Master's Degree Dissertation
Code: 44472 ECTS Credits: 9| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Territorial Studies and Planning | TFE | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Antonio Miguel Solana Solana
- Email:
- antoniomiguel.solana@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
You must have passed or enrolled the remaining 51 credits of the master's degree.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The TFM is a research project, study or report involving an integrative exercise of the training received throughout the master. This exercise requires students to apply the knowledge, skills and habilities acquired during their master's degree in order to demonstrate that they have achieved the educational and professional objectives of the course. The TFM must be an original research paper. Students may present it as either a scientific article or a traditional research report. Whatever its purpose and form, the writing of the TFM must be clear, concise and academic.
Learning Outcomes
- CA33 (Competence) Solve territorial and urban transformation processes by using methodologies and instruments related to reference theories, which are capable of measuring the mechanisms of action and their results.
- CA34 (Competence) Organise assignments set by the subject using scientific innovation.
- CA35 (Competence) Focus the chosen field of study from a gender perspective.
- KA34 (Knowledge) Present the main legislations related to the territory, its planning and urban planning.
- KA35 (Knowledge) Select presentation and defence methods that best suit the field of study.
- SA30 (Skill) Compare analysis methodologies to the territorial area in question.
- SA31 (Skill) Develop quantitative indicators for diagnosing inequality and segregation processes.
Content
The module is structured in three blocks:
- Methodological training seminars
- Elaboration of the Final Master's Thesis
- Defense of Master's Thesis
The compulsory seminars provide guidelines on the methodology for preparing the Master's thesis, as well as information on sources and models for presentations and defences. The main lines of research under which projects must be registered are outlined, and students will be connected with supervisors.
Students prepare a research project on an unpublished topic in meetings with their supervisor. Approval from the supervisor is required to submit and present the project.
The defence takes place at a public event where the student presents their work to a panel of two lecturers and the supervisor for 20 minutes and answers questions posed by the panel.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Workshops and seminars | 25 | 1 | CA34, CA35, KA34, KA35, CA34 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 35 | 1.4 | CA33, CA34, CA35, SA30, CA33 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Elaboration of the work | 120 | 4.8 | CA33, CA34, SA30, SA31, CA33 |
| Presentation and defense of the work | 42 | 1.68 | KA35, KA35 |
Scheduled work monitoring and tutoring activities
In the presentation session, the dates on which the established phases must be carried out will be specified.
• Prior information meeting
The subject coordinator will organize a prior information meeting (October) to inform the students of the purpose of the TFM, the procedure to be followed for the assignment of supervisor, the preparation of the proposal and of the calendar
• Assignment of the topic and the supervisor
Once the information meeting has been held, the subjects and the lecturer who will supervise the work will be assigned (November-December). The students will have to analyze the topics suggested for the TFM to make their choice. In case of doubt, the coordinator will be responsible for guiding you and facilitating the first meeting with the supervisor.
The students will select in order of preference three work topics from the offers in the subject and in case of greater demand than offer they will be awarded by the grade of the academic file for access to the master's degree.
• Delivery of proposals
Students will submit a TFM proposal, which will show the specific study topic they propose and a description of the reason for interest.
The proposal will be reviewed and the corresponding feedback will be given in a reasonable amount of time.
• Development of the TFM
The supervisor will agree with the student on a work plan that will include a minimum number of mandatory tutorials and assignments.
• Intermediate seminar
A seminar will be held in the middle of the second semester in which students will have to present in a synthetic way: a) the topic and research questions of their project; b) the planned methodological work plan; c) the main supporting theoretical references that frame their analysis and d) a schedule of the tasks to becarried out during the second semester until the date of presentation of the document.
• Languages
The work may be presented in Catalan, Spanish or English.
* Sustainable Development Goals
The work must frame its research in one or more SDG
• Delivery of the TFM
The TFM will consist of a final written work that will be delivered during the month of July. This may take the form of a scientific article or memoir
- Scientific article format
The student, with the guidance of his/her supervisor, will choose an academic journal that publishes articles in the scientific field in which the work is carried out and this must follow the rules that the journal gives for sending originals.
- Format memory
It will have a maximum length of 60 pages1 (2,100 characters / page), excluding the acknowledgments chapters, bibliography and complementary information (images, graphics, etc.). The supervisor will give guidelines to the student about the sections that the report must have.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery of work | 70% | 2 | 0.08 | CA33, CA34, CA35, KA34, SA30, SA31 |
| Presentation and defense of the work | 30% | 1 | 0.04 | KA35 |
TFM article or report
The TFM must be given to the coordinator, always there when you have the consent of the supervisor.
Act of defense
The coordination of the master's will set the defense date of the works within the month of July. The committee that evaluates the work and its defense is made up of 3 members: a doctor whose field of research is related to the one presented in the work and who will act as president; the coordinator of the TFM, who will act as secretary, and the supervisor.
The student will have 20' to present the parts of his/her work that he/she considers appropriate to make way for the interventions of the members of the panel. The approximate total duration of the event will be 45 minutes.
The grading criteria will be defined by rubrics that the students will have from the start.
Evaluation of TFM
|
|
Oral part (30% of the grade) |
Written document (70% of the grade) |
|
Lecturer (president) |
50% |
40% |
|
Coordinator TFM (secretary) |
50% |
|
|
Supervisor |
|
60% |
A procedure will be established for the review of the grades obtained. The TFM coordinator will keep all documentation and will respond to requests for review and clarification of the assessment.
Not assessable
The student who presents a number of evidence equal to or less than 1/3 of the total or who, despite presenting them, does not defend his work on the indicated date will have the final qualification of Not Assessable
Distinction
Among the works with a grade equal to or higher than 9, the coordinator will assess which ones can have access to this grade, respecting the university's regulations in this regard.
UAB Digital Document Depository
Works with a grade equal to or higher than 9 may be published in the DDD of the UAB, as long as the author gives his or her approval
Plagiarism
VERY IMPORTANT: Total or partial plagiarism of any of the exercises will automatically be considered a SUSPENSION (0) of the plagiarized exercise. PLAGIARISM is copying from unidentified sources a text, be it a single sentence or more, which is passed off as one's own production (THIS INCLUDES COPYING SENTENCES OR FRAGMENTS FROM THE INTERNET AND ADDING THEM WITHOUT MODIFICATION TO THE TEXT THAT IS PRESENTED AS YOUR OWN ), and it is a serious offense. You must learn to respect the intellectual property of others and to always identify the sources that can be used, and it is essential to take responsibility for the originality and authenticity of your own text.
AI
For this subject, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively in bibliographic and/or information search tasks and text correction. The student must 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 final result of the activity. The teaching staff involved in the supervising tasks and the TFM coordinator will use specific programs to detect the use of this use of AI. The lack of transparency of the use of AI in this assessable activity will be considered a lack of academic honesty and may lead to a partial or total penalty in the grade of the activity, or greater sanctions in serious cases.
Unique assessment
The TFM subject cannot be followed by a single assessment
Bibliography
For each master's thesis, the supervisor will give recommended and compulsory readings, if applicable, and others references of the publications of the most recent results.
Software
Each TFM may require specific software that must be assessed by students.
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.