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DepartmentCognitive science and Psychology

Graduation

 

 

Graduation of students studying in the bachelor's and master's programs at the Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology is carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Regulation on the educational process at NBU (in Bulgarian) and the Standard for completing an educational and qualification degree (in Bulgarian).

 

Students acquire the right to graduate after completing all semesters of the program in which they are studying and collecting all credits, according to the requirements of the program scheme.

 

Students graduating with a bachelor's degree with an overall grade of 4.50 or higher can choose between graduating with a bachelor's thesis or a state exam test. Students graduating with a bachelor's degree with an overall grade lower than 4.50 must graduate with a state exam test.

 

Students graduating with a master's degree in the professional field 3.2 Psychology must graduate with a master's thesis.

 

The defenses of bachelor's theses and state exams are organized in accordance with the SCHEDULE OF DEFENSES OF BACHELOR'S AND MASTER'S THESES AND STATE EXAMS, which is announced at the beginning of each academic year.

 

Defenses of master's theses are organized year-round (from September to July).

 

Defenses of degree theses and state exams are conducted by committees of faculty members from the department and appointed by order of the Dean of the respective Faculty.

 

 

  • GRADUATING WITH A BACHELOR’S THESIS
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    The procedure for completing a bachelor's degree with a thesis defense follows the following steps:

     

    1. The graduate submits an Application for the development of a bachelor's thesis to the Director of the Program Council at the Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology, no later than 2 months before submitting the materials according to the SCHEDULE OF DEFENSES OF BACHELOR'S AND MASTER'S THESES AND STATE EXAMS, in which they indicate the chosen topic for the degree thesis and a scientific supervisor - a faculty from the department or a specialist from practice. The proposed scientific supervisor signs the application, declaring that they agree to supervise the applied bachelor's thesis. A "Transcript" is attached to the application, which certifies that the graduate has collected the credits required to complete the program according to the approved program scheme for the respective graduation year and graduates with a semester grade of 4.50 or higher.
    2. Applications are approved at a meeting of the Council of the Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology.
    3. If there is a desire to change the topic of the thesis or the scientific supervisor, a new application must be submitted.
    4. The graduate develops their diploma thesis under the guidance of their assigned scientific supervisor.
    5. In addition to the NBU requirements for degree theses, formulated in the Regulation on the educational process at NBU (in Bulgarian) and the Standard for completing an educational and qualification degree (in Bulgarian), the bachelor's thesis must also comply with the requirements adopted by the Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology.
    6. The graduate submits the completed diploma thesis to their scientific supervisor, who checks its compliance with the requirements specified in 5., as well as for the presence of plagiarism. If the scientific supervisor determines that the thesis can be admitted to defense, they sign the title page, prepare a review and allow the graduate to deposit the thesis in the department.
    7. Within the time limit specified in the SCHEDULE OF DEFENSES OF BACHELOR'S AND MASTER'S THESES AND STATE EXAMS, the graduate submits to the secretaries-specialists at the Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology the following:
      • Two copies of the bachelor's thesis on paper (the one signed by the scientific supervisor + one more copy);
      • Two signed copies of the Declaration of Authorship;
      • A copy of the bachelor's thesis, recorded on a CD, on which the graduate's three names, their student (ID) number, and the title of the bachelor's thesis are written;
      • A review from the scientific supervisor;         
    1. Within the time limit specified in the SCHEDULE OF DEFENSES OF BACHELOR'S AND MASTER'S THESES AND STATE EXAMS, the Council of the Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology selects a reviewer and makes a proposal to the Dean of the Faculty of Undergraduate Education for members of the Committee for the defense of the bachelor's thesis. 
    2. The selected reviewer submits their review no later than one week before the scheduled defense date.

     

     

     

  • GRADUATING WITH A STATE EXAM
  •  

    The procedure for completing a bachelor's degree with a state exam test follows the following steps:

     

    1. The graduate submits an Application for appearing for a state exam test to the Director of the Program Council at the Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology, in accordance with the deadlines specified in the SCHEDULE OF DEFENSES OF BACHELOR'S AND MASTER'S THESES AND STATE EXAMS. The application is accompanied by a "Transcript” certifying that the graduate has collected the credits required to complete the program according to the program scheme approved for the respective graduation year.
    2. The applications are approved at a meeting of the Faculty Council of the Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology.
    3. The graduate prepares for the state exam test according to the Syllabus and Readings for the state exam test with an attached list of references, approved by the Rector of NBU.

     

    Additional materials for preparing for the test, as well as a sample test, are available to the graduate in Moodle, on the PSYE01 Preparation for the State Exam in Psychology course page.

     

     

  • GRADUATING WITH A MASTER’S THESIS
  •  

    The procedure for completing a Master's degree with a thesis defense follows the following steps:

     

    1. The graduate submits an Application for the development of a Master's Thesis to the Director of the Program Council at the Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology, in which they indicate the chosen topic for the thesis and a scientific supervisor - a lecturer in the relevant master's program or a specialist from practice. The proposed scientific supervisor signs the application, declaring that they agree to supervise the requested master's thesis.
    2. Applications are approved at a meeting of the Council of the Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology.
    3. If there is a desire to change the topic of the thesis or the scientific supervisor, a new application must be submitted.
    4. The graduate develops their thesis under the supervision of their assigned scientific supervisor.
    5. In addition to the NBU requirements for degree theses, formulated in the Regulation on the educational process at NBU (in Bulgarian) and the Standard for completing an educational and qualification degree (in Bulgarian), the master's thesis must also comply with the Rules for describing empirical research and the Rules for using and citing references, adopted by the Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology, as well as meet the specific requirements of the respective master's program.
    6. The graduate submits the completed diploma thesis to their supervisor, who checks its compliance with the requirements specified in 5. as well as for the presence of plagiarism. If the supervisor determines that the thesis can be admitted to defense, they sign the title page, prepare a review and allow the graduate to deposit the thesis in the Department.
    7. After receiving and certifying the signed permission from the supervisor, the graduate submits to the secretaries-specialists at the Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology the following:  
      • Two copies of the master's thesis on paper (the one signed by the supervisor + one more copy);
      • Two signed copies of the Declaration of Authorship;
      • A copy of the master's thesis, recorded on a CD, on which the three names of the graduate, their student (ID) number, and the title of the master's thesis are written;
      • A review from the scientific supervisor;
    1. The Council of the Department of Cognitive Science and Psychology selects a reviewer and makes a proposal to the Dean of the School for Graduate Education for members of the Commission for the defense of the master's thesis.
    2. The selected reviewer submits their review no later than one week before the scheduled defense date.