Company Master's Thesis: Can It Stay Secret?

Company Master's Thesis: Can It Stay Secret?

A company master's thesis must remain assessable under the university's rules. Do not accept a project on the assumption that a sponsor's confidentiality agreement can override examiner access or the institution's requirements for the submitted report.

Secrecy and assessment are different questions

KTH Energy Technology's master's-thesis guidance says student theses are public documents. Archiving a thesis without automatically publishing it does not make it confidential: the document must still be released on request. The department tells students to avoid including confidential material in the submitted copy and discuss the issue with their supervisor. KTH Energy Technology master's-thesis guidance.

DTU describes a different institutional process. A company agreement must not prevent sharing information with the supervisor, submitting the report or holding the examination. Its guidance allows confidentiality arrangements, including a closed examination when arranged with the supervisor in advance and appropriate marking of a confidential report. DTU company projects.

These examples support a firm recommendation: agree on an academically viable assessment plan before committing to the project. They do not establish one confidentiality rule for every European university, department or sponsor.

Resolve four separate permissions

Ask the university supervisor to work through these questions with the proposed sponsor:

1. Examiner access: Can everyone required to assess the work see the evidence they need? An agreement permitting only the company manager to inspect results is a serious unresolved problem.
2. Submitted report: What must the university receive? Establish whether a report omitting commercially sensitive details could still demonstrate the academic work. Do not assume redaction will be approved.
3. Public release: What happens after submission? Distinguish a public repository, an archived document and a document subject to release on request.
4. Approved procedure: Does this institution offer a confidential-report or closed-exam process, and who must approve it before the project starts?

Record the answers in the university's project process. A reassuring conversation with the company alone does not settle the academic requirements. Equally, a public summary that reveals almost nothing may leave the university unable to assess what you actually did.

An illustrative sponsor who wants everything secret

Illustrative case: An engineering applicant is offered a company thesis investigating a manufacturing defect. The sponsor initially wants the dataset, analysis and final report withheld from everyone outside the firm.

At KTH Energy Technology, choosing archival storage instead of automatic publication would not solve the stated public-access issue. The applicant and supervisor would need to explore whether a suitable report could exclude the confidential information while still meeting academic requirements.

At DTU, the published confidentiality process provides a different starting point. However, it still cannot prevent supervision, report submission or examination. The applicant should obtain the university's approved arrangements rather than promise the sponsor absolute secrecy.

If neither institution can approve an assessable project on the sponsor's terms, change the scope or choose another project. The employer's enthusiasm is insufficient evidence that the proposed thesis will satisfy the degree.

Explain the research opportunity accurately

A company project is one possible route to research during a coursework master's. Judge it by the question, supervision and feasible assessment, not simply the employer's name.

Once that plan is established, a compatible full applicant SOP can use the general MS statement rubric and graduate statement review. That review addresses your preparation and academic direction, not confidentiality agreements or thesis approval. Find related decisions in the graduate application hub.

Official KTH and DTU sources checked September 11, 2026.