School of English - AUTh

Description

A. GENERAL

1. The subject of the proposed diploma thesis needs to correspond to the subject area of one of the School of English four Departments (code Ling5-495 for the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics,  Lit9-495 for the Departments of English Literature & Culture and American Literature & Culture, and ResTIS 5-495 for the Department of Translation and Intercultural Studies). The diploma thesis,  credited with 12 ECTS,  is optional and written in English.
2. The aim of the diploma thesis is to help students gain experience in research methodology and scholarly writing.
3. The students may start working on a diploma thesis not earlier than the 7th semester of their undergraduate studies.
4. Every faculty member or Special/Laboratory Teaching Fellow may supervise a maximum of two diploma theses per academic year.
5. A diploma thesis cannot be supervised by a faculty member or Special/Laboratory Teaching Fellow who is on sabbatical for at least one semester.

B. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Eligible students must:

• Be at least in the 7th semester of their studies.
• Meet at least one of the following conditions (1 or 2 or 3):
1. have successfully attended one of the following courses depending on the Department they’ll collaborate with
• Lit390 Introduction to the Research Paper (GPA of 8 or more for the Departments of American Literature and Culture, English Literature and Culture, and the Department of Translation and Intercultural Studies) 
• LingRes300 Introduction to the (Linguistic) Research Paper (for the Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics and GPA of 8 or more for the Department of Translation and Intercultural Studies);
2. have been involved in the writing of research papers in other courses relevant to the subject area of the diploma thesis;
3. have completed compulsory courses that correspond to the subject area of the diploma thesis with a GPA of 8 or more (Ling2 courses for Theoretical Linguistics OR Ling3 courses for Applied Linguistics; Lit6-260 & Lit6-261 for English Literature and Culture; Lit7-270 & Lit7-271 for American Literature and Culture; TIS1-180 OR ThApTIS2-214 for the Department of Translation and Intercultural Studies.

If the student meets at least one of the above conditions,  s/he shall contact the prospective supervisor who may lay down additional prerequisites for his/her supervision.

C. GUIDELINES

Students

• need to contact a member of the academic staff based on the subject area of their interest.
• Once the students have been accepted and the topic of the diploma thesis has been stated, they fill in an application form (signed by the supervisor) and submit it, together with a thesis proposal/abstract,  to the School of English Secretariat in order to complete their registration.
• The topic and the proposal/abstract are sent to the relevant department for approval.
• Diploma theses need to be submitted for evaluation at the end of each semester.
• Upon completion of the diploma thesis, students submit an application form to the Secretariat addressed to the relevant Department, in order for a second supervisor to be appointed; the second supervisor is then approved by the School General Assembly
• (application forms are provided by the Secretariat).
• The student is required to submit two copies of the diploma thesis (one for each of the two supervisors) to the School Secretariat.
• The diploma thesis that is submitted for evaluation must correspond to the following criteria and checked for plagiarism via the Turnitin platform (on the basis of instructions  provided by the supervisor).
• Length: approx. 40 pages (main body of work without Works Cited)
• Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt
• Spacing: double
• Margins: 3 cm (right / left / top / bottom)
• Style Guide: MLA 8 (Lit/TIS) or APA 6 (Ling/TIS)
• After the student makes the corrections/changes requested by the supervisors, s/he will need to submit an electronic copy of the final diploma thesis (corrections/changes included) to the library (to be uploaded via IKEE). Only then the 12 ECTS will be credited.
• The suspension of a diploma thesis can only be allowed for very serious reasons. The student and the supervisor would need to justify the reasons for such a decision in separate reports that should be submitted to the relevant Department for approval. This process can take place only until the end of the student’s 7th semester.
• The termination of a diploma thesis may also be requested by the supervisor due to the student’s inadequate performance. The student who has not completed the diploma thesis must replace it with two electives for the total of 12 ECTS.