This colloquium provides an opportunity for students who work on their final theses or dissertation projects primarily in the fields of international relations or regional/ area studies. In the course, the participants will present and discuss their own research concepts or project outlines once or twice. The colloquium's purpose is to discuss problems occurring while conceptualizing and writing a thesis and finding solutions to methodological and practical questions emerging during the work process. A particular interest will be the definition of variables, their operationalization, the generation of hypotheses and the selection of comparative cases. In addition to these practical elements, some sessions are dedicated to a theoretical or methodological general text in order to clarify methods like case selection. Furthermore, the lecturer is going to describe the distinctive view of a reviewer and will help identifying the crucial aspects in writing a thesis. The procedure of oral exams is also discussed. As a by-effect the creation of informal working groups among the students is strongly supported. Participants have to prepare the required readings, and to present their own research proposal, dependent upon their modularized study requirements. Good English language capabilities are necessary. Regular and active participation is required. This lecture uses the E-learning platform Blackboard. Please register under: http://lms.fu-berlin.de The password will be given during the first lecture.