During the second part of the Master, participants complete 60 ECTS focused on the introduction to research and on the elaboration of a Thesis based on the results of an original research work, once the candidate has prepared an experimental protocol submitted under the supervision of the thesis tutor. The experimental work for the elaboration of the thesis is carried out in the organizing institutions of the Master or in other collaborating institutions, for a period of 10 months, under the direction of a tutor who should be a doctor of renowned experience.
To be eligible for a renewal of an CIHEAM Zaragoza scholarship to participate in the second part of the Master, the student must have obtained an average score equal to or greater than 70 out of 100 in the first part of the Master.
Most common topics for Master of Science theses
- Study of morphological or genetic traits of different cultivars, sometimes relating them with agronomical or oil quality characteristics
- Growing techniques (fertilisation systems, propagation techniques, plant forcing, etc.) and their effect on performance and on other parameters of agricultural or industrial interest
- Olive pest/diseases characterization, host-pathogen interrelations and control
- Economics and marketing of olive and oil products
- Different olive oil extraction, separation and processing procedures and their implications in final oil quality
Some examples of Master thesis
Title: Development of genetic methods based on the use of microsatellite markers for the analysis of fraudulent mixtures of olive oil with other vegetable oils (2015)
Author: Amira Trimech, Agronomist, Tunisian
Place of realization: Departamento de Bioquímica, Biología Celular y Molecular de Plantas, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Granada, Spain, and Institut de l’Olivier, Sfax, Tunisia
Thesis directors: Juan de Dios Alche and Mahdi Fendri
Title: The role of water stress on the frost damage resistance of young olive trees and its relationship with cold acclimatization (2015)
Author: Alberto F. Vita, Agronomist, Argentinian
Place of realization: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto de Agricultura Sostenible, Córdoba, Spain
Thesis directors: Elías Fereres and Omar García Tejera
Title: Effect of nitrogen fertilization on olive tree frost tolerance and associated changes in the proteoma (2013)
Author: María Garrido, Agronomist, Spain
Place of realization: Departamentos de Agronomía y de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Universidad de Córdoba, Spain
Thesis directors: Ricardo Fernández Escobar and Jesús V. Jorrín
Title: Contribution to the creation of a Protected Designation of Origin for the olive oil of Meknes (Morocco): study of the Meknes olive oil typicity (2011)
Author: Aadil Bajoub, Agronomist, Moroccan
Place of realization: Centro Venta del Llano, Instituto de Formación e Investigación Agraria y Pesquera, Jaén, Spain
Thesis director: Gabriel Beltrán
Title: Evaluation of the resistance of olive tree cultivars to the defoliating pathotype of Verticillium dahliae and of physiological alterations in infected plants (2009)
Author: Fahima Birem, Agronomist, Algerian
Place of realization: Departamento de Agronomía, Universidad de Córdoba, Spain
Thesis directors: F. Javier López Escudero and Esteban Alcántara