This is not a comprehensive tutorial; however, it should help you if you are doing a master thesis in computational linguistics at Matfyz. Especially foreign students are sometimes unaware of some details that their Czech schoolmates may already know. This help focuses on LCT students who typically have just one academic year to write their thesis.

LCT students typically select the topic at the beginning of their second year, i.e. during October. At the same time they must find their supervisor (typically among ÚFAL professors, researchers and Ph.D. students, although the supervisor may in theory come from other departments of Charles University). Those doing their second year at another university still must find a co-supervisor at ÚFAL. They will also have to come in person and defend the thesis at Charles University, regardless what other procedures are required at their second university.

The student and his supervisor put together the title of the thesis and the description of the work (abstract): this will constitute the official assignment. It should be broad enough to allow deviations once the student gets their first results and realizes that the originally anticipated course of experiments is not the best one to follow. Later changes of title and topic are in theory possible but it is an administrative hassle that is better to avoid.

The supervisor puts the assignment into SIS (the information system) and also prints one hardcopy, signs it and gives it to Ms. Brdičková, the ÚFAL secretary. This must be done before the deadline announced for each academic year (typically first half of November – look for “harmonogram” at http://www.mff.cuni.cz/studium/). The student office will later send back the hardcopy stamped and signed by the vicedean. Ms. Brdičková will keep it until the end of the academic year. The student will then have to pick it up and include it in one of the printed copies of the thesis (mandatory part, this copy goes to the faculty library).