The formal aspects of the thesis are assessed independently of the content.

1. Format. The report must respect the format established in the template in terms of the size and type of font, alignment and spacing, margins, table of contents, etc.

2. Structure. The report must contain the following items in the order indicated but not necessarily grouped or distributed under the same headings: abstract, table of contents, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions, bibliography, appendices (if necessary), etc.

3. Readability:

   • Text. The text must be clear, concise and linear. The writing must be understandable.

   • Figures. The figures must be legible and self-contained/self-explanatory. The choice of graph (line, symbol, bar, etc.) must be appropriate for the data that you want to represent. The following elements must be present, clearly visible and easily interpretable: title, labelled axes, notes, lines/bars/symbols, legend, footnotes, etc.

   • Tables. Tables must be well structured and present the information in an ordered way. They must contain the following elements: title, labels for all columns and rows, footnotes, etc.

4. Completeness:

   • All figures and tables must be referenced in the text and duly explained/commented on. The footnote must contain all the details required to interpret the figure. The source should be cited when necessary.

   • All citations must be properly referenced in the bibliography.

   • All equations must be duly numbered and referenced/explained in the text.

   • All the symbols and acronyms must be properly introduced in the text before they are used and listed in a section on notation.

   • All the figures/magnitudes/axes must be accompanied by the units when necessary.

5. Consistency: The style of writing, the figures and tables must be consistent throughout the report.

The technical aspects of the thesis are assessed.

1. Clarity. The thesis must be transparent in terms of ownership of the content. It must be very clear which parts correspond to others’ results and which parts are the student’s contribution.

2. Balance. The content must be divided approximately into equal parts (thirds) between other people’s work (state of the art: introduction and methodology), your own work (possibly part of the methodology and the results) and exploitation of your own work (discussion and conclusions).

3. Contextualisation. All contributions must be duly contextualised. Each result or discussion of a result must be based on elements of theory or from the literature that are duly introduced.

4. Relevance of the content. All sections/paragraphs/phrases must be connected and relevant. In the main text, space should not be devoted to secondary issues that do not add value or support any relevant aspects of the results or conclusions. Superfluous comments that are not substantiated or are contradictory should be avoided.

The formal aspects of the presentation are assessed independently of the content.

1. Suitable timing. The presentation must be in line with the times indicated in the regulations.

2. Structure. The presentation must contain the following items, in the order indicated but not necessarily grouped or distributed under the same headings: title page, content, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions, etc.

3. Visual quality.

   • The slides must be numbered in a clear, visible way.

   • Text. The text must be easy to read, with a size and type of font that is suitable for projection and not too dense. All slides must have a title. Text lists must be duly itemised. The text must be clear and concise.

   • Figures. The figures must be easy to read (take into account the limitations of the projector) and self-contained/self-explanatory. The following items must be present, clearly visible and easily interpretable: title, properly labelled axes, notes, lines (suitable thickness and colours), legend, etc.

   • Tables. Tables must be well structured and present the information in an ordered way. They must include properly labelled columns and rows, etc.

4. Consistency: The style of the figures and tables must be consistent throughout the presentation

The technical aspects of the presentation and the self-confidence of the speaker are assessed.

1. Fluency. The presentation must be unhurried, spoken with clear diction, directed appropriately at the audience, and the transition from one slide or section to the next must be smooth. The speaker must present the work that they have done convincingly.

2. Synthesis skills. The selection of content must be adapted to the length of the presentation and must be divided between the work of others and your own work in proportions that are consistent with the report.

3. Contextualisation. All contributions must be duly contextualised. Each result or discussion of a result must be based on elements of theory or from the literature that are duly introduced.

4. Relevance of the content. In the main text, space should not be devoted to secondary issues that do not add value or support any relevant aspects of the results or conclusions. Superfluous comments that are not substantiated or are contradictory should be avoided.

5. Command of the material. Students must demonstrate during the thesis defence that they have achieved and consolidated the knowledge obtained during the development of the thesis. Merit is given for confidence in responding to the questions and comments of the examination committee.

The effort and involvement of the student in undertaking the thesis is assessed. In general, it is the supervisor’s responsibility to contextualise in the discussion phase—without detriment to questions that the examination committee may have asked on this topic at the end of the presentation—the student’s involvement, initiative and independence, the level of difficulty that the student faced and the effort made to boost the relevance of the study and the potential social impact of the results. In particular, merit will be given to the following aspects:

1. Effort and dedication. Assessment of the study time dedicated to achieving the knowledge required to complete the thesis.

2. Independence. Capacity demonstrated by the student to work independently to complete the tasks involved in preparing the thesis.

3. Capacity to make decisions. Facility to take decisions and propose justified alternatives to difficulties or problems that arose.

4. Involvement. Students’ initiative to go beyond the specific tasks that were set and propose new research lines to boost the relevance of the study and the potential social impact of the results.