Thesis/Final examination
In order to obtain a Second-cycle Degree, the student must take the Final Examination, which he/she may take after passing the examinations of the course units envisaged in the programme of study and completing the Internship.
The Final Examination consists of the dissertation, which must be submitted to the Course President 15 working days before the graduation session, in electronic format. From this moment on, the procedure outlined below is activated:
- the President sends the file to the Supervisors for each Thesis, who is specially selected by the degree course from among the teaching staff belonging to the Unified Council;
- the Supervisor sends his/her evaluation to the President within 10 working days of receipt;
- the Supervisor's evaluation will be one of the elements that the Degree Committee will take into account when awarding the final mark.
The thesis is sent by the undergraduate student within 5 days of the graduation session: either to the Student registry office (in electronic form); or to the Earth Sciences Library (in electronic form).
The ECTS credits relating to the final examination are separated into 'Research activities in preparation for the final examination' (16 ECTS credits) and 'Final examination' (17 ECTS credits) and are acquired in two distinct stages: the 16 ECTS credits upon presentation of a seminar on laboratory and/or campaign activities aimed at the dissertation (to acquire these ECTS credits, the student must register for the relevant examination dates on ESSE3), the 17 ECTS credits with the discussion of the dissertation before the dissertation committee.
The Final Examination is presented and discussed in public session before a Committee of at least five Professors specifically appointed by the Department Director, at the proposal of the Course President. The announcement is made at the end of the public session by the same Committee mentioned above.
The final examination may be conducted in English; similarly, the degree thesis may be written in English: in this case, the undergraduate student is required to submit a summary in Italian at the same time as the paper in English.
The Degree Committee formulates its judgement taking into account the student's entire course of study, assessing the student's cultural maturity and capacity for personal intellectual elaboration, as well as the quality of the work carried out in the final examination, including the assessment of the Supervisor.
The degree mark is expressed in out of 110 and is derived from the weighted average of the marks obtained in all examinations that have been graded in thirtieths, thus also including the student's free-choice course units. The weight of each grade is the number of ECTS credits of the course to which it relates. The Committee, having heard the thesis supervisor, awards a maximum of 8 points for the Final Examination. The Committee awards 2 bonus points to candidates who graduate within prescribed time for course completion. In accordance with the University Regulations, if the final examination is not passed, the title is not awarded.
Honours may only be awarded by unanimous decision of the Degree Committee at the request of a committee member. In the event that the thesis is of particular merit and the graduating student enters the graduation session with a basic mark of 108/110 or higher, the Degree Committee may also consider awarding a special mention.
There are three graduation sessions per academic year, known as summer, autumn and extraordinary sessions, the dates of which are decided by the Course Council and published on the Degree Course website.
REWARDS FOR STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES ON UNIVERSITY BODIES AND ORGANS 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.
ON-LINE GRADUATE APPLICATION As of 6 October 2020, the new degree application process has been activated.
This procedure also involves, for students enrolled in Degree and Doctorate Courses, compulsory registration on the AlmaLaurea website and filling in the relevant questionnaire.
The graduation application must be completed online at least ONE MONTH before the Graduation Session; the last examination must be recorded at least 10 DAYS before the Graduation Session.
The page with all the information on the new procedure can be found at the following link: https://www.unipr.it/didattica/info-amministrative/domanda-di-laurea
Alma Laurea
Rules of conduct for candidates and their families during graduation sessions (MOD. A/44)
All administrative paperwork is handled by the Student registry office