The SIC final paper should be an original written case study, between 80 and 120 pages of 2000 characters (including spaces) each, or a project, or a piece of research on a topic chosen within the Programme’s subjects covered by the course or during a work placement/internship experience.

The thesis must show rigorous methodology and original content as well as students’ familiarity with the subject matter. It should also show good grasp of the programme’s key subjects and an internationally established approach to key issues and their solutions, as well as good spoken and written communication skills.

Students may also agree on a different (non-written) format for their final assignment with the thesis supervisor, who will then establish the exact specifications. Such non-standard theses always need to be submitted with a report of at least 20 pages as annex.

TeTi Project

All Postgraduate Degree Programmes may activate a TeTi (Thesis & Training) project, designed to link students’ learning with practical training, through an internship/work placement experience, which feeds into their dissertation. Students need to agree their thesis topic with their supervisor before the beginning of their work placement to ensure this is consistent with the dissertation topic and may provide further insight on the subject.

As an option, the dissertation can be written in English, usually when the underlying research was carried out in a foreign university during an exchange programme.

Students who plan to write their dissertation within the TeTi project do not need to submit a formal application to the DegreeProgramme Board or Student Office. They simply need to make arrangements with their supervisor on the specific dissertation project linked to the training experience before their internship begins. The supervisor will inform the Graduation Committee of the arrangement, thus enabling the Committee to add the TeTi bonus point when awarding the final mark for the dissertation, as envisaged in the rules of the Degree Programme.

Presenting and discussing the dissertation

Students planning to graduate in a given Graduating Session need to approach their supervisor at least six months in advance.

Students should send the various chapters of the dissertation to the supervisor as soon as they are ready, thus enabling the supervisor to perform an on-going review of the work and possible anti-plagiarism checks. In no case are students allowed to provide supervisors with only the complete and final version of their dissertation.

Students should ensure that they submit the complete dissertation (and any attachment) to the supervisor at least 15 days before uploading it on the Esse3 platform, for a thorough final review.

The actual discussion of the final dissertationfollows the steps illustrated below:

• the supervisor presents the undergraduate student’s dissertation (2-3 minutes)
• the student has a maximum of 10 minutes to present his/her dissertation;
• the supervisor has approximately 5 minutes to comment on the student's dissertationand ask any questions;
• the student has a maximum of 5 minutes to respond to any criticisms and questions from the supervisor.

Editorial standards for dissertations

Social Innovation and Communication students are required to adhere to the following editorial standards when writing their dissertation, unless otherwise indicated by theirsupervisor.

These can be found at the following link: Dissertation editorial standards.pdf

Marking Criteria

The final examination is the discussion of the dissertation, possibly with the aid of multimedia tools, during which the Graduation Committee will assess the suitability and originality of the presentation and its contents. A maximum of 6 points can be awarded in relation to the quality of the work presented and a possible additional bonus point is awarded for early or timely graduations.

Te.Ti projectdissertationmay be awarded a further bonus point.

For further information, students are invited to consult Article 22 of the Postgraduate Degree Regulations at this link

unica.it – Postgraduate degree regulation

Special exam sessions for graduating students

Students who have applied for graduation and are one exam away from completing their Degree Programme may apply for a special exam session reserved for them, subject to the availability of the relevant lecturer.

At least 40 days before the planned graduation session, qualifying students must send a special request via e-mail to the relevant Student Office, to the Co-ordinator of their Degree Programme and, for information, to the dissertation supervisor.

The request must contain the following information:

• First name, surname and Student Number;
• Code and Degree Programme
• Code and name of the examination;
• Name of the dissertationsupervisor.

The request must be accompanied by the dissertation supervisor's statement on the progress of the dissertation (which must be close to completion within the deadline set for its upload).

For further information please consult the corresponding section on the Student Office webpage.