What is it about?
It is an introduction to research, and it consists on:
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Understanding/reproducing/testing results in the scientific literature, or
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An original calculation/analysis/design.
It may serve as the first work leading to a PhD thesis. In that case it is convenient (but not necessary) that the Master Thesis advisor coincides with the future PhD advisor.
You can find examples of Master Thesis projects from previous years here.
You may find, by clicking to the corresponding specialty below, a number of proposals for the Master thesis project:
Tutor
Each student must have a Tutor that:
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Must be a permanent member of the Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICC).
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Provides general advice on the master's program.
Advisor
The Master's Thesis Advisor:
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Must be an experienced researcher, not necessarily of the ICC.
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If a permanent member of the ICC, he/she may also be the student's Tutor.
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Takes care of the supervision of the Master's Thesis.
Evaluation
The Master's Thesis is evaluated by a committee consisting of a President, a Secretary and the Tutor. The Tutor may be replaced by the Advisor upon approval of the master’s coordination committee.
The evaluation is based on:
- The quality of the research work and the results achieved (Tutor)
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The clarity of a public exposition of the work (20’)
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The ability to answer questions by the committee (10’)
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The scientific quality of a written version of the work (10-12 pages in double-column single-spaced format pages max. excluding appendices)
The public exposition must be given in English. The use of another language will be negatively evaluated by the committee.
There is one call for expositions in early February for students who register in the TFM in the Fall term, and one call in early July for those who register in the TFM in the Spring term. Students who fail can have a second chance, namely a re-evaluation call. The re-evaluation call for the Fall term coincides with the call of the Spring term and the re-evaluation call of the Spring term will be in early September. Students can present their final master work directly in the call for re-evaluation call, but in this case they will not have a second opportunity to present their work.
Important: prerequisites for the registration and defense of the TFM
1. Enrollment prerequisites: The student will not be able to enroll the TFM if he or she has not previously passed at least 40% of the credits required to obtain the degree, including those corresponding to the bridging subjects assigned to him or her in the admission document. At least 24 of these credits must correspond to master's level subjects.
2. Defense prerequisites: To be able to defend the TFM, the student must have previously passed at least 30 credits of master's level subjects and all the credits corresponding to the bridging subjects assigned to him or her in the admission document.