Thesis/Final examination

The final examination and the internship consist of the dissertation for a total of 30+3 ECTS credits, amounting to 825 hours of activity to be roughly distributed over a period of 6-9 months. The final examination (30 ECTS credits) is combined with an internship (3 ECTS credits internship). The latter is aimed at improving communication and expository skills, the acquisition of the correct techniques for the presentation of the results and the student's scientific journey. The internship consists of the preparation of three seminars: at the beginning (presentation of the thesis project), in the middle (advance seminar on experimental design and methods, in English) and at the end (final seminar presenting the thesis work as a whole). For better teaching effectiveness, it is recommended that the three seminars be conducted at the periods indicated (at the beginning of the thesis period, in the middle and at the end of data collection).
The student acquires the three internship ECTS credits after completing the three thesis seminars. The internship examination is recorded at the end of the third seminar as an aptitude test by the course's internship contact person (Prof. Alessandro Petraglia). The overall assessment of the three seminars also contributes to determining the degree grade up to a maximum of 3 points.

Seminar structure and dates

Seminars last 17 minutes (12 presentation + 5 discussion) and are convened regularly about once a month. The seminar calendar can be found below. The dates of the seminars will be distributed throughout the academic year: generally one month before the various degree sessions. On each date, it will be possible to present any type of seminar. The session will be held if there is at least one registered student. A student may not take more than one seminar on the same date. Until a later date, seminars will be held telematically through the use of Microsoft Teams software. The participation of internal and external speakers and co-speakers in the seminars and discussions is of course welcome. Students are strongly requested to facilitate the participation of external speakers by providing them with connection instructions, dates and times. 
Initial seminar
In the initial seminar, the candidate presents the thesis project. The presentation consists of the state of the art, i.e. a critical analysis of the scientific literature on the subject. The motivations and scientific relevance that led to the development of the proposed topic must emerge from the state of the art, in particular the hypotheses and knowledge that can potentially be acquired and that justify the research. The objectives of the thesis and, briefly, the materials and methods that will be used to achieve the proposed objectives must then be explained. Ideally, the thesis should answer questions and thus one should be able, at least hypothetically, to indicate the meaning of the expected results.
Most of the presentation should be devoted to explaining the state of the art and the hypotheses of the study. When planning the work, one must consider that this seminar is usually the most difficult of the three and that its preparation requires adequate time, a demanding study of at least a few dozen scientific articles on the subject. Some of these articles, those most relevant to the thesis, should be presented in detail in the seminar.
Intermediate Seminar (in English)
The intermediate seminar takes place in English and is mainly devoted to the description of the methodological aspects of the work: illustration of the work plan and experimental design, work schedule, sampling, justification of the sample size used, data analysis and appropriateness of the analyses to be carried out. At this stage, both the scientific rationale and the objectives supporting the methodological choices must be reiterated. First results are also recommended. It is desirable, however, that the presentation of materials and methods be set out critically, clearly highlighting the merits and shortcomings of the methods used, the possible alternatives and the reasons for choosing certain methodologies. It is often useful to also highlight concrete problems encountered in the course of the thesis in order to obtain advice that may prove useful.
Final seminar
- Rehearsal of the final presentation
Due to its nature, it will be held approximately one month before the date of the degree examination in order to allow corrections to be made as a result of the discussion. Having recalled the scientific justification and objectives, most of the time will be devoted to the illustration of the results and their interpretation. In structure, this seminar is similar to a presentation at a congress. The state of the art and illustration of materials and methods are usually kept to a minimum.

Characteristics of the final examination

Characteristics of the final examination
Before the final examination, the student must present, under the guidance of a professor, in three separate seminars, his or her research work in the manner described above (The content of the seminars and a useful outline for writing the thesis paper).
The final examination proper consists of the preparation of an original written paper on an experimental research topic, under the supervision of a professor acting as supervisor, and with the presentation of the paper (thesis) and discussion thereof before a committee composed of professors from the degree course.

Rewards for student representatives on university bodies and organs

At its meetings of 8 April and 6 May 2021, the Council of the Department of Chemistry, Life Sciences and Environmental Sustainability resolved to award the "special mention at graduation for the service provided in support of the functioning of the University Bodies" to students who have participated in the Collegiate Councils listed below, for at least one year of activity and provided that they have guaranteed attendance at least 75% of the meetings (excused absences up to a maximum of 25% of the total number of meetings will also be counted as attendance).
Students must self-certify their participation by sending a communication to the President of the Course of Study when submitting their application for graduation specifying:
-the type of collegiate body
-the time span of the term of office of the representative
-the dates of the meetings in which he/she actually took part,
the Course President, with the assistance of the Quality Assurance Office, will check what has been self-certified and will proceed to inform the President of the Graduation Committee. The administrative services of the Department are mandated to carry out the subsequent and consequent tasks.
N.B. The special mention at graduation for the service offered to support the functioning of the University bodies appears only on the degree certificate (on tax stamps) that the student may request from the Student registry office, while it will not appear on the one that the student can download directly from ESSE3.

University Bodies and Organs:

Academic Senate
Board of Administration
Evaluation Committee
Student Council
University Quality Assurance Committee
Single Guarantee Committee
University Sports Committee
Department Council
Joint Professors' and Students' Committee
Departmental Quality Assurance Committee
Course Council
Review Group