University of Barcelona

Medieval Cultures

Final project

General description

The Final Project is a research project with a key function in the course syllabus. Students should use the project to demonstrate their research skills and the capacity to work independently, applying the competences acquired during the course, integrating new skills specifically related to the research project, and extending the knowledge acquired in other subjects. The Final Project also provides students with an opportunity to work with research groups to which the master’s degree teaching staff are affiliated.

The work should be compatible with one of the research areas covered by a department involved in the master’s degree, and the project will be supervised by a PhD holder from the teaching staff.

Students must complete a research project configured either as a piece of original research or as a series of critical readings of recent research results.

The tutor will provide advice and guidance on theoretical and methodological aspects of the project, recommend references, and monitor the format of the final document. To ensure the quality of the work and receive approval to proceed to the presentation, students must follow the advice and recommendations of the tutor during the preparation of the project and submit a completed copy as early possible so that any changes required can be made before the defence.

The Final Project is an original research assignment, which must not have been previously submitted as part of another master’s degree at the UB or any other academic institution. It should be presented following the general structure of a standard research paper: introduction, state of the art, methodology, methods and results, conclusions, and references.

As a general rule, the project should have a length of 150,000-200,000 characters, excluding references and any annexes or appendices. However, changes may be permitted by the supervisor if deemed necessary.
Students will complete the project under the guidance of a tutor, assigned by the master’s degree committee before the start of the academic year.

UB guidelines

Presentations will be scheduled in January (full-time students) or June (part-time students). Students who present their work in the first examination period must submit the presentation on 15 January; for the second examination period, presentations must be submitted on 15 June

Students who do not obtain a pass mark in the first examination period or do not present their project will be entitled to repeat assessment. Students who present their work in the first examination period must submit the presentation on 15 June; for the second examination period, presentations must be submitted on 10 September.

Deadlines for submission

  Standard assessment   Repeat assessment
First examination period (Q1) 15 January   15 June
Second examination period (Q2) 15 June   10 September

If the deadline falls on a public holiday, it will be extended to the next working day.

Students must submit four paper copies and one electronic copy to the Secretary’s Office. They must also submit a summary to the master’s degree coordinator.

The coordination committee of the master’s degree appoints the assessment committees for final project presentations each academic year. It also publishes a list of the assessment sessions, which shows the date and time of each session and the order of presentation of the final projects.

Each assessment committee is formed by three PhD holders, and may not include the tutor of any student scheduled to present their project.

Before the public presentation and defence, the tutor must send a brief assessment report to the chair of the assessment committee, who will expressly authorize the student to present their project.

The assessment committees meet during the first fortnight of February and the second fortnight of June of the academic year. For repeat assessment in the second examination period, the assessment committees will meet in the final week of September and first week of October.

Projects are presented in a public session, during which students will explain the results of their research to the assessment committee (approximately 20 minutes). They may also be asked questions about their work.

The final grade is awarded on the basis of the research project itself and the presentation given to the assessment committee. The tutor’s report will also be taken into consideration.

The final grade is given to each student at the end of the public session.

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