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Master'S Dissertation

Code: 42479 ECTS Credits: 6
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Social and Labour Rights OB 0

Contact

Name:
Montserrat Sole Truyols
Email:
montserrat.sole.truyols@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites to address the completion of the Master's Final Project.


Objectives and Contextualisation

The Master’s Thesis (TFM) represents a key component in the academic progression of the degree programme. It involves the preparation and subsequent public defence, before an academic panel, of a piece of original work in which the student is expected to demonstrate, and will be assessed on, their ability to work independently, their creativity, originality, and, above all, their capacity to integrate and apply various sources of knowledge: legal regulations, specialised literature, case law, and judicial doctrine.

The completion of the TFM requires the development of advanced skills in writing, argumentation, comprehension, and synthesis, particularly in the written component, as well as oral communication skills necessary for a clear, rigorous, and well-structured defence before the examining panel.

Students are granted broad autonomy in selecting the topic of their thesis. It is not required that the chosen subject has been previously addressed in the master’s lectures or seminars; however, it must be directly related to the academic content and objectives of the programme. The final product must be an original study, between 15,000 and 18,000 words in length, offering a critical and well-founded analysis of the selected topic.

In summary, independent research, academic supervision by the tutor, and oral defence before a panel are the core elements that define the TFM and ensure the achievement of the programme’s learning outcomes.

 

 


Competences

  • Analyse, synthesise, organise and plan projects related to the area of study.
  • Apply a specific methodology, techniques and resources to conduct research and produce innovative results in the area of specialisation.
  • Apply systems, media and technologies for obtaining and providing information in one's profession or research.
  • Communicate and justify conclusions clearly and unambiguously to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
  • Look for new areas to open up within the field.
  • Show a critical attitude and conscience when interpreting and enforcing the law in particular situations that involve using legal arguments to resolve a dispute or other problem.
  • Understand laws, legal institutions and sources of law within a unified, interdisciplinary vision of the legal framework.
  • Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.
  • Use advanced study techniques to prepare research projects on the legal regulation of labour relations.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse, synthesise, organise and plan projects related to the area of study.
  2. Apply a specific methodology, techniques and resources to conduct research and produce innovative results in the area of specialisation.
  3. Apply systems, media and technologies for obtaining and providing information in one's profession or research.
  4. Clarify the criteria applied by courts and how these evolve.
  5. Communicate and justify conclusions clearly and unambiguously to both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
  6. Contribute knowledge and conceptual and analytic instruments to improve the efficacy of legal provisions.
  7. Develop new perspectives on employment legislation.
  8. Interpret and systematise complex ideas contained in legal sources.
  9. Look for new areas to open up within the field.
  10. Make an original contribution to the chosen research topic.
  11. Manage legal databases and documents.
  12. Offer solutions to problems of interpretation, gaps and contradictions in the Spanish or international legal framework.
  13. Put forward valid proposals to improve the Spanish or international legal framework.
  14. Seek out, identify and select the research sources (legislation, documents, bibliography and case law).
  15. Suggest ways forward in the organisation of a poorly-structured thematic area.
  16. Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.

Content

There is no closed list of topics or contents for the Master's Thesis (TFM). This approach aims to encourage student autonomy, as well as their interest in addressing a topic that is both appealing and stimulating.

In an initial meeting with the master's coordinator, the object of study will be identified. Subsequently, each student will be assigned a supervisor with whom the topic and content of the thesis will be delineated more precisely. In any case, the TFM must be between 15,000 and 18,000 words in length and must reflect a critical and personal analysis by the student on the selected subject. Particular value will be placed on the originality of the approach and the strength of the argumentation.


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Supervised      
Assistance and follow-up of tutorials 50 2 4, 3, 6, 7, 14, 15, 5
Type: Autonomous      
Reading articles and reports 50 2 4, 1, 3, 2, 6, 14, 12, 11
Writing of the paper 50 2 4, 3, 2, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 11, 9, 8, 15, 5, 16

As far as methodology is concerned, the TFM consists fundamentally of the elaboration of a document under the supervision of a director, who will be a lecturer in the area of Labour Law and Social Security at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. When preparing the work and consulting sources of knowledge, the student should bear in mind that the TFM requires a total dedication of 150 working hours.

 From a chronological perspective, the following phases should be noted:

1. Interview with the coordinator to identify the title of the TFM. At the end of November the students will have to specify the topic to be addressed and will be assigned director.

2. Face-to-face session on TFM methodological guidelines. It will serve as a guide before the first interview with each Director of TFM. 

3. Carrying out the TFM under the supervision of the director. This phase will take place between 15 February and 15 June and will include a minimum of 4 compulsory face-to-face interviews, linked to partial deliveries of the TFM, apart from contacts that can be maintained by telematic means. The objectives of these interviews and the linked deliveries will be as follows:

3.1. First interview: delimitation of the subject matter to be dealt with, the aspects or questions to be analysed, the sources of information to be used and the timetable for implementation.

During the fifteen days following this first interview, the director must be given a proposal for a title, a proposal for an index and a list of the bibliography to be consulted. This proposal will be validated in its entirety or with amendments by the director during the week following its reception, by telematic or face-to-face means, depending on the specific needs of each case.

3.2. Second interview: revision of the first issue of the TFM, with formulation of corrections, indications and proposals for improvement.

3.3. Third interview: review of the second issue of the TFM, with formulation of corrections, indications and proposals for improvement.

3.4. Fourth interview: revision of the final version of the TFM, with formulation, if appropriate, of proposals for improvement.

During the month of January, the Moodle classroom of the TFM will publish the maximum dates in which the different deliveries must be made effective, the content of these and the time frame in which the interviews must take place. Non-compliance with two or more submissions and failure to appear for two or more interviews may result in a failing grade.

4. Delivery of the TFM. The work must be delivered before the date set by the coordination (orientatively, June 15). The final delivery of the work will be carried out in paper format, and three copies must be delivered to the Consergería of the Faculty of Law, within the time limits that will be indicated in due course. It must also be delivered in electronic format to the coordinator's address.

5. Defence of the work. It will take place during the first days of July. The work will be evaluated by a Tribunal made up of three professors from the area of Labour Law and Social Security.

Strictly speaking, the methodology involves the preparation of a paper that tackles a specific subject in a critical perspective that can be framed within Labour Law and Social Security. The work must contain, at least, an index, an introduction, a chapter in which the analysis carried out is developed and, finally, conclusions in which the main results and reflections of the student are collected. Likewise, the TFM must contain a bibliographic annex in which the sources used are properly cited.

Beyond the indications that may be received from the director of the TFM, the student is obliged to consult and quote, at least, the bibliography and the jurisprudence indicated by the director, documentation that should appear in footnotes. In this respect, it is pointed out that in order to overcome the TFM it must contain at least twenty-five citations of doctrine and jurisprudence. The aim is to guarantee an adequate dedication to the work and conclusions of originality and substantiation appropriate to a university master's degree level.

As regards the dimensions and presentation of the work, the main text (notes and annexes in part) should contain between 15,000 and 18,000 words and should be presented in Arial 12 with an interlinear spacing of 1.5.

Students will be provided with a document with formal and methodological guidelines.

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

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Elaboration of the Master's Final Project 70 % 0 0 4, 1, 3, 2, 6, 7, 14, 10, 12, 13, 11, 9, 8, 15, 5, 16
Oral Defense of the Final Master's Work 30 % 0 0 4, 13, 8, 5

The evaluation will be carried out by a Tribunal composed of three professors from the area of Labour Law and Social Security. The Tribunal will be presided over by the director of the TFM, who will issue a report on the work. The other two members of the Tribunal will have read the TFM beforehand, which is why it is very important that it is delivered on time.
 
A list will be published sufficiently in advance indicating the day, time and place of defence of the TFM, as well as the composition of the Tribunal that will evaluate each work.
 
The student will have a maximum time of fifteen minutes to present the most relevant aspects of the TFM, after which the Court may make observations and corrections it deems appropriate, giving the student a turn of intervention to respond or clarify the questions that the Court has raised.
 
As far as the evaluation of the work is concerned, this will be based on the Report prepared by the director of the TFM, as well as the assessment of the same issued by the other members of the Court. Aspects of content, form as well as the quality of the presentation will be taken into account. In particular, the following aspects will be taken into consideration:
 
-Its legal anchorage, in the sense that beyond economic, sociological or other considerations, the work should focus on the analysis of norms and sources of knowledge related to normative aspects such as specialized bibliography, jurisprudence and judicial doctrine.
 
-The ability to synthesize, so that it will be especially valued that the work conforms to the maximum indicated extension, as long as the minimum extension is respected.
 
-The citation and handling of the bibliography on the subject, in accordance with what has already been pointed out in the section on methodology.
 
-The personal seal, reflected throughout the work and in its conclusions. In this sense, the literal mention of texts - reports, doctrinal articles, comments - without a clear and direct reference to the original source of origin is not acceptable. In this regard, it is stressed that the literal citation of texts from bibliography or jurisprudence without any reference to the source and without quotation marks will be considered plagiarism and will lead to the qualification of suspense.
 
Failure to complete two or more early deliveries of the TFM will automatically result in the suspension of the TFM.
 
There is only one call for the defence of the TFM.
 
USING AI: Restricted use: For this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence technologies (AI) is allowed exclusively in support tasks, such as bibliographic or information search, proofreading or translations. The student will have to clearly identify which parts have been generated with this technology, specify the tools used and include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and the result of the activity. Non-transparency of the use of AI in the activities will be considered academic dishonesty and may result in a partial or total penalty in the grade of the activity, or higher penalties in serious cases.

Bibliography

The specific bibliography for each work will be indicated by the director of the TFM.
 
 

Software

There is no program required for the realization of this course, beyond the Moodle Classroom


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.