Complete overview
Do you want to be kept informed about upcoming courses, workshops, groups etc.? Then sign up for our thesis support newsletter and you will receive an email up to 6 times a year about what is on offer in the field of thesis support.
Subscribe to the thesis support newsletterIndividual support
One-on-one help from a trained fellow student.
At Skills Lab, you can get free writing tutoring. A trained student (peer tutor) will discuss your academic writing assignment with you. The writing tutor will help you, for example, to find a more efficient approach, to formulate your core message more clearly, to write a better structured text or to improve your writing style.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: English and Dutch
Provider: Skills Lab
Go to writing tutoring for more information and to make an appointment.
At Skills Lab you can get free study coaching. With a trained student (peer tutor) you can discuss the questions you have about studying. The study coach can help you plan your studies and time management, for example, or how you can read and study efficiently or how you can prepare for exams.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: English and Dutch
Provider: Skills Lab
Go to study coaching for more information and to make an appointment.
A language assistant can help you with writing and speaking in their mothertongue(s) by providing you with peer feedback. This language assistance can be used for papers, portfolios, assignments or presentations as part of a course, as well as your bachelor/master theses.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: English
Provider: Academic Buddy Programme
You can now (temporarily) take advantage of free statistics support for your thesis. This statistics support can help you think about the methodology and the statistical functions you will use in your research, look at how you can apply the tests and calculations, review the results of your research and how to interpret the results in the light of your research question.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: English
Provider: NPO (National Education Program)
Working together
Working on your thesis by sharing experiences and tips with other students, under the guidance of a (peer) coach.
During the thesis week, you will work on your research together with other students for one week (five days). Do you need more structure in your day and your head? Do you want tips, personal coaching and inspiration workshops to make a big difference? Then the Thesis Week is definitely for you.
Practical information
Costs: €25,-
Language: English
Provider: Skills Lab
Go to Thesis Week for more information.
The thesis groups are intended for all students (regardless of program or stage of study) who are working on their thesis and would like to have more regular contact with other students. This can be for various reasons: for example because you want to learn to plan better, to work more concentrated and motivated, because it is nicer and more sociable not to work alone or because the writing of your thesis does not really go smoothly.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: Dutch and English
Provider: Skills Lab
Go to Thesis Groups for more information and registration.
Do you enjoy working on your thesis simultaneously with other students or could use some peer pressure to get started (together) in the University Library? Join the 'Thesis Community' on the Uni-Life app! Post something in the chat or hook up with other students in this group and get to work together.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: Dutch and English
Platform: Uni-Life app
Courses
Multi-day training with the opportunity to practice what you have learned and receive feedback on your progress.
Do you want to make a good start with your thesis? Make sure you invest in designing a clear thesis proposal. In this course you will be working towards a solid proposal for your own research through assignments – on which you will receive individual feedback.
Practical information
Costs: €15,-
Language: English
Provider: Educational Development & Training
Go to 'Desiging your thesis proposal' for more information and to register.
Do you think your command of English or Dutch is not sufficient for writing your thesis? Do you want to work on your spelling, grammar or vocabulary? Course center Babel, partner of Utrecht University, offers various courses to improve your language skills. Because mastering a language takes time, we recommend you start with the course well before you start with your thesis.
Check out the overview of the courses offered by Babel. UU students get a 15% discount on the course fee at Babel.
Workshops
Meeting in which information and examples are shared and you (briefly) get to practice what you have learned.
Have you just started your Bachelor's or Master's thesis? Then join the Thesis kick-off! Attend two workshops, provided by UU staff, obtain useful tips and get your thesis off to a good start.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: Dutch and English editions
Provider: Skills Lab and Educational Consultancy & Professional Development.
Go to the Thesis Kick-off for more information.
How do you ensure that your efforts are effectively and efficiently directed while at the same maintaining your well-being under the onslaught? This interactive training will help you work with a purpose and reduce your stress levels into the bargain. Conscious and effective! Note: this workshop is not specifically aimed at thesis writers, but can certainly be valuable, because writing a thesis usually requires a lot of self-discipline.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Languages: Dutch and English
Provider: Career Services
Go to the workshop 'Working consciously and effectively' for more information and registration.
Webinars
Live online lecture in which a lot of information is shared and where there often is the opportunity to ask questions via the chat.
Thesis supervisors are important. They coach you and evaluate your work. How do you make the most of them? In this workshop we will explore questions like: What can you expect from your supervisor and what do they expect from you? When is it best not to bother your supervisor? We will look at thesis conversations, discuss the pitfalls in those meetings and share tips on how to avoid them.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: English
Provider: Skills Lab
Date and registration: The next webinar has not been planned yet.
Doing research starts with making a clear outline and ends with a well-written scientific paper. In this webinar you will learn the building blocks to generate a strong problem statement and which steps will help you to get your ideas down on paper in a structured way.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: English
Provider: Educational Development & Training
Date and registration: The next webinar has not been planned yet.
During the webinar you will get tools to create a realistic study plan for the last bit of your thesis and what you need to stick to it. Aside from providing you with tips and tools, you will create your own planning during the webinar.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: English
Provider: Educational Development & Training
Date and registration: The next webinar has not been planned yet.
When you have participated in this webinar, you will know some tips and tricks on how to motivate yourself whilst writing your thesis and why it works. You will exchange good practices with peers and you will have formulated some intentions for yourself.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: English
Provider: Educational Development & Training
Date and registration: The next webinar has not been planned yet.
E-learnings
An online tool where you can work through all the information and exercises at your own pace.
In this online course you will improve your English language skills at the B1/B2 level at your own pace. This is a total package of 3 online courses in one. Each course lasts 8 weeks (if you spend 2 hours per week on it), but you have access to the course for a period of 3 months.
Practical information
Costs: €144.50 (this price includes a student discount of 15%)
Language: English and Dutch
Provider: Babel
In the Compass online training course, you will learn the basics of searching for, accessing, managing, referencing, and using scientific information.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: English and Dutch
Provider: Utrecht University Library
Go to Compass for more information and to start the e-learning directly
Grasple is an e-learning platform used for statistics education within the UU. However, it also contains a large database of general modules and assignments on all kinds of topics within statistics. In this way you can practice independently and in your own time.
Practical information
Costs: Free
Language: English and Dutch
Provider: Educate-it UU
Go to the Grasple log in page and log in with your university account. Use your UU student number and password and get started right away.
Tips, tools en websites
Helpful writing tips and websites to help you move forward independently.
Methodology and statistics can be an important part of your thesis.
The Department of Methodology & Statistics offers additional support in various ways, in addition to the regular education program:
- Tutoring in methods and statistics
- Help with SPSS
- Consultation on research for your bachelor thesis (only available for students of the faculty Social and Behavioral Sciences)
Go to 'Methodology and Statistics' for more information.
LibGuides are created by information specialists and subject specialists at Utrecht University Library to support teaching and research across Utrecht University.
Search strategy
A search strategy is a way to efficiently find the information you need to answer your research question. With a search strategy you work systematically to find relevant information. By doing a targeted search you get targeted results and spend less time reading irrelevant material. Go to the LibGuide on search strategies.
Evaluating sources
The sources you use when writing a scientific text (such as a thesis, paper etc.) determine the quality of that text for a large part. You will have to evaluate the relevance and scientific quality of found sources before using them. You will find the different methods and tools you can use to do this in this LibGuide. Go to the LibGuide on evaluating sources.
LibGuides are created by information specialists and subject specialists at Utrecht University Library to support teaching and research across Utrecht University.
Citing: Using sources
When writing your own text you must refer to the work of the original author (your 'source') that you use, regardless of where the information comes from; from a scientific journal, a thesis, a conference report or directly from the Internet. If you reuse material without citing the source you are committing plagiarism and that can have serious consequences. Go to the LibGuide on citation.
Reference Management
Reference management is the systematic collection and organization of concrete sources and/or the bibliographic data ('references') of sources, usually for the purpose of (re)use at a later date. You can use a reference tool for this purpose. Good reference management enables you to work more effectively and efficiently. Go to the LibGuide on reference management.
Skills Lab has listed some writing tips to get you started. Check out the Skills Lab writing tips.
Utrecht University has received a license for KU Leuven's online Writing Tool!
This tool helps you to look at your work critically. You paste your Dutch or English text in the writing tool and then choose which aspects of the text you want to 'check'. After that, it is up to you to edit your text.
Some of the features of the writing tool:
- Spelling check
- Style (informal language use)
- Structure (signal and reference words)
- Frequently used words
You can request log in details for English texts and for Dutch texts.