Master's Thesis Regulations

1. General Provisions

The Master’s Thesis (MT) is intended to ensure that students participate in the design, development, and presentation of the results of a research project.

The MT shall consist of:

• a written dissertation prepared in the format of a scientific article, and
• an oral defense before an Evaluation Committee.

2. Written Dissertation

2.1. Format and Structure

The format of the dissertation may vary depending on the specific characteristics of the project and the institution where it has been carried out. In all cases, it must include the following sections:

• Cover page, including:
• title of the thesis;
• name of the Master’s programme and specialization;
• student’s name;
• name of the supervisor or tutor;
• date of submission;
• name of the department, company, or institution where the work was conducted.
• Authorship and contribution statement, including:
• the date on which the student began work on the project;
• a detailed description of the student’s contribution to the different components of the project.
• Abstract
• Introduction and Objectives
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusions
• References

The dissertation must be written in the format of a scientific manuscript and must follow the editorial guidelines of a journal indexed in the Science Citation Index (SCI) in the fields of Ecology, Animal Biology, or Plant Biology, selected by the student. The name of the selected journal must be explicitly indicated.

2.2. Length

The dissertation may not exceed 8,000 words. This word count includes:

• the abstract;
• the main text;
• references;
• tables;
• figure captions.

The following elements are excluded from the word count:

• the cover page;
• the authorship and contribution statement;
• appendices, if applicable.

2.3. Language

The dissertation may be written in Catalan, Spanish, or English.

However, the dissertation must be written in English if the oral defense is conducted in Catalan or Spanish.

2.4. Submission

The dissertation, signed by the thesis supervision team, must be submitted electronically through the Moodle platform within the deadline established for each academic year.

Dissertations submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.

3. Oral Defense

3.1. Oral Presentation

The oral defense shall consist of a concise presentation of the thesis before the Evaluation Committee, with a maximum duration of 15 minutes.

Following the presentation, the members of the Committee may ask questions and discuss any aspects related to either the written dissertation or the oral presentation.

The oral defense of the Master’s Thesis shall be open to the public.

3.2. Language

The oral defense may be conducted in Catalan, Spanish, or English.

However, the oral defense must be conducted in English if the written dissertation has been submitted in Catalan or Spanish.

Annotation: within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Assessment

1. General Assessment Criteria

The Evaluation Committee shall grade the Master’s Thesis on a scale from 0 to 10, taking into account both the written dissertation (70%) and the oral defense (30%).

2. Specific Assessment Criteria

The final grade shall be based on the following aspects:

2.1. Written Dissertation

a) Formal and expressive quality

• Appropriate use of scientific and technical language.
• Syntactic, grammatical, and orthographic accuracy.
• Formal quality of the document (tables, figures, references, etc.).
• Compliance with the required format and length.

b) Scientific quality of the content

• Clarity and coherence of the conceptual framework.
• Appropriateness of the methodology used.
• Clear and concise presentation of the results.
• Capacity for analysis, discussion, and interpretation of the results.

2.2. Oral Defense

• Clarity, conciseness, and rigor of the oral presentation.
• Quality of the audiovisual presentation.
• Compliance with the established time limit.
• Ability to respond to questions posed by the Evaluation Committee.

3. Academic Integrity and Misconduct

If any form of plagiarism or other equivalent academic misconduct is detected in advance, the thesis supervision team and the student shall be informed, and the oral defense of the Master’s Thesis may be prevented.

Any irregularity committed in an assessment activity —including academic fraud, plagiarism, or the unauthorized use of artificial intelligence tools— that may lead to a significant alteration of the assessment result shall entail a grade of 0 for the corresponding assessment activity.

In addition, disciplinary proceedings may be initiated against any student involved in such misconduct.

4. Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

In this course, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools is permitted solely as support for specific tasks, such as:

• bibliographic and documentary searches;
• linguistic revision and text correction;
• translation or improvement of writing;
• information organization;
• technical support for data analysis, programming, or statistical processing, where appropriate.

The use of AI tools may not, under any circumstances, replace the student’s own intellectual authorship, critical analysis, or scientific interpretation.

Students must clearly and explicitly identify any use of AI tools in the preparation of the Master’s Thesis, specifying:

• the tools used;
• the purpose of their use;
• the sections of the thesis in which they were employed;
• and, where appropriate, a brief critical reflection on their influence on the development process and the final outcome.

Failure to disclose the use of AI tools shall be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in a partial or total penalty in the assessment of the activity, without prejudice to possible disciplinary measures in more serious cases.

Final Considerations

Due to the nature of this course, the single-assessment system does not apply.

If the student does not submit the dissertation within the established deadline, the final grade for the course shall be recorded as “Not assessable”.