Massimiliano Garagnani

Guidelines for undertaking a THESIS / FINAL PROJECT

Timeline and Deadlines

Careful, realistic planning of the work is essential (see below) -- avoid leaving everything until the last minute.

Master's thesis ("Tesi di laurea Magistrale"):

A Master's thesis requires carrying out a genuine research project that contains elements of novelty/originality. The project must be developed independently by the student under the guidance of a supervisor. The research topic must be agreed with the supervisor at least one year before the final submission deadline. To allow sufficient time to review the work and provide feedback,

• the first chapter (Literature Review) must be written and sent to the supervisor at least six months before the final submission deadline;
• the two main chapters ("Methods" & "Results") should be sent to the supervisor at least three months in advance of the deadline;
• a first draft of the complete thesis (including the above plus the "Introduction" and "Discussion" chapters) must be sent to the supervisor at least two months in advance of the final submission deadline.
• Thesis length: at least 120 standard A4 pages (see below for details on the exact format).

Bachelor's thesis ("Tesi di laurea Triennale"):

A Bachelor's thesis consists of a critical essay, adequately argued and well-documented, on a specific problem/topic. The thesis topic must be agreed with the supervisor at least six months in advance of the final submission deadline. To allow the supervisor sufficient time to review the work and provide feedback,

• the first chapter of the thesis, containing the "Results" of the work -- a critical summary and classification of the literature identified via the systematic Review -- must be received by the supervisor at least three months before the final submission deadline;
  
• a preliminary but complete thesis draft (including an "Introduction","Methods", "Results" and "Discussion" chapters) must be sent to the supervisor at least one month in advance of the final submission deadline;
• Thesis length: between 30 and 50 standard A4 pages (see below for details on the exact format).

BOTH (Master's AND Bachelor's theses):

• Thesis format: a standard A4 page ("cartella") consists of (approx.) 2,000 characters (including spaces); font: Times New Roman or Arial; font size: 12–13 pt (10 pt for footnotes); margins: 2.5 cm on all sides; line spacing: 1.5.
• The thesis must be uploaded in PDF format by the deadline established by the University Administration. The uploaded version must be the final version, and no changes will be permitted after the submission deadline.
• Students cannot "disappear" for months and then reappear only a few weeks before the final submission deadline expecting to graduate.
• Students should bear in mind that the relationship between supervisor and thesis students is inevitably asymmetrical: one supervisor is responsible for many students. This unavoidable workload inevitably affects the time required to review submitted material, particularly in the period that precedes official submission deadlines.

IMPORTANT:

• Students who do not adhere strictly to the deadlines outlined above will be required to defend their thesis in the following graduation session;
• Students who disappear for months and then reappear only a few weeks before the submission deadline (perhaps contacting the supervisor only by email) will required to defend their thesis in the following graduation session;
• Students who submit any part of their thesis, however brief, only shortly before the deadline for uploading the final PDF will be required to defend their thesis in the following graduation session.

Implementation

The following provides an indicative framework for carrying out the project and writing up the thesis -- each step must be carried out in close consultation with the supervisor:

1. Defining the thesis (or research) topic.
2. Identifying and reading the relevant literature (and, for Master's project theses: familiarizing with the software / computational model).
3. (for Master's theses:) Writing up the "Literature Review" chapter; (for BA's theses:) Identifying the criteria of inclusion for the systematic review.
4. Conducting the research (for Master's theses: running the computational simulations).
5. Collecting the data and analysing them critically and systematically.
6. Producing a preliminary draft of the Results:

• (BA's theses): critical summary and classification of the literature identified via the systematic review;
• (MA's theses): analysis (statistical, if appropriate) of the simulation results.

7. Writing up the "Methods" chapter and sending it to the supervisor, along with the "Results".
8. Writing up the "Introduction" and "Discussion" chapters and sending a complete thesis draft to the supervisor, strictly in line with the above deadlines.
9. Carrying out a final revision of the thesis (taking into account the supervisor's feedback) and submitting it.