about two months ago, I asked about how to start a master thesis with a company after completing an internship. I did not get any reply and my new thread is based on some updates recently. I am going to finalise my topic soon but I met my professor earlier with another topic proposal which unfortunately has already been implemented in the company but I only knew about it at a recent meeting with the team responsible in another location. Now I have informed my professor about this change in direction but I only have 2 weeks left to start my thesis and I am not sure how will my professor respond if my topic direction changes according to what is actually needed now. has anyone gone through similar experiences or have any advice that could be of help in my situation?

I was in an incredibly similar position once. I did a placement year between 3 and 4th year, where I had the option to do my masters project (meant my final year was quite empty). I did a project that been done by someone a few years earlier. Literally, I took his work as a basis and set about improving it even further. I did most of the work on my own time (late night/weekend) but the company supported it as it was free work. I did marginally improve the process (nothing spectacular) but I fully answered a lot of small questions that were were left after the previous project. The company actually liked it as I documented a lot of old material and they could use chunks of dissertation as a reference.

If someone has already done it, can you improve it further or implement it at your location? The dissertation doesn't need to be groundbreaking but only have a tiny shred of originality in which to showcase your skills. You could approach the project in a different perspective or have slightly different goals with regards to your location. Though with my supervisor he didn't really care about the project itself but as long as the project was possible and had enough substance to get me a good grade. If your new boss prefers a new project, just check that there is enough substance to write a full thesis on it, otherwise it should be fine.