Information for the student – Integrative Physiology

The compulsory final project (TFM) consists in the design and execution a project oriented to the development of a research, a study, an intervention or a proposal of innovation in the professional field, which implies an integrating exercise of the received training as throughout the degree and application of knowledge, skills, attitudes and skills acquired throughout the master.

The TFM is an autonomous and individual work of the student and is a key element of its curriculum and the process of its evaluation.

The TFM has to be carried out under the guidance of a tutor, who will guide the learning process and act as scientific director. The possibility of the TFM being carried out under the direction of two scientific directors, one of whom will act as tutor, is contemplated. If the scientific director is external to the master, there must also be an academic tutor from among the master's professors.

Depending on the line chosen for the TFM, the Coordination Commission of the master will assign a Tutor Professor, upon acceptance by said professor.

When the student goes to develop all the TFM or a significant part of it in institutions and organisms different from the UB, it will be necessary to sign an agreement between the Faculty and the institution or the Organism.

• If the TFM is directed by professors of the master's degree (the student does not receive any other entity or company), the student must fill in the commitment document, signed by the director and/or tutor "Model" and deliver an original to the coordinator of the master
• If the director is external, he/she must complete the corresponding agreement (form of the Faculty), and the training project, signed by the external director, an internal tutor and the coordinator of the master's degree and deliver it to the secretariat.

1. Agreement of educational cooperation of external experimental works of the students of the University of Barcelona in collaborating entities.
2. Training project of external experimental works of the students of the University of Barcelona in collaborating entities.

The list of topics and tutors is approved every year by the Coordination Commission and is made public at the beginning of the academic year.

The Coordination Commission is in charge of approving the definitive assignment to the students of the TFMs and their tutors.

The period of enrolment of the TFM is the same as that of the other subjects of the master's degree.

The coordinating committee of the master's degree is sovereign to decide if it evaluates in a single period or in two, as well as the evaluation calendar. The periods of the oral defense and the evaluation of the TFM usually correspond to the first two weeks of July and the first of September. The final dates and times will be published in the Virtual Campus. In the same way, the work delivery calendar will be published, prior to the defense.

The research lines in which students can be incorporated to perform the TFM can be found at the following link: lines of research (Spanish)

TFM proposals from previous courses.

Propuestas TFM 2015-2016

Propuestas TFM 2016-2017

Propuestas TFM 2017-2018

Propuestas TFM 2018-2019 

Propuestas TFM 2019-2020

Propuestas TFM 2020-2021

Propuestas TFM 2021-2022

Propuestas TFM 2022-2023

The academic tutors have the responsibility to monitor the TFM's work of their ward, and to issue the assessment rubric before the TFM defense. You must also prepare a report on the monitoring of the work by the student and deliver it to the Coordination Commission at the end of the course.

If a student performs the TFM in a laboratory external to the department, the internal tutor of the TFM must follow up on the work, schedule meetings with the student throughout the period of work, review the work done and issue a report prior to the presentation, based on the evaluation of the external director.

Students will prepare a research plan stating: the title, background, objectives, methodology and work plan. This proposal must be endorsed by a person in charge of one of the participating research groups, stating the acceptance of the student in their group, which will allow carrying out the work plan planned under their direction. The proposal should include the description of the experimental work that allows to carry out the final project. The Coordination Commission must approve this proposal.

This work plan will be part of the compulsory subject of "Initiation to the investigation" and will be evaluated by the director / tutor of the work.

For the evaluation and defense the students must present a written memory of the work done, with the figures they consider appropriate and the corresponding bibliography. For guidance: the memory should be structured in: Introduction, Objectives, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion (Results and Discussion can be combined in a single section, if preferred), Conclusions and Bibliography. Its maximum length should not exceed 30 pages. If necessary, annexes with accessory data may be included.

The written report must be signed by the student, the director of the work and the tutor (if the work is done outside the UB). The student must submit (in department secretary) 3 copies of the paper memory and one copy in digital format (to the coordinator of the master), for archiving, according to the regulations approved by the academic commission of the Faculty of Biology. The copies will be delivered at least fifteen days before the date scheduled for the defense.

Prior to the delivery of the report, the tutor and / or director must provide the Master's Coordination Committee with a document of compliance, which also includes his assessment of the work and skills acquired by the student.

The information on the rules of implementation, presentation, defense and evaluation of the TFM can be found at:  http://www2.giga.ub.edu/acad/gdoc/fitxers/pdf/normes_TFM.pdf (Catalan).

The TFM will be evaluated by a court appointed by the Coordinating Committee, formed by 3 members (president, secretary and vocal), who preferably participate in the master. An oral and public evaluation will be carried out before a commission. Graphic support that is considered appropriate may be used.

The presentation must highlight the results obtained during the research work, the knowledge of the background and bibliography on the subject, as well as the critical sense in the results achieved. It must also show that the methodology used has been adequate from a technical, statistical and scientific logic point of view.

The exposure time for each student will last between 15-20 minutes, followed by a question time by the members of the court. The total duration will be 30 minutes.

The Master's Coordination Commission will establish the formal rules for the presentation and evaluation of the TFMs, in accordance with the UB criteria. Likewise, it will have to establish the procedure of the appointment of the court that has to evaluate the TFM and what criteria are to be used.

In an extraordinary way and always for justified reasons, the defense of the TFM can be done through video-conference. Students who so require must notify the coordinator of the master up to the end of June, stating the causes for which it is requested.

The evaluation criteria of the memory and defense as well as the weighting for each section are specified in the Teaching Plan of the TFM.

The regulations for the development of TFM of the Faculty of Biology, approved by the Academic Committee of the Faculty of Biology on September 26, 2012, can be found at:
https://www.ub.edu/portal/documents/6006358/0/NORMATIVA+TFM+FACULTAT+BIOLOGIA%281%29.pdf/cb199400-158d-9e1c-8cdb-1b90145dc188

The general provisions of the UB, applicable to the TFM can be found at: http://www.giga.ub.edu/acad/gdoc/fitxers/pdf/normes_TFM.pdf