Final Research Paper is a capstone course that allows students to integrate and demonstrate the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the Masters program. It represents the demonstration of your academic maturity and the acquisition of the knowledge, skills, and competencies developed throughout your studies. Passing this subject is an essential requirement for obtaining your official degree.
The project may take the form of a research paper in the field of personal leadership and negotiation, an innovative proposal for an idea or prototype, or the design of a team or system within the students area of competence. Emphasis is placed on applying scientific rigor in the interpretation of bibliographic sources, designing structured research or project plans, and proposing strategies for the continuous improvement of negotiation practices. The course culminates in the defense of the final work before an academic committee, providing students with the opportunity to showcase both their analytical and practical capacities in leadership and negotiation.
Roles of Tutors and Coordinators
- The director of the program assigns topics and tutors, sets the calendar of submissions, and supervises the process in Canvas.
- The tutor/supervisor guides your work in each phase, provides feedback, reviews progress, evaluates partial submissions, and determines eligibility for the defense.
The tutor guides you, but the main responsibility lies with you: your commitment and consistency are key to success.
Evaluation
The tutor and later the academic committee will assess aspects such as:
- Formal presentation, writing, and coherence.
- Structure and achievement of objectives.
- Methodology, analysis of results, and conclusions.
- Citations and references.
- Academic quality and originality.
- Inclusion of sustainability criteria.
The tutors assessment (eligible/not eligible) at the deposit stage is binding for access to the oral defense.
Dissertation Guidelines 2025-2026
1. GENERAL INFORMATION
The 10 ECTS of the Master’s Final Project have to be passed through the submission of a work
(individual or group mximum 3 pax) in order to show the student’s research skills.
1.1 Objective
The Master’s Final Project has the objective to prove the intellectual maturity and the research
skills of the student. It has to be an original project, as a result of the personal work of the student
under the guidance of a supervisor.
2. FORMAL REQUIREMENTS
2.1 Cover and first page
All types of final project must include:
1. Cover page with:
Title of the document
Author or authors’ name
Supervisor
Publication date: Academic Year 20–/–
The name of the collection: Research Project of the Master in ….
Name of the University:
First page with:
Abstract: maximum 150-word length in the same language of the Project
Keywords: a list of keywords about the content, with a maximum length of 200
characters
Type of the project (PhD proposal, Research Dissertation, Theoretical Dissertation,
Journal Article)
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2.2 Digital file
The document must be uploaded in PDF or DOC format. If there are some annexes, they must
be embedded in the text file. The size limit per file must be inferior to 100MB.
4. TYPES OF FINAL MASTER DISSERTATION
There are four eligible types of dissertation. Students must adhere to one type:
Type 1. PhD Proposal
Type 2. Theoretical Dissertation
Type 3. Research Paper
Type 4. Journal Article
The four types aim for the student to acquire the following knowledge:
Disciplinary knowledge
Methodological knowledge
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The capacities and skills acquired by the student in any modality must be as follow:
The ability to gather, select, systematize and manage information, documentation, and
bibliographical materials
The capacity to design, structure, and articulate a research project or academic paper
The capacity to pose and form original proposals to solve relevant research problems
The capacity to articulate a complex discourse
The capacity for criticism and self-criticism
The capacity for analysis and synthesis
The capacity to work alone in a group
Rigour in the presentation of the written material
What follows are the requested structure for each type:
Type 1. PhD Proposal
This consists of a research proposal devised to expand later as a doctoral thesis. This type of
dissertation does not involve the collection of data nor the production of results, discussion or
conclusion, since its aim is to design a future PhD research. For this reason, it is expected that
the state of the art and methodology sections are much more developed than in the rest of
dissertation types. This type of dissertation must include at least the following sections:
a) Introduction to the specific topic chosen and a justification of its importance, novelty,
and academic relevance.
b) State of the art of the topic (literature review & theoretical framework).
c) Research problem, research questions, and/or hypotheses, objectives.
d) Methodology, specifying the particular tools to be used as research techniques.
e) Structure and contents of the research to be carried out, definition of the main
concepts around which the research is to be constructed.
f) Bibliography, documentation and materials to be used for the aims of the research
(note this is not the references list for the project but a reflection on what main sources
you will use in your research).
g) Timeline of execution of the project
i) List of references used in the dissertation
Length: The Dissertation must be between 9,000 and 12,000 words. This translates to
approximately 30 to 50 pages of 1.5 spaced text (references included; appendixes not included).
Type 2. Theoretical Dissertation
A theoretical, or non-empirical, dissertation focuses on secondary research you use data
collected and presented by other researchers to develop an argument. This type of dissertation
doesnt have any data youve generated at all; rather, it is entirely literature-based. This is likely
to be the methodology of theoretical analysis: selection and discussion of theoretical material
and descriptive material, in context, and detailed comparison of theories in terms of their
applicability. Here, the focus of attention is not so much to discover something about the social
world, as to reach a judgement about the value of key concepts or theories in understanding that
world. This type of dissertation is less constrained in terms of format, but theoretical essays
should include the following sections:
a) Introduction to the specific topic chosen and a justification of its importance, novelty,
and academic relevance; introduction of your argument, overview of structure of the
dissertation.
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b) Literature review, showing how your work fits within the context of others work;
selection and comment on the relevant literature.
c) Development of your argument in the context of the literature review, topic, case
study, etc.
d) Conclusion and/or discussion.
f) List of references.
Length: The Dissertation must be between 9,000 and 12,000 words. This translates to
approximately 30 to 50 pages of 1.5 spaced text (references included; appendixes not included).
Type 3. Research paper
This consists of an empirical research conducted on a topic and delivered in the form of a
typical research paper. This dissertation contains empirical results of any sort (from text/image
analyses, surveys, interviews, documentary observation, ethnography, etc.). It shall include at
least the following sections:
a) Introduction to the specific topic chosen and a justification of its importance, novelty,
and academic relevance.
b) Literature review.
c) Research design:
– Research problem, research questions, and/or hypotheses, objectives.
– Methodology, specifying the particular tools used in the research.
d) Results.
e) Conclusion and/or discussion.
f) Reference list.
Length: The Dissertation must be between 9,000 and 12,000 words. This translates to
approximately 30 to 50 pages of 1.5 spaced text (references included; appendixes not included).
Type 4. Journal article
This consists of a theoretical or empirical work with the same features as type 2 and 3 but
delivered in the form of a journal article. To this end, students must select an academic journal
for publication in accordance with the supervisor. The final format and length must be therefore
adapted to the journals submission guidelines. For the sake of providing context to the
assessment committee, this type of dissertation must attach an introduction to the paper
including:
Full name and website address of the journal to which the paper will be submitted
Aims and scope of the journal where the paper will be submitted (you can just copy
their aims and scope)
Indexing: the journals you have chosen must be an indexed journal with blind peer
review, include any relevant details regarding where it is indexed (it is enough to report
on the top indexing, for instance if the journal is indexed in SJR or JCR for instance)
Similar papers previously published in this journal that your paper complements or
quotes.
Adequacy of your paper to the journal (why your contribution will be of interest for this
journal)
Length: Follow the journal instructions (plus add one page maximum with the above-requested
details about the journal)
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REGARDING THE TOPICS OF CHOICE:
Please note that all dissertations must be an innovative contribution to the topics of leadership
and negotiation as addressed in this programme regarding the field of international
relations, diplomacy, international business, etc.
Note: The reference system to be used is APA, 7th edition (2020).
Initial Submission
- Objective: define the scope and focus of your project.
- Submission: Word or PDF file including title, introduction/theoretical framework, objectives, and methodology or high-level planning.
Topic:
Integrating Sustainable Development Principles into International Negotiation Strategies: A Long-Term Perspective
Research Question: To what extent does the integration of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into economic and trade negotiations enhance long-term institutional stability, and under what conditions might such integration introduce complexity that constrains timely agreement formation?
important Note: This is only a proposal – Initial draft including title, introduction/theoretical framework, objectives, and methodology or high-level planning.