you can submit the diploma/master thesis (see next point).

Submission of work:

Submit the diploma/master thesis to the examination office of the KGW faculty (Uni-Park Nonntal, room E.026, Erzabt-Klotz-Straße 1, Gertraud Dander or Marion Pohn).

You will need:

• 3 bound copies of the diploma/master thesis (binding: For archiving in the library, the printed work must be self-standing in any case. This requires a firm binding (no spiral binding, no plastic cover, but a firm cover). A soft binding is at best possible with a solid cardboard cover. )
• (Note: A suggestion for the design of the title page can be found overleaf. In any case, the author, the title of the paper, the name of the supervisor and the department must be indicated).
• for teacher candidates additionally: certificate of pedagogical training or internal examination pass (issued by the School of Education, Uni-Park Nonntal)

Note: You can have your work printed and bound at the university’s print center. More information on the homepage https://www.plus.ac.at/printcenter.

Please note: Only if the above submission requirements are met, the submission of the work can be accepted!

The paper is then sent to the reviewer by the Examination Office. The deadline for the assessment is 2 months. The expert opinion can be seen in the PAAV.

2. registration for the commissional diploma/master examination

Prerequisites:

• Presentation of the expert opinion of the diploma/master thesis
• Controlled examination passport (2nd study section or Master’s program): Submission to the Examinations Office. Please note a processing time of 2 – 4 weeks!

Registration for the exam:
As soon as these documents are available in the examination office, you will receive the registration form for the commissional diploma/master’s examination by email. Arrange the exam date and return the completed form according to the information in the email.

Please note: The examination must be registered in the examination office 2 weeks before the date. No exceptions are possible!

3. final documents

After you have passed the exam, we will make every effort to have your graduation documents (diploma or master’s certificate and award notification) ready as soon as possible. However, we ask for your understanding that this may take some time (max. 4 weeks). You will receive an automated email through plusonline informing you that your degree has been entered. From this point on, the documents can be picked up at the examination office.

Please note: Attendance at the ceremonial graduation is not obligatory and requires registration at the Service Institution for Studies (Kapitelgasse 4, email: studium@plus.ac.at).

Registration must be made no later than two weeks before the sponsorship date.

The commissioned Master’s examination itself consists of two equivalent examination parts, which differ thematically from the previously written Master’s thesis. The commission examination lasts a total of 40 minutes and is embedded in a time window of 60 minutes. This should also allow time for greetings, notification of grade, any breaks, etc.

Topics and literature that are to be examined in both parts of the Master’s examination are to be agreed upon with the examiners as early as possible before the examination date. As a rule, a thesis paper, a literature list, etc. must be prepared in advance by the examination candidate and submitted to the examiners. Please enquire about the exact formalities with the respective examiner in good time.

In the examination passport all already completed examinations (incl. grade, course instructor and date of certificate issue) are entered. The exam pass is structured according to the curriculum. The main purpose of the examination passport is to provide an overview of which examinations or which areas (modules) of the program have already been successfully completed and which are still outstanding. Therefore, the department recommends that all students from the 1st semester onwards regularly enter the positively completed examination achievements in the examination passport and thus keep it up to date. In addition, the completed Examination Passport is required upon acceptance of all examination credits prior to completion of the master’s program by the department head of studies. The exam passport can be downloaded here.

It is not possible for departmental staff to check fully completed examination passes! Unclarities regarding the assignment of individual courses or the like can be discussed with Boris Romahn at the office.

Whether the red cross or the green check mark is displayed next to the respective examination achievement in the study status overview in PLUSOnline indicates whether this examination achievement has been assigned in the study tree or not. For Free Electives, the red “x” will remain even after the Free Electives have been approved.