Information on writing a dissertation

Topic Choice

In order to graduate, students have to write a final thesis. A thesis is a compilation of research that proves you are knowledgeable about the information learned throughout your graduate program. In DTM, it must be linked to an internship that enables you to gain knowledge and practical skills related to your thesis topic. A thesis is not just a report of the internship activity but rather it is a comprehensive reworking of knowledge related to the internship topic including, among others, the analysis of related scientific literature.

The work must be done under the guidance of a Supervisor. The Supervisor is a Professor from the Degree Programme the students should contact before starting the work on the final dissertation and should be chosen among the degree programme faculty.

Editorial guidelines

The dissertation must follow standardized drafting guidelines; papers written in different ways other than specified will not be accepted for the evaluation. 

• Each page must consist of 33-36 rows; each row must be 80-90 characters long (font size 11-12); the font used must be either Times, Courier, or Helvetica.
• Front page needs to be redacted following the guidelines provided in the attachment.
• Images and tables must be included in the UNI format (A4 or A3).
• The document needs to be saved in the .pdf format.
• The supervisor is in charge of verifying the compliance with these guidelines.

Thesis sample LaTex

Final grade

The Graduation Committee will evaluate the students’ whole academic career following specific guidelines: dissertation, curriculum of studies, time taken to complete their studies, transfers from another University or Degree Programme.

The Committee expresses their assessment with a grade out of 110. The evaluation will be considered to be positive with a grade between 66 (minimum) and 110 (maximum). In case of granting the maximum grade, the Committee might deliberate to grant the honours.

The final grade is the sum of the base score and the defense.

Base score

The base score is the CFU-weighted average of the exams passed during the second cycle degree calculated on a 110-point basis (i.e., the CFU-weighted average of the passed exams, which is expressed with a grade out of 30, is turned into a grade out of 110 by multiplying it by 110/30), plus possible bonuses. Bonuses are added to the CFU-weighted average on a 110-point basis as follows:

• 0.33 points for each 30 cum laude grade registered
• 1 point for graduating in due time
• 2 points for doing the internship for final dissertation in a company (this measure will not be applied for 2024/2025 graduation onward)

Defense score

Up to a maximum of 5 points will be assigned upon defense responding to the following criteria:

• Originality of the chosen topic
• Methodological accuracy
• Degree of in-depth topic analysis
• Final dissertation writing and editing adequacy
• Ability to expose topics

In order to earn the full 5 points, a co-examiner (controrelatore) is required. The co-examiner must be requested to the Degree Program Director by the Supervisor.

The request for a co-examiner must be submitted at least 30 days prior to the defense.

Defense modalities

Upon defense, students must briefly discuss the results of their dissertation in front of a selected board of professors.

Each candidate will be given 15-20 minutes to defend; a power point presentation is recommended.

Important note: it is forbidden to add any logo of the University of Bologna in any part of the thesis or power point presentation.