In accordance with the applicable Spanish legislation, students enrolled in the Master’s Degree on European Union Studies must elaborate and submit a Master’s Final Dissertation or Master’s Thesis assigned with 10 credits.

For the preparation, submission and assessment of the Master’s Thesis, all students must meet the standards and criteria specified in the “Methodology” Section of this Guide.

For organizational purposes, the Master’s Final Dissertation has been designed as another subject in the Master’s curriculum. It consists in the conduct of academic research and the writing of an original dissertation. In order to obtain the 10 credits assigned to this subject, students must:

-         Be enrolled in the subject called “Master’s Final Dissertation”

-         Have successfully completed the other 50 credits of the Master’s Degree

-        Write an original dissertation on one of the topics related to the various subjects of the Master’s curriculum. This means the research topic must relate to the general framework of the subject imparted by the Director of the dissertation.

The Master’s Final Dissertation must be defended by students in a public session before an Assessment Committee (hereinafter, Committee) composed of three members. This academic session will be held at the headquarters of UNED, Faculty of Law, c/ Obispo Trejo, 2, 28040 – Madrid, Spain.

All students attempting to complete their Dissertation will be assigned a Director to guide their progress and oversee the academic quality of their Final Master’s Dissertation.

Once the Dissertation has been completed by its author, and approved by the Director, it will be sent to the Secretary of the Master’s Degree and distributed to the members of the Committee, at least 15 days before the scheduled date for the public session.

The date of the session for the public defence will be established in advance and announced to all interested students through the aLf platform.

The Director of each Master’s Final Dissertation will establish a system of directing a prospective piece of research work, assisting the student during the preparation of the MFD, and endorsing its final version before it is defended in public session.

COMPETENCIAS BÁSICAS Y GENERALES:

CG01 - Saber resolver problemas en entornos multidisciplinares relativos a la Unión Europea.

CG02 - Saber comunicar ideas y opiniones basadas en conocimientos específicos y avanzados sobre Unión Europea y emitir juicios razonados sobre las mismas.

CG03 - Interpretar el contenido de los textos y documentos de la Unión Europea de forma que el alumno sea capaz de adoptar decisiones y formular opciones sobre ellos en el entorno complejo de la estructura y ordenamiento de la Unión Europea.

CB6 - Poseer y comprender conocimientos que aporten una base u oportunidad de ser originales en el desarrollo y/o aplicación de ideas, a menudo en un contexto de investigación

CB7 - Que los estudiantes sepan aplicar los conocimientos adquiridos y su capacidad de resolución de problemas en entornos nuevos o poco conocidos dentro de contextos más amplios (o multidisciplinares) relacionados con su área de estudio

CB8 - Que los estudiantes sean capaces de integrar conocimientos y enfrentarse a la complejidad de formular juicios a partir de una información que, siendo incompleta o limitada, incluya reflexiones sobre las responsabilidades sociales y éticas vinculadas a la aplicación de sus conocimientos y juicios

CB9 - Que los estudiantes sepan comunicar sus conclusiones y los conocimientos y razones últimas que las sustentan a públicos especializados y no especializados de un modo claro y sin ambigüedades

CB10 - Que los estudiantes posean las habilidades de aprendizaje que les permitan continuar estudiando de un modo que habrá de ser en gran medida autodirigido o autónomo.

COMPETENCIAS ESPECÍFICAS:

CE01 - Trabajar en contextos multidisciplinares que son los propios del ámbito de la Unión Europea y resolver problemas en dicho ámbito.

CE02 - Dominar los instrumentos de regulación y ordenación de la Unión Europea en contextos profesionales y académicos.

CE03 - Identificar normas y documentos dentro del sistema jurídico-político resultante de la integración de los ordenamientos jurídicos de los Estados Miembros y de la Unión Europea

CE04 - Encontrar, analizar y aplicar la legislación emanada de las diferentes instituciones y órganos de la Unión Europea, así como la de los Estados Miembros que se refiera o esté implicada en el sistema europeo.

CE14 - Analizar la economía de la Unión Europea interrelacionando todos sus aspectos

See: REQUISITOS Y/O RECOMENDACIONES PARA CURSAR LA ASIGNATURA

METHODOLOGY

1. Formal guidelines for the preparation of the Master’s Final Dissertation (MFD)

The Master’s Final Dissertation(MFD) is a written academic piece of original research work on a chosen topic. Students can freely choose a topic on which to conduct research, but the actual subject-matter and design of the MFD must be agreed upon with the Director. The MFD must necessarily include the following items in its structure: Objectives, Theoretical Foundation, Methodology, Sources Used and Conclusions.

It is recommended that the MFD should not be less than eighty pages (1.5 line spacing), including the related bibliography, documents, graphics and statistics.

In order to achieve a desirable style consistency, the following guidelines regarding the format and wording of the MFD as adapted by UNED for the submission of a Doctoral Thesis are considered appropriate:

Format: A4 in accordance with norm UNE 10111 (DIN4)

Cover Page: containing the following details:

Master’s Final Dissertation

Title

Name and two surnames of the author, specifying the Master specialty

Name and two surnames of the Director of the Master’s Final Dissertation

Name of subject related to the Master’s Final Dissertation

Year

Optional: Images/Cover Photos

Binding: Book type

Recommended style: the Master’s Final Dissertation should be written with 1.5 line spacing and 13as font.

 Formal Structure:

•         First page: should contain the same items indicated in the Cover Page.

•         Second page. Table of Contents: Chapters, Sections and Subsections included in the Memory are to be listed under this heading.

•         List of abbreviations and acronyms, if any.

•         Text of the Master’s Final Dissertation starting with an Introduction and ending with the Conclusions

•         Bibliography: This should be placed after the “Conclusions” section and before the “Appendices”, if any, and should include a list of the publications used in the work.

2. Presenting the Master´s Final Dissertation: General Tips

Once a student has selected the topic, he/she should contact a professor or other scholar on the basis of subject-matter affinity, in order to request formal direction. Students may also contact the Coordinator of the Master’s Programme, Dr Carlos Vidal Prado, who will provide the necessary guidance through the process. The following recommendations may be helpful in the elaboration of the MFD:

·        It is a piece of original research work: skills and competencies relating to scientific analysis, use of specialized literature and academic papers must be demonstrated.

·        It is essential that the work be presented in compliance with all formal requirements.

·        The work submitted should strike a balance between structure, content and writing style. It is recommended that the text be both descriptive and evaluative.

·        The contents presented must be supported with footnotes to the comments and/or bibliographic references and documents. Footnotes are to be used as the preferred technique to sustain assertions made and provide track of the research that the author has conducted.

·        The MFD must be the result of original and personal work. Therefore, it is crucial that contents are duly reasoned and supported, and sources correctly cited.

·        It is recommended for the MFD to include a brief “Introduction” to explain the objectives, lines of research, methodology, working hypothesis and a critical assessment of the sources to be used.

·        The MFD must include a final part, or “Conclusions”, which are truly conclusive, brief and concise.

Finally, bibliographical and documentary references and journalistic material (if used) should be annexed in accordance with standard practices of bibliographic citation, as explained in this Section.

3. How to cite quotations in text and notes

Direct quotations in the text should be put in quotes and the details of the work cited included in footnotes, or at the end of each chapter;

Large paragraphs should never be quoted literally, except in the case of classical authors. For example: As Torres del Moral says “The Chambers establish their own Regulations”;

References freely cited should normally be made in the following manner: according to Professor Garcia Pelayo ...... and the details of the works included in a footnote. E.g. According to Professor Garcia Pelayo it can be said that parliamentary chambers have legislative autonomy;

Specific form of citation in notes:

Quotation from an author in an individual book

If the name of the author appears in the text of the MFD, only the details of the work cited should be put in footnotes. If the name of the author does not appear in the text of the MFD, because the student is merely suggesting a further reading, both the name and the details should be put in footnotes.

E.g.: A. Torres del Moral. Principles of Constitutional Law. Publications Service of the Faculty of Law, 3rd edition, Madrid 1993, Volume I, pp. 82-85. (Author, title, publisher, edition, city, date, volume, specific page)

Quotation from an author of a collective book

E.g.: Y. Gomez “The Liberal State and its Evolution towards a Social State” in various authors (VV.AA.), Introduction to Political Law, UNED, Madrid, 1995, pp. 76-99.

Quotation from a Scientific Journal

E.g.: M. V. Garcia-Atance. “The Constitutional Reform” in the Journal of Political Law (RDP) No. 35 (1993) UNED, pages 34-54.

When repeating the quotation of a work, the footnote should contain the following expression: quoted work or op. cit.  p. 43

In summary, everything taken from an author should be quoted in a footnote, as well as anything suggested for further reading to broaden knowledge. In the first case, the name of the author should be in the text and details of the work in a footnote. In the second case, it should all be in a footnote.

All the works consulted for the completion of the MFD should be listed in the final bibliography, regardless of whether the quotations are cited in the written text or not.

The Director of each Master’s Final Dissertation will advise the student on the bibliography and documentation to be consulted for the drafting of their research work. Students are encouraged to search and select themselves relevant bibliography and make use of it during the conduct of their research. In this regard, going beyond the Director’s recommendations and adding new bibliography to the body of well-known books and articles can give an added value to any research work.

There is additional documentation available for students on the aLf platform. Students have access to all online resources and to all the hard copy (books and articles) in the UNED libraries.