UCL DEPARTMENT OF MEDICAL PHYSICS AND BIOENGINEERING
MPHYGB97: Projects for the MSc in Physics and Engineering Medicine
(Streams in: Radiation Physics, Biomedical Engineering & Medical
Imaging, and Medical Image Computing)
Project Coordinator:
Dr. Ilias Tachtsidis
1. Introduction
At masters level the requirement of the project are:
 to demonstrate that the student can research the background to a piece of work;
 to demonstrate that the student can make reliable measurements and carryout a thorough and
appropriate analysis of those results;
 to demonstrate that the student can follow a scientific methodology and apply their knowledge to
'real world' problems";
 to demonstrate that the student can present their work in a clear and concise manner appropriate to
the results they have taken.
There is no requirement that the work be original although if it is it can often make the work more exciting. It
is much more important that the work is carried out carefully, appropriately and well presented. Students
should not mistake quantity for quality.
The research project component of the course is one of the examination elements that must be passed in
order to be awarded the degree. It is a significant amount of work but usually one that is enjoyed by the
student.
2. General Information and Choice of Projects
Each project will be overseen by a named first supervisor, with whom the aims, objectives, and proposed
methods must be agreed. The supervisor will be responsible for monitoring the progress and safety of the
project, and will provide advice and assistance as necessary. The supervisor should be available for regular
(~weekly) meetings with the student. A second supervisor must also be appointed for each project. He or
she will independently assess your project work, but will not necessarily take a proactive part in its direction.
If a student has any questions or problems concerning his or her project, but which cannot be dealt with by
their supervisors, then he/she should contact the Project Coordinator as soon as possible.
Students should undertake a project which is appropriate to their particular “stream” - Radiation Physics
(RP), Biomedical Engineering and Medical Imaging (BEMI) or Medical Image Computing (MIC). Inevitably,
most projects will have elements of physics, engineering and computing, so students should consider
projects which have the greatest emphasis on their particular stream specialism. Students that will be
following the Medical Image Computing stream must select a computing research project for additional
advise these students should contact the MIC coordinator Dr Dean Barratt (d.barratt@ucl.ac.uk).
When selecting a project the student should take the following into account:
•some projects will be more suitable for particular MSc streams
•some projects require particular skills, i.e., computing - make sure by consultation with the project
supervisor that you will be able to complete the project
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•some projects require the use of clinical equipment that may only be available at certain times of the day make sure by consultation with the project supervisor that your availability will not compromise you being
able to complete the project
•make sure that the effort expected from you by the supervisor matches your expected input
•all the supervisors are experienced supervisors and therefore will be able to advise you on the challenging
aspects of their projects - but make sure the challenge isn’t too great
•the student is expected to maintain regular contact with their supervisor
2.1 Project selection – full time students
Students should undertake a project which is appropriate to their particular “stream” - Radiation Physics
(RP), Biomedical Engineering and Medical Imaging (BEMI) or Medical Image Computing (MIC). Inevitably,
most projects will have elements of physics, engineering and computing, so students should consider
projects which have the greatest emphasis on their particular stream specialism.
Projects are designed by staff in the Medical Physics & Bioengineering Department, and are typically related
to an area of research being investigated by that staff member. Projects available to students are displayed
on the MPHYGB97 website, and start appearing in September before the start of term. Students can select a
project at any time (see table 1 for ultimate deadlines), and are invited to contact the supervisor by email or
phone to request more details about a project he/she is interested in. The student should also arrange to
meet with the project supervisor as soon as possible after the start of term. Note that projects cannot be
“held in reserve” for a student. All projects remain open to everyone until a student makes a firm decision to
take the project, when they must inform the Supervisor and the Project Coordinator. The student’s name will
then appear against the project on the website.
Students need to have a project allocated and must inform the Project Coordinator if they have been unable
to find one that is suitable by that time. In the past it has also been possible to accommodate some students
who have had a specific request for a project in a research area not on the list of projects. If they have a
specific project idea, students should contact the Project Coordinator.
Selection of the research project should take place during mid October/early November (see table 1 for
ultimate deadlines).
2.2 Project selection – part time students
Part-time students are generally expected to find their project from their home department. However, should
a part-time student require help in finding a suitable project they should approach the Project Coordinator.
Students are encouraged to consider an area appropriate to their specific MSc programme in which they
would like to carry out their research project. Part time students are often limited in area by the work
undertaken in their own department and/or the placements they have chosen during their training
programme.
Initial contact should be made with possible supervisors during the first term of the 1st year, and a project
selected possibly by the end of the first year. We encourage these students to have a second supervisor
from the department and as soon as they have confirmed projects with their first supervisors from the place
of their work; they should approach academic staff whose research background is relevant to enquire and
request them to act as second supervisors.
Part time MSc students are expected to follow the full time MSc research project time-schedule on their 2nd
year; however we do encourage the students to do some effort regarding their MSc project on the first year.
3. Carrying out the project
Projects are normally of three broad types. The vast majority are “experimental”, which means making
measurements with pre-existing scientific apparatus, or designing/constructing a new item of equipment
which will then be used to perform some kind of experimental measurement. Meanwhile, “theoretical”
projects involve investigating a new idea, and developing the basic theory behind it. Such projects often
require an initial literature review, and may involve testing the new theory using pre-existing data. The third
broad categories of projects are “computer based”. These might involve using existing software tools to
process existing experimental data or simulate a new theory, or might even require the student to write some
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computer code. In most cases, students are not expected to have specific skills related to their project, but
obviously must have the interest and enthusiasm to develop new skills in the required area.
All projects have three phases: 1.Project planning and background research; 2.Experiments and data
analysis; and 3.Writing up.
NB ALL STUDENTS - full or part time - carrying out their project at UCL must make sure that their supervisor
fills in a project risk assessment form. Forms & guidelines will be downloadable from the Moodle website
(see below).
4. Assessment
The project will be monitored and assessed continuously via the following components:
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Project outline (5%). [marked independently by 1st and 2nd supervisors]
Progress report (10%). [marked independently by 1st and 2nd supervisors]
Poster (10%). [marked by examination panel]
Project talk (15%). [marked by examination panel]
Final report (60%). [marked independently by 1st and 2nd supervisors]
The figures in brackets represent the percentage of the final mark allocated to each component. All work will
be assessed independently by the supervisors and second supervisor, and a final mark arbitrated by a small
committee of independent assessors chaired by the Project Coordinator. Note that marks may be deducted
for reports submitted after the given deadlines. Assessment of the Final Report is based on the following
criteria:
 Evidence of scientific rigour and understanding of the context of the research.
 Evidence that the experimental work and data analysis is of high scientific quality and forms a body of
work that is of a size that is proportionate given the duration and difficulty of the project.
 Standard of presentation, including references.
4.1 Project planning – Project Outline
You should start with phase 1 - project planning, understanding the background to the project and the
supervisor's ideas for the work to be done. It is important that during this phase a project outline is produced.
The project outline should be as specific as possible. The objectives of a project outline may be summarised
as follows:
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
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to confirm the final title of the project and the names of the first and second supervisors;
to outline the project aims and objectives;
to demonstrate a clear understanding of the problem to be solved;
to demonstrate an understanding of the project background;
A project outline must be submitted by the deadlines given in table 1. The project outline should consist of
the following details:
Project title
Supervisor names and contact details
Aims of project
Brief description of project background (generally about 1 page)
List of tasks to be completed
Timescales for the various tasks (such as a timeline chart detailing the tasks to be completed during each of
the months until the end of the project)
As a very rough guide, the outline should be about two pages of A4 paper (use only one side of the page),
set margins at 2.5cm on all sides and use Times New Roman font, 1.5 line spacing with minimum font size
12 point.
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Written work should be handed in to the Medical Physics teaching administrator (Mohini Nair), who will date
stamp it and pass it on to your supervisors to mark independently.
NB ALL STUDENTS - full or part time - carrying out their project at UCL must make sure that their supervisor
fills in a project risk assessment form. Forms & guidelines will be downloadable from the Moodle website
(see below). Such form is a mandatory attachment of the project outline, and the outline will not be
considered complete (and therefore valid!) should this form not be included. It is responsibility of the student
to make sure that their supervisor fills in the form reasonably before the submission deadline, in order to be
able to hand it in with the project outline.
4.2 Experimental Measurements and Data Analysis – Progress Report
Phase 2 - experimental measurements and data analysis- will occupy the majority of the time allocated for
the project. It is important that close contact is maintained with the supervisor throughout. She/he will advise
on the work as it proceeds but the student must maintain a laboratory note book in which all work is logged
and which can be inspected at any time by the supervisor or Project Coordinator.
The objectives of the project progress report may be summarised as follows:




to confirm the aims and objectives of the project;
to outline the work done so far;
to outline the work that remains;
to demonstrate an understanding of the project background;
A project progress report must be submitted by the deadlines given in table 1. The project progress report
should consist of the following details:
Project title
Supervisor names and contact details
A brief summary of the aims and objectives of the project
Describe the work done so far
Discuss whether some of the above aims/targets have been met and to what extent
List ANY CHANGE with respect to the original plan; discuss the reasons behind this and how this affects
aims & timings
Provide an updated timeline
As a very rough guide, the progress report should be about four pages of A4 paper (use only one side of the
page), set margins at 2.5cm on all sides and use Times New Roman font, 1.5 line spacing with minimum font
size 12 point.
Written work should be handed in to the Medical Physics teaching administrator (Mohini Nair), who will date
stamp it and pass it on to your supervisors to mark independently.
Note that by the time the progress report has been written up and submitted students are expected to have
carried out at least 1/3 of the project, and this should be clearly indicated in the enclosed timeline.
4.3 Experimental Measurements and Analysis – Poster presentation
All students will be asked to present their project in a poster. This is typically displayed in a single A0 sheet
or equivalent number of A4 pages (minimum 9 A4 pages), in which the project is introduced, its aims are
given, materials and methods are discussed, the results obtained up to that point are presented and future
work is outlined – possibly with the aid of a Gantt chart or equivalent.
Information is expected to be displayed primarily in graphic format, with text kept at the bare minimum. A day
is allocated, in which students are expected to stand in front of their posters and explain the content to an
audience. This audience will include an examination committee who will assess the posters and assign a
mark, which will account for 10% of the overall project assessment.
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For the dates on which the poster day will be held, see table 1 below.
Note that the department will not cover the cost of printing the posters.
4.4 Project Talks
All students taking the MPHYGB97 units will be required to give a talk about their project soon after they
submitted their thesis. Their audience will consist of any final year students and academic staff that wish to
attend and an examiners panel. In their future careers most students will be required to give presentations
on their work in front of a large audience, and these projects talks will provide valuable experience. Students
will be allowed 15 minutes for their talk, followed by 5 minutes of questions. The following points should be
borne in mind when preparing a talk:
a) The talk should be structured as follows:
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introduction, giving the background to the project;
description of the work carried out;
results;
discussion of results and conclusion.
b) Do not make the talk too detailed, nor too trivial. The members of the audience will not be specialists in
the subject of the project, but you may assume that they are familiar with most core undergraduate
material.
c) A laptop PC and computer projector will be provided in the lecture room. With such a short time for each
talk, it is of course essential to prepare all presentational material in advance. Make sure that all material
is legible and not overcrowded with too much information. Do not attempt to use too many slides.
d) Practice your talk in front of a critical colleague to ensure that the content and length are acceptable.
e) During the talk, face the audience and speak clearly and loudly enough to be heard at the back of the
lecture room.
f) The talk must be taken seriously and note that it will contribute 15% towards the final assessment of the
project.
g) Students are invited to attend other student talks during the day, and are expected to attend those
immediately before and after the student’s own talk.
4.5 Writing up – MSc project thesis
Phase 3 - writing-up - is always more difficult than anticipated. The students are encouraged by the end of
July to produce a complete first draft that is given to the supervisor to read. The supervisor is expected to
guide the students with any corrections that should be made but the student should NOT regard the
supervisor as his proof reader. It is the responsibility of the student to write clear, accurate English. If you
have difficulty in writing good English then you should allow as much time as possible for this part of the
writing up process, a minimum of three weeks will be required and maybe much more. The student should
also discuss with the supervisor when she/he would be available to read the draft report.
The writing up requires the student to produce a final copy of the report including all the
corrections/modifications. Diagrams should be clear and well presented; all tables, figures and diagrams
should have titles. The source of any diagram must be referenced. The references should be given in a
consistent style and must be complete, i.e., all page numbers, dates, publishers, as required.
The report should be written at a level to be understood by someone with a good knowledge of physics, who
is not a specialist in the field of the project. Avoid, at one extreme, explaining very elementary things and, at
the other, not explaining very abstruse things. The report should normally include:
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background material setting the project in perspective;
details for the work actually done;
results of the work;
discussion of the significance of the results.
The length of the report should not normally exceed 70 pages of text and should be word-processed. It must
be presented clearly, neatly and in a well-ordered fashion. The general appearance, quality of production
and use of English will be taken into account in the assessment. Careful discrimination should be exercised
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when deciding what to include in the report. Minute technical detail is not usually required but, if it is of
significance, it might be more appropriately recorded in an appendix rather than in main text.
The style for references is that used by Physics in Medicine & Biology. The student should consult a copy to
be clear about the correct style. The text should be type on A4 paper, 1.5 lines spacing in Times Roman font,
12 point. An appropriate margin of 2.5 cm should be left around the text that allows it to be bound. An
abstract of not more than 200 words must be included after the title page. Any permanent method of binding
is suitable but ring binding does make the report easier to read. The front and back pages of the report
should be thin card and are available from the Department. The regulations for the degree state that there is
an upper limit of 10,000 words. This must not be exceeded and the word count must appear on the title
page. Figure captions must be included in the word count. Appendices are the only part of the thesis not
included in the word count and can be used if there are compelling reasons for the inclusion of material not
directly relevant to the topic of the report. Considerable guidance on many of the points mentioned above
can be obtained by the careful study of a few original research papers. Students must adhere to the
College regulations on Plagiarism (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/current-students/guidelines/plagiarism).
Students must submit two copies of their final report (one for each supervisor) by the deadline (usually the
last day of the second term). These copies should be handed to the Medical Physics teaching administrator
(Mohini Nair), who will date stamp them and pass them on to your supervisors. We will ask one report to be
returned to the Medical Physics teaching administrator (Mohini Nair) for assessment from the external
examiners.
5. Moodle
All material on how to carry out your project will be available on a Moodle webpage, to which all students
have to enroll. The enrolment key will be provided on the induction days or can be obtained by contacting the
MSc project manager Dr. Ilias Tachtsidis (i.tachtsidis@medphys.ucl.ac.uk). A range of tasks corresponding
to all deadlines listed in table 1 appears in the Moodle page, and students are required to take simple actions
(e.g. confirm that they have done something through an action button) before each deadline.
In order to enroll students should do the following:
1)
go to http://moodle.ucl.ac.uk;
2)
login with their UCL password;
3)
a list of courses appears, divided by area. Under Engineering Sciences, choose Medical Physics and
Bioengineering, among the different courses choose MSc Medical Physics Projects;
4)
ENROL by entering the enrolment key provided in your induction day.
From any page, it is possible to go back by clicking on MSc MedPhysProjTest on the top left of the page.
Further details will be provided at the induction days and/or can be obtained by contacting MSc project
coordinator Dr. Ilias Tachtsidis (i.tachtsidis@medphys.ucl.ac.uk)
6. Project Timetable – full time students
The normal order of events is given below for full time students (detail dates see table 1):
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September-October - a list of projects is made available on the Medical Physics project website.
Students can choose a project anytime, consulting with supervisors by email, by phone, or in person.
Having chosen your project, please update the Moodle and inform the Project Coordinator by email
(Dr Ilias Tachtsidis, i.tachtsidis@medphys.ucl.ac.uk). Students are required to have found a project
by November.
Before the end of the year - submission of project outline (see section 4.1).
Before the end of Second Term - submission of progress report (see section 4.2)
Middle of June – poster presentation (see section 4.3)
End of July – project talk (see section 4.4)
Beginning of August- final submission of Project Report (see section 4.5).
Written work should be handed in to the Medical Physics teaching administrator (Mohini Nair), who will date
stamp it and pass it on to your supervisor. Adherence to the above timetable is essential. Work submitted
late may be penalised. Please contact the Projects Coordinator and your supervisors immediately if there are
mitigating circumstances that delay the project.
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Select project by
Submit Project Outline to
the Departmental Teaching
Administration Officer
Submit Progress Report to
the Departmental Teaching
Administration Officer
Poster presentation
Project talk
Submission of reports and
CDROM to the Departmental
Teaching Administration
Officer
Ask your supervisor to
submit his/her report to the
Departmental Teaching
Administration Officer
FULL-TIME STUDENTS*
23rd November 2012
7th December 2012
1st March 2013
25th
19th June 2013
and 26th of July 2013
9th August 2013
23rd of August 2013
TABLE 1 - IMPORTANT DEADLINES FOR M.Sc. PROJECTS
Note that penalties will be introduced for not respecting the deadlines, with particular emphasis on deadlines
relative to report/outline submissions.
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Appendices
Some general advice on the presentation of M.Sc. reports
1.
Explain clearly the aim and objectives of the work.
2.
Maintain a proper framework of the report. A good example would be:
Abstract
Introduction (aims and objectives)
Literature review (previous work)
Methods
Results (your work)
Discussion (how your results answer your aims and objectives)
Conclusions (brief summary of your findings)
Future Work
References
Appendices
3.
The abstract should be 200 words. Below the abstract you will need to include the following signed
declaration: “I declare that this dissertation is my own work and that all sources have been acknowledged.”
4.
Use diagrams and figures whenever they help in the illustration of the point being made
5.
Use legends and proper references on all figures and diagrams. Ensure that all graphs are properly
labelled; contain error bars if required, etc.
6.
Discuss at the end of the report the extent to which the original aims have been achieved.
7.
Avoid excessive use of jargon or medical terms. Remember that the report is a physics report.
8.
Do not exceed 10,000 words (note that only appendices do not count in total word count; everything
else counts) and remember the word count must appear on the title page.
9.
Do not assume the reader knows everything about the topic. Expect the reader to be scientifically
informed but not necessarily an expert,
10.
Do not try to pack in too much material.
11.
Do not copy sections from other peoples work and present them as your own - this is plagiarism.
Furthermore, it is easy for the examiners to spot where the good English finishes!
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A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of Master of Science
PHYSICS & ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
(Title of your Thesis)
By
(Your name)
First Supervisor: (name of your supervisor)
Second Supervisor: (name of your supervisor)
Department of Medical Physics
and Bioengineering
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Date of submission:
Word count: