The Practical Evaluation Test (“Prova Pratica Valutativa”, PPV in Italian) and graduation sessions take place during the periods indicated in the Academic Calendar (in Italian).

To be admitted to the PPV — and thus to the final examination — each student must submit a graduation enrollment request through their online student portal within the deadlines set in the Academic Calendar. A guide for completing the online application for admission to the final examination is available in Italian.

Please remember that all international students are strongly encouraged to carefully check and read all the documents available on the “Tutorship MD Clinical Psychology” page on Moodle, updated throughout the academic year.

General Guidelines for the Practical Evaluation Test (PPV)

The final examination for the master’s degree in psychology (LM-51) qualifies the graduates for the professional practice of Psychology in Italy.
The final examination (thesis defense) includes the Practical Evaluation Test (PPV) assessing the professional skills acquired during the Practical Training Internship (in Italian “Tirocinio Pratico Valutativo”, TPV).

The PPV aims to verify the student’s level of technical preparation for professional qualification and generally takes place approximately 20 days before the thesis defense.

The PPV is mandatory for all students enrolled from the academic year 2023–2024 onwards and can be taken only if, within the deadlines set in the Academic Calendar:

• the application for graduation has been submitted;
• all course exams have been passed;
• the TPV has been successfully completed and approved.

Activities not yet completed (but to be completed within the deadlines indicated in the Didactic Calendar) or not yet recorded by the administration office may be self-certified by the student for PPV admission purposes.
Registration for the PPV is completed via the online student portal, as with other exams. Dates and registration procedures are announced by the University few weeks before the test.

The PPV is an oral in-person examination held by a committee composed of two university professors of psychology (from the Department) and two professionals appointed by the Order of Psychologists of Lombardy.

The examination focuses on the TPV experience, the connections between theories/models and professional practices, and aspects of professional law and ethics.
The PPV does not award ECTS credits (i.e., CFU); if passed, it is recorded in the student’s transcript with a “pass” grade, allowing access to the final examination/graduation session.

In addition to the qualifying PPV, there is also a post-graduate PPV, intended for students from cohorts prior to the 2023–2024 academic year who have completed 750 hours of post-graduate internship.

Any notices or updates regarding the PPVs are available on the “Psychologist Profession” page (in Italian).

General Guidelines for Preparing the Thesis

The University and the Department of Human and Social Sciences provide the following resources:

• the Regulations for the assignment, preparation, and defense of the final examination (in Italian);
• Guidelines for writing the thesis (in Italian);
• a Moodle course on how and when to cite, how to write references, how to conduct a bibliographic search, and basic information on copyright and privacy management (in English);
• Formatting guidelines for the typographic layout of the thesis (in Italian);
• Rules of conduct to be followed during the graduation session (in Italian).

Automatic/Random Assignment of a Thesis Supervisor

Students are encouraged to contact faculty members in the field of psychology to choose their thesis supervisor. An updated list is available in the Department Directory, where each professor’s disciplinary area is indicated under “Scientific Disciplinary Group” (Gruppo Scientifico Disciplinare, in Italian) and “Disciplinary Sector” (Settore Disciplinare, in Italian).

Students who are unable to identify a supervisor may — as a last resort — request an automatic/random assignment by completing the online form within the deadlines set in the Academic Calendar for the intended graduation session.

If the graduation session is postponed, the application does not need to be resubmitted — the automatic assignment remains valid for subsequent sessions.