Degree Thesis Regulation

DEGREE THESIS REGULATION: COMPLIANCE AND EVALUATION OF THE FINAL EXAM 

Class LM-42 of the Master’s Degrees – single cycle D.M. 270/2004 

Class 47/S of the Master’s Degrees – D.M. 509/1999 

  

In accordance with the Teaching Regulations, the Degree Thesis is assessed as part of the final exam. 

The Thesis, made up of original work by the student, can be a compilation or experimental. 

The topics of the Degree Thesis can be interdisciplinary. 

 

1) PERSONS INVOLVED 

1.1 – Student. The Student must comply with the provisions of these Regulations regarding the preparation and discussion of the Degree Thesis. They must submit an application for a degree thesis at least 8 months before the graduation session, fulfilling the administrative obligations, as specified at point 2, paragraph 2.1. 

1.2 – Supervisor and Co-supervisor. The supervisor is a figure identified by the Student within the Faculty of the University of Pisa and communicated to the President of the Degree Course Council, indicating their name and qualification in the Degree Thesis application, which indicates the topic of the work. For the preparation of the Degree Thesis, the supervisor and the student can use a co-supervisor, whose name must be indicated in the thesis application. The co-supervisor may belong to another University, including foreign institutions, or be a professional figure outside the University in possession of a degree also of another nationality. If the co-supervisor is a professional figure outside the University, and has never played the role of co-supervisor at the Degree Course in Veterinary Medicine, a teaching/scientific curriculum of the co-supervisor specified must be attached to the thesis application. 

The specific task of the supervisor and co-supervisor is to coordinate the thesis work. On the day of the final exam, the supervisor and any co-supervisor present their opinion on the activity carried out by the student in preparing the thesis (commitment, ability to work individually and skills of criticism). 

1.3 – Examiner. This is a person identified within the teaching staff of the Department of Veterinary Sciences. 

In the application for the Degree Thesis, the supervisor must indicate the name of 1-2 examiners, who may or may not belong to the same Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD) as the supervisor and/or co-supervisor. 

The examiner contributes through an active discussion with the Student and with the supervisor and/or co-supervisor in the development and preparation of the Degree Thesis. At the time of the final exam, after the presentation of the thesis work by the candidate, the examiner expresses their opinion on the work carried out by the Student. 

2) PROCEDURE 

2.1 – Presentation of the thesis application. The application for a Degree Thesis must be submitted at least 8 months before the graduation session. The student must have previously acquired 180 CFUs and have taken the “Computer Science” and “European Community Foreign Language” exams. The student must submit the application for the Degree Thesis to the Teaching Unit of the Department of Veterinary Sciences using the forms available on the Degree Course website: the application must indicate the generic topic of the thesis, the scientific sector within which it will develop, the supervisor and any co-supervisor. The latter must indicate 1-2 examiners. 

The Degree Course Council approves the topic of the thesis, the supervisor and any co-supervisor, and appoints the examiner, chosen from the names suggested or others proposed and/or identified by the Council, in relation to the specific topic of the Degree Thesis, according to the above implementation rules. The Teaching Unit of the Department of Veterinary Sciences communicates with the appointed examiners. 

2.2 – Meeting of persons involved. Within 4 months from the thesis application date, the supervisor summons the student, any co-supervisor and the examiner to discuss the progress of the thesis work. One month before the graduation session, the supervisor calls a further meeting of the persons involved, to evaluate the thesis work. 

2.3 – Thesis structure. On the first page the thesis must contain the title in Italian and in English, a summary in Italian and in English, followed by 5 “keywords”, both in Italian and in English. The student can write the thesis in English or another language, provided that the supervisor, any co-supervisor and the examiner express a favorable opinion. The student must apply for this to the Degree Course Council, attaching the declaration of the supervisors and of the examiner. The discussion of the thesis takes place in Italian. 

2.4 – Electronic theses. The thesis must be submitted exclusively in electronic format (ETD), according to the rules established by the University Regulations in this regard, and published on the website http://etd.adm.unipi.it/. 

2.5 – Thesis authentication. At least 15 calendar days before the date set for the exam, the student must deliver to the University Student Secretariat, together with the university booklet, the electronic title page of the thesis, signed by the supervisor. 

When the supervisor is asked to sign the electronic title page, the thesis must already be in a definitive form or, in a form such as to be considered suitable for discussion in the graduation session. It is therefore advisable that the student, at the time of the signing by the supervisor, shows their work to the supervisor, enabling the content to be verified. 

At least 15 days before the date set for the graduation session, the student must deliver a self-certification (signed by the candidate, the supervisors and the examiner) to the Teaching Unit of the Veterinary Sciences Department stating that the title of the thesis is compliant with the thesis topic approved by the Degree Course Council (forms on the DC website). 

Two days before the graduation session, the student must deliver a hard copy of the thesis to the Teaching Unit of the Department of Veterinary Sciences, for use by the Department’s Central Library. 

2.6 – Change of topic, supervisor, co-supervisor and examiner. Any variation of the topic of the thesis or of the professors involved must be promptly communicated to the President of the Degree Course for activation of the appropriate procedures within the Degree Course Council. 

If the supervisor or co-supervisor is unable to be present on the day of the final exam, they must promptly notify the President of the Degree Course. It is not necessary to replace them as long as at least one of the supervisors is present. 

If the examiner is unable to be present on the day of the thesis, they must promptly notify the supervisor and the President of the Degree Course. The President, by resolution of the Council or using an Emergency Provision, will replace the examiner with the second name indicated in the thesis application or with another person indicated by the supervisor who is deemed suitable by the Degree Course Council. 

3) PROCEDURE FOR THE FINAL EXAMINATION 

3.1 – The President of the final exam Commission is usually the President of the Degree Course, or another Professor, appointed by the Head of the Department on proposal of the President of the Degree Course. 

3.2 – In the single graduation sessions, there may be the need to establish several Commissions. 

3.3 – The number of graduation sessions scheduled in the calendar year, according to the University Teaching Regulations, is a minimum number of 6 and a maximum of 9. 

3.4 – The presentation of the thesis must be completed within a maximum time of 15 minutes. 

3.5 – The thesis discussion, with questions addressed to the student, must last a maximum of 10 minutes. 

3.6 – The time allowed for presentation and discussion must be the same for all candidates and for all graduation sessions, regardless of the number of candidates. 

4) FORMULATION OF THE MARK OF THE FINAL EXAMINATION AND OF THE DEGREE MARK 

The degree mark is made up of the sum of the two scores deriving from the following phases: 

PHASE 1. Evaluation of the thesis 

The criteria that the Graduating Commissioners must take into consideration for the attribution of the score for the final exam are: 

  1. Opinions formulated by the supervisor, by any co-supervisor and by the examiner on the student’s activity during the preparation of the thesis.
  2. Scientific validity of the work.
  3. Presentation skills.
  4. Quality of the presentation support material
  5. Ability to respect presentation times. 

The members of the Commission express their marks of between 0 and 12. 

The mark of the final exam is the arithmetic average of the marks cast. 

PHASE 2. Evaluation of the candidate’s career up to the moment of the presentation of the final exam. 

  1. Average of marks– The Commission takes note of the overall score that the Student has acquired during their career and which results from the printouts provided by the Student Secretariat. For students enrolled in the academic year 2013-14 and subsequent, the calculation of the average of the marks obtained in the exams is obtained from the average of the marks obtained in the individual exams, weighted with respect to the weight in CFU of the same. For those enrolled in previous academic years, the arithmetic (as required by the previous Teaching Regulations) and weighted average will be calculated, and the most favourable to the student will be chosen. 
  2. Career– The President of the Final Exam Commission, before assigning the graduation mark, presents the candidate’s academic career to the Commission, highlighting particular conditions of merit, especially in relation to the length of the university course. 

The final graduation mark derives from the sum of PHASE 1 and PHASE 2 scores. The maximum score that can be attributed is 110/110. If the maximum mark is reached, the Commission, on the proposal of the President, can grant honours, only unanimously. 

5) END OF COURSE QUESTIONNAIRE 

Each graduate student must fill out a statistical questionnaire at the end of the course prepared by the “AlmaLaurea” Interuniversity Consortium. This collects evaluations and judgments regarding the university experience, monitoring the study paths of students and improving the educational offer. This questionnaire is useful for evaluating the course of study since the National Committee for the Evaluation of the University System and the MIUR periodically require the University to deliver information on the performance of graduates. 

At the time of submitting the ETD title page to the University Student Secretariat, the student must hand in the printout of the receipt certifying the completion of the AlmaLaurea questionnaire. 

6) ADDITIONAL RULES 

The final exam must preferably be carried out in the Aula Magna of the Department and the members of the Commission, if they are not provided with a gown by the Central Administration, must be present with suitable clothes for the occasion. 

When filling in the graduation report, the code of the President of the Commission for the final exam must be entered in the “Teacher Code” field. 

  

Approved with resolution no. 10 of the Council of the Degree Course in Veterinary Medicine of 14/12/2017