The procedure has been updated. Students who obtained permission to start the thesis activity before 13/07/2025 (inclusive of 13/07/2025) are required to follow the old procedure.

The type chosen by the student for the conduct of the internship and thesis activity cannot be subject to change in progress (Resolution No. 84/2024 - prot. AOO "BIO" 4008/2024, of the Aggregate Course Council in Biological Sciences on 02/07/2024 and Resolution No. 86/2024 - prot. AOO "BIO" 4011/2024, of the Aggregate Course Council in Biotechnology on 02/07/2024).

*** It is recommended to start the thesis activity NOT before the end of the first year of the course ***

Graduation sessions and deadlines

1. IDENTIFICATION OF A LOCATION FOR CONDUCTING THE THESIS ACTIVITY
   
   Internal location: Department of Biology
   External location: outside the Department of Biology (within or outside the University)
   
   CURRENT INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE
   
   External facilities and departments of the University of Pisa already affiliated with the Department of Biology
   
   

2. IDENTIFICATION OF A THESIS SUPERVISOR(S)

   The Student is required to identify at least one Supervisor.

   If the chosen Supervisor is a professor/researcher pertaining to the Department of Biology or the Aggregate Board of Studies in Biological Sciences, he/she will serve as an Internal Supervisor.
   In this case, it is not mandatory to identify an External Supervisor as well.

   If the chosen Supervisor is NOT a professor/researcher pertaining to the Department of Biology or to the Aggregate Board of Studies in Biological Sciences, he/she will perform the function of External Supervisor.
   In this case, it is mandatory to identify an Internal Supervisor as well.
   
   

3. SUBMISSION OF THE APPLICATION FOR THE START OF ACTIVITY ACCOMPANIED BY A DESCRIPTION

   The Student is required to send the following forms to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. in PDF format:

   - Activity Start Form (english version PDF - Doc) containing a paragraph describing the activity you intend to carry out (minimum 800 - maximum 1000 characters, including spaces);

   - Declaration of the host institution (only for activities at research institutions or companies located in Italy or abroad. This form is required only for activities held in research centres or companies located in Italy or abroad; this form is not required for activities held at UNIPI Departments, Scuola Normale Superiore, CNR (Centro Nazionale per le Ricerche), Scuola Superiore Sant'anna) (english version);
   
   

4. AUTHORIZATION TO CONDUCT THE ACTIVITY AND CONCURRENT APPOINTMENT OF THE OPPONENTS
   
   The start of the activity is subject to the granting of permission by the Biology Department Teaching Unit.
   
   The authorisation granted ex officio by the Department's teaching unit, which is communicated to the student and the internal/external supervisor by e-mail, replaces in all respects the authorisation of the start of the activity by the Course of Study Council (Resolution of the Aggregate Council in Biotechnology no. 106/2024 of 17/09/2024 and Resolution of the Aggregate Council in Biological Sciences no. 113/2024 of 17/09/2024).
   
   Concurrently with the granting of permission to start the activity, the Student will be assigned two Opponents (appointed by an appropriate Committee). It is the student’s responsibility to contact the Opponents and arrange the subsequent meetings.
   

5. CONDUCT OF THE ACTIVITY
   
   The Student may begin the activity only after obtaining permission from the Biology Department Teaching Unit.
   From the date of authorization, the activity can be completed within 12 months.
   After 12 months, any extension may be requested by the Supervisor to the Teaching Unit (a motivated request from the Supervisor to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., indicating the duration of the extension, is sufficient).
   
   Whilst working on their thesis, students are covered by the University’s insurance policy exclusively at the location where they have been authorised to carry out their work.
   If, for reasons related to the completion of their thesis, a student needs to travel outside the location authorised for their work, the Internal supervisor must request authorisation in advance for a zero-cost assignment, in order to ensure insurance cover.
   Undertaking the assignment before authorisation is granted will result in a lack of insurance cover.
   
   During the course of the internship activity, the Student is required to complete an Attendance Register.

   At the conclusion of the activity, the Student is required:
   
   - to send the Attendance Register to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
   - to remind his/her Supervisor to send the Evaluation Form for the verbalization of the internship CFUs (english version PDF - Doc) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

   NB: Each internship CFU includes 25 hours of activity: for the number of internship CFUs foreseen for the Master's degree course in which he/she is enrolled, the Student is required to consult the Didactic Regulations of the degree course related to his/her year of matriculation.
   
   

6. FIRST INTERVIEW WITH OPPONENTS (compulsory only for students who carry out the activity under the guidance of an External Supervisor)
   
   Approximately three months after the start of the thesis activity, the Student is required to conduct an interview with the two Opponents.
   This interview is compulsory only for students who carry out the activity under the guidance of an External Supervisor.
   The Student is required to inform the Internal Supervisor and the External Supervisor of the outcome of the interview.
   
   
   
7. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION FOR DEGREE IN THE STUDENT SECRETARY'S OFFICE
   
   All information is available on this link.
   
   

8. SECOND INTERVIEW WITH THE OPPONENTS (mandatory for all students)

   Approximately twenty days before the beginning of the graduation call in which he/she intends to participate, the Student is required to conduct an interview with the two Opponents and send them a draft of the thesis (semi-definitive thesis including a preliminary draft of the introduction, a detailed description of the materials and methods used and the results obtained, and a preliminary draft of the discussion and conclusions from which it is possible to evaluate the work done; the indication of the main bibliographical references used is also required).

   This interview is mandatory for all students.
   At the end of the interview, the Student is required to remind the Opponents to send the following form (english version Doc - PDF) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 
   
   The Opponents will express their evaluation of the thesis work according to the following criteria:
   - Acquisition of the fundamental concepts underlying the activities (scientific context)
   - Ability of critical behavior also toward the experimental approach
   - Autonomy during the discussion and interpretation of the results
   - Autonomy during the elaboration of the paper and linguistic competence
   - Command of scientific language, clarity of the exposition, accuracy in exposition of the paper
   
   

9. FURTHER FULFILLMENT
   
   Within the deadline, the Student is required:
   
   - to send a final presentation of the final paper to the Didactic Unit (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
   It is not required to send the thesis in digital format or to deliver it in paper form. Only the submission of the presentation in PDF format is required: presentations in Power Point format will not be accepted. 
   Once submitted, the presentation cannot be replaced.
   
   - to remind his/her Supervisor to send the Evaluation Form (PDF - Doc) to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
   
   - to send the final version of the thesis to the Supervisor(s) and the two Opponents.
   The thesis title page must be prepared using this template. Please note: this title page is simply a page to be inserted at the beginning of the thesis and must not be confused with the electronic title page, which must be created on the ETD website and constitutes one of the requirements set by the Student Secretariat as part of the graduation application (see the information at this link).
   PN: The Student is required to attach the Statement on the use of Artificial Intelligence to the thesis, in PDF format.
   The compilation of the "Disclosure Statement on the use of generative AI in this Undergraduate/Graduate/Doctoral Thesis" is mandatory.
   The declaration must be included within the thesis, following the initial title page. To this end, you may proceed as follows: once the declaration is completed and signed in hard copy, it can be scanned, saved as an image (e.g., .jpg), and inserted into the thesis file (after the title page). The entire document can then be saved as a PDF to be sent to the Supervisor and Co-supervisors. This procedure is, of course, only a suggestion and is by no means binding: it is sufficient that the thesis PDF includes the declaration on the use of AI.
   
   - The candidate must upload the thesis to the ETD website, following the instructions and deadlines set by the Student Secretariat: the thesis must be in its complete (including the declaration on the use of Artificial Intelligence) and final form.
   
   
10. THESIS DEFENSE
    
    The date, time and place of the discussion shall be notified to the Student by e-mail.
    
    All Students are required to present themselves at the starting time of the graduation session.
    
    The Student will have 20 minutes for the discussion of the final paper.