Duration
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
All year long
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
Through the completion of a final-year project (TFE), students are required to demonstrate their ability to independently develop a personal and original research project on a specific topic, making the most of the knowledge and skills acquired during their studies.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The TFE is the result of personal, original and rigorous research. This project introduces students to the methods of scientific research, encourages reflective thinking and trains them to undertake long-term projects. The TFE has a strong integrative dimension, as students are required, at the end of their degree programme, to demonstrate their full mastery of the skills, knowledge and expertise acquired during their studies.
More specifically, the TFE will demonstrate that the student is capable of:
- writing a coherent and well-structured text in accordance with the standards of academic writing;
- formulating and developing a research question;
- identifying, presenting and analysing the relevant bibliography;
- read, understand and summarise academic texts;
- position their own work in relation to the identified literature by highlighting the contribution of their own research;
- make effective use of the knowledge and skills acquired during their studies.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Students are expected to have fully acquired the skills required for the Master's programme. It is absolutely essential to have a good command of the French language (and/or the Romance language in which the thesis is written) and to be familiar with the conventions of academic writing, as well as to be able to carry out bibliographic research and use a word processor.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The TFE consists of an individual written assignment on a topic of the student's choice, supervised by a lecturer from the programme.
From the first term of the first year of the Master's programme, the student contacts a lecturer from the programme and agrees on a research topic with them. Once the topic has been decided, the lecturer will act as a supervisor throughout the entire process of writing the TFE, for example by helping the student to establish the structure and main thread of the TFE, possibly introducing them to relevant contacts, and providing feedback on any preliminary drafts of the TFE submitted to them.
The student is responsible for initiating and maintaining communication with their supervisor.
The final version of the TFE will be submitted to a reading committee, comprising the supervisor and at least two examiners.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face course
Further information:
The arrangements for meetings between the supervisor and the student, as well as the timetable (excluding statutory deadlines, see below), are left to their discretion; the arrangements for supervising the student are left to the supervisor's discretion.
Regulatory deadlines:
- [Submission of the topic] Students must have submitted their TFE proposal to the secretariat (see below) by 30 October of the year of the examination in the case of the 60-credit Master's programme, and by 15 April of the year of the 120-credit Master's programme in the case of the 120-credit Master's programme.
- [Composition of the examination board] The composition of the examination board, comprising the supervisor and at least two examiners, must be notified by 1 February of the year of the examination at the latest for both the 60-credit Master's and the 120-credit Master's programmes. For students enrolled on the 120-credit Master's programme, any major change to the topic that is likely to result in a change to the composition of the examination board must be notified by 1 October of the year of the second year of the Master's programme at the latest.
- [Submission of the final version] The TFE must be submitted to the secretariat of the LLFR department (see Contacts below) on the first day of the relevant examination session, in as many copies as there are members of the reading committee. The electronic version of the TFE must be uploaded to MatheO. Any errata must be submitted within seven days of the official submission date and must be sent to the members of the examination committee and uploaded to MatheO in accordance with the same procedures.
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus
- MyULiège
Further information:
The TFE is subject to the following institutional and faculty regulations:
- General Regulations on Studies and Assessment: https://www.enseignement.uliege.be/upload/docs/application/pdf/2026-07/rgee_2026-2027_ca_08072026.pdf
- Regulations for the TFE in the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities: https://www.student.facphl.uliege.be/upload/docs/application/pdf/2023-01/reglement_tfe_2021-2022_sans_surlignage_2023-01-10_11-07-31_916.pdf
The platform used to share any supporting materials is eCampus.
The University's MéthodO (Study Guidance) team regularly organises seminars on topics including the writing and presentation of a TFE: https://www.student.uliege.be/cms/c_19925203/fr/student-presenter-son-memoire-et-travail-de-fin-d-etudes.
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam AND oral exam
Written work / report
Further information:
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
written exam AND oral exam
Further information:
Procedures
The TFE, which is subject to assessment by the reading committee, will be the subject of an oral and public defence, which members of the reading committee are required to attend. Any reader who is absent for reasons accepted by the Chair of the Master's Examination Board must submit a written report and a question for the student (see below).
The examination takes place on the premises of the University of Liège. It comprises a preparation period and the defence itself; the defence shall not exceed 60 minutes, including deliberation.
- [Preparation] On the day of the defence, the student will receive questions relating to various aspects of their research project, which will be sent to them in writing on that day by the members of the examination board (each member asks one question); they will be given preparation time to answer these questions. The student will only have access to a printed copy of their TFE, which may be highlighted but must not contain any annotations.
- [Defence] At the end of the preparation period, the student will give an oral presentation, providing comprehensive, clear and structured answers to the questions put to them (max. 30 minutes). They will then engage in a discussion (for the remainder of the time) with the members of the examination board; who may give their assessment of the final-year project, ask more specific questions and invite the student to respond. Throughout the defence, the student must demonstrate a thorough understanding of their written work and the ability to reflect on their research approach.
Regardless of the decision taken by the student regarding the publication of their work, a TFE will only be made available for consultation in the library or online on MatheO if it has achieved a mark of at least 14/20.
Criteria
The assessment takes into account both the written version of the dissertation and the oral defence; the following criteria must therefore be interpreted in relation to one or both parts of the assessment.
- Formally, the TFE shall take the form of a continuous text, written in French or another Romance language. The length of the TFE must be strictly between 80 and 100 pages, excluding the bibliography and appendices; any student who needs to deviate from this requirement for academic reasons must obtain the approval of their examination committee. The critical apparatus must be particularly well-presented and the bibliographical references standardised. The TFE must be typeset in 12-point font (10-point for footnotes) with 1.5 line spacing and 3 cm margins on all four sides; the pages must be printed on both sides. Other typographical choices are left to the student's discretion.
- The TFE must meet the language proficiency requirements; this is the sole responsibility of the student. If this criterion is not met, the TFE cannot be awarded a mark higher than 9/20, which will result in the project being deferred.
- Compliance with the standards of academic writing.
- Relevance of sources and accuracy of referencing.
- Quality of the treatment of the subject: formulation and development of the research question, methodology and data analysis (statistical analyses should be avoided unless they are based on sound foundations).
- Management of the bibliography.
- Management of long-term research: the supervisor may take into account not only the final result but also the student's process and progress (consideration of feedback, improvement and refinement of the research, self-reflection, etc.).
- Application of knowledge acquired during the course of study.
- Ability to respond comprehensively, clearly and in a structured manner to questions from the examination board during the oral defence, demonstrating self-reflection, rigour, critical thinking and the ability to synthesise information.
Special case: field research
Where a student carries out field research, they must ensure that they adhere to the following ethical principles when collecting, storing and publishing their data:
- comply with data protection legislation (https://www.uliege.be/cms/c_9266052/fr/protection-de-la-vie-privee);
- obtain the informed consent of the individuals concerned by this data;
- ensure the anonymity of the data;
- take steps to ensure the security of the data;
- specify the period for which this information will be retained;
- ensure that this data is not disclosed to third parties.
Special case: inclusion of images
Any images used in the final year project must be properly captioned and referenced. They must be commented on or analysed within the project (illustrative images are not permitted).
The use of generative AI
Academic training in Romance languages is not limited to the transmission of a catalogue of pure content or encyclopaedic information. The knowledge that is the subject of Romanes studies is inseparable from the practices through which it emerges as knowledge (documentary research, source criticism, comparison of versions, socio-historical contextualisation, problematisation, analysis, synthesis, commentary, argumentation, theoretical modelling, interpretation, formal composition, etc.). The intellectual effort required by these practices can now, to some extent, be delegated to generative AI. However, this delegation - apart from implying an endorsement of AI policy (energy costs, scientific extractivism, commercial conflicts of interest, subjugation to certain discursive and ideological norms, etc.), fails to fulfil the ultimate objective of university education, namely the development of individuals who are intellectually equipped to assume, in complete autonomy, an ethical commitment to the world.
In these circumstances, the use of generative artificial intelligence is not only discouraged but prohibited. In this regard, the LLFR TFE regulations are therefore more restrictive than the general guidelines of ULiège, as they prohibit the use of generative AI for bibliographic research, language correction, rephrasing, translation, stylistic improvement and the organisation of ideas.
Depending on the subject of the dissertation, any use of AI that might prove useful (such as the generation of images or code, etc.) must have been authorised by the dissertation supervisor and must be explicitly cited in the dissertation.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
Contacts
Sophie Lecomte, Sophie.Lecomte@uliege.be
Ariane Nusgens, ariane.nusgens@uliege.be, 04 366 56 50
Association of one or more MOOCs
There is no MOOC associated with this course.