Zemi

Thesis Submission

Some of you are still waiting for comments regarding the online version and documentation. You will receive them soon — please don't stress for now.

I have already spoken with the Dean's Office and I know that they will accept theses until the end of January. I am keeping track of the deadlines and there will certainly be time for corrections after receiving the comments. If someone doesn't make it in time, we have an additional option to extend the submission deadline to February 15th. The extension does not affect the defense date in any way and is, of course, free of charge.

After receiving comments on the online version and documentation, your thesis is entered into GAKKO. After making corrections, most groups can submit their thesis.

Defense

Now a few words about the defense. The dates and times of defenses are determined by Prof. Banachowski. We will be informed about them after submitting the thesis.

Arrive at the defense about 15 minutes early — just in case.

It's worth dressing a bit more formally.

The first part of the defense is the thesis presentation. You prepare a short PowerPoint presentation, and then show the application running online. Such a presentation should take about 10 minutes. Remember that the presentation is graded. Make sure that every group member talks about something and that you stay within the time limit.

After the presentation comes the Q&A section. During the questioning, only one student is present, while the rest of the group waits outside for their turn.

Questions can theoretically cover any topic related to your studies. However, there is usually at least one question about databases. For this reason, it's worth reviewing sample defense questions and preparing especially for database topics. Often, a question from this list actually appears.

Besides database topics, practical questions about the technologies used in the project, algorithms, and design patterns often come up. However, this is an observation, not a rule.

During the defense, the committee consists of the supervisor, the reviewer, and the committee chair — usually Prof. Banachowski.

To pass the defense, you must achieve an average grade of 3.0 or higher from 3 questions. Otherwise, you must repeat the defense during the next examination session.

You can only defend after obtaining your absolutorium (clearance) — that is, after receiving all grades and the internship credit.

If at least one person in the group has obtained their absolutorium, you can defend. In that case, the person with the absolutorium goes through the full defense, while the other people only defend the project — they don't have the 3 questions asked. Those people will have a "title defense" during the next examination session (if they pass the missing courses). They won't have to present the project again.

Remember that the questions are more of a conversation during which the committee asks about various things.

The final grade on the diploma is calculated according to the algorithm: 50% * study average + 25% * (average of supervisor's grade, reviewer's grade, and presentation grade) + 25% * (average of answers to questions).

At the defense, you can present your work on your own laptop or on a university laptop.

Sample Questions

Link to sample questions: Set of topics for the diploma examination