Graduation Exam - Biological sciences

The final examination consists of the presentation and discussion of a paper prepared by the student. This paper may be related to an internal internship or external traineeship, or it may result from a coherent and original analysis and elaboration of bibliographic sources on a topic relevant to the degree program (a compilative thesis).
The discussion takes place one week before the graduation session, in front of a committee composed of the student’s tutor and another faculty member from a related subject area.

During the graduation session itself, only the formal degree conferral takes place.

Assessment:

The committee evaluates the candidate’s ability to present the topic clearly and in an organized manner, their competence regarding the subject matter, and their overall commitment.

Based on these criteria, the committee proposes the following scoring for the final examination:

• 3 points maximum for a Satisfactory performance;
• 4 to 6 points for a Good performance;
• 7 to 8 points for a Very Good performance;
• 10 points maximum for an Excellent performance.

In addition, a maximum of 3 extra points can be awarded for a duly certified Erasmus study period and/or traineeship. For the Erasmus+ Study Program, recognition is conditional upon earning at least 20 ECTS credits per semester.

A special mention and one additional point are reserved for candidates who participated in the “Honor Path” project during their second and third years.
No additional points are awarded for honors (“lodi”) recorded in the student’s transcript.

The Chair of the graduation session, in the presence of at least one honor (“lode”) and a final score of 110/110, may propose to award the "lode" (highest distinction) to the final grade.
The final assessment proposed by the tutor is discussed by the Graduation Committee, which consists of at least five faculty members.

The final examination is considered passed when the candidate achieves a minimum score of 66/110.

The final examination is worth 4 ECTS credits.

45 days before the graduation session:

• Submit your online graduation application.

25 days before the graduation session:

• All exams, including the internship, must be completed.
• The student must register for the Internship Exam on Esse3 and, by the exam date, send the Internship Attendance Certificate or Compilative Thesis Completion Certification to the internship committee via email at:
  📧 roberto.papait@uninsubria.it 

15 days before the graduation session

• Submit the final version of your thesis electronically through the online upload procedure (in italian).
  • For students who completed a practical internship: submit a PowerPoint presentation (PPT) in PDF format, including a one-page summary and the title page.
  • For students who completed a compilative thesis: submit the thesis in PDF format (maximum 15 pages), including a one-page summary and the title page.
• The thesis must be approved by the supervisor at least 10 days before the start of the graduation session for which the student is registered.
  Failure to obtain approval will result in non-admission to the graduation session.

No confirmation emails will be sent upon receipt of the documents; students will only be contacted by the Secretariat if there are any issues with the submitted documentation.

Within the week preceding the graduation session

• The graduating student, regardless of the thesis type, must present their work (PPT presentation) to their internal tutor/supervisor, and in the case of an external internship, also to the external supervisor and an additional faculty member chosen by the internal tutor.

On the day of graduation

• The appointed Committee will proceed with recording the final grade and the formal degree conferral.

If a student decides not to take the final graduation exam during the session for which they submitted their application, they must formally withdraw their application by completing the appropriate form (available in the ATTACHMENTS section) and submitting it to the Student Office within 10 days before the graduation session via the Infostudenti service.

In this case, the student will need to submit a new application to be admitted to a future graduation exam, following the online procedure again.

Please contact your supervisor for specific instructions on how to prepare your thesis.

Graduating students are encouraged to follow these formatting guidelines:

• Paper size: A4
• Font: Garamond, size 12, line spacing 1.5
• The compilative thesis should be a maximum of 15 pages.
• The final report should be no longer than 1 page.

Recommended layout settings:

• Top and bottom margins: 3 cm
• Side margins: 2.5 cm
• Approximately 60 characters per line and 30 lines per page (about 1800 characters)

The following file can be used as the title page.