Modular MSc Course Projects - Frequently Asked Questions

This page contains general advice on how to approach the project that is set for Modular MSc and related courses. The advice is presented as a set of frequently asked questions with appropriate responses, and is organised into the following sections:

Selecting a project

Q1: When should I start thinking about a project?

A1: The best advice we can give is:

  1. As you are going through the module part of the course think about issues that you may wish to consider further in your project.
  2. In November - December of the academic year you are to start your project talk to your “modules supervisor” about potential topics and supervisors.
  3. In February of the academic year you are to start your project submit your project proposal or enter allocation process for staff-produced proposals (see Q3)
  4. Start project in April of your last module academic year.

Q2: How should I go about selecting a project?

A2: Consider the following:

  1. As you are going through your module part of the course think about issues that you may wish to consider further in your project.
  2. Consult with your sponsor and work colleagues about the issues that they may wish you to address.
  3. Consult the department’s project web pages for advice.
  4. A project must have five important elements. It must:
    1. Represent an area of academic study that you can undertake a literature review of.
    2. Address an issue or problem in the area of safety critical systems that you can propose a method or process to address.
    3. Allow objective evaluation of your proposal via proof of concept tool, case study or questionnaire.
    4. Be of a size that you could address by six months of full-time work.
    5. Allow a write-up that can be marked against the SCSE marking scheme.
  5. More guidance on selecting a project:
    1. Project must be "of general interest to the (safety critical systems) community, and not just a 'job of work'". For example, if you came to us and said "my project will be to do a fault tree for system X on Eurofighter", we'd say "no - that's just work". If you came to us and said "there's a class of systems with properties A, B and C that makes them hard to assess using conventional fault trees... I'd like to investiagate that for my project", we'd probably say "yes", as it's a general problem of interest to a wider community ... even if the student then went on to say "oh, and by the way, I want to use system X on Eurofighter as an example of a real system which has those properties".
    2. Project should have some element of novelty (i.e. you can't repeat work that someone else has done before). However, you can propose a new approach to a previously-tackled problem.

Q3: What sort of project can I select?

A3: Essentially these come into 2 categories

  1. Staff proposed project – select a project put forward by a member of staff. The list of proposed projects can be obtained via the project allocation database or from individual staffs own web pages (e.g. www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~mark/projects2009.html )
  2. Student proposed project – create your own project in consultation with a member of staff. Guidance is available at projects/SDPs.html

Q4: What if the material in my case study is commercial in confidence or subject to the official secrets act?

A4: There is precedent for "sanitising" (i.e. hiding commercially or security-sensitive detail) where necessary. In the ultimate case we can make the project not publically available. Where possible we will strive to avoid the latter case.

Milestones

Q5: What are the milestones during my project period?

A5: For a part-time student the following is required:

1.     Provide a written summary of progress to your supervisor on the first Monday of each month during their project. You may post, fax or e-mail it to your supervisor.

2.     Draft literature review at 4 months and first full version of the literature review at 6 months (normally October)

3.     Draft statement of progress at 9 months, including an outline of the final dissertation. (normally early January)

4.     Attend York for 3 study weeks (exact dates to be agreed with supervisor but nominally)

1.     Start of Project: Literature review

2.     +9 months: Mid-project report

3.     +15 months: Final write-up

5.     More guidance can be found in the briefing for students starting their project and on the department’s projects web pages.

Writing Up

Q6: What format should I use for references?

A6: Any sensible citation style is acceptable. The "classic" formats are "Numbered" and "Author/Date". In the "Numbered" format, references in the text appear as [12]. In the bibliography, papers are listed numerically in order of appearance in the body of the answer. In the "Author/Date" format, references in the text appear as [Lowson 2001]. If you cite more than one paper publised by the same author in a single year, you use [Lowson 2001a], [Lowson 2001b] etc. If you adopt this style, when you cite a reference, you need not repeat the author's name or authors' names ("Lowson [Lowson 2001] has shown ..."). Write instead: "Lowson [2001] has shown ...". In the bibliography, papers are listed alphabetically by first author.

Q7: A lot of the material I have put together reflects what already exists on the net in several places. Is this a common problem and how does one avoid being accused of nicking it?

A7: Things that are "common knowledge" are not a problem. It's passing off others' work as your own that is unacceptable. Therefore, if your answer merely reflects views that are widely expressed (in papers, on the net, or wherever) that's OK (so long as you acknowledge explicit quotations).

Q8: I obtained some information I needed for my answer by telephoning John Smith, who works for Widgets Ltd. How do I credit the source of this conversation in my paper?

A8: The conversation should be cited in your answer and included in the references as "John Smith (Widgets Ltd), Personal communication, 23 October 2003".

Q9: Do I have to submit a statement of ethics on my project?

A9: Yes. This is required for all projects. Please see the project web pages for guidance.

Q10: What is the page limit and does it include the bibliography, or do we get extra space for that?

A10: The page limit is 100 pages and this includes your bibliography. Please consult your project supervisor about the use of appendices in a project. A3 pages should not be submitted unless they are folded in a way that will mean they can be unfolded when heat binding has occurred. Each A3 sheet will be counted as two A4 sheets.

Q11: how do I submit the project?

A11: Do the following:

  1. Send two unbound paper copies to the department, same address as for your modules. These can be single or double sided copies.
  2. Provide proof of posting in the same way you did for your modules.
  3. Submit an electronic copy at www.cs.york.ac.uk/projsubmit/project.html

Presentation

Q12: What is the format of the presentation?

A12: It takes the form of a 10 minute talk, followed by 5 minutes of questions, to two examiners. Information is given on the project web pages.

Q13: Do I have to do the presentation in person?

A13: Normally you will be asked to attend at a session at York. However, if you live abroad then it may be possible to present your work via video conference over the grid.

Final Results

Q14: How is the overall mark derived from the marks allocated to questions a to g in the marking scheme?

A14: The marker looks at the marks for these questions are makes an evaluation based on them on the overall mark to give. This is not done by a formula. If the final marks of the two markers are at least 10 marks apart or the marks given are on the boundary of a pass/fail or distinction/pass grading then a resolution process is followed. If neither of these conditions hold the two marks are averaged.

Q15: When will I hear about the result of my project?

A15: After the next Board of Examiners meeting. If you are submitting in September then this will usually be in November.

Q16: When will my Master’s conferment be?

A16: The next available conferment ceremony. For instance, if you submit in September this will normally be in the following January.

About this page

Author:

Mark Nicholson

Email:

Mark.Nicholson@cs.york.ac.uk

Creation date:

15-Dec-2008

Last updated:

18-Dec-2008