Embedded Files
Graduation is the last step in the student's study cycle, and it takes place with the thesis presentation.
General information
Students can present their final work in five different sessions along the year (usually in March, May, July, October and December), and only if they have completed all the other exams, for a total of 108 credits: last exam must be taken at the latest one month before thesis presentation.
Each graduation session is made of two days, one for bachelor's degrees and another for master's degrees. Being a master's degree, students of Architecture (Conservation) have to consider the date referred to "corsi di studio di II livello", which usually take place on the first of the two days.
It is compulsory to book the thesis at the latest one month before the presentation: for more information, check below the relevant chapter on this page.
The final grade, with which students will complete their course, is based on both the starting grade (average grade of previous exams) and on the mark of the thesis: the starting grade is calculated as follows:
(Average grade x 110) / 30
For example:
(26 x 110) / 30 = 95
(27,5 x 110) / 30 = 101
(29 x 110) / 30 = 106
The "30 cum laude" exams are calculated as 30. The average grade is the arithmetic mean of all previous exams (exams of two credits are not considered).
On the other hand, the mark of the thesis can be from 0 to 10 points, which are added to the starting grade to obtain the final grade.
The maximum final grade is 110 cum laude.
Thesis topic
The majority of architecture theses are projects, but also theoretical theses can be accepted.
Students who aim to start the thesis must contact (via mail or after the lessons) the professor they would like to be their supervisor, asking if he/she is available. Presenting a possible thesis topic is appreciated, but the decision is up to the professor. If the request is made via email, the best option is to attach a pdf of the proposed topic.
Students can ask any of the professors of the course to be their tutors, and it is also possible to have a co-tutor (usually a professor with further expertise in some specific topics).
Thesis can be developed in Rome as well as abroad, taking advantage of the exchange programs offered by Sapienza, for theses purposes too. Many of our students are used to work on themes of their country of origin, collecting all the information once in their country, and then developing the theses in Rome.
Thesis can also be made in group (subject to acceptance by the tutor): in this case, there still have to be at least a self-made part developed by each student.
In order to have a better idea of how the thesis project is made, you can take a look on this page where some former thesis of architecture students have been uploaded.
Graduation application
Students preparing the thesis must finalize the application (also called as "thesis booking") at the latest one month before the presentation. In the academic calendar of each year are specified both the presentation dates and the deadlines for booking them.
The application has to be made on Infostud, and consists of the payment of the graduation fee of 32 euros and the following graduation booking.
For the graduation application, please follow the instructions included in this tutorial!
After booking the graduation, there's only one deadline left: at the latest 10 days before the presentation, students have to upload the thesis on Infostud, in order to let the Secretariat check that your work is progressing well.
Thesis presentation modality
Thesis has to presented to a graduation committee composed of professors of the Faculty of architecture (usually many of them are professors of our course): one of these professors is the student's thesis supervisor, who is used to make a brief presentation of the thesis to the other professors before the student starts to explain his work. Other professors of the committee are usually the supervisors of other students of the same session, but there are also other professors too.
Normally the presentation lasts about 15-20 minutes, and it can consist of just the explanation of the tables, or even a PowerPoint presentation too (based on the decision of the tutor). Depending on the number of presentations the session usually lasts 2 to 3 hours. Visitors (family members and friends) are allowed to attend the presentation.
After all the presentations, students are asked to leave the room and the committee evaluates the theses, grading them and providing a final mark which takes into consideration both the starting grade and the thesis grade.
Eventually, the grades of all students are announced collectively and the president of the graduation session declares the student a graduate.
Degree certificates
Degree certificates
Degree certificates are provided by the Student Affairs Office of our faculty, located in Via Gianturco 2 (email address segrstudenti.architettura@uniroma1.it). Graduate students have to write to the Office from their institutional email address.
Generally, one or two weeks after the thesis presentation the Infostud system is updated and the Office can provide a paper certificate which states that the student has graduated from "Architettura (Restauro)" master's degree. The name of the master's degree is in Italian, but if necessary we can provide you with an additional certificate which states that the course was held in English.
In order to have validity, graduate students have to bring a "marca da bollo" of 16 euros, which must be included in the document to be considered as valid. The Student Affairs Office will provide an appointment and students have to go there with the marca da bollo.
After that, in order to be used abroad, students have to go to the Prefecture (located in Via Stendhal), in order to get the legalization of the certificate.
For those who are abroad, the Office can provide the certificate to someone else, but a proxy signed by the interested person is necessary.
Sapienza also provides a parchment (a thick paper certificate in A3 format) to graduated students: it is like a celebrating document, certifying that the student have achieved the graduation. This document is only available some months after graduation, and graduate students should receive an email once the document is available, in order to collect it at the Office.
If many months have passed and the graduate students have not yet received any information from the Student Affairs Office, they should contact them by email to verify if by mistake the parchment has arrived but they have not been informed.
Report abuse