The regulations for Final Master's Degree Projects of the University Master program in Computational Biology are in line with those approved by the School Board of the Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica, Alimentarioa y de Biosistemas on February 7, 2018.
Assignment of the Final Master's Project
The process for assigning the Final Master's Project is as follows:
- Students will choose one of the external internships offered by the MUBC. In the event that no offer attracts them, or none of the selected ones have been assigned (several students can select the same proposal), the student may make a proposal, fitting it into one of the MUBC subjects.
- In general, students will carry out their Final Master's Project on the same subject in which they have carried out their curricular internships. Students who have not done external internships may request to take their TFM following what is stated in point 1.
- Students must make a TFM proposal that must be approved by CAMBIC.
- In the event that no offer attracts them, or none of the selected ones have been assigned (several students can select the same proposal), the student must make a proposal, framing it in one of the MUBC subjects and indicating up to three teachers of the same who can act as directors.
The co-supervision of the TFM by two Professors is possible, given that is has previously been requested providing an academic justification and approved by the CAMBIC.
Evaluation panel
The CAMBIC will meet to appoint the evaluation panels. On part of the coordination of the master's degree, all members of the tribunal will be informed of their designation as such.
The TFM evaluation panels will be made up of three regular members and two substitutes who must be Professors with a higher degree, PhDs if the TFM is experimental, and who belong to the Departments that offer the Master's degrees. The Professor with the highest teaching category will act as President of the panel. In case of equality of this category, the one with the highest seniority will be President of the panel. The function of panel Secretary will be exercised by the Professor with the lowest teaching category and, among them, by the one with the least seniority. In no case, the tutor or co-tutors of the TFM may be part of the panel.
Participation in the TFM tribunal will be considered by its members as a priority academic activity.
In order for the defense of the TFM to be carried out, the President, the Secretary and the Titular member of the panel must be present. In the absence of one or more of them, they will be replaced by the first or second alternate. A tribunal will be constituted for each TFM defense.
Administrative Process of the Thesis defense
The time that can elapse between the presentation of the thesis and the defense is not limited (except for the 10 calendar days in advance with which the TFM must be deposited in relation to the defense date) but it is limited to the same academic year.
Note: The student must bear in mind that if he/she is not enrolled in any subject at the MUBC, he/she loses his official link with the UPM and cannot apply for official and unofficial scholarships, mobility ... Therefore, we recommend that students only have the enrolment of the TFM pending at the beginning of the corresponding semester to maintain the link with the university.
The TFM defenses will be held in June and July, according to the dates of the Ordinary and Extraordinary calls, respectively, established by the UPM. Once the TFM is registered, the student must deposit the work at least 10 calendar days before the defense date. For the defense of the TFM, a printed and an electronic copy (in pdf) of the work must be submitted to the CAMBIC.
Once the written work has been submitted, the director of the TFM will receive by email a form sheet for the student's evaluation, which will represent 30% of the student's final grade. The director of the work must consign his evaluation in a closed and signed envelope, which the student will deliver to the defense panel for its opening on the day the defense is carried out.
Confidentiality of the TFM
In the case that the student wishes confidentiality of his/her TFM, he/she should request it through the a form sheet handed to the student prior to the deposition of the documents.
The instance will be accompanied by a printed copy of the TFM and will be delivered to and registred by the Student Secretariat of the School.
Defense act of the TFM
The language of both the TFM memory and its defense before the panel will be English.
The Panel Secretary will be in charge of reserving the classroom for the realization of the TFM defense act and of collecting and delivering the defense minutes to the master's degree coordinator.
The TFM defense will consist of an oral presentation on the obtained results by the student for a maximum time of 20 minutes, followed by a round of questions by the members of the tribunal for a maximum of another 20 minutes.
Ahead of the defense, the student must deliver the evaluation of his thesis supervisor in a sealed envelope and signed by him to the evaluation panel. This evaluation will account for 30% of the student's final grade. The evaluation of the TFM defense by the panel will account for the remaining 70% of the grade. The note of the defense panel will include the evaluation of the written work, which will suppose 60%, and the evaluation of the oral defense (40%).
Awarding of Honors
A commission made up of 3 professors from the Master's Degree in Computational Biology will be created to assign Honors (MHs) to the proposed TFMs. Teachers who have tutored any of the TFM proposed for MH cannot be members of this commission.
Once the defense of all the master's thesis corresponding to an academic year has been completed, the honors will be assigned at a meeting of the academic coordination commission that will take place in July.
The commission will only take into account the TFM that have been proposed for MH by the respective panels.
The panel will award the students proposed for honors mention a grade of Excellence (10). If the commission finally grants the Honors to the student, a diligence will be made to change the qualification in Secretariat.
The TFMs defended by students who complete the Master's Degree in Computational Biology in a single academic year will have priority over those defended in any other subsequent call.
If there is a number of TFMs proposed for MH greater than that which could be awarded based on the number of students enrolled (in accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 1125/2003, of September 5), the following recommendations will be taken into account:
- The participation of students in research structures (research groups, research projects or others) during the completion of their TFM will be valued.
- The average grade obtained by the student in the Master's Degree in Computational Biology will be assessed.
- The number of honors obtained by the student in master's subjects will be assessed.