Final examination: procedures and deadlines

The final examination consists in writing a dissertation on a subject pertinent to your studies, originally elaborated, under the guidance of a supervisor. The dissertation will be discussed publicly during a specific final examination session in front of a Committee.
The Committee will assess your performance according to 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.

Graduation requirements and application

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

Graduation applications require the payment of €32.00 in stamp duty (imposta di bollo), valid for the entire academic year.  The payment slip is generated automatically at the end of the online application procedure and can be downloaded from “studenti on-line" ​under “TAX SITUATION”. Payment Method. online with credit card, or at any Unicredit branch, upon presentation of the payment ​code.

Applications submitted after the ordinary deadline but within the final cut-off date must be submitted with a €100.00 late fee.

Should you miss to graduate for the declared session, you should inform the Students administrative office, and apply anew for another session. In that case:

1. if the next session is within the same academic year, you do not have to pay any amount for the new application;
2. if the next session is during the following academic year, you must pay € 16.00 for the renewal of the application for graduation.

Fulfilment of the requirements

In order to graduate, you must:

• have completed all exams in your study plan and have them recorded. Please check on AlmaEsami (Self-certification online) that your exams and credits have been registered. 
• paid all tuition fees;
• upload the file of your thesis on antiplagiarism program (see instruction in attachments .pdf file)
• 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;
• Fill in the Almalaurea questionnaire or submit your request for the exemption with the attached exemption form (to be requested at the Students' Office).

Online application form "Graduation":

• Teaching activities: specify the topic according to the content of the thesis/dissertation;

• Title of the final thesis/dissertation. Important: the title in the form must be the same as the one in the file uploaded online;

• Abstract: short abstract of the content (max 6000 words);

• Keywords: list of words that identify the main topic;

• Language: language used to write the thesis/dissertation;

• File: "browse" to select and upload the final thesis/dissertation in .pdf format ( max 30 MB)

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

GPA and defense schedule

The GPA  will be available on this page (see Attachments) no earlier than the week before graduation session.

The Graduation Committee, the schedule of the defense and the list of graduating students will be available online about two weeks before the defense date (see Attachments).

Winter graduation session (March)

Students expecting to graduate by the ​Winter session do not have to pay the fees for current academic year.

• In case payment has been provided (although not necessary), and the student graduates within the winter session, reimbursement will be refunded automatically, but the duty stamp. In this case the  enrolment in the new academic year will be cancelled. To request the refund of regional taxes, the student must contact the Regional Authority for the Right to Higher Education (ER.GO) directly.
• In case payment for the current accademic year (started in October) has not been provided, as the student ​planned to graduate within the winter session (by March), but for any reason, fails to do so, the student will have to pay the full amount of the tuition fees for the current academic year, plus the extra fees for the delay, before registering for any activities, graduation procedure included. 

Graduation ceremony 

The proclamation and announcement of the final grade will take place (immediately after the discussion). The President (or a delegate) will proceed with the proclamation for each candidate.

Graduation certificate is available online under “autocertificazioni online” a few days after the declaration, while the parchment (pergamena - the original handwritten diploma) will be sent to the correspondence address (domicile or residence) registered on Studenti Online. All students are invited to carefully check the address used in the graduation application and, if necessary, amend it. Any errors could cause serious delays in delivery.

The certificates will be sent at the expense of the University, following notice to your university e-mail address, within four months from the final date of the graduation session in which the degree was obtained. In any case, it is possible to obtain a degree certificate even a few days after the final examination. 

Rules of Conduct

When the final examinations take place, candidates and guests must comply with the following rules of conduct.

• Arrive on time at the scheduled venue;
• Wait for their turn, without causing disruption to any other teaching activities;
• Do not sand in the indoor area after the proclamation;
• Celebrations must take place outside avoiding excesses and maintaining a sober and appropriate behaviour.

Littering (indoor and outdoor spaces) with food, drinks and confetti is strictly forbidden.  In the event of disturbances, the President of the Examination Board is authorised to suspend the session.

FAQs

For any doubts, check the FAQ on Unibo website.

Deadlines and graduation agenda 

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

Academic year 2023/2024

1. Online application (Graduation): Students can sit and register exams until the deadline stated in the fourth column (graduation requirements)

2. Belated deadline for online application (payment of late application to the final dissertation € 100)

3. Antiplagiarism check & Online Thesis upload

4. Supervisor approval & graduation Requirements  

5. Final examination date