Bachelor's Degree Final Project
Code: 106842Credits: 12
| Degree programme | Type | Course |
|---|---|---|
| Nanoscience and Nanotechnology | TFE | 4 |
Contact lecturer
- Name :
- Alberto Quintana Puebla
- Email :
- alberto.quintana@uab.cat
Group languages
You can consult this information at the end of the document.
Prerequisites
To be eligible to enrol in this course, students must have successfully completed at least two-thirds of the total ECTS credits required for the degree programme (i.e., 160 ECTS credits).
In addition, students must have successfully completed all the credits corresponding to the first two years of the curriculum.
The enrolment periods will be established by the Academic Office of the Faculty of Science.
Objectives
The objective of the Final Degree Project is to deepen, apply, and effectively communicate the knowledge acquired throughout the Bachelor's Degree in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.
The Final Degree Project consists of the completion by the student of an original project, report, or study under the supervision of a tutor, integrating and developing the knowledge, skills, competencies, and abilities acquired during the degree programme.
The scope and level of the project must correspond to the knowledge and competencies expected of a graduate:
- The student must carry out an individual project.
- Projects may be co-supervised by a maximum of two members of the UAB teaching and research staff, one of whom shall act as the academic tutor. If the project is carried out at an institution external to the UAB, it may have up to two supervisors from the host institution, and a member of the UAB academic staff must act as the academic tutor.
In addition, students must demonstrate the ability to:
- Adapt to new situations.
- Apply the fundamental concepts, principles, theories, and facts related to nanoscience and nanotechnology to solve quantitative and qualitative problems in the field.
- Apply ethical principles and legal regulations within the framework of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
- Learn autonomously.
- Communicate clearly in English.
- Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing, in their native language.
- Demonstrate initiative and an entrepreneurial mindset.
- Demonstrate a commitment to quality.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental concepts, principles, theories, and facts related to nanoscience and nanotechnology.
- Carry out synthesis, characterization, and materials property studies at the nanoscale using previously established procedures.
- Manage the organization and planning of tasks.
- Interpret data obtained through experimental measurements, including the use of computer tools, identify their significance, and relate them to the appropriate chemical, physical, or biological theories.
- Handle the standard instruments and materials used in physical, chemical, and biological laboratories for the study and analysis of nanoscale phenomena.
- Maintain an ethical commitment.
- Demonstrate awareness of environmental issues.
- Obtain, manage, analyse, synthesise, and present information, including the use of digital and online tools.
- Work with an appropriate degree of autonomy.
- Propose creative ideas and solutions.
- Think critically.
- Recognise terminology related to physics, chemistry, biology, nanoscience, and nanotechnology in English, and use English effectively, both orally and in writing, in professional contexts.
- Recognise and analyse physical, chemical, and biological problems in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology, and propose appropriate solutions or research approaches, including, where necessary, the use of bibliographic sources.
- Solve problems and make decisions.
- Work effectively as part of a team and foster positive interpersonal working relationships.
Learning outcomes
- CM35 (Use digital tools and documentary sources to obtain, analyse and present information in professional settings and to specialised audiences.) Use digital tools and documentary sources to obtain, analyse and present information in professional settings and to specialised audiences.
- CM36 (Demonstrate a proactive attitude, planning skills and autonomy when working in professional settings, and demonstrate a commitment to quality.) Demonstrate a proactive attitude, planning skills and autonomy when working in professional settings, and demonstrate a commitment to quality.
- CM37 (Show respect for fellow colleagues, diverse cultures and opinions, as well as democratic values.) Show respect for fellow colleagues, diverse cultures and opinions, as well as democratic values.
- CM38 (Analyse the social, economic and environmental impact of both research and technological development in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology.) Analyse the social, economic and environmental impact of both research and technological development in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
- KM57 (Use basic tools to describe, analyse and communicate nanotechnology projects.) Use basic tools to describe, analyse and communicate nanotechnology projects.
- SM51 (Apply scientific, technological and social knowledge when studying problems related to nanoscience and nanotechnology.) Apply scientific, technological and social knowledge when studying problems related to nanoscience and nanotechnology.
- SM52 (Handle standard instruments and materials used in physical, chemical and biological testing laboratories in order to study and analyse phenomena at the nanoscale.) Handle standard instruments and materials used in physical, chemical and biological testing laboratories in order to study and analyse phenomena at the nanoscale.
- SM53 (Communicate information in a clear, explanatory and synthetic way in professional fields.) Communicate information in a clear, explanatory and synthetic way in professional fields.
Contents
Each student shall complete the Final Degree Project (FDP) under the supervision of one or two supervisors, at least one of whom shall act as the academic tutor for administrative and assessment purposes. For projects carried out at institutions external to the UAB, there may be up to two supervisors from the host institution, in addition to the UAB academic tutor. The course will also have a dedicated Virtual Campus site where all information related to the Final Degree Project will be made available (e.g. allocation of project proposals, guidelines for preparing the written report, etc.).
The Final Degree Project must be completed individually.
Once the project topic has been defined, the supervisor(s) and the student shall agree on the project's development plan. The supervisor(s) shall provide access to the basic documentation required for its completion. The expected duration of the project is one semester.
Projects may also be carried out in institutions or companies external to the UAB or within the framework of student mobility programmes. In such cases, the conditions of the collaboration must be specified, and the co-supervisor at the host institution must undertake to monitor the student's progress. A second academic tutor from among the UAB teaching staff shall then be appointed. In all cases, the Final Degree Project will be assessed at the UAB.
Students may choose the topic of their Final Degree Project in one of two ways:
- From a list of topics proposed by academic staff and/or researchers. Each proposal shall include, at a minimum, a provisional title, objectives, a brief description of the work to be carried out, and the supervisor's contact details.
- On the student's own initiative, provided that the proposed topic is agreed upon with a member of the academic staff and/or a researcher.
The possible types of Final Degree Projects are listed below:
a. Outreach or Educational Project: This type of project consists of the preparation of a scientific outreach document on a topic of social interest aimed at the general public or at students in pre-university educational levels, or the design of an educational activity or demonstration illustrating a scientific or technological concept. The document should be written in a formal yet accessible style and must include, at a minimum, the following sections:
- Title and author
- Brief description of the topic
- Social, educational, or outreach relevance
- Field(s) of application
- Expected benefits or improvements
- References
b. Experimental Research Project: This type of project consists of conducting a research project in a basic or applied research laboratory within a university department or a public research centre. The report must include, at a minimum, the following sections:
- Title and author
- Background
- Initial hypothesis and objectives
- Materials and Methods
- Expected results
- Dissemination plan
- References
c. Industrial Project: This type of project consists of developing a proposal to address a specific industrial problem. The report must include, at a minimum, the following sections:
- Title and author
- Description of the problem
- Objectives
- Materials and Methods
- Description of the proposed solution
- References
d. Technical, Ethical, or Legal Project: This type of project is intended for work addressing issues related to industrial or environmental regulations, ethical aspects of professional practice or scientific experimentation, the sociological impact of science in a particular field, or similar topics. The format and structure of this type of project shall be agreed upon with the academic tutor, although it will generally follow the guidelines established for the other project types.
e. Independent Project: Students may submit a written proposal for a specific project topic to the course coordinator, providing a clear justification for the proposal. The course coordinator shall decide whether to accept or reject the proposal and, if accepted, shall appoint an academic tutor. The project must include, at a minimum, the following sections:
- Title and author
- Description of the topic
- Objectives
- Project development
- Results and conclusions
- References
Materials to be submitted: written report, portfolio, and presentation poster.
Regardless of the project type, Final Degree Projects may be carried out at institutions or companies external to the UAB or within the framework of student mobility programmes. In such cases, the terms of the collaboration must be clearly specified, and a UAB academic tutor must be appointed. For projects undertaken as part of a mobility programme, the academic tutor shall be appointed by the Final Degree Project Coordination Committee. For projects carried out at other external institutions or in UAB departments that are not involved in teaching on the Bachelor's Degree programme, the academic tutor shall likewise be appointed by the Final Degree Project Coordination Committee.
Final Degree Project Proposal and Allocation
Project Proposals
Before the beginning of each academic year, the Final Degree Project Coordination Committee will invite eligible academic staff to submit project proposals. Each proposal must include the name of the proposed academic tutor, the project title, and the project type(s) under which it may be classified (more than one category may be specified).
Academic staff submitting project proposals will act as project tutors and will also serve on the assessment committees.
Within the established deadlines, students may also submit a reasoned and justified proposal for a Final Degree Project different from those offered by the academic staff (an Independent Project) to the course coordination team.
The coordination team shall decide whether to accept or reject the proposal and, if accepted, shall appoint an academic tutor in consultation with the student.
Publication of Project Proposals
Once the academic year has commenced, the Final Degree Project Coordination Committee will publish the list of approved project proposals on the course Virtual Campus. This list shall remain valid throughout the academic year.
Project Applications
Students shall apply for a project by completing the application form available on the course Virtual Campus and submitting it through the designated online submission platform.
In this application, students must indicate, in order of preference, up to five projects from the published list. Alternatively, they may indicate a previously approved Independent Project proposal or the name of the host company or exchange university where the project will be carried out.
Project Allocation
The Final Degree Project Coordination Committee will allocate projects taking into account both the students' order of preference and their academic records.
The allocation results will be published on the course Virtual Campus. Shortly afterwards, a second allocation round will be conducted for students who were not assigned a project in the initial allocation.
Timeline: Enrolment and Project Allocation
The timetable for project proposals and allocation (first and second allocation rounds) is as follows:
- Submission of project proposals by academic tutors: June–July of the previous academic year
- Publication of project proposals: September
- Submission of Independent Project proposals: until the end of the first semester
- Submission of project applications: September/October
- Publication of project allocations: September/October
Students can complete the Final Degree Project within a single semester and are entitled to only one assessment opportunity: the February assessment period for students undertaking the project during the first semester, and the July assessment period for those undertaking it during the second semester. However, if agreed with supervisors, the project can be extended all over the academic year.
Students may change their allocated group by notifying the course coordination team sufficiently in advance.
Learning activities and methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preparation and drafting of the report | 84 | 3.36 | CM35, CM36, CM37, CM38, KM57, SM51, SM53 |
| Bibliography search | 30 | 1.2 | CM35, CM36, CM38, KM57, SM51, SM53 |
| Mentorship | 45 | 1.8 | CM35, CM37, SM51, SM53 |
| Project development | 135 | 5.4 | CM35, CM36, CM37, SM51, SM52 |
Use of AI
In this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for academic support tasks, such as literature or information searches, text proofreading, or translation. Students must clearly identify any parts generated using these technologies, specify the tools employed, and include a critical reflection on how they influenced both the process and the final outcome of the assignment. Failure to disclose the use of AI in this assessed activity will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in a partial or full deduction of the assignment grade, or more severe disciplinary sanctions in serious cases.
Assessment
Continuous assessment activities
| Title | Weight | Hours | ECTS | Learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral defense of the research work | 60% | 1 | 0.04 | CM35, CM36, CM37, CM38, KM57, SM51, SM53 |
| Monitoring of the research work | 40% | 5 | 0.2 | CM35, CM36, CM37, CM38, KM57, SM51, SM52, SM53 |
Assessment
The assessment of each student's Final Degree Project (FDP) will be carried out jointly by the academic tutor and the assessment committee.
The assessment of the project will be based on a written report and an oral presentation, both of which will be evaluated by the assessment committee. In addition, the project tutor shall submit a brief assessment to the Course Coordinator using the evaluation form provided.
Students must submit a written report with a maximum length of 30 pages (excluding the cover page, back cover, acknowledgements, and appendices). The report must be submitted through the assignment submission tool available on the Virtual Campus.
The deadline for submitting the written report will be approximately three weeks before the official deadline for submitting final grades for the corresponding assessment period (February, June–July, or September).
The oral presentation, which will normally take place approximately two weeks after submission of the written report, shall have a maximum duration of 15 minutes, followed by a question-and-answer session with the assessment committee lasting up to 35 minutes.
Both the written report and the oral presentation may be completed in Catalan, Spanish, or English. The language used for the written report does not need to coincide with that used for the oral presentation.
For each assessment period, the timetable for the oral presentations will be prepared by the FDP Coordination and published on the course Virtual Campus at least one week in advance.
The assessment will consider the content of the project, the methodology employed, the quality of the presentation, the responses to the questions raised by the assessment committee, and, more generally, the level of maturity and competence achieved by the student in the field of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.
The tutor's assessment will account for 40% of the final course grade.
Based on the evaluation of the written reports and oral presentations, the assessment committees will assess the transversal competencies acquired, the content, approach, development and degree of difficulty of the project, as well as the quality of the written report, the oral presentation and the defence. Each committee will complete an assessment report, following, where appropriate, the rubric prepared by the FDP Coordination. This report shall include a grade for the written report and a grade for the oral defence, each accounting for 30% of the final course grade. In order for the tutor's assessment to be averaged with the report and oral defence grades, the average of the latter two must be 5.0 or higher.
Based on the grades awarded by the tutors and the assessment committees, the FDP Coordination will calculate the final course grade and publish it on the Virtual Campus. In addition, it will select a number of the highest-ranked projects for the award of Honours Distinction (Matrícula de Honor). Where necessary, individual interviews may be conducted with candidates for this distinction.
Students who fail to meet the minimum requirements regarding project supervision and progress will not pass the course and will receive the grade "Not Assessed".
Students who complete the required supervision process and provide evidence of progress but fail to submit the written report by the established deadline, fail to attend the oral defence, or whose performance is deemed unsatisfactory, will receive a Fail grade.
Any confirmed case of plagiarism will also result in an automatic Fail for the Final Degree Project. In any of these situations, students will be required to enrol again in the course and complete, or where appropriate restart, the Final Degree Project process.
For projects subject to confidentiality or data protection requirements, students must inform the FDP Coordination of the need to sign confidentiality or non-disclosure agreements concerning the information contained in the project.
Plagiarism
The following actions are considered plagiarism (http://www.plagiarism.org/):
- Submitting another person's work as one's own.
- Using another author's words or ideas without proper acknowledgement (i.e. without citation).
- Failing to use quotation marks when reproducing a literal quotation.
- Providing incorrect information regarding the original source of a quotation.
- Paraphrasing a source without acknowledging it (i.e. without citation).
- Excessive paraphrasing, even when the original source is cited.
Each FDP tutor will schedule an initial meeting with all of their supervised students to establish the project monitoring schedule. This schedule will specify a minimum number of individual meetings covering the following topics:
- Preparation of the project monitoring schedule.
- Preparation of a state-of-the-art review of the selected topic.
- Definition of the objectives of the Final Degree Project and preparation of the project timeline.
- Discussion of the results obtained and preparation of the outline of the Final Degree Project report.
- Discussion of the draft version of the Final Degree Project report.
Bibliography
There is no specific biblography
Software
Does not apply
Course groups and languages
The information provided is provisional until November 30. After this date, you will be able to consult the language of each group through this link. To access the information, you will need to enter the course CODE
| Type of teaching | Group | Language | Semester | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (TFG) Treball de fi de grau | 99 | Catalan | Undefined | morning-mixed |