Choosing the subject and the rules on preparing the dissertation for the final examination.
To graduate, you must propose a dissertation subject to a teacher within your Degree Programme (supervising professor) , who will assess the validity of your proposal in relation to your study plan.
Information about the thesis supervisor and the topic of the final examination is contained in the teaching regulations art. 12 Final examination methods
The choice of the topic and the supervisor must be planned well in advance (several months) of the planned graduation date.
The final examination consists in writing a dissertation on a subject pertinent to your studies, elaborated in an original way, under the guidance of a supervising professor. 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.
If your supervisor does not provide you with specific recommendations, the suggested length of the empirical dissertation is 4000 words, while for the review-based dissertation it is around 8000 words.
The preferred typeface is Times New Roman, with a font size of 12 or 13 (10 for footnotes).
The page should be laid out with all margins set to 2.5 cm.
Lines should be double spaced on A4 paper with new paragraph beginning after an empty line.
Quotes of more than 40 words should be blocked, indented, single-spaced, with no quotation marks; whereas, quotes of less than one sentence should be non-indented, double-spaced, with quotation marks at the beginning and end. All quotes must be referenced.
Numbers should be written in text when less than 3 figures long or when beginning a sentence. Figures should be used for decimals or percentages. The word ‘percent’ should be written except in tables or charts.
Page numbers should be centred bottom margin. Preliminary matter should appear with page numbers represented by Roman numerals. General text, Bibliography and Appendices should appear with page numbers represented by Arabic numerals.
Should only be used for amplification, when discussion is required but would interrupt the development of the argument in the main text.
A raised Arabic numeral should be placed in the text to identify the footnote. The footnotes should be single spaced in paragraph form, with double spacing between footnotes. Footnotes should be numbered consecutively from 1 throughout each chapter.
Foror more details see the handbook Guidelines for final thesis in the highlights box
The title page should be prepared in accordance with the fac simile in the annex;
The use of the Unibo logo is strictly forbidden in the title page and in any part of the paper.
The Board will assess the candidate's overall performance – dissertation, curriculum, time taken to complete their studies, transfers from another University or another programme – applying specific rules for each Degree Programme.
The Board expresses its assessment with a grade out of one hundred and ten. The exam is deemed to be passed with a minimum grade of 66/110 and a maximum grade of 110/110. In the case of granting a maximum grade, the Board may also grant honours (lode) by unanimous decision.
See the information on how to calculate the average score based on your study programme
The criteria to assess dissertations are:
The interview will last 10-15 minutes. The Final Examination Board, having taken into consideration the dissertation discussion and your curriculum, will decide the final grade, which will be proclaimed after the discussion (or published on the last day of the Graduation Session on Studenti Online).
The Board can add up to 8 points to the average score .
The Commission, in the case of the highest grade (110/110), may grant honors upon unanimous decision, to the candidate who obtains the highest mark added to the average of the grades and where the thesis presents aspects of particular quality or originality.
For more details see the handbook Guidelines for final thesis in the highlights box.
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