Master’s Thesis
The Master’s Final Thesis (TFM) concludes the academic learning process made in the Degree by the student and gives them the opportunity of integrating knowledge, skills and abilities acquired during studies.
The TFM will consist on the development, presentation and defense of an original work individually done, in front of an examination panel. The presentation and defense of the work can be done only when the student has passed all the credits of the Master.
In this sense, and with the purpose of being considered as a determining element in the academic curriculum of the student, the TFM consist of an on-site teaching load of 90 hours in a semester (equivalent to 6 hours per week) where the student will be guided by the tutor of the academic staff. Sessions will be developed of a seminar taken by the students of each specialisation line together with the tutoring sessions which will allow tutors to make a personalized monitoring. For both, students of generic Master and students of double specialisation, the school is offering them a specific TFM adjust to the curriculum itinerary developed by the student during the Master.
There are two modalities of TFM that the student can choose which is related to the specialty taught:
A. The development of a research that provides an original contribution to the knowledge and current experience, through a theoretical reflection, about any related topic with the studied contents in the Master.
B. A project of architecture with an experimental character and a supporting final report corresponding to the specialisation line requirements.
The documentation made must be deposited by the student to the Examination panel and all the documents submitted online. This documentation depends on the modality of TFM developed and are the following:
A. Modality A
A copy with DinA4 format with the following contents:
1. Cover: Name of the Master and, if necessary, specialisation line; Full name of the student, academic course, title of the project and name of the project director.
2. Abstract with keywords (3 minimum).
3. Introduction and general description of the developed subject.
4. Specific sections: aims, hypothesis, basic working methodology and studies conducted.
5. Conclusions and obtained contributions.
6. Bibliography.
7. Required appendix for understanding and justification of the thesis.
B. Modality B
A copy with DinA3 format with the following contents:
1. Cover: Name of the Master and, if necessary, specialisation line; Full name of the student, academic course, title of the project and name of the project director.
2. Justifying Report with the global explanation of the project which will include the used bibliography and explicit references related to the project.
3. Project development: General floor plans, elevations and sections of the proposal and its environment. Study of the proposal, its time evolution from the pre-existences to the specific details, all contained in 6 drawing papers reduced to DinA3 size, of the presentation in front of the examination panel.
In both modalities and for the defence in front of the panel of examiners, the student must upload in the virtual campus (Atenea-TFE) the information described below: (the members of the board and the director will have access to it)
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PDF format document of the Report described before depending on the TFM modality chosen.
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PPT format document or similar, of the presentation done in front of the examination panel.
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Project summary (DinA4 or DinA3 format, depending on the modality chosen)
The School secretary will publish the deadline up to which the student has to upload that information in his/her virtual campus so the examination panel can access to this information before the project defense. The student will submit a copy of the final report in which will be permanent kept. Only students who has formalized the submission of the final report in within the established time frame for it, will be included in the certificate of the Defence of TFM.
The panels of examiners who will evaluate the defense of the TFM are comprised of a minimum of three members of the PDI. At least, one examination panel will be appointed per specialisation line as well as specials panels of examiners who will evaluate students taking the Master without specialty or with double specialisation. These will be designated by Academic Commission of the Master and ratified by the School management. As an exception, a fourth external member could be assigned. The composition of the University Panel of examiners will be the following:
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President: A titular Professor or assistant of the specialisation line.
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Member 1: Professor of the School (acts as Secretary)
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Member 2: Professor
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Member 3: external member (optional)
In case of an examination panel that evaluate students who has taken 2 specialisations, the President and the Member 1 must be teachers of each one of the specialisation lines taken by the student. Likewise, examination panel for students who has studied the Master without any specialisation line, must be composed of teachers of mostly of the subjects taken by the student during the Master.
The enrolment in the TFM take place at the beginning of the course and will be developed in the second semester except for students taking double specialty. In this case, these students will make the enrolment at the beginning of the third semester of the studies. In both cases, the School secretary will register the TFM before enrolment and will assign to the student a panel of examiners associated to his/her specialisation line, double specialisation or generic itinerary. The student must provide the Project title, once it has an agreement with his/her Director, at the latest, before making the delivery of the TFM. The enrolment in the TFM entitle the student to take the seminar associated to its TFM and to the tutoring sessions as established in each case. If the student does not have all passed credits of the Master on the scheduled date of his/her enrolled defense will not be included on the certificate and cannot be evaluated. In this case, the student must enrol again in the TFM.
If the student meets the conditions for the presentation of the TFM but finally he/she does not appear in the defense of the TFM he/she can access to an extraordinary announcement foreseen under the Academic Regulations of the Degree and Master’s studies - Normativa Acadèmica dels Estudis de Grau i Màster - of the UPC, upon payment of the required fees specified on the abovementioned regulations. This announcement cannot exceed the date 31st of October for TFM that are defenced in the second semester or the date 31st of May in case of TFM defended on the first semester. If the student does not pass or he/she does not appear on this extraordinary defence of the TFM, the student will have to enrol again in the next period that the TFM is offered.
The student has the right to request a review of the grade earned in the TFM. In this case, the student must submit a reasoned request to the School director within a maximum period of 7 days counting from the date of the publication of the assessment certificate of the TFM. The review is always performed on the work deposited in Atenea-TFE. The Director, or his/her delegate, will announce an extraordinary panel of examiners for the revision where the President of the affected Panel of examiners will attend. The examination panel will give the student the option of explaining his/her project. The resolution will be communicated to the student in a maximum period of 7 days from the revision date.
The TFM's have to be published in open access deposit of academic Works UPC, prior authorization of the author, provided that this does not affect the possible confidentiality and/or industrial property associated with the work. To that purpose, the deposit of the paper copy may be replaced by other media that enable the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. This procedure will be done before the application of the receipt of the diploma.
The online deposit has been implemented in the academic year 2019-20. Check the updated information on the documentation deposit in the section Final Master's Thesis > Deposit and defense
MENTION OF EXCELLENCE TFE-ETSAB
In order to give visibility to the best TFE work developed at the School, each academic year the center's management will agree on a commission or tribunal of academic and/or professional prestige to award these mentions of quality, which will be included in a separate section within the UPCommons digital repository.
The commissions or tribunals may meet once a year to evaluate these mentions based on all the TFE works qualified with a minimum grade of 9, or those works that, having a lower valuation, their tribunal or tutor considers that they should exceptionally be taken into consideration.
The composition of the committees and/or tribunals will be discretionary each year and may be composed of both PDI staff of the UPC, as well as academics and professionals of recognized prestige outside the UPC-ETSAB.
The works proposed for the Mention of Excellence may eventually be presented in public and before a tribunal, thus becoming an academic act of prestige for the School, linked to the academic beginning of the course (October and November).