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Università degli Studi di Parma Università degli Studi di Parma
Degree course in
Humanities
Università degli Studi di Parma
Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries

Thesis/Final examination

The final examination consists of a public discussion, before a committee, of a thesis agreed upon by the student and a supervisor. The thesis consists of a written paper on a topic chosen from a teaching subject related to the Degree Course.
Specific information is published in the Course Regulations.

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Characteristics of the final test

The final examination is aimed at demonstrating the acquisition, at the end of the curriculum, of an autonomous critical and argumentative capacity and familiarity with research tools and specialist vocabulary in the field of one of the course units in the Degree course.
The test consists of a public discussion of a written paper prepared independently by the student on a topic relevant to a discipline forming part of the course curriculum. The topic is agreed, well in advance, with the teacher in charge of the discipline, who acts as supervisor. Subject to adequate justification, and subject to the exceptional authorisation of the Course Council, it is possible to take the final examination in a course unit of another course of study incardinated in the Department.
Consistent with the number of ECTS credits allocated to the final examination by the course syllabus (6 ECTS credits), the topic of the paper will be relatively circumscribed and its size must be contained (in any case not less than 10,000 words, excluding index and bibliography). Drafting rules and guidance on the approach are provided by the rapporteur.
For further information, we recommend consulting the Course Regulations. It is also possible to contact the tutoring service

Final Discussion

The discussion of the final examination will take place before a Committee appointed by the Director of the Department and composed of at least five members, the majority of whom are faculty members. The President of the Commission is chosen from among the faculty members, with preference given to the Director of the Department, the President of the Course Council or the first or second-ranking professor with the most seniority. It is up to the President of the Commission to ensure that the work is carried out properly and that the final assessments adhere to the general criteria laid down by the Course Council, including checking the uniformity of the assessments.


The final grade is expressed in hundredths. The examination is passed if at least sixty-six out of one hundred and ten points are obtained. Honours, if any, are awarded unanimously. The Graduation Committee will make an overall assessment of the candidate's preparation, taking into account the results of his or her entire university career and whether or not he or she has completed the course of studies by the deadline. The final grade is determined on the basis of the weighted average of the grades obtained in the course units, to which up to 5 points may be added.


It is also assessed by the committee, with 1 point awarded for the achievement of a minimum of 12 ECTS credits during periods of residence abroad with the Erasmus+ programme or through other student mobility opportunities for study purposes (SMS, Overworld), or a minimum of 9 ECTS credits during periods of residence abroad with the Erasmus+ SMT programme or through other student mobility opportunities for internship purposes.

Average calculation

Students can view their arithmetic and weighted average calculation via the ESSE3 system (section 'career' > 'examinations'). 

Digital literacy - Infodocpass (Bibliopatente)

The University of Parma offers an online digital literacy course called Infodocpass.

The course is very useful in relation to both the study and in-depth study of the content of the course units and the preparation of the dissertation. The aim of the activities is to facilitate an informed use of the Internet in relation to how to retrieve information and documents, web tools for bibliographic research, and the organization of data in the cloud.
The course is structured in three modules:

  • Infopatent (searching for information online);
  • Bibliopatent (the basics of document research);
  • Bibliopatent2 (document research for the humanities thesis).

Please find below a short video presentation.