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The purpose of the Master’s Thesis (student research) is to stimulate and review the knowledge acquired thus far, to define and study a particular problem, to interpret a phenomenon or situation, or to combine these elements, depending on the topic and the student’s ability to analyze, synthesize, and logically process data. The most common approaches include literature-based research, experimentation, case studies, and surveys.
The objectives pursued through the preparation of the Master’s Thesis are the following:
- To enhance the postgraduate student’s ability to address a problem.
- To reinforce learning through the study and analysis of a significant problem and the acquisition of new knowledge derived from that study.
- To strengthen the postgraduate student’s capacity to provide a complete and accurate solution to potential problems that may arise.
- To train the postgraduate student in searching for, investigating, selecting, using, and recording information from bibliographic sources.
- To train the postgraduate student in writing and presenting a text containing information from bibliographic sources without altering the meaning of the original material from which the information was drawn.
- To cultivate the postgraduate student’s ability to compose not only a thesis but any form of academic text that requires scientific reasoning, presentation of positions and proposals, submission of new ideas and directions, and, in general, any written work serving the author’s scholarly objectives and the advancement of their ideas and propositions.
General Competences
- Search, analysis, and synthesis of data and information, using the necessary technologies.
- Independent work.
- Work in an interdisciplinary environment.
- Teamwork.
- Generation of new research ideas.
- Promotion of free, creative, and inductive thinking.
- Adaptation to new situations.
COURSE CONTENT
The process of writing the thesis is divided into two or three parts:
- Collection of the required information through the study of available literature.
- Experimental part, if required by the thesis topic.
- Writing a text that coherently presents the conclusions derived from the literature review and/or the data obtained through the experimental process.
The value of the thesis is not determined by the number of pages, although a minimum length is necessary. It is more accurate to define a word count required for the text to be considered complete and satisfactory. Specifically, 20,000 words are set as the minimum length of the main text, excluding references, figures, tables, etc. Specialized topics may be adequately covered in shorter works. In such cases, it is the responsibility of the supervisor and the three-member examination committee to determine whether the subject has been sufficiently covered and to approve the thesis accordingly.
It goes without saying that the greatest determinant of the thesis’s success and acceptance is the quality of the work itself. The criterion of quality must prevail above all else.