During their final year of studies, all students are required to write a dissertation.
Students’ progress is supervised in colloquia (Dissertation seminars) organized by all faculty members of the selected specialization. These colloquia are not official courses. They are neither graded, nor associated with any credit units. They are a significant part of the dissertation writing process, through which students present the progress of their work.
For a student to be assigned a Dissertation, they must have completed the 4th year of their studies, and all Core and Specialization Required Courses.
Dissertation topics are selected from the eligible lists created by the faculty. In exceptional cases, it is possible for a student to propose a thesis topic. This can only be accepted if it fulfills the predetermined eligibility requirements.
Sectors can assign the supervision of Dissertations to faculty members, based on their specialties and the students’ needs.
Students must prepare their Dissertation alone, under the advisement of their supervisor.
Dissertations should be between 15000 and 25000 words (approximately 50 to 80 pages). This limit can be adjusted within reason on a case by case basis, based on the assigned topics, and with the agreement of the assigned faculty supervisor.
The minimum completion time for a dissertation is one semester and the maximum one year. If a student exceeds this time limit, they may request an extension of one semester. This request must be justified and submitted in writing to the corresponding Sector. The Sector must them make a recommendation for approval to the Department’s General Assembly. If the extension expires, the student must re-enroll with a new Dissertation topic.
Students must complete all their coursework prior to defending their Dissertation.
All Dissertations are evaluated and graded by 3 faculty members (of whom 1 is the Supervisor of the Dissertation and member of the relevant Sector). Each assessor offers a separate assessment and grade of the Dissertation. The final grade is calculated as the rounded average of the three grades.
If the three grades differ by more than 3 points from one another, or are on either side of 5, the Sector appoints a fourth assessor, who assigns the final grade.
The following 3 deadlines have been set for the submission of a Dissertations: July 1st, October 1st, and January 10th.
