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2022/2023

Master's Dissertation

Code: 44660 ECTS Credits: 15
Degree Type Year Semester
4314579 Biological and Environmental Engineering OB 2 1

Contact

Name:
Marķa Eugenia Suarez Ojeda
Email:
mariaeugenia.suarez@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
spanish (spa)

Other comments on languages

It can be done in English

Prerequisites

To have passed all the subjects of the first year and to be taking or have passed all the second year subjects.

Objectives and Contextualisation

The objective of the TFM is to learn by first-hand the method of developing research and/or innovation and/or engineering projects. To do this, students must participate in the design, execution and presentation of the results of a project that can be of research or industrial nature, but always within the master's field of knowledge. 
Based on the type of project (research and/or innovation and/or engineering) and with the advice of the project director, each student develops their own master's thesis. 
In this tutoring or direction process, the original design is modified and the rhythms and phases of the work are established until the conclusion. 
Students must do a written report that summarizes the work done and defend this report in front of an evaluation committee.

Competences

  • Apply specific methodologies, techniques and resources to conduct research and produce innovative results in the area of biological and environmental engineering.
  • Carry out, present and defend an original exercise carried out individually before a university panel, consisting of a technical or research project carried out in the area of biological or environmental engineering.
  • Communicate and justify conclusions clearly and unambiguously to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
  • Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously.
  • Integrate and use chemical, environmental and/or biological engineering tools to design biological systems for the sustainable processing of waste and/or for industrial biotechnological processes.
  • Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  • Seek out information in the scientific literature using the appropriate channels and integrate this information, showing a capacity for synthesis, analysis of alternatives and critical debate.
  • Solve problems in new or little-known situations within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Apply specific methodologies, techniques and resources to conduct research and produce innovative results in the area of biological and environmental engineering.
  2. Apply the methodology for gathering and analysing information to field or laboratory work.
  3. Carry out technical or research projects in the area of biological or environmental engineering which includes the design and execution of experiments, analysis of the results and the extraction of conclusions.
  4. Communicate and justify conclusions clearly and unambiguously to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
  5. Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously.
  6. Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  7. Make an oral presentation before an expert audience of the technical or research project carried out in accordance with the regulations for Master's dissertations.
  8. Seek out information in the scientific literature using the appropriate channels and integrate this information, showing a capacity for synthesis, analysis of alternatives and critical debate.
  9. Solve problems in new or little-known situations within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to the field of study.
  10. Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  11. Write a publishable paper in line with the regulations of the master's dissertation, drawing on the specific knowledge acquired.

Content

The master's thesis is a research or innovation or industrial work that each student must write with the advice of the tutor and which is subject to the evaluation of a commission. The evaluation of students' final master's projects is not only based on the content of the document, but also takes into account other essential skills, such as the ability to synthesize information, preparation and oral presentation, and the appropriate use of language (written and spoken). In the Master's Degree in Biological and Environmental Engineering, students may base their master's thesis on some research lines of the Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, or they may carry it out in a company or research center and/or in an external innovation centre or industry through a curricular agreement with the School of Engineering.

Methodology

Functions of the Director and/or tutor of the TFM
1) All doctors who are actively participating in lines of research in the field of the master's degree may act as directors of the work.
 
2) The work may be directed by a maximum of 3 directors. In the case of co-direction, only one of the directors must be a doctor.
 
3) To guarantee the adequacy of the subject matter of the TFM to the scope of the master's degree and when the student has a director of a research and/or academic center or personnel from the industrial field other than that of the Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering of the UAB,  it must also have the approval of a master's professor who will also act as a tutor.
 
4) The director or director must guide the students during the development of the work. At the end of the research project, you must make a report on the work done by the student (student learning capacity, integration into the work team dynamics, etc.), through an evaluation rubric designed for this purpose. This report will be used to complete the evaluation of the students. 
 
The communication platform with the students will be the Moodle classroom of the UAB designated for this purpose.

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.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Follow-up of the master's thesis 10 0.4 10, 1, 2, 8, 3, 11, 4
Type: Supervised      
Review of written memory and of the presentation 30 1.2 10, 1, 2, 8, 3, 11, 6, 9, 4, 5
Type: Autonomous      
Design and elaboration of the report and making the presentation 150 6 10, 1, 2, 8, 3, 11, 7, 6, 9, 4, 5

Assessment

For the evaluation of the master's thesis, the student must:
a) Present a written report of the developed work according to the established model and adapted to the type of work (scientific article, engineering project or innovation and development project).
b) Make a public defense of this work in front of the Evaluation Committee. The qualification criteria is based on: 1) assesstment rubrics completed by the evaluation committee, which include aspects about the quality of the written report, presentation and discussion, and 2) the assessment of the work by the director and/or tutor of the work. These rubrics are available in Moodle of the master.
 
Grades range from 0 to 10. If any form of plagiarism or similar bad practice is detected in advance, the director or director of the work and the student are informed and the defense is prevented. 
 
The evaluation committee is made up of three professors, preferably doctors from the Department of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering of the UAB, and the replacement of a member by an external expert may be required when the coordinator deems it necessary. The oral presentation of the work limited to a maximum of 15 minutes,  after which the panel can ask questions about the master's thesis that show that the student has adquired the proper competences in a particular field of specialization of the master's degree. It can be presented in Catalan, Spanish or English. 
 
It shall be estressed again that the assessment of the academic adviser of the master's thesis is carried out using an assessment rubric that takes into account, among other aspects, the following: initiative, responsibility, ability to interpret the results and any other criteria that is considered relevant. 
 
The commission evaluates, among other aspects: 
1) Written memory: Proper use of language. The document can be written in English, Catalan or Spanish. The choice of language is not a criterion for evaluation and the comission will only assess the correctness and appropriate use of the chosen language. Format: if it correctly follows the relevant guidelines according to the type of TFM. Conciseness and ability to analyze and interpret the results or products of the work. 
2) Oral Defense: The student's ability to communicate. Conciseness and compliance with the established time. The quality of the presentation. The ability to answer questions asked by the commission.
 
Honors. Grading with "Honors" (MH) is a decision of the faculty responsible for the subject and the faculty who evaluate the students. UAB regulations state that MH can only be awarded to students who have obtained a final mark equal to or higher than 9.00. Up to 5% MH of the total number of students enrolled can be awarded. In the event that there are more students with a final mark higher than 9 than the percentage or fraction stipulated above, the MH will be awarded to the highest mark, once all the students registered in the module have defended their project, regardless of the group to which they belong or the date of the defense.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Assessment of the presentation and oral discussion 20-60% 10 0.4 10, 1, 8, 3, 7, 6, 9, 4, 5
Preparation of the written memory 20-60% 172 6.88 10, 1, 2, 8, 3, 11, 6, 9, 4, 5
Report of the director or directors of the final work of master's degree 20-60% 3 0.12 10, 1, 2, 8, 3, 11, 7, 6, 9, 4, 5

Bibliography

  • Bustínduy, Iñaki, Presentaciones efectivas : técnicas para la exposición oral de trabajos y proyectos académicos. Barcelona : Editorial UOC, 2013.
  • Caicedo, Claudia, ¿Cómo elaborar un trabajo final de máster?, barcelona : Editorial UOC, 2016.
  • Dunleavy, Patrick, Authoring a PhD : how to plan, draft, write, and finish a doctoral thesis or dissertation, Houndmills : Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
  • León, Orfelio G., Cómo redactar textos científicos y seguir las normas APA 6.ª : para los trabajos de fin de Grado, de fin de Máster tesis doctorales y artículos, 4a ed., Madrid : Garceta, 2016.
  • Mansfield, Natalie, The Final hurdle [Recurs electrònic] : a guide to a successful viva / Natalie Mansfield, Cambridge : Royal Society of Chemistry, 2007. Usuaris de la UAB: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/eBook/978-1-84755-896-1
  • Nguyen, Kenny, the Big fish experience : create memorable presentations that reel in your audience, Barcelona : Empresa Activa, 2017
  • Rigo, Antònia, Cómo presentar una tesis y trabajos de investigación, Vic : Eumo; Barcelona : Octaedro, 2002.
  • Riquelme, Jesucristo, Canon de presentación de trabajos universitarios : modelos académicos y de investigación. Alicante : Aguaclara, 2006.

Software

Text editing software
										
											Presentation software
										
											Depending on the type or subject of the TFM, the use of specialized software may be necessary: matlab, simulink, computational dynamics, hysys, etc.