Royal Decree 822/2021, of September 28, which establishes the organization of university education and the procedure for quality assurance, states that the courses leading to the award of a Master's degree will conclude with the preparation and public defense of a Master's Final Project (TFM), which will consist of 6 and 30 credits, in accordance with that established in the corresponding study plan. These credits may not be subject to recognition except in the event that they are specifically developed within a mobility program.
Concept
The master's thesis will consist of the completion of a report or project under the supervision of a tutor in which the knowledge and skills acquired by the student throughout the degree will be demonstrated.
These works will constitute an autonomous and personal task of the student and will have to be carried out in accordance with the verification report of the degree. The Academic Coordination Committees of each master's degree may establish specific guidelines and set evaluation criteria in order to homogenize the preparation and evaluation of the master's degree final projects.
In the case of inter-university degrees leading to a joint degree, the University of Valencia's own regulations will apply, unless otherwise established in the specific agreement signed between the participating universities.
Academic Coordinating Committees
In official master's degree programs, the Academic Coordination Committee (hereinafter, CCA) will assume the functions of the TFM Committee of the degree program.
The TFM CCA will be responsible for establishing the specific guidelines for the preparation and evaluation of the work and for developing the necessary instructions to deploy the provisions outlined in these regulations and adapt them to the specificities of each degree program.
These instructions will be published on the degree's website.
Modalities
The following modalities may be used for the presentation of the master's thesis:
a. Academic works of bibliographic review and research.
b. Experimental or theoretical work.
c. Works of professional application.
d. Other works not included in the previous modalities, as indicated in the verified syllabus and in the specific regulations of each degree.
In all cases the work will be materialized in a written report.
The TFM may be done in collaboration with institutions, organizations or companies other than the Universitat de València, provided that there is an agreement with them. This agreement, as well as the procedure and the necessary documents are detailed in the section “Assignment of the work and the tutor”.
Registration
The registration of the TFM will be done in the ordinary period with the rest of the subjects of the degree and will entitle the student to two official exams during the academic year.
The centers may open a second registration period at the end of the first exam period. This registration will also entitle the student to two official exams during the academic year.
Tutoring
The TFM will be supervised by an academic tutor who will have to belong to an area of knowledge with teaching in the degree and will be the person responsible for guiding the students in the development of the work, to ensure compliance with the objectives set, and to issue a report of the tutored work.
When a project is supervised by more than one tutor, at least one must belong to an area of knowledge taught in the degree.
The instructions of each degree program will indicate, if applicable, the requirements that the academic tutors must have.
However, in order to tutor the TFM it will be necessary to be a doctor, except in those cases authorized by the committee with competence in studies.
In the case of inter-university degrees leading to a joint degree, any doctor from the participating universities may be appointed as tutor, provided that this is established in the specific agreement signed.
If the TFM is carried out in an institution, organization or company, the latter will have to appoint an external tutor who will collaborate, together with the academic, in the definition of the content of the TFM and in its development.
Assignment of the work and of the tutor
The coordinating committees will have to ensure that all students enrolled have been assigned an FMT topic.
The coordinating committees will assign the topic and the academic tutor in accordance with the award criteria established in the TFM instructions of the degree.
These criteria may include the option that the topic may be proposed by the students by mutual agreement with their tutor.
For all purposes, the assignment of a TFM topic and a tutor will be valid only in the academic year in which the assignment is made.
Even so, in the event that the student does not pass the course, the committee may maintain the topic and the tutor for subsequent academic years, provided that the student continues to be enrolled.
In the case of doing the TFM in collaboration with institutions, organizations or companies other than the Universitat de València, once the assignment of the topic and tutor of the TFM has been made and the external entity where to do this work has been selected, the student himself/herself will have to download the following documents:
- TFG-TFM agreement: it will have to be filled in for detachment, signed and signed by the tutors (https://www.uv.es/graus/tfg-tfm/annex-i-autorellenable.pdf).
- Confidentiality agreement for the TFG/TFM for the case in which, for confidentiality reasons, it is not possible to present and publish some results, it will be necessary to specify, in advance, the conditions of these limitations: they will have to be signed by both the company and the student (https://www.uv.es/graus/tfg-tfm/annex-ii-autorellenable.pdf).
The student will have to include these documents in the Electronic Pouch procedure, enabled for this purpose and called “TFG-TFM en entidades externas”, that you can find at this link https://links.uv.es/DK5Lh8J.
Deposit and submission
The deposit and presentation of the TFM will be done in the final phase of the study plan and, in any case, respecting the conditions that appear in the memory of verification of the degree.
The student will have to submit an application for defense and evaluation and, at least, the electronic version of the work done, according to the procedure established by the Universitat de València through THE VIRTUAL OFFICE in the section “Procedures for students, section ‘File, Degrees and Registration’ step ‘Submission of the Master's Thesis (TFM)’.
Each coordinating committee may establish basic rules of style, length and structure of the TFM, as well as, if applicable, the additional material to be provided by the students.
The person or persons tutoring the work will have to issue a report on the TFM prior to its presentation.
Defense, evaluation and grading
The students will carry out the public defense of the TFM under the conditions established in the verification report of the degree. If the memory does not include this aspect, the form of presentation and evaluation must be specified in the specific instructions of the TFM of the degree.
The students will have two calls per academic year in which they are enrolled. However, the Center may establish different periods of defense within the deadlines set in the calendar of administrative management processes of the Universitat de València.
The coordinating committees will have to establish and announce in advance the date, place and other aspects of the defense and evaluation that are considered relevant.
The coordinating committees will appoint, if appropriate, as many tribunals as necessary to evaluate the work presented.
In these cases, the tribunal will be composed of three persons appointed from among the faculty of the areas of knowledge with teaching in the degree, except in those cases authorized by the committee with competence in studies.
Its operating regime will be the one set out in the degree verification report or, failing that, the one established by the law of administrative procedure.
The members of the TFM examining board will be doctors, except in those cases authorized by the committee responsible for studies.
If the TFM is carried out in an institution, organization or company, in a research group, or in any other situation in which, for reasons of confidentiality, it is necessary to establish restrictions on the defense of the work performed, the conditions of these limitations must be specified in advance by means of the confidentiality agreement for the defense of the TFM, which must be signed by both the members of the Tribunal and the student (https://www.uv.es/graus/tfg-tfm/annex-iii-autorellenable.pdf).
After the evaluation, a record will be drawn up in which the date and time of the defense and the grade obtained will be reflected.
The TFM instructions of the degree will establish the aspects to be assessed in the evaluation and how to obtain the grade.
The instructions drawn up by the coordinating committees will establish the procedure to be followed to award the mention of "Honors" which, in any case, will be carried out following the criteria of the corresponding regulations of the Universitat de València.
The grade of the TFM may be challenged in accordance with the procedure provided in the evaluation and grading regulations of the Universitat de València for bachelor's and master's degrees.
The TFM may be incorporated into the institutional repository of the Universitat de València provided that the work has obtained a minimum grade of 9 points and represents an original and relevant contribution.
This incorporation will be made upon request of the student, with the favorable report of the academic tutor and with the approval of the CCA, always safeguarding the authorship rights of the work.
Confidentiality
If the TFM is carried out in an institution, organization or company, in a research group, or in any other situation in which, for reasons of confidentiality, it is not possible to present and publish some results or it is necessary to establish restrictions in the defense of the work carried out, the conditions of these limitations must be specified beforehand.
For this purpose, the confidentiality agreement between the student and the company as well as the confidentiality agreement for the defense will be provided.
Regulatory regulations
Regulations of the final degree project and final master's degree project of the Universitat de València (https://www.uv.es/graus/tfg-tfm/reglamento_tfg-tfm-2024.pdf)
