Thesis and final defense

Generalities

What is it?

The final examination requires writing an original dissertation to be presented and discussed in front of an ad hoc Graduation Committee, composed by at least seven faculty members nominated by the Final Examination Committee. The Thesis is elaborated by the student under the supervision of a faculty member, written in English on a topic agreed with the supervisor. The preparation of the thesis can be part of an internship or can be carried out during a period of study abroad, within international agreements with other universities. See Interships for more details.

The final assessment is based upon the following elements: originality of the results, mastering of the subject, mathematical rigour of the thesis and of the presentation, independence shown in carrying out the research, ability of public speaking and of setting the topic within the appropriate literature.
The Final Examination Committee also nominates an additional faculty member to act as Referee. The Referee prepares a report on the final version of the thesis, which is sent to the Graduation Committee and taken into account for the final evaluation.

Upcoming graduation dates

The cohort enrolled in the a.y. 2015/16 can obtain the degree within the regular duration of the Program in one on the following dates:

Dec 20, 2017
Apr 11, 2018

The cohort enrolled in the a.y. 2016/17 can obtain the degree within the regular duration of the Program in one on the following dates:

Jul 17, 2018
Oct 17, 2018
Dec 19, 2018
Apr 9, 2019

See dates and deadlines for thesis defense for further details.

Thesis supervisor

The thesis supervisor must be a full time faculty of the University of Torino (not necessarily an SDS faculty) whose Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD, indicated on each faculty's personal campusnet pages, such as these) coincides with the SSD of one of the courses offered in the Program, indicated in each course webpage. Any other thesis advisor, such as non faculty members, can only act as secondary supervisor. The student is expected to contact privately the potential supervisor in order to discuss her/his availability and to agree on a topic for the thesis. In case the preparation of the thesis is part of an internship or carried out during a period of study abroad, the thesis can be supervised by a member of the external institution in quality of second supervisor, provided a faculty member has agreed to serve as main supervisor.

Thesis preparation and defense

Thesis typesetting

It is highly recommended to use LaTex to typeset the thesis. The suggested template is available for download here.

Thesis defense

On the day of the final examination, the student, supported by a slide presentation, illustrates and defends the thesis orally in front of the Graduation Committee. The Committee's questions are usually postponed to the end of the presentation. The time allocated to each candidate's presentation is 20 minutes, so the candidate should calibrate the presentation accordingly, to avoid the risk of being stopped before the end*. To typeset the slide presentation, we suggest using Latex with the Beamer class (a template example can be downloaded here).

The presentation must be sent, in pdf format, to the address sds-thesis@unito.it not later than h12.00 of the day preceding the final examination. On the defense day, the candidate will find the presentation already uploaded and ready to be used, but the candidate should also bring a memory stick with an electronic copy, in case a last minute replacement is needed. It is also recommended to hand out to the Committee printed copies of the presentation (no specific format required).

* A good rule of thumb is between 1 min and 1 min 30 secs per slide, which makes it roughly 15-20 slides for 20 minutes.

Final grade mark

The final graduation mark (in 110ths) will take into account both the student's study career and the final discussion of the thesis. The starting value of the final graduation mark is obtained by summing the weighted average of the exam's evaluations (converted in 110ths) and 0.05 for every credit (CFU) obtained cum laude (e.g., a 6 credits exam will grant additional 0.3 points). The Graduation Committee can additionally assign a maximum of 8 points for the discussion. If the quality of the work is considered excellent, with a unanimous vote of the Graduation Committee, the maximum is increased to 10 points. The student who has achieved a score of 110/110, can be awarded the summa cum laude.

Administrative procedure

How to submit the application

The student needs to log into her/his MyUnito account with the student credentials and follow the instructions to submit the application. Step by step instructions for the submission are available here*. Cf. dates and deadlines for thesis defense.

Please note that in order to be admitted to the Final Defense, the student must obtain the clearance (nulla osta) from the library of the Dept of Mathematics (Via Carlo Alberto 10, Torino) that certifies that no book loan is still pending. This should be done not later than a week before the defense date.

Thesis Referee request

The Final Examination Committee nominates an additional faculty member to act as Referee. The candidate agrees, with her/his supervisor, upon three faculty members to be suggested to the Final Examination Committee by filling the Thesis Referee request form, where this paper version of the request, signed by the supervisor, is also to be uploaded. Cf. dates and deadlines for thesis defense for the relative deadlines. In addition, please also send the signed paper version of the request to sds-thesis@unito.it. Once you received confirmation of the chosen Referee by email communication from the Final Examination Committee, please remember to insert the Referee's name in the online application.

How to pay the graduation fees

The payment of the Graduation Fees must be done by using a MAV form, available at the Students Office. Additional details are available here.

Please note that five working days must pass before checking that the light next to the "Graduation Fees entry" is switched from red to green color on the page MyUnito. Then the student can go on with the submission of the application. In order to avoid unnecessary delays, it is strongly suggested to make the payment of the Graduation Fees not too close to the administrative deadlines, since the system needs a a few days to register the payment.

How to submit a pdf version of the thesis

An electronic copy (pdf file) of the thesis must be uploaded not later than 10 days before the final defense date. Step by step instructions for the submission are available here*. After the submission, the student must send the electronic copy (pdf file) of the thesis to the referee indicated by his/her supervisor.

Paper copies of the thesis

In addition, the student is required to make two paper copies of the thesis and to bring them the day of the final defense. One of them has to be handed to the supervisor.

Renouncement

Students who already applied for the thesis session and intend to renounce are obliged to submit a written waiver to the Student Service Office with one of the following methods:

by contacting the Help Desk
by sending a fax to the number 011/6704693, including the waiver and a copy of the student's id card
by contacting directly the Students Office.

Please note that students who renounced a thesis session are not automatically enrolled into the next one. It is then mandatory to apply again for the chosen session. The payment, however, is not due again.

* Both the online procedure and the instructions are for the moment in Italian; we are trying to obtain English versions of these.

Further information

For more information or help with the above procedures, please enquire to the Final Examination Committee writing to sds-thesis@unito.it.