Individual final project

Language

French

Main themes

The masters dissertation, irrespective of the subject, allows a student to :

• summarise a given scientific topic,
• put a specific issue in context drawing on existing information,
• present the results of the dissertation.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

The dissertation must demonstrate the student's ability to describe correctly the results of a personal, objective and methodical work. The length of the dissertation is not a criteria in evaluating its quality. Similar to the other forms of learning, the dissertation is an essential component of the programme to which it belongs. Status quaestionis about an issue of the masters, this piece of work is more limited than a dissertation and must be done in one year.

Content

The final dissertation pursues the same objectives as the MA 120 dissertation, but focuses on a more limited set of issues: it should be at least 50 pages (i.e. 125,000 characters including spaces) of original, personal writing (including bibliography and notes, but excluding appendices).

Evaluation methods

Supervision and composition of the TFE jury
The TFE is supervised by a promoter. 
Students must submit their subject for approval to the promoter by the date specified in the faculty calendar. 
The TFE jury is made up of two readers: the promoter and another reader appointed by the Master's jury (represented, in this appointment task, by the jury chair). 

Oral defence  
The TFE is defended orally before a jury comprising the promoter and the reader/lector. The oral examination is an opportunity for the student and the members of the jury to exchange views. Students will be informed of the practical arrangements for the oral examination no later than the first day of the session in which the TFE is registered.

TFE assessment criteria 
The final mark takes into account 

• achievement of the objectives set; 
• the coherence and overall quality of the work carried out (relevant and well-documented synthesis of the scientific literature, quality of the methodological approach and appropriateness to the objectives, relevance and soundness of the analysis and interpretation) 
• the ability to critically discuss the methodological choices made and the conclusions drawn from the work ; 
• the correctness, quality and relevance of the written presentation;
• the quality of the oral presentation.

In its final mark, the promoter also takes into account the student's commitment and the regularity of the work done throughout the Master's programme as part of the TFE.
The TFE reader is responsible for drawing up a detailed written report on certain formal aspects of the TFE

• spelling;
• language (accuracy and appropriateness of terms, syntactical correctness);
• punctuation
• presentation of the text itself, bibliography, notes, references, etc.

This report may lead the jury to revise the mark awarded to the TFE in accordance with the procedures set out in the document ‘Evaluation of language skills in written work, TFCs, dissertations and TFEs in bachelor's and master's degree programmes in ancient and modern languages and literature’, or even to declare that the candidate has failed. 
In the event of failure of the TFE due to the language report, without prejudice to article 153 of the RGEE, the chair of the jury notifies the student that he or she cannot present the oral defence of the TFE, given that this failure cannot be made up by the defence.
Rules on plagiarism and the use of AI 
Throughout the TFE, students must demonstrate their perfect mastery of the rules of bibliographic referencing; at the risk of being suspected of plagiarism, they must ensure that they 

• DO NOT copy a text without inverted commas and/or without mentioning the source;
• DO NOT reproduce a graph, data, illustration, etc. without mentioning the source;
• DO NOT reformulate or summarise an author's original idea without mentioning the source;
• DO NOT translate, in whole or in part, a source without referencing it;
• DO NOT use someone else's work by presenting it as your own (even if the author of the work has given his or her agreement);
• DO NOT buy a work.

See https://uclouvain.be/fr/etudier/uss/lutter-contre-le-plagiat.html
This definition supplements the one contained in art. 107 §2 of the RGEE, which constitutes a special provision within the meaning of §3 of the same article. Any student who fails to comply with the scientific referencing standards set out above is liable, in the event of irregularity or plagiarism established by the jury, to academic sanctions as detailed in the RGEE (section 7).
If generative artificial intelligence (AI) is used, it must be used responsibly and in accordance with the practices of academic and scientific integrity. As scientific integrity requires that sources be cited, the use of AI must always be reported.

Other information

The Individual Final Project (15 credits) is not to be validated in the case of continuing study for a Master 120 degree.

Online resources

https://moodle.uclouvain.be/course/view.php?id=4142

Faculty or entity

> ELAL