BSc thesis proposal: how detailed is the norm

Question

I'm in my last semester of a computer science BSc and need to write my thesis. Highly competitive environment, apparently it's the norm here that BSc theses should try for a publication. In Europe. I have gotten informal (but written) confirmation from a professor that the topic I suggested is ok, they even assigned some additional mentors. But none of them is very responsive, the thesis is not formally registered yet (it's mandated by university policy that registration needs to happen quickly/before substantial work) and I'm supposed to write a proposal.

I'd like to get an idea of what the norm is for such a proposal (to tide me over while I wait for feedback on the one I wrote). I think for a good research proposal I would need to do a literature review (even if just condensed into the introduction), but that would be a substantial amount of work (read multiple dozens of papers I guess). That can't be the usual expectation (before starting the thesis, while applying for a topic), can it?

Answer 1

I have gotten informal (but written) confirmation from a professor that the topic I suggested is ok, they even assigned some additional mentors...the thesis is not formally registered yet (it's mandated by university policy that registration needs to happen quickly/before substantial work) and I'm supposed to write a proposal.

Write as little as possible: The professor has informally agreed that the topic is okay and has assigned their resources. The professor is satisfied. Write something, check it is okay with the professor, and submit it. The professor is unlikely (imo) to be interested in the formal requirements, they (imo) just want you to get on with the work.

Answer 2

Generally a good proposal will need to have a literature review (perhaps brief) to motivate the research. A bachelors thesis will not need to be as good of a proposal as one for a grant that a professor would write especially since like the other answer said, you already have approval so it seems like a formality. My undergrad thesis I did as best I could but i think i only cited 10ish papers total and only some where in the lit review part (which imo should be a motivation part not just to show you read a bunch of papers that may or may not be relevant.

So I would do as much as you’d like. It’s good practice, which is really what the undergrad thesis is about. Hard to say exactly because I don’t know exactly your schools policies.

I’ll also add that at my school the proposals were entered into a scholarship contest so there was motivation to write a good One. I tried but I guess mine wasn’t that good because I didn’t win the contest haha.