In order to be admitted to the final examination for the Master’s Degree Program in Cognitive Sciences and Communication Theories, students must have acquired all the credits foreseen by the Study Manifesto, with the exception of those assigned to the final examination and must have paid all university fees and contributions. A student who has acquired all the credits foreseen by his or her study plan may obtain the degree regardless of the number of years he or she has been enrolled at the University.
In order to obtain the Master’s Degree Program, the student must submit an application for thesis assignment to the Student secretariat, countersigned by the supervisor, through the Director, at least 6 months before the starting date of the first useful degree session. To this end, the date of the entry protocol will be considered authentic. For students in mobility, this latter requirement will be certified by the contact person for internationalization. When submitting the application, the student indicates the supervising professor, chosen among the professors of the University of Messina, and the topic of the thesis. The role of supervisor can also be played by substitute teachers and teachers assigned a teaching contract in the academic year in which the application is presented.
The final exam for the Master’s Degree Program consists in the public discussion of the thesis, related to an original work carried out by the student. The thesis should preferably be of an applicative, design or experimental nature, from which the Commission can evaluate the cultural and scientific maturity as well as the quality of the work carried out. The student and the Advisor may avail themselves of the collaboration of a Co-Supervisor in the preparation of the thesis. The Co-supervisor may be a professor of another university, even abroad, or a professional figure, even of another nationality, outside the University. The specific task of the Advisor and the eventual Co-Supervisor is to coordinate the activities of the student in the preparation of the dissertation in relation to the number of formative credits foreseen for this activity.
The thesis, which must be written entirely in English, accompanied by the signature of the Advisor, must be submitted by the candidate to the competent administrative offices at least 7 days before the final exam. At the same time, the student must deposit a one-page summary of the thesis, in paper and electronic format (MS Word or PDF), at the Department's Teaching Secretariat which, in turn, will forward it to the individual Examination Commissioners as an attachment to the convocation for the final exam session.
The Commission for the evaluation of the final exam is appointed by the Director upon proposal of the Coordinator of the Master’s Degree Program. The Commission is composed of at least seven members, the majority of whom are tenured professors of the University, who teach in the Department. The Commission may include tenured, substitute or contract professors, researchers, professors in charge and assistants, even if they belong to another department of the University, provided that they comply with the University Didactic Regulation. The commission may also include professors from other universities and experts from research institutions.
In order to pass the final exam it is necessary to obtain a minimum score of 66/110. The maximum score is 110/110, with the possible attribution of honors. Honors may be awarded, upon proposal of the supervisor and unanimous decision of the Commission, only for theses that are, in the opinion of the Commission, of high quality.
The conduct of the final exams of the Master's Degree is public, as is the announcement of the final result. The final exams are conducted in the form of a presentation of the thesis, also using multimedia support, and a discussion with questions put to the student. At the end of the final examination, the Degree Committee communicates the degree score. The proclamation takes place in a brief public ceremony, immediately after the conclusion of all the final tests, or on subsequent days. The place, date, and time of the proclamation ceremony will be communicated to the Didactic Secretariat of the Department by the Coordinator together with the communication of the date of the final exam. The final exams for the achievement of the title are divided into at least three sessions. The delivery of the diplomas takes place during collective ceremonies on the dates specified in the Educational Calendar.
For further details see the Didactic Regulations of the Master Degree Program in Cognitive science and Theory of communication.
Please click on this link for information about the procedure for the admission to graduation sessions
The final examination consists of the public discussion of a written dissertation on a topic related to one or more of the subject areas of the course of study, which the student will agree with the chosen supervisor as a guide for the drafting of the paper. For the presentation of their work to the committee, the student will also make use of multimedia support, if deemed appropriate. The thesis should preferably be of an applicative, design or experimental nature, from which the Commission can assess cultural and scientific maturity and the quality of the work carried out.
The student and the supervisor may avail themselves of the collaboration of a co-rapporteur in the preparation of the thesis. The Co-Rapporteur may be a lecturer from another university, including a foreign one, or a professional figure, including a person of another nationality, from outside the University. In the latter case, when submitting the thesis application, a certificate signed by the Supervisor must be produced attesting to the scientific and/or professional qualifications of the Co-Rapporteur in relation to the dissertation being examined. The specific task of the supervisor and the co-adviser, if any, is to coordinate the student's activities in the preparation of the dissertation in relation to the number of training credits envisaged for this activity.
The thesis, which may also be written partly or entirely in English, accompanied by the signature of the supervisor, must be submitted by the candidate to the competent administrative offices at least 7 days before the final examination. At the same time, the student must deposit a one-page summary of the thesis, in both paper and electronic format (MS Word or PDF), with the Department's Teaching Secretariat, which will forward it to the individual Examination Commissioners as an attachment to the invitation to the final examination session.
The Commission for the evaluation of the final examination is appointed by the Director on the proposal of the School Coordinator. The Committee consists of at least seven members, the majority of whom are full professors of the University, who teach in the Department. The Commission may include tenured, substitute or contracted professors, researchers, established professors and assistants from the exhausted list, even if they belong to another department of the University, provided that they comply with Art. 24 paragraph 2 of the RDA. Professors from other universities and experts from research bodies may also be members of the Commission.
As a rule, the President of the Committee is the Director or Coordinator of the School of Studies or, as a secondary role, the senior professor with the longest tenure. He/she is responsible for ensuring that the test is conducted in the proper manner and that the final assessments comply with the general criteria established by the School.
In order to pass the final examination, a minimum score of 66/110 is required. The maximum score is 110/110, with the possible award of honours.
The score for the degree examination is equal to the sum of the basic score and the assessment mark referred to in paragraphs 12 and 13 below. The basic score is given by the arithmetic mean weighted with respect to credits and converted into hundredths (communicated by the Student secretariat) of all the educational activities with a grade expressed in thirtieths, provided for in the candidate's study plan, with rounding off of tenths to the nearest higher or lower unit; grades of thirty and cum laude are assigned a value of 31.
For the awarding of points for the curricular grade, the Commission has a maximum of 4 points, which may be assigned by adopting the following criteria: - International mobility with acquisition of CFUs. - Completion of studies in progress; this criterion may be used if the last exam is taken within the last session of the calendar year and the degree is awarded within the last useful session of the last year of the course. - Acquisition of at least two honours in the characterising subjects; - Training and orientation periods in companies or research bodies.
In order to award the mark for the thesis, the Commission has a maximum of 7 points, which may be awarded by adopting the following criteria
- the quality of the thesis work
- the extent of the effort put into the thesis;
- the student's ability to know the topics of his thesis and the main bibliography of reference and to be able to link them to the characteristic themes of his course of study;
- the ability to present the topics of the paper fluently and to draw conclusions consistent with the results obtained;
- the ability to summarise, in a precise and exhaustive manner, the work carried out and the results achieved, within the time allocated for the presentation;
- the ability to respond to questions posed by the Commission in a fluent and relevant manner.
Honours may be awarded, on the recommendation of the supervisor and the unanimous decision of the Board, only for theses which the Board considers to be of high quality.
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