Master thesis

The main objective of the Master's Thesis is the performance of a work in the field of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, of either professional or researching profile, that synthesise and integrate the different skills acquired in the various courses comprised in the Master’s degree; while also contributing to complement their training.

The Master's Thesis will consist of an original work done individually, consisting of a comprehensive project of Chemical Engineering of professional nature in which the skills acquired in the training bee synthesised (as stated in the BOE of August 4th, 2009).

The Master’s Thesis may consist of a research or design project, or a scientific or technical development study, always related to the different courses of the Master’s degree.

The work may be carried out through a stage in a company, public organism, university, research centre or technology centre, with which the USC have a cooperation agreement signed in the context of the Master’s degree; or in a research group of the USC. Unless the Master’s thesis be developed in the USC, an external tutor will be designated in addition to the teacher-tutor of the Master’s degree.

The bibliography will be the one appropriate to the type and topic of work to be developed.

From the list of skills that were conceived for the Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering and Bioprocesses, which appear in the Official Memoire-Guide of the Degree, in the course denoted Master’s Degree (18 ECTS) the student will acquire or practice the following skills:
- Basic and general skills: CB7, CB8, CB9, CB10, CG1, CG4, CG7, CG8, CG10.
- Specific skills: CE1, CE2, CE3, CE4, CE5, CE6, CE7, CE10, CE11, CE12.
- Transferable skills: CT1, CT2, CT3, CT4.

The establishment of a general methodology valid for all types of Master’s Theses does not look reasonable. Thus, it will be defined specifically for each one, depending on its characteristics; but guaranteeing the acquisition of all the skills associated to the course: CB7, CB8, CB9, CB10, CG1, CG4, CG7, CG8, CG10,CE1, CE2, CE3, CE4, CE5, CE6, CE7, CE10, CE11, CE12, CT1, CT2, CT3, CT4.

The tutor(s) will schedule work sessions with the students, to establish the schedule of tasks to be performed and to guide the work. He/she will be responsible for presenting to each student the characteristics of the work, for guiding him/her in its development and for ensuring compliance with the objectives set.

According to the “Regulation of registration, preparation and defence of the Bachelor’s and Master’s Theses at the University of Santiago de Compostela”, approved by the Governing Council with date March 10th, 2016, the assessment of the Master’s Thesis will be made through its presentation and public defence in front of an evaluation committee.

The tutor(s) will submit a mandatory and confidential assesment report before the presentation and defence of the work by the student. The students will prepare a report of their work, which will be presented in a public session before the designated evaluation committee, constituted by teachers of the Master’s degree. In this session, the student will defend the Master’s Thesis before the evaluation committee and will answer those questions that the committee raise.

Each student will be assessed individually, taking into account the following criteria:
* Work done by the student, including the quality of the report submitted (50 %) (EC3, EC5, EC6, EC7, CE10, CB8, CB9, CG1, CG7, CG8, CG10)
* Mandatory report(s) by the tutor(s) (25 %) (CT1 (if applicable), CT2, CT3, CT4, EC1, EC2, EC4, CE11, CE12, CB7, CB8, CB10, CG4)
* Presentation and defence of the Master’s Thesis before the evaluation committee (25 %) (CB9, CT4)

The evaluation of each of the criteria will be done by means of a rubric specifically prepared for this purpose.

The course has a workload of 18 ECTS, equivalent to 450 h of total work. The distribution is as follows:

Activity - In-person hours - Student’s work hours - ECTS
Seminars - 3,5 - 48,5 - 2,1
Individualised tutorials - 11,9 - 360,1 - 14,9
Exam and revision - 1,0 - 25,0 - 1,0
TOTAL - 16,4 - 433,6 - 18,0

Students must have passed all other courses of the Master’s degree before defending the Master's Thesis (with the obvious exception of the Master’s Thesis course itself).