STUDY GUIDE

INTERNAL STUDY REGULATIONS OF DIAE BACHELOR’S PROGRAM

Article 1. General provisions

The academic year begins on the 1^st of September of each year and ends on the 31^st of August of the following year. The study at DIAE is five years and is completed in 10 semesters of 13 weeks each. By decision of the Senate, following a proposal of the Department, it is allowed to extend the duration of the semester to a maximum of two weeks, in order to complete the required minimum number of teaching weeks. Consequently, the course is considered as not taught for teaching less than 13 weeks. Interruption of the educational work and the general operation of a University, in addition to the provisions of the current legislation, is possible by decision of the Senate and only in exceptional cases.

Each course has a number of ECTS credits. Students are examined in the January-February period in the winter semester courses, in the June period in the spring semester courses and in the September period in both the winter and spring semester re-seats. Students continuing studies (beyond the 11th semester) have the right to be examined in all courses in all three examination periods.

The maximum duration of study in the undergraduate studies cannot exceed the minimum number of semesters required to obtain the degree, according to the indicative study program of the Department, increased by 100%, i.e., 10 years. Students have the right to temporarily suspend their studies, with a written application to the Secretariat of the Department, for as many semesters, consecutive or not, as they wish, and in any case not more than the minimum number of semesters required to obtain a degree according to the indicative program studies, i.e., not more than 10 semesters. These semesters will not be counted in the above maximum duration of study. Students who suspend their studies as above do not have the status of student throughout the period of suspension. For the loss of student status, a relevant certificate is issued by the Secretariat of the Department, which confirms the courses in which the student has been successfully examined. Each student in case of deletion and graduation from the Department must submit the following documents: (a) student ID, (b) student club certificate for cessation of feeding, (c) health booklet, (d) certificate of no charge of books from the library.

The student completes his/her studies and gets a degree when he/she completes the required courses and accumulates the required number of courses and credits. Specifically, in order to obtain the degree of the Department of Agriculture, Ichthyology & Aquatic Environment, it is required: a) Successful examination and completion of 47 compulsory courses (236 ECTS), b) Successful examination and completion of elective courses (at least 16 ECTS), c) Successful examination and completion of 3 English courses terminology (12 ECTS), d) Elaboration of an internship (6 ECTS) and e) Successful elaboration of an undergraduate diploma thesis (PDE-) (30 ECTS).

The student who has been successfully examined in more elective courses, than those needed for obtaining a degree, can choose with a notarized letter in the Secretariat those that he wants to be counted. The additional elective courses, which are not counted in the degree, are listed in the detailed grade and in the Diploma Supplement.

Article 2. Course Registration

At the beginning of each semester and for a period of two weeks from the beginning of the courses of the respective semester, each student must register for classes (courses). By registering for the course, the student acquires the right:

1) to attend the theoretical and laboratory part of the courses he registers,

2) to receive the teaching aids available for these courses,

3) to participate in the examinations of the courses he registered.

The above registration is operated electronically by each individual student. After the expiration of the deadline, no registrations are accepted, nor requests for change of a registration that has been submitted on time. Any change must be approved by the Department Assembly. Each course consists of theoretical and laboratory training. In some courses laboratory training is replaced by exercises and/or tutoring. Workshops, or exercises in the various courses are mandatory during the study. If laboratory training or exercises are prerequisites for the theoretical teaching of a course then, pre-consultation of the student with the teacher is required.

During the course registration the following regulations hold:
1. The course registration is equivalent to enrollment in the semester.

Article 3. Grading

The performance of the students in each course is graded on the scale "zero" to "ten" (0 - 10), with a minimum success score of five (5) and excellent ten (10) with an accuracy of up to one decimal place and is submitted to Secretariat of the Department by the teacher, after being passed electronically through the web-class platform. The student's grade in each course is determined by the teacher, who is obliged to organize at his discretion written or oral exams or to rely on topics or laboratory exercises.

The degree grade (GPA) is calculated as follows: The grade of each course is multiplied by the number of ECTS of the course and the sum of all the individual products is divided by the sum of the ECTS of all the courses. The Thesis, the Internship, the English terminology are considered as courses with their corresponding ECTS described above. More specifically, we have that:

Degree GPA = Summation of (Course Grade x ECTS of Course) / Summation (ECTS of Course)

The characterization of the students' performance, depending on the final grade in accuracy up to two decimal places that they achieve in their degree, is as follows:

Article 4. Diploma Thesis

To obtain a degree from the Department of Agriculture, Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment of the University of Thessaly, it is mandatory to prepare an undergraduate thesis (Diploma Thesis), which is of experimental or bibliographic nature.

The following applies to the conduct of Diploma Thesis:

1) Each faculty member gives a list of proposed thesis topics to the secretariat before the beginning of the 5^th semester,

2) For each proposed topic is given the "thematic field", which is a general title, which during the preparation of the Diploma Theses will be finalized as an exact title in Greek and English,

3) For each proposed topic the type of topic is given (Experimental - Bibliographic). The experimental contains elements of primary data collection through experimental research, while the bibliographic is a review of the literature,

4) Each proposed thesis is supervised by a 3-member advisory-examination committee (one supervisor and two examiners),

5) Each proposed topic is given to the maximum number of students who can choose it. Experimental theses can be either individual or given to a group of maximum of 4 students,

6) The bibliographic theses can be either individual or given to a group of maximum of 2 students.

At the beginning of the 5^th semester, the proposed topics of the theses are posted for a period of two weeks on the bulletin board and on the website of the Department, so that students have time to process the topics and come to a decision of selection. On specific and exclusive dates, the students of the 5^th semester are informed by the Secretariat with an announcement that they can come to register the topic of their choice.

The supervisor is a member of the Faculty, or a Researcher of a recognized research center, or a department staff member with a gained PhD (Specialized Teaching Personnel), or a contracted external personnel (type 407/80)of the Department. The thesis is prepared in the laboratory premises of the Department of Agriculture, Ichthyology & Aquatic Environment, and/or in public research/academic institutions.
In case the thesis is prepared outside the Department, the members of the Three-Member Advisory Committee must be appointed as a supervising faculty member of the Department.

The presentation of the dissertation cannot be done in a period shorter than 3 months from the submission of the application.

At the end of the writing of the thesis, the student must check, in collaboration with the supervising professor, with special software the percentage of literal copying of the text he submits and include the reference report of the software during the submission of the Thesis. The percentage of accurate copy of text can not exceed 30% in total. This percentage does not include bibliographic references.

Article 5. Disciplinary penalties

In case of cheating and/or plagiarism, the penalties are imposed by the Department Assembly and are of an administrative nature, i.e., the student is excluded from the exams for the duration of the sentence. The student reserves the right to participate in the examination of other courses, as long as he meets the conditions described in the current regulations of the Department, but also the syllabus of each course. In case the initial decision-sentence is appealed to the competent higher bodies of the University, the decision of the competent bodies of the University is valid.

The Department Secretariat is responsible for maintaining the record and enforcing penalties.

Article 6. Practical Training

The Internship (Practical Training) of the Students of the Department of Agriculture, Ichthyology and Aquatic Environment of the School of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Thessaly, is implemented within the Operational Program "Education and Lifelong Learning" (NSRF 2014-2020) and is institutionalized in the department under the following restrictions:

The internship program DIAE aims at the internship of all its students in companies and organizations of the private or public sector in order to:

The PT is conducted during the first two months exclusively in the Fisheries Departments of the Regional Units of the country, with selection criterion to be the place of residence or origin of the students and the second two months in institutions of produce either in the public sector, e.g. research centers (ELKETHE, INALE, etc. ), public fishmarkets, public research laboratories, Universities, or in the private sector, e.g. aquaculture units (marine and/or inland), catch processing units, fishing associations, R&D offices, chemical laboratories, snail farms, bodies are active in topics related to those served by the Department.

The Scientific Officer of the PT of the Department is the currently elected President of the Department.

Useful instructions and specific forms necessary for the process of starting and completing the PT, are available on the website of the Department.
​​​​​​​

2. Students can register for courses offered in the semester they attend and up to 3 due courses of previous years (n + 3).
3. Graduate students (9th & 10th semester) can declare the courses offered in the semester they attend and up to 6 due courses of previous years (n + 6).
4. Graduate students (≥ 11th semester) can register due courses of previous years of winter and spring semester without restrictions.
5. Students can register for courses of the study semester and/or previous semesters, not of latter semesters.

• Once a topic is chosen by a student (or those required), this thesis topic will not be available to anyone else. The rest of the students will have a registration choice only on the remaining theses’ topics,
• The students of the 5^th semester must choose a topic, otherwise the Assembly of the Department will assign them one of the remaining proposed topics,
• The thesis is considered complete after the consent of the 3-member examination committee (supervisors and examiners). The Supervisor then informs the Secretariat that the thesis is ready for an audited presentation,
• Audited presentations of all theses are mandatory and are held on a specific day, 3 times / year, on dates that will be posted and fall into periods after the end of each exam period and in any case long before the inauguration dates set by the University,
• Each presentation lasts 15-20 minutes and is followed by questions-discussion with the examination committee. After the presentation, the students submit the final thesis manuscript in printed and electronic (CD) format in 3 copies (Secretariat and 3-member examination committee),
• The manuscript structure and formatting guidelines predetermined and available on the Department's website.
• Recognized as an approved activity of students associated with the Curriculum,
• It is mandatory for obtaining the degree and is listed in the Diploma Supplement,
• It is graded and receives a total of 6 ECTS,
• Its duration is four months and takes place during the summer months (July and August). Students who have completed the 6th semester are required to complete a two-month PT (July and August) in public bodies (Fisheries Departments) and students who have completed the 8th semester are required to complete a PT in produce institutions, either in public or private sector,
• It is supervised by the faculty members (Supervisors) of the Department, who are appointed by the Scientific Officer (SO) and approved by the Assembly of the Department, for the respective academic year,
• The Supervisors are responsible of the monitoring and the guiding of the trainee students throughout the PT, as well as for the evaluation of the students and the institution as a whole.
• apply the knowledge they have acquired through their studies and develop the skills they will be called upon to demonstrate in their first work environment,
• to establish a channel of communication between the DIAE and associated companies, in order to facilitate their cooperation.