Choosing the subject and the rules on preparing the dissertation for the final examination.
The final examination entails writing a dissertation on a subject pertinent to your studies, elaborated in an original way, under the guidance of a supervisor. The dissertation will be discussed publicly during a specific final examination session in front of a Board.
The Board will assess your performance using your curriculum as a reference. During the dissertation discussion, you may use slides and the Commission may ask you in-depth questions on methods, results and any developments of your work. Follow the below guidelines for the successful thesis preparation.
In order to achieve International Management final degree, students have to acquire 120 credits in total and to defend their final dissertation, which accounts for 15 credits.
The master thesis is an individual piece of research on a topic approved by the supervisor (relatore in Italian). The assignment is an opportunity for students to deeply explore the chosen area of International Management, to summarize the main theories and models, and to discuss their applicability. The objective of the thesis is to show that the student is able to perform scientific research individually and to report the study and its conclusions in a clear way. It likewise serves as a practice for those intending to pursue doctoral studies after their successful completion of the program.
All the activities concerning the preparation of the final thesis abroad should be inserted in the study plan. The registered credits are divided in the following way:
Therefore, if you decide to prepare your thesis abroad through the specific call or in Erasmus, please contact the Internationalization and International Guidance Services Office at the School.
In case you base your dissertation on an internship experience, you need to contact the Internship Office of the School. The internship for the preparation of the final thesis should be inserted in your study plan. The registered credits are divided in the following way:
The student may choose to major in a teaching activity belonging to the course plan (piano di studi in Italian) both from the first and second years.
If a student attended the second year abroad (Erasmus/Overseas), he/she may decide to graduate in a subject of the second year anyway. In this case, the student must talk to the professor of the course and ask his/her availability to supervise the thesis.
Students are strongly suggested to begin asking the availability and interest of a professor to become their supervisor as soon as possible, according to their internship experience and/or to the topic chosen for the dissertation.
IMPORTANT: Only full professors, associate professors, assistant professors (researchers) and contract professors holding a teaching activity within the School can be a supervisor.
A counter-supervisor (controrelatore in Italian) is requested only in the case of a thesis with a particular relevance or interest for the supervisor. The presence of the counter-supervisor provides the student with the opportunity (and not the guarantee!) to achieve extra points for the final grade.
The counter-supervisor should be proposed by the supervisor accordingly, and is then assigned by the Director of the program, who can confirm the professor suggested or assign the other one. All Professors and researchers can become a counter-supervisor. The counter-supervisor provides a further independent and detailed evaluation of the thesis, possibly taking part in the final defense to challenge the graduating student with specific questions. The honours may be requested only if the candidate has an average grade inferior to 108/110, to which the counter-supervisor can add a maximum of 3 points.
Two windows open each year during which students can apply to engage with a thesis supervisor before starting to write their thesis.
Each window remains open for 1 month, during which every student must formalize their application online.
Students can apply for a maximum of 3 professors.
Before the opening of each call, professors will communicate 3-4 broad topics of interest within which students can develop their proposals.
The goal is to stimulate students’ creativity while guiding them toward current research topics.
Where? In the "Proposed Theses" section of each professor personal Unibo webpage.
It is also possible for students to apply for a thesis on open topics (if allowed by the professor in the Proposed Theses section), but there is a greater risk of the proposal not being accepted.
Once the thesis application is formally accepted by the professor and confirmed by the student, the student is officially under the professor’s supervision for the thesis.
The length of the thesis should be between 60-120 pages including notes, tables and attachments. The thesis must meet the following criteria:
Accurate referencing and bibliography is an important element of the thesis. Students should adopt a standard citation system and bibliography format. Please note that besides these general guidelines, students will refer to each professor in order to use the appropriate referencing style of the department.
The university takes plagiarism very seriously and has legal implications: concepts and statements taken from the literature should be appropriately reworded and referenced. To avoid plagiarism all material, whether directly quoted, MUST be acknowledged correctly.
The admission grade averages the exams grades and converts it into the 66-110 scale.
IMPORTANT: Courses and activities providing an assessment on a pass/fail basis (idoneità in Italian) such as laboratories, seminars or internships do not contribute to the admission grade.
For every exam that the student passed with honors (lode) 0.33 points are added to Admission Grade. The value resulting from previous calculations is rounded up to the nearest integer value.
The student admission grades will be published by the Ufficio di Presidenza within a few days before the graduation date both on the internet and on the notice-board. Students may contact the Registrar’s Office (Segreteria studenti) if they wish to check their average in advance.
The final examination entails the defense of the master thesis in front of a Committee composed by professors of the School of Economics, Management and Statistics.
During the defense, candidates have about 10 minutes to discuss the dissertation and answer the possible questions from the Graduation Board. Candidates can use a set of slides using a computer that is available in each room.
The commission can grant a maximum of 5 points to the dissertation which is added to the student’s admission grade.
Extra points will be given to those students who graduate on time:
To earn more than 5 points and if the thesis deserves special attention, the supervisor can ask for a controrelatore. In this case, up to 3 extra points can be granted by the Graduation Committee. The assignment of a controrelatore is also necessary when the supervisor plans to request the honors (lode) and the candidate has an admission grade below 108/110. To award 110/110 with honors (110 e lode), the Committee must approve unanimously.
The Graduation Committee, the list of graduating students and the exact dates will be published by the Ufficio di Presidenza about two weeks before the dissertation and will be available in StudentiOnline.
Thesis supervisor: new selection process
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Students who are about to write their final dissertation must carefully read this new modality to engage with a thesis supervisor