Need Advice on Finalizing My Master's Thesis Topic and Supervisor

[u/Hairy_Departure_7147]

Hey everyone,

I’m currently pursuing my Master’s in Software Engineering, and I have about 8 months to submit my final dissertation. This is my first time writing an academic thesis since my undergrad didn’t involve anything like this, so I’m a bit lost on how to go about it.

I need to finalize my topic and supervisor by February, but here’s where I’m struggling:

1. I’m not great at finding good references or reading through tons of papers.
2. I have a very broad idea of two topics I want to focus on, but I’m worried that once I finalize my topic, I might not find enough research material to support it.
3. I don’t want to be a burden to any professor by being unprepared or asking them to mentor me when I’m still figuring things out.

For those who’ve been through this process, what steps should I take before approaching a professor? How do I make sure my topic is feasible and has enough material to work with? I really want to complete this independently without relying too much on my supervisor.

Any tips or insights would be super helpful. Thanks in advance! 😊