Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería
Agronómica, Alimentaria y de Biosistemas

Final Master Degree Project

Master Degree in Computational Biology.

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Learning Guide:

Subject:  203000040 Final Master Degree Project

 

REGULATIONS

Students must carry out a Final Master Degree Project of 15 ECTS. It will be defended once the other curriculum credits have been passed. It is an original scientific or professional work to be carried out individually under the supervision of a professor of the Master's Degree. In addition, an internal or external co-tutor may also partake. Students must highlight the knowledge acquired by adding an original proposal containing ideas and arguments to be put into practice in their professional future.

 

PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED

 

1. Enrolment

Students will respect the deadlines each academic year. (http://www.upm.es/Estudiantes/Estudios_Titulaciones/Estudios_Master/Calendario).

Note: It's important for students to understand that if they are not enrolled in any subject of this Master's Degree, they will lose their official link with the UPM. This means they will not be entitled to official and unofficial scholarships, or mobility grants. Please keep this in mind when planning your academic year.



2. Proposal of the Final Master Degree Project

Students will choose one of the internships offered by this Master's Degree. If the offers do not fit the student, or none of the selected ones have been assigned (several students might choose the same proposal), the student may make a proposal to be framed in one of the subjects of the Master's Degree. The Final Master Degree Project will be undertaken in the same subject where the student has completed the corresponding internships.

Each student will prepare their proposal using Form 1 Final Master Degree Project-Proposal which must be completed using the list of competencies attached to the form. Here, the title, the index, the topic on which it will be carried out and the work plan will be described.

Once completed and signed by the student, the tutor and the co-tutor, if applicable, it will be submitted to tfmespecializacion.etsiaab@upm.es; please indicate in the subject of the email: (name_of_the Master's Degree) proposal.

The Academic Coordination Committee of the Master's Degree will establish and publish each academic year the deadlines for submitting proposals for the ordinary call (they can be consulted in the teaching programme section).

Students will choose one of the internships offered by this Master's Degree. If the offers do not fit the student, or none of the selected ones have been assigned (several students might choose the same proposal), the student will indicate up to three professors of the same subject who can act as directors.

Two professors can co-direct a Final Master Degree Project upon request and justification to the Academic Coordination Committee of the Master's Degree.

 


3. Completion of the Final Master Degree Project

Students will carry out the Final Master Degree Project directed by their tutor, applying the knowledge acquired to a specific case. Then, a written report in English will be presented as an applicant for the Master's Degree at the UPM. The paper will have a maximum length of 8,000 words, excluding an abstract and bibliography. It will be written in one column, and any font can be used. The writing rules will be available in the Master's Moodle space.

 

4. Delivery of the Final Master Degree Project

the deadlines established by the Master's Committee for each call, the written report by email in PDF format to: tfmespecializacion.etsiaab@upm.es, including:

  • Delivery form Icono PDF
  • Final Master Degree Project (complete)
  • Form 2 Final Master Degree Project – Tutor’s report Icono PDF
  • Author's permission or authorisation for the Final Master Degree  Project to be published in open access and available for external consultation in the UPM Digital Archive, after consultation with the Tutor or Co-tutors.
  • Request for confidentiality Icono PDF (optional)
  • Students who have started the Master's Degree without having completed the Bachelor's Degree must submit one of the following documents:
    • Bachelor´s Degree qualification
    • Supplementary certificate of the Bachelor's Degree
    • Proof of payment of the undergraduate degree fees (only if six months have elapsed since the delivery of the Final Degree Project)

Suppose the student tries to send the Final Master Degree Project with an attachment that exceeds the limit. The student will deliver it to the ETSIAAB's Postgraduate Secretariat on a memory stick.

 

5. Defence and evaluation of the Final Master Degree Project

The Academic Coordination Committee of the Master's Degree will meet to appoint the Tribunals. All the panel members will be informed of their designation as such.

The evaluation panels will comprise three full members and two alternates who must be professors with a higher degree, doctors if the Final Master Degree Project is experimental, and who belong to Departments with Master's teaching. The professor with the highest teaching category will serve as President of the Tribunal, and if they are on the same level, the one with the most seniority will. The function of the Secretary of the Tribunal will be exerted by the teacher with the lowest teaching category and, among them, by the one with the least seniority. In no case, the tutor or co-tutors of the Final Master Degree Project may be part of the Tribunal.

The defences of the Final Master Degree Project will be undertaken in June and July, according to the dates of the Ordinary and Extraordinary calls, respectively, established by the UPM.

The President of the Tribunal will call the student for the defence act, informing the tutors. They must send their qualification and competence evaluation reports to the postgraduate secretariat of the ETSIAAB at least 24 hours before the defence. The President of the examining board must collect the forms at the postgraduate Secretary's office.

The acts of defence are face-to-face and public, with these exceptions:

  1. The Final Master Degree Projects with confidentiality treatment will be carried out behind closed doors.
  2. Those situations in which the Academic Coordination Committee of the Master's Degree considers it necessary and reasonable. In this case, they will be held electronically.

The students will defend the Final Master Degree Project orally in English for a maximum of 20 minutes. Then, a turn will be opened for questions and comments by the tribunal members for a maximum of 20 minutes. Subsequently, the Tribunal will meet to ponder and grade the work. The originality, work, and quality of the oral and written presentation will be assessed. Once the competence assessment and grading forms have been completed and the corresponding act has been recorded, the examining board will inform the student of the grade obtained.

Evaluation and grading forms:

 

Granting of Honours

A committee of 3 professors of the Master's Degree in Computational Biology will assign Honours to the Final Master Degree Projects proposed for this purpose. Professors who have tutored any of them may not be members of this committee.

Once all the Final Master's Degree Projects of an academic year have been defended, the honours will be assigned at a meeting of the Academic Coordination Committee in July.

The committee will only consider the Final Master Degree Projects that have been proposed for Honours by the respective tribunals.

The Tribunal will award students proposed for Honours a grade of A with honour (10). If the commission finally grants the Honours Degree to the student, a procedure will be made to change the grade in the Secretary's Office.

The Final Master Degree Projects defended by students who finish the Master's Degree in Computational Biology in one academic year will have priority over those defended in any subsequent call.

Suppose there are more Final Master Degree Projects proposed for Honours than can be granted based on the number of students enrolled (by the provisions of Royal Decree 1125/2003, of 5 September). In that case, please consider the following information:

  • Students' participation in research bodies (research groups, research projects, or others) during the completion of their Final Master Degree Project will be assessed.

  • The average grade obtained by the student in the Master's Degree in Computational Biology will be assessed.

  • The number of honours obtained by the student in subjects of the Master's Degree will be assessed.