Final State Examination
Final state examination dates and the date for thesis submission are set out by the Schedule of the Academic Year.
Final state examinations are organized twice a year - in spring and in autumn. Students register for the final state examination in the Topic list in the IS MU.
The final state examination consists of the two following, separately assessed parts called Master's Thesis Defence and subject Academic discussion.
Useful links
- Directive No 8/2019 on due completition of studies
- Directive No 9/2019 Preparation, Submission, Publication and Evaluation of Bachelor’s, Final and Master’s Theses
- MU study and examination regulations Section 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 in particular.
- Schedule of the Academic Year thesis submission and final state examination dates
Conditions
Register for the exam
Students are obliged to register for the final state examination during the semester in which they met their study obligations or in the semester immediately following (see Subsection 23 (1), MU Study and Examinations Regulations), otherwise your studies will be terminated. In case your studies is interrupted, you have to contact the Office for International Relations and apply for activating your studies on time. The fact that your studies is interrupted does not relieve you from the obligation of registration for the Final state examination! This is required also of students with unfavourable thesis evaluation (unacceptable – grading F) – the final thesis grading is determined only by the examination board.
Accomplish 120 ECTS
You may sit the Final State Examination only after all the study obligations have been met, i.e. you have passed all the exams and obtained all the credits prescribed as compulsory, or selective for your study field and you have obtained the minimum of the total number of credits required for the whole study, which is 120 ECTS.
Academic obligations, set by the recommended study plan, must be finished 3 days before the final state examination at the latest. Failing to do so, your registration will be cancelled (see Subsection 5 in DIRECTIVE No 8/2019).
Should you not attend
The final state examination that you registered for without prior excuse or your excure is not accepted, you will be evaluated „-“. In this case it is not possible to open a new archive and you have to defend the originally uploaded work when having the resit.
Should you fail
Should you fail the Final State Examination, you are obliged to register for a resit for dates determined by respective departments, not later than by the end of the semester immediately following after the semester in which your state examination overall result was insufficient (see Subsection 22(7), MU Study and Examinations Regulations). You only resit the specific part of the Final State Examination where your grading was insufficient. Neither The Higher Education Act nor Internal Regulations of Masaryk University make it possible to recognize the Final State Examination Results attained in previous studies. Neither is it permissible to automatically enter the result of one Final State Examination in concurrent studies.
In case of failure at the first attempt of the Final state examination, you have the right to sit the Final State Examination again in the following semester. If you have failed the Final State Exam at the first attempt, and at the same time fulfilled the conditions for enrolment in the next semester and you wish to be enrolled in this semester, you must apply for enrolment in the IS, otherwise, your studies will be interrupted ex officio until the second attempt of the Final State Examination.
If you have failed the Final State Examination and have not fulfilled the conditions for enrolment in the following semester, your studies will be interrupted automatically ex officio until the second attempt of the Final State Examination. If your studies have already exceeded twice the standard period of study, your studies will be terminated even though you would normally be entitled to a second attempt of the Final State Examination.
Document of completion
An official document of completion for each part of the Final State Examination is not issued as these form an integral part of the state examination. Failure to complete all the parts results in failure to complete the Final State Examination as such. Completion of the Final State Examination (i.e. of all its parts) is documented by a diploma and a diploma supplement.
Schedules
The schedule of the Final State Examination will be shared at the department webpages (Business Management, Finance, Public Finance and Economics, Economics).
The schedule is binding. You are requested to be present at the site of the exam at least 30 minutes before you are due to take the exam. Failing to appear means you will not be classified and you will have wasted one attempt, unless you bring a confirmation from the doctor proving your health problems. This must be delivered within 5 working days from the state examination date. Please note that there is no possibility to reschedule the exam. Also, please note that not taking or not passing the exam will mean that you will have to prolong your studies with all consequences arising from the Study and examination regulations and your study contract.
Content of the Final State Examination
In the academic year 2019/2020, the form of the state final examination was modified in order to follow the international customs and standards common at foreign universities. The state examination now consists of the final thesis defense and academic discussion. The total length of the state examination will be 45 minutes.
The defense of the master thesis
This is the first part of the exam. This part itself will be divided into subsections. Everything will start with your presentation of the thesis. You are expected to prepare a ppt presentation and bring it on a flash drive so that we can upload it on the computer in the examination room. Expect to have no more than 15 minutes of time, so concentrate on the practical part, concentrate on your own contribution, and explicitly focus on your own analyses and results. This will be followed by oral presentation of the evaluations by examination board (5 minutes). Two evaluations are being written, one is the evaluation of the supervisor, and another is from the reviewer. You have the right to know the content of the evaluations no later than 5 days before the exam. Evaluations will be available at the very same website where you uploaded your thesis. Evaluations usually include questions or problem areas for discussion. Discussion over the evaluations will be the next step (10 minutes). You will be asked to react to the evaluations, it is better to have your arguments supported by one or two ppt slides, since you will know the questions beforehand. Even if you get a fail grade in one or both evaluations, you can still participate in the final state examination and defend your thesis. Expect the defense to last about 30 minutes.
The academic discussion
This is the second part of the exam. It is focused on the topic of the defended thesis and its content will cover the compulsory courses of the given study program (see the list below). It is in a form of a round-table discussion where you can expect different questions connected with the thesis based on your gained knowledge from your field of study. The questions are asked by individual members of the commission and you will not know these questions beforehand, obviously, so the task is to be able to react right away. Expect this part to last 15 minutes.
After the exam, you will be asked to leave the room for the commission to discuss your result. You will then be called back and the chairman will tell you whether you have passed or not and what grades you got for each part.
Those of you who will not pass the exam will be given a chance for a resit. Study and examination regulations require that you use the nearest possible opportunity, which will come during examination period of the next semester. Your studies will be interrupted until the resit day, unless you meet the requirements for being enrolled in the following term.
The list of courses of each programme and fields which can be discussed during the academic discussion + additional documents from the Departments
FINANCE
The Final State Examination will be based on courses:
Specialization: Accounting
- Macroeconomics 2
- Microeconomics 2
- International Accounting
- Managerial Accounting
- Corporate Finance and Financial Analysis
- Taxation
- Auditing
Specialization: Financial Markets
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
For more important information, please have a look at the web of the Department of Business Management.
PUBLIC ECONOMICS AND ADMINISTRATION
The Final State Examination will be based on courses:
- Public Finance 2
- Public Policy Analysis
- Public Project Design and Evaluation
- Microeconomics 2
- Macroeconomics 2
- Applied Research in Public Policy Making
- Labour market and socioeconomic inequalities
Possible topics for discussion
ECONOMICS
The Final State Examination will be based on courses: