Final examination

Final examination

The final exam consists in the submission of a Thesis (original manuscript report) related to originalexperimental activities in the research fields that concern the Master Course,followed by a public dissertation in front of a Commission. For the admissionto the final exam, the student must have completed all the training credits ofthe Master course programme, except those reserved for the final exam.

The Degree Council appoints the Commission for final exam, and their President. The Commission is made up of atleast 3 members, chosen amongst the professors and researchers of the School belongingto the Master Degree. Prior to the final defense the supervisor shall obtain anexternal assessment of the Thesis by a member of one Partnerinstitutions of the ASC consortium.

The Commission shall evaluate the candidate taking into account the curriculum, the external assessment of the Master Thesis, and the discussion. The rules for the award of the vote are established by the Degree Council and may be reviewed annually. The amended rules will come into effect from the summer session of the next academic year.

Request for admission
The request for admission to the final examination is valid only for one session, not for the following sessions.  Therefore, if a student does not get his degree in the session for which he/she is admitted, he/she must renew the request by the deadline established for the new session.

The degree examination dates are spread over the three sessions that are held each academic year. 

To be admitted to the final examination a student must have passed the exams and in any case must have obtained all the university credits required under degree course regulations for activities other than the final examination. Furthermore, a student must have paid the tuition fees.



The aim of the final examination is to assess whether or not the educational objectives of the course have been achieved.

The degree examination Board evaluates the candidate as a whole, taking into account the final examination and other elements such as the curriculum of studies carried out, the time taken to complete the degree course, and any transfers from another course or University, etc.The Student Registry Office also gives the Board the student’s examination slip, on which the average before the final examination is shown.

The average is the result of the conversion of the average marks for the exams passed (which are expressed out of thirty) into a mark expressed out of one hundred and ten: the calculation is made by adding up all the exams with a mark, excluding pass/fail examinations; the result is then multiplied by "110" and divided by "30".

In this way, the arithmetic mean is obtained.
For post-reform degree courses (first and second-level degree courses) there is also a weighted mean, which relates the marks to credits: excluding pass/fail examinations, each mark is multiplied by the credits for the corresponding exam, the products are added up and the sum is divided by the total number of credits obtained for examinations with a vote; also in this case the result is then multiplied by "110" and divided by "30"

To the mean value, the examination Board can add up to 7 points, depending from the results of the public discussion of the thesis. The Supervisor can assing up to 2 points that are added to the score of the Board. The Board then expresses its final mark out of 110.  To pass the examination the minimum score required is 66/110.  In case of full marks (110/110), the Board may unanimously decide to award a distinction.

Admission to the final examination

The admission request to the final examination must be presented through the “Studenti Online” service within the deadlines reported below (deadline for applying on Studenti Online – D0). After the deadline, a late application is still possible by paying a € 100 fee (Late deadline for applying on Studenti Online-D1)

One graduation session is scheduled each year. The session includes a number of dates, each with their deadlines for the submission of the graduation application, requirements and dates.

For the admission to the final exam, the student must have passed all exams and obtained all the training credits of the Master course programme, except those reserved for the final exam (Master Thesis, 27 CFU) (Deadline for requisite – D2).

Tuition fees must be paid and the Alma Laurea questionnaire on Studenti Online must be compiled.

The request for admission to the final examination is valid only for one session and not for the following ones. If a student does not get her/his degree in the session for which she/he was admitted, the request must be resubmitted for the next session.

Students need to upload the final thesis in pdf format on Studenti Online within seven days before the date set for the final examination. The thesis content needs to be agreed upon with the Supervisor in advance. (Thesis upload – D3)

Supervisors must approve the thesis uploaded (thesis approval – D4).

Please note: It is forbidden to use the University of Bologna logo anywhere on the thesis.

Graduation sessions