Selecting Your Masters Project

David A Watt

2010‒11

www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~daw/masters-projectsDavid.Watt@glasgow.ac.uk

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Masters projects

Your project will be the single most important component of your Masters programme.

Your project will be preceded by a proposal stage, in which you will do the necessary background work.

You will be individually supervised throughout the proposal and project.

Each class has a different type of project:

– MRes: research project

– MSc: development project (application or system)

– MSc-IT: development project (application).

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MSc development projects overview

DevelopmentProject

60 credits

semester 3 (summer)

DevelopmentProposal 10 credits

semester 2semester 1

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MSc Development Proposal

Meet your supervisor once per week in semester 2.

Study the problem domain.

Survey literature (articles, books) and existing software systems relevant to your project.

Prepare a problem statement.

Develop a suitable approach and work-plan.

Submit a written report of about 15–25 pages.

Deadline: 25 March 2011 at 12:00.

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MSc Development Project

Meet your supervisor once per week in semester 3 (summer).

Design, implement, test, and evaluate software to solve the problem.

Submit a written dissertation of about 60–100 pages.

Deadline: 7 September 2011 at 12:00.

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semester 1 semester 2

ResearchProposal

20 credits

MRes research projects overview

ResearchProject

60 credits

semester 3 (summer)

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MRes Research Proposal

Meet your supervisor once per week in semester 2.

Study the problem domain.

Survey research literature relevant to your project.

Prepare a problem statement.

Develop a suitable approach and work-plan.

Submit a written report of about 20–30 pages.

Deadline: 25 March 2011 at 12:00.

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MRes Research Project

Meet your supervisor once per week in semester 3 (summer).

Perform your investigation of the research problem.

Submit a written dissertation of about 60–100 pages.

Deadline: 7 September 2011 at 12:00.

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Selecting your project (1)

Projects suggested by staff are listed at:

Classes Spec-ialism

Project Title Supervisor Project-id

MSc, MSc-IT MUS A Hypertext Widget Steve Brewer Brewer-1

MSc, MSc-IT MUS A Hypertext Sprocket Steve Brewer Brewer-2

MRes, MSc Semiotics of Python Simon Day Day-1

MSc-IT Websites for Blind People Carron Reno Reno-1

all IS, SE Facial Recognition Paul Severe Severe-1

Click to e-mail.Click to see the project outline.

www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~daw/masters-projects/MSc-MRes-selection.html

You must select projects suitable for your class and your specialism (if any).

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Selecting your project (2)

Study the list of projects.

Make a short-list of projects that interest you.

For each short-listed project, arrange to meet the supervisor. Use the meeting to:

– ensure that you understand what the project entails

– decide whether you have the knowledge and skills needed to do the project

– get to know the supervisor.

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Selecting your project (3)

Ensure that the project is within your capabilities:

– Do you have some knowledge of the problem domain?

– Do you have the necessary technical skills?

– If not, are you confident that you will acquire the necessary knowledge and skills before the project starts?

MSc-IT students should be especially careful about projects that demand advanced technical skills.

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Selecting your project: specialisms

You must select projects marked as suitable for your specialism (if any):

– MRes-CS, MSc-CS, or MSc-IT:any projects

– MRes-IRS or MSc-IRS: only projects marked “IRS”

– MRes-IS or MSc-IS: only projects marked “IS”

– MRes-MUS or MSc-MUS: only projects marked “MUS”

– MRes-SE or MSc-SE: projects marked “SE”, or other projects with a strong software engineering content.

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Recording your selection

Select four preferred projects.

E-mail your selection to me* in the following format:

Deadline: 13 December 2010 at 09:00.

Name Class 1st choice 2nd choice 3rd choice 4th choice

Jane Doe MSc-IT Severe-1 Brewer-2 Brewer-1 Reno-1

* David.Watt@glasgow.ac.uk

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Allocation of projects

I will allocate projects to students within two working days.

I will aim to satisfy your preferences as well as possible.

I will also aim to spread the supervision load on staff.

– No member of staff will be expected to supervise more than 6 undergraduate or postgraduate projects.

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Defining your own project

You can define your own project, provided that:

– it is suitably challenging (of Masters standard), but feasible within the time available

– you can find a member of academic staff who is able and willing to supervise it

– any necessary special resources (e.g., specialised software or hardware) are already available.

Send me a written outline of your self-defined project, the supervisor’s name, and details of any necessary special resources.

I will make a final decision on whether your self-defined project can go ahead.

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Conclusion

Your project is very important. Select it carefully.

Use the proposal stage to do all the necessary background work. Then you can “hit the ground running” when you proceed to the project itself.

Your supervisor will guide your proposal and project work, and will help with any difficulties.

I will help with any other problems.

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Further seminars

Look out for further seminars:

– Conducting Your Masters Proposal (12 January 2011, provisionally)

– Writing Your Masters Proposal Report (23 February 2011, provisionally)

– Conducting Your Masters Project (6 June 2011, provisionally)

– Writing Your Masters Dissertation (29 July 2011, provisionally)

I will e-mail you the exact date, time, and location of each seminar at least a week in advance.