What is the Master's Thesis?
The Master's Thesis is a sperimental work generally known as " internship for thesis"
The experimental work for a second cycle degree (Master's Degree) thesis can be done in a University department, in a public or private company, structure or laboratory, both in Italy or abroad.
The internship can also comprehend for 24/25 ECTS (to be checked in each year's regulation). The choice to add the traineeship is advised for students in need of acquisition of ECTS for example for scholarships.
Traineeship are regulated by specific rules, please visit Traineeship.
Each ECTS for thesis has a workload of 25 hours.
What is the Master's final exam?
The Master Degree Final exam, consists in the discussion of a written essay, in front of an official Evaluating Committee composed of a defined number of members as established in the didactic guidelines of the University.
The elaboration of a thesis includes:
- presentation of a biological question through an analysis of the scientific literature;
- planning of an experimental or theoretic approach for the study of the biological question;
- execution of the experimental plan and critical discussion of the results.
As established in the Guidelines of the Master Degree, the Evaluating Committee for the Laurea Magistrale exam is composed by 5 - 7 members, with some permanent members with voting right (the president and 1 - 3 commissioners), the student’s supervisor (in the case of more supervisors, only one of them has voting right), and the two thesis examiners (with voting right); other members without voting right can also be part of the Committee.
A list of 8 permanent members of the Evaluating Committee for the Laurea Magistrale exam (from which the president and the other commissioners are nominated) is set each year by the Aggregated Council following the proposal of the Master Degree Committee and remains in office from 1st June to 31st May of the following year.
The Evaluating Committee for the Laurea Magistrale exam scrutinizes the judgments of the supervisor and of the thesis examiners. The supervisor, on the basis of his evaluation of the candidate’s abilities in preparing and discussing the thesis, proposes a final grade for the Laurea Magistrale exam; the two thesis examiners express their opinion about the adequacy of the proposed grade on the basis of their evaluation of the candidate’s activities. Then, the candidate’s CV is read and the members of the Committee proceed to a secret scrutiny vote.
Who are the Commissioners?
The guidelines for the second cycle degree courses (Lauree Magistrali) establish, for each thesis, the presence of two thesis examiners. They are teachers who organize an interview with the candidate and verify his / her knowledge of the scientific background of the thesis and his / her critical participation to the research activities. The designation of the thesis examiners is made about 4 months before the Laurea Magistrale exam.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION FOR THE DRAFTING OF THE THESIS
The thesis must be compiled in electronic format: ETD site
At least 15 days before the session of the Master Degree Final exam, the student will deliver to the Didactic Office the thesis frontispiece (from the ETD site) with all the requested signatures (the names of the thesis examiners should not be included).
One week before the session of the Master Degree Final exam, the student will deliver a copy of the thesis in electronic format (pdf) to the Didactic Office, a copy on a digital media to the supervisor and one to each of the thesis examiners. In case of no delivery of such material, during the final exam the supervisor and the thesis examiners will evaluate the thesis on the basis of the material available at that moment.
Suggestions for thesis presentation
Degree Exam's Calendar for 2020 and practical informations
Deadlines for the Students' Office
How is the final grade calculated?
The final grade is determined by the grades obtained in the different disciplines, by the judgments of the supervisor and of the thesis examiners, and by the judgment of the Evaluating Committee for the Laurea Magistrale exam. In the case of Type B thesis, the judgment of the apprenticeship will also be included. Possible supernumerary exams that the candidate wants to exclude from average calculation must be indicated in the online application and in the application presented to the Didactic Unit of the Department of Biology (download form). The grade is expressed as a fraction with denominator 110 (one hundred and ten). For the “cum laude” award, the unanimous vote of the Committee is necessary.
The final grade is determined by the Evaluating Committee for the Laurea Magistrale exam.
The maximum grade is 110/110, possibly with “cum laude” award.
The final grade is the sum of the following:
A) weighted average (in /30) of the grades of the single exams (75%);
B) average of the scores (in /30) of each of the 5 - 7 members of the Evaluating Committee (25%).
The final grade is determined with the following formula with rounding up or down as appropriate:
(A*3+B)*115/120.
The supervisor or the President of the Evaluating Committee may propose the “cum laude” award in the case that the candidate has obtained a grade of 110/110 without rounding up, has obtained 30/30 cum laude in at least 2 fundamental exams of the Laurea Magistrale or has a weighted average of the grades of the single exams of at least 29/30.