The Master’s Degree Thesis is an autonomous and individual research project that students have to develop it under the guidance of a supervisor. This project will allow the student to show in an integrated way the formative contents received and the acquired competences associated to the Master’s Degree. The modalities that the Master’s Thesis can cover are, among others, the following ones:

1. Empirical academic work or essay about a specific subject or issue related to the contents of the Master.
2. Review paper and bibliographical research focused on different fields related to the Master.
3. Simulation exercise of professional situations related to the different areas of professional practice: report, legal opinion, preparation and contend of a case, business creation projects and their feasibility study, among others.

Whatever the modality chosen, the Master’s Thesis must become a reality in the elaboration of a written report that has, minimum, the following elements:

1. Summary
2.  Introduction: justification, the state of the question, objectives and methodology applied
3. Analytical development
4. Conclusions
5. Sources list, bibliography or material resources used.

The recommended extension of the written memory is of minimum 40 pages and maximum 80 pages.

Normativa

Supervising of the Master’s Thesis

The Master’s Thesis must be supervised individually. The supervisors must belong to the Teaching and Research Staff affiliated to one of the departments that teach in the Master.

The supervising function consists in guiding the students through the elaboration process and ensuring the fulfilment of the final objectives. Supervising a master’s thesis is considered as a teaching activity of the professor with an assignation of credits according to the current regulation of the UdL.

Proposal and assignment of the subjects/issues and tutors

The following timing will be considered:

November: Proposal of three different topics by the Master student body; fill the form and send it to the coordinator of the Master.

First half of December: The coordinator of the Master assigns the topic and supervisor. Each student will have a supervisor, but if the topic requires it, two supervisors will be assigned to co-supervisor the Master’s Thesis.

Development of the Master’s Thesis

The following timing will be considered:

Second half of December:

• Formal guide to elaborate the Master’s Thesis and research project introduction methodological guidelines, in the charge of the coordination of the Master.
• Initial contact with the tutor: initial readings assignment and elaboration of an index (provisional).

January - May:

• Periodic tutorials with the supervisor for monitoring the development of the project: this includes making self-assessment rubrics done by the student and assessment reports done by the supervisor.

Deposit of the Master’s Thesis

First half of June / First half of September: Once the Master’s Thesis is finished, the supervisor will submit to the Academic Secretariat of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Tourism with minimum 10 working days before the date of the defence of the project, the following documents:

• Fact sheet of the Master’s Thesis specifying the supervisor’s approval.
• A digital copy of the Master’s Thesis in PDF format. If this document has associated attached files, all the files will be sent compressed in TGZ, ZIP or RAR format.
• If necessary, the authorization signed by the student and the supervisor to make the deposit in Digital Repository of the UdL.

The deposit of the Master’s Thesis must be done during the same academic year in which the enrolment has been made.

Assessment and defence of the Master’s Thesis

Second half of June/ first half of September: the assessment of the Master’s Thesis is continuous and includes the evaluation of the planning and the development of the paper as well as the public defence according to the following rating:

Stage	Rating(%)
Planning	10%
Development	20%
Memory	40%
Defence	30%
Total	100%

 

The stages of planning, development and final memory will be assessed by the supervisors in the corresponding report.

The defence of the Master’s Thesis will be done in public and, wherever possible, before an examining board, by means of an oral presentation of the content. When the defence of the Master’s Thesis is done before an examining board, this will be composed by three members: two professors of the Master and the supervisor of the thesis being defended. The nomination of the examining board will be done by the coordinator of the Master and proposed by the supervisor. The date and time of the defence will be determined by the supervisor who will communicate it to the coordinator for the publication on the webpage of the Master. Once the defence of the Master’s Thesis is finished, the supervisor will send the final marks to the coordinator of the Master who will enter them on the corresponding record.

The final mark of the Master’s Thesis coincides with the marking scale of the Royal Decree 1125/2003, that regulates the Diploma Supplement:

•  0,0 - 4,9: FAILED (0,0% - 54%)
• 5,0 - 6,9: PASS (55% - 69%)
• 7,0 - 8,9: REMARKABLE (70% - 89%)
• 9,0 - 10: EXCELLENT (90% - 100%)
• 9,0 - 10: SPECIAL DISTINCTION (95% - 100%) limited to 5%

The student enrolled to the Master’s Thesis who does not defend or fails the thesis will have to register again for the following academic year. In both cases the supervisor and subject of study will be the same, unless the student asks for a change.  If the student meets the requirements of the Faculty’s regulation concerning the call for concluding the degree, he/she will be able to take a test in this call.

Publication of the Master’s Thesis in Digital Repository of the UdL and in Dipòsit de Recerca de Catalunya (RECERCAT)

The Master’s Thesis will be deposited in Digital Repository of the UdL and in Dipòsit de Recerca de Catalunya (RECERCAT) and will be visible and of free consultation for teaching, research or personal study uses.

The deposit must be previously authorized by the student and the supervisor. In the case that the Master’s Thesis includes research results, the authorization may be given once the results have been published.

The Academic Secretariat of Faculty of Law, Economics and Tourism must send to the library:

1. A digital copy of the Master’s Thesis in PDF format. If this document has associated attached files, all the files will be sent compressed in TGZ, ZIP or RAR format.