Final examination: modalities

What is the final examination

The final examination consists of a discussion in front of a Commission (composed of a maximum of five professors from the Master's degree program) of a thesis, written in English and developed based on the experience acquired by the student and the activities carried out during the internship period in a research laboratory or an equivalent institution. The final oral exam will also assess the students' ability to design projects and autonomously apply the final results, as well as the student’s ability to clearly present and discuss their findings.

Before the thesis defence students must send by e-mail a summary of the thesis (not more than 10 pages) to each component of the Graduation Committee; as for the thesis, the front page of the summary must be the title-page.

Graduating students are expected to defence their final dissertation in front of a Graduation Committee (composed by up to 5 professors belonging to the Programme) that will judge the scientific quality and the presentation skills. The thesis dissertation should be prepared under the guidance of a Supervisor and based on the results achieved during the internship experience.

Students will have approx. 20 minutes for their thesis defense: 15 minutes for the thesis presentation and 5 minutes for questions from the Final Dissertation Committee.

Evaluation

The evaluation by the Commission for the final exam is expressed in hundredths (with possible honors). The Graduation Committee can award up to 8 points for the thesis, which will be added to the final average achieved by the student during their academic career. In case of graduation within the 2nd year from enrollment, an additional 1 point may be added. Furthermore, for each exam passed with honors, the final grade will be increased by 0.05 multiplied by the number of credits for the exam. The exam is considered passed with a minimum score of 66/110. If the student reaches a final score of at least 113/110, the Commission may grant honors with unanimous decision.

Step by step

Before submitting your application for the final examination, you must:

1. Obtain approval for your thesis title from the Degree Programme Board at least six months before your final examination. Complete the thesis title form and obtain signatures from the professors before sending it to the Teaching Service via email at campusravenna.score@unibo.it.
2. Have your thesis project registered by the professor.
3. Submit your application. The thesis title must be the approved one.

Graduation application

To submit your application online, you must access Studenti Online before the deadlines set for the application submission and the requirements.

Admission Requirements

In order to graduate, you must have:

• sat all the exams in your study plan and had them recorded, including thesis project and internship for the preparation of the final examination;
• paid all tuition fees;
• uploaded the dissertation in pdf format on Studenti Online. The dissertation can be uploaded multiple times, until the requirements deadline expires. When uploading the dissertation, the system will ask you to enter some key words and a brief abstract;
• compiled the Alma Laurea questionnaire on Studenti Online.

The Student Administration Office will verify all requirements and will contact you if there are any issues, to allow you to regularise your position before the final examination.

The graduation application is valid for just one graduation session. If you graduate in a later session, you will have to re-submit your graduation application and pay only the duty stamp. 

Deadlines

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 (deadlines below).

Final examination information will be available on Studenti Online. The website will provide information on the date, time, venue and Members of the Examination Board.