Award of Degrees

The final examination for a bachelor’s or master’s degree involves the defence of a piece of research (dissertation) on one or more course subjects, written under the guidance of a supervisor.

The topic of the dissertation is determined by the lecturer but may be proposed by the student on their own initiative, taking into account any themes suggested by the lecturer on the teaching page. This is without prejudice to the lecturer’s right to specify a different topic.

Following the student’s request, which must be made well in advance, the assignment of the dissertation by the supervisor must take place at least six months before the graduation session in which the final examination is to take place. The dissertation assignment request by the student and the assignment by the supervisor must be made exclusively through the appropriate online procedure in the
Admin Area.

The student may not graduate before the deadline stipulated in relation to the ordinary duration of their degree programme. Should the student, subject to authorisation by the Rector, be permitted to defend their degree in advance of the normal duration of the programme, they will in any case be required (even if they do not enrol in the final year) to pay the tuition fees for the final year in full. If the student does not succeed in obtaining the degree by the end of the first graduation session following the deadline for enrolment, they are required to pay the full enrolment fee for the following year.

NB: For master’s degrees and training courses, requests for dissertation assignments must be submitted exclusively with reference to the subjects covered in the relevant course syllabus.

Procedure for the awarding of degrees

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The student must send an assignment request by email to the course lecturer for the subject on which they intend to write their dissertation.

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Following positive confirmation from the lecturer (supervisor), the student must log in to the Admin Area, go to the “Application for award of degree” section, click on “Dissertation assignment request” and enter all the required information.

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The supervisor is notified of the dissertation assignment request by the system via email. The supervisor approves the student’s dissertation assignment request, and the student is then notified by the system via email.

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In agreement with the supervisor, a student who intends to sit the final examination (dissertation defence) to obtain the degree in a given graduation session must book the defence by clicking on the “Proceed with the award of the degree” option visible in the “Application for award of the degree” section of the Admin Area. As soon as the booking has been made, the student must notify their supervisor by email.

NB: The system only accepts bookings made at least 1 month before the opening date of the graduation session.

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In order for the student to be admitted to the defence in the booked session, the student must obtain formal approval of the dissertation from the supervisor in the Admin Area no later than 30 days before the graduation session. To this end, the student must send the dissertation to the supervisor well in advance of the aforementioned deadline, so that the lecturer can assess whether or not to proceed with the approval.

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Following the approval of the dissertation by the supervisor, the student must upload the file containing the final version of the dissertation (final attachment) in the Admin Area by the deadline by selecting the “Submit final attachment” option in the “Application for award of degree” section. The supervisor is automatically notified by the system via email when the file has been uploaded.

NB NB: The file type accepted by the system is pdf/a.

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The final attachment must be uploaded by the student well in advance of the deadline of 15 days before the graduation session, by which time the supervisor must have approved it. The supervisor is automatically notified by the system via email when the student has uploaded the final attachment, and they then approve it no later than 15 days before the graduation session. The student is notified by the system via email when the final attachment has been approved by the supervisor.

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Only after the proper fulfilment of the above procedure, and in particular the approval of the final attachment by the supervisor, does the candidate acquire the right to defend their dissertation in the pre-booked graduation session.

Only graduates who meet all 3 of the following requirements are exempt from paying the enrolment renewal fees:

having completed all the examinations in their degree programme (including elective examinations) by the deadline for enrolment;
graduating within the 1st graduation session following the deadline for enrolment;
being enrolled on the last year of the course (or enrolled outside the course).

Notes

1) Both during the assignment stage and while preparing the dissertation, email contact between the student and the supervisor must be maintained exclusively through the University’s institutional email service.

2) As it is essential that the dissertation is an original work, even if it is a compilation, the manuscripts sent by students to the supervisor are screened through the plagiarism check system made available by the University. By uploading the final attachment to the Admin Area, the dissertation candidate assumes responsibility for the originality of the essay.

Academics