The MIA dissertation is an original piece of personal research that is conducted in the second year of the programme. Given the multidisciplinary nature of the MIA programme, the first and second readers of the dissertation must be from two different academic units. The first reader - or the dissertation director - must be a permanent member of the Institute's faculty. The second reader is selected by the dissertation director among the teaching staff at the Institute, including professors, lecturers, senior lecturers and visiting faculty. In exceptional cases, the dissertation director may suggest to the director of the Master Programme that the second reader be a faculty member or an expert (usually with a PhD) from outside the Institute. The dissertation is worth 30 credits, and can be written in English or in French.
Important deadlines for second-year students (graduating in September 2011):
- 13 September 2010: Deadline to submit the "Dissertation Title Registration" form to the MIA Secretariat (CV 209). The form is available on ETUNET. Use the same form if you want to change the preliminary title or the name of your dissertation director after this date.
Mid-November 2010: Information session on dissertation-related deadlines.
- January 2011: Deadline to apply for a PhD programme at the Institute.
- 14 February 2011: Deadline to submit a hard copy of the "detailed dissertation outline" to the MIA Secretariat. The format and content of the outline should be discussed directly with your dissertation director. Generally speaking, it should include a short literature review, a research question, a discussion of hypotheses (if relevant) and methodology, an outline and a bibliography. The average length of the paper is about 10 pages. The Secretariat will give you a CD/ROM with which you will submit the electronic version of your dissertation (see below). If you are not in Geneva, please ask a reliable friend to hand in a hard copy for you.
- 25 May 2011: Your dissertation director will communicate the name of your second reader to the MIA Secretariat.
- 15 July 2011: Deadline to submit the final dissertation to the MIA Secretariat, along with a certificate from the library confirming that you have returned all your books/DVDs. You must submit 4 hard copies of the dissertation (printed on both sides, bound with "thermo-reliure"). The dissertation should be about 15,000 words, excluding notes, bibliography and annexes. It should also include a 150-word abstract at the beginning of the dissertation (after the title page). Please consult ETUNET for the format of the title page, and note that the title you submit on this date will be considered as final. Failure to respect this deadline can lead to your elimination of the programme, except in cases of force majeure.
- 18 August 2011: Final results will be posted on CAMPUS
- 29 August 2011: Transcripts will be sent to students
- 16 September 2011: Graduation ceremony
Important: Further procedural and technical information on the dissertation can be found on ETUNET, and important details on the masters programme can be found in the Internal Regulations.
