Topic outline

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  • Procedure for Enrolment

    A special procedure must be followed to enrol for the module. You have to choose a topic for the project and find a superviser who agrees to supervise the project. Typically the topic will be chosen and refined in conversation with the prospective supervisor.

    The deadline for enrolment is the same as for all other modules, and it is your responsibility to choose a topic and obtain agreement from the supervisor by the deadline. You can only enrol after the supervisor has agreed to supervise you on the topic. To formally enrol, you need to then send an email message with the topic and the name of the supervisor to the School Office, and copy that message to the supervisor. If you don't have agreement from a supervisor by the deadline, you cannot enrol and have to select a different module instead.

    You can get an overview of possible topics by browsing the project database. Each entry in the database consists of a topic and a staff member able to supervise a project on this topic. When you have identified one or more topics that you are interested in, you are invited to write to potential supervisors to discuss the details of a project and their availability for supervision. Alternatively, a project may arise from a module you were particularly interested in or you particularly enjoyed. In this case you can write to the organiser of the module in question to discuss the potential for a project and possible supervisors.

  • General Information

    Why do a project?

    Besides the obvious advantage of having one fewer subject to revise during the finals, doing a project brings about substantial benefits.   A project will be invaluable when applying for a job.  You can demonstrate your experience in researching and communicating technical material, both orally and in writing. A project will express your independence, maturity, and style, speaking on your behalf more convincingly than any set of grades, thereby putting you ahead of competitors.  You will mention it on your CV, and refer back to it during job interviews; it will strengthen an application for post-graduate studies.

    To get a feel of what a project involves, we suggest you view recordings of MSci students giving talks on the assessment tab.

    Picking a project

    Before the start of a project module, you must find a supervisor. Do this as early as possible.

    Look at the project database and and go and speak to the supervisors of ones that appeal. If you are interested in an area of mathematics which doesn't seem to be represented on the list of projects then contact the lecturer of any relevant modules and ask if they can suggest some project related to their module.

    You may approach the supervisor either individually or jointly with a friend (or friends) who may be either a final year BSc student or a final year MSci student. Your dissertation will still be produced independently, and the specific examples/applications that you report will be your own;  your supervisor will help with suggestions for  variations.  You will be assessed entirely on the quality of your own project.

    Getting Started

    Please see the section on procedure for enrollment.

    Guidance on Length

    If you are the final year BSc student, the guideline length is 4000 words, but there are no hard limits. However, a project of less than 3000 words is unlikely to contain enough material to obtain a high mark.  Some projects are much longer than 4000 words, and such a project can be very good if the student finds a lot of interesting material that they want to include.  However, if you want to submit a project longer than about 8000 words, consult your supervisor first to see whether this is appropriate for the material you are presenting in the project.  A very long project may lose marks if the markers feel it is too long relative to its content

    If you are MSci student, the guideline length is between 6000 and 8000 words in the same vein, but as in the case for the final year BSc students, there are no limits. If you want to submit a project longer than about 16000 words however, consult your supervisor first. 

    Assessment

    Outline

    You need to submit an outline of roughly two pages A4 by Week 7, giving the basic plan for the report. The outline should include background (what is the question?), motivation (why is the question worth studying?), objectives (what do we expect or hope to learn?), and necessary techniques (these could be proof techniques, statistical techniques, or computational techniques).

    Presentation

    In Week 12, you need to give a 5 minute presentation.

    Project Report

    The Project Report is submitted on the following dates depending on which semester you're working on your project;

    • Students who study the module in Semester A will submit their project by 5 pm, 8th January 2024.
    • Students who study the module in Semester B and MSci students will submit their project by 5 pm, 6th May 2024.
    For more details on project report, see below.

    Assessment pattern 

    The assessment pattern for this module is 10% outline, 10% presentation, and 80% report.


    The project report
    • The third-year project must involve the study of some mathematical topic not covered by a lecture module and at least at the 3rd year level.
    • The MSci project must involve the study of some mathematical topic not covered by a lecture module and at least at the 4th year level

    The project report must be your own work in the sense that it gives an original account of the material, including your selection and structuring of the material and the selection of bibliographic references, but the report need not contain new mathematical results. You should, however, try to make some original contribution, which is especially important for an MSci project. For example, you might do one or more of the following: give a new interpretation or view of the mathematics; give new examples; do your own detailed calculations or data analysis; write, test and run your own computer program. You must make it completely clear where you are providing your own original contribution rather than paraphrasing published information. In addition, the project must not include material which has been used for other assessment purposes.

    • The third-year project is a one-semester module,  and needs to be submitted by the deadlines explained above.
    • The MSci project report can be written in a single semester or the work can be spread over two semesters, depending on the other modules taken; the submission deadline will be the same in all cases.

    One purpose of the project is to test your ability to work independently. Your supervisor will provide a reading list and give general advice on the work for the project and the writing of the report. Your supervisor cannot be expected to provide a list of all the individual results that should go into the report, although a few major items will probably be mentioned. You are strongly advised to pass a first draft to your supervisor, who will then comment on the format and the English style and point out any major mathematical errors. Advice on the suitability or otherwise of particular sections of the report cannot be expected.

    Your supervisor will advise you if your project is an appropriate length for the topic, so you should be clear on their expectations.

    The report must be written in good English and precise mathematics, and include:

    • a brief summary,
    • an introduction,
    • the report itself, and
    • a thorough bibliography.

    The report should be formatted for A4 paper and typeset in LaTeX (unless excused by supervisor) and submitted as a compiled pdf.

    For more information on LaTeX, see the Week 3 material.

    Late submissions without an EC are subject to standard College penalties

    Marking
    The report is marked independently by your supervisor and a second checker, who then agree on a mark.

  • Week 1 : Confirmation of Project Title and Supervisor

    Please ensure that you obtain written confirmation from a supervisor agreeing to supervise your project, and please forward this information to the School office by the end of Week 1. If you fail to do so, you will need to submit a backup module. If you still have not obtained agreement from a supervisor by the end of Week 2, this module will be taken off your list of modules, and will be replaced with your backup module.

  • Week 3: Typesetting with LaTeX

    Many mathematicians use the LaTeX document preparation system to write their research papers. Your project dissertation must be written using LaTeX, unless you have exceptionally obtained permission from your supervisor to use a different system.

    To help you get started with LaTeX, or allow you to refresh your existing knowledge, a number of resources are provided for self-study. Please complete the following steps before the end of Week 4.

    1. Read the first two resources below, which provide an introduction to typesetting with LaTeX on Overleaf. Overleaf is a free online LaTeX editor that is easy to use.
    2. While you may choose to continue with Overleaf, installing LaTeX on your own device has numerous advantages, and it is recommended that you do so. The <a href="https://qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/mod/url/view.php?id=2429419A">LaTeX Installation Guide</a> provides simple instructions for different operating systems.
    3. For writing more complicated latex documents, you will find it useful to take a look at the guides Getting started with LaTeX and The not so short introduction to LaTeX.

    Tip: At https://arxiv.org/list/math/current you can find a huge number of research papers in mathematics both as a pdf and a LaTeX version. You can look at these documents to see how professional mathematicians use LaTeX, and compare the LaTeX input to the final document. Your supervisor may also be able to provide you with examples of their own use of LaTeX, which may be particularly relevant to your project.

  • Week 4: Use of the Library

    Library training sessions will take place on Tuesday 13th February 2024. The sessions will be led by Faculty Liaison Librarian James Soderman and will take place in the Library Training Room at Mile End Library. You will receive an invitation to one of the sessions, and attendance is mandatory.

    By the end of the session students should be able to
    • Effectively use the library and its resources;
    • Locate information from a range of sources, in and outside the Queen Mary Library;
    • Troubleshoot search results, whether they retrieve too much or too little information.

  • Module Description

    For this module students conduct an independent research project under the supervision of an academic staff member. The details of the project will vary depending on the topic and the supervisor, but in all cases the student will write a dissertation that describes the project and the results that were obtained.

    The module contains a limited number of taught components, on use of the library, typesetting with LaTex, and plagiarism and research ethics.

  • Week 5: Plagiarism and Research Ethics

    It is very important that the project is your own work and any sources you use are cited properly. Failure to do so amounts to plagiarism, which is an assessment offence.

  • Week 6: Drop-In Session

    A drop-in session for the module will be held on Thursday 29th February from 2pm to 3pm in the Maths Social Hub (MB-B11), as part of the Learning Cafe. Please attend any part of the session if you have any questions about the module on topics such as LaTeX, plagiarism, the project outline due in Week 7, or general module expectations.

  • Week 7: Submission of Project Outline

    A project outline is due for submission this week. For projects in Semester B the deadline is 5pm on Friday 8th March.

    Detailed requirements for the outline and the submission link can be found on the Assessments tab.

  • Module aims and learning outcomes

    Academic Content

    This module covers:

    • One Semester project in any area of advanced undergraduate mathematics.
    • Writing a dissertation of about 4000- 8000 words.
    • Presentation of about 5 minutes.

    Disciplinary Skills

    At the end of this module, students should be able to:

    • Study independently towards the understanding of material from a reading list.
    • Independently identify and assimilate background material from a variety of sources.
    • Compose a substantial account of a mathematical topic in an appropriate style, including the selection and structuring of the material.
    • Make a short seminar-level presentation of a mathematical topic, including the selection and structuring of the material.

    Attributes

    At the end of this module, students should have developed with respect to the following attributes:

    • Connect information and ideas within their field of study.
    • Use writing for learning and reflection.
    • Explain and argue clearly and concisely.
    • Apply different forms of communication in various social, professional and cultural settings.
    • Identify information needs appropriate to different situations.
    • Acquire substantial bodies of new knowledge.

  • Assessment Structure

    The module will be assessed by
    • a project outline submitted in Week 7, worth 10% of the overall mark;
    • a presentation in Week 12, worth 10% of the overall mark;
    • a project dissertation, submitted at the start of the relevant exam period (January for projects in Semester A and May for projects in Semester B), worth 80% of the overall mark.

  • Project Outline

    In Week 7 students submit a project outline giving the basic plan for the dissertation. The outline should not exceed two sides A4 and is worth 10% of the overall mark for the module.

    The submission deadline for projects in Semester B and MSci projects is 5pm on Friday 8th March.

    The outline should be understandable to a final-year undergraduate student in mathematics and should cover background (what is the question?), motivation (why is the question worth studying?), objectives (what do we expect or hope to learn?), and necessary techniques (these could be proof techniques, statistical techniques, or computational techniques). It should include an anticipated table of contents for the dissertation and a project timeline.

  • Presentation

    In Week 12 students give short presentations about their projects. The presentation is worth 10% of the overall mark for the module.

    The length of presentations is 5 minutes for BSc students and 10 minutes for MSci students.

    Presentations are assessed according to the following criteria:

    • Content: Is the topic of the presentation suitable for the given duration? Is the content of the talk well chosen? Is the maths generally correct?
    • Presentation: Is the presentation well organised with a clear structure? Are slides or board used effectively? Does the speaker respond well to questions?
    • Delivery: Does the speaker engage with the audience? Do they speak and write clearly? Are they enthusiastic about their chosen material?

  • Project Dissertation

    The project dissertation is worth 80% of the overall mark for the module.

    The submission deadline for projects in Semester B and for MSci projects is 5pm on Monday 6th May, 2024.

    Please note below the key requirements for all 3rd year project dissertations (reports).

    Length: If you are a third-year (level 6) student, the guideline length for the dissertation is 4000 words, but there are no hard limits. However, a project of less than 3000 words is unlikely to contain enough material to obtain a high mark.  Some projects are much longer than 4000 words, and such a project can be very good if the student finds a lot of interesting material that they want to include.  However, if you want to submit a project longer than about 8000 words, consult your supervisor first to see whether this is appropriate for the material you are presenting in the project.  A very long project may lose marks if the markers feel it is too long relative to its content.

    Content: The project report must be your own work in the sense that it gives an original account of the material, including your selection and structuring of the material and the selection of bibliographic references, but the report need not contain new mathematical results. You should, however, try to make some original contribution. For example, you might do one or more of the following: give a new interpretation or view of the mathematics; give new examples; do your own detailed calculations or data analysis; write, test and run your own computer program. You must make it completely clear where you are providing your own original contribution rather than paraphrasing published information. In addition, the project must not include material which has been used for other assessment purposes.

    Format: The report must be written in good English and precise mathematics, and should include

    • a brief summary,
    • an introduction,
    • the main body of the report, and
    • a comprehensive bibliography.

    The report should be formatted for A4 paper, typeset using LaTeX (unless an exemption has been granted by the supervisor), and submitted as a compiled pdf.

  • Sample Presentations, Dissertations, and Marking Guidelines

  • Week 12: Project Presentations

    In Week 12, students will give a short presentation on the topic of their dissertation. Presentation should last 5 minutes for BSc students and 10 minutes for MSci students.

    Students are required to present in person and attend the entire session their presentation is part of. Supervisors may attend remotely with prior agreement.

    The schedule for presentations in Semester B is as follows:

    Monday 8th April, 11AM-1PM, Engineering 2.16

    Vaishnavi Ramaka
    Aobojie Wei
    Haohang Yin
    Zain Tariq
    Mickel Mattison
    Julia Collins
    Carlota Dujo Sierra
    Daranfan Muralitharan
    Samsikan Sivarajah
    Zainab Walji

    Tuesday 9th April, 9am-11am, GO Jones UG 1

    Aryan Afzali
    Zubeyr Hassan
    Felipe Puiggari Medici
    Omer Gez
    Anwar Layada
    Suzanna Norton
    Rahavi Gopi
    Ibad Mohammed
    Kyriakos Panayiotou
    Syed Rifat
    Muhammed Ud-Din
    Roulian Zelo
    Qixin Zhao

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