MTEC
Programme
MSc Project
Programme Director
Professor Philip Wilson
Introduction
– objective to test your hypothesis (a clearly
defined problem)
– generally to find new information
– a large piece of work so requires careful
planning and management
– you research and deliver a research report on a
professional topic of your choice
– use knowledge learned during your course and
have engineering content
Project Planning
Types of Research Project
Four main types :–
1.
all types include a critical literature review of the state-ofthe-art
Theoretical project
–
–
2.
an ideal or hypothetical work + literature review
no experimental work.
Experimental project
–
3.
includes research in a laboratory, or fieldwork, or market
research questionnaires, case studies to obtain data for
analysis. + literature review
Review project
–
–
4.
only a comprehensive & critical literature review
no theoretical or experimental work.
Combination project (of theoretical & experimental)
–
Recommend this approach – not 3.
Project Planning
Choosing your research topic
1.
Your interests & career development
–
2.
Topics which interest and will benefit your career
development.
Your course & the media
–
3.
Interesting or current topics from lectures, journals, television,
the internet, etc.
Academic staff
–
–
Academic staff are pleased to advise you on your proposals.
Don’t hesitate to contact the Programme Director or the
Director of Studies at the university at which you are enrolled.
Contact details are available from the Programme
Administrator.
If you cannot think of your own topic, staff may suggest topics
which they are interested in.
Project Planning
Defining your research topic
1.
Defining:–
–
–
–
2.
Clearly defined topic / problem / need / hypothesis
Has a beginning, middle, end
Realistic “tight” problem with goals achievable within time &
resources available
Danger of being too ambitious (supervisor advises you)
Deliverables
–
–
–
–
Project Specification
Project Plan
Literature Review
Final MSc Project Report.
Project Assessment
Procedures & penalties for plagiarism
1. Plagiarism: To take and use another’s (writing, ideas, etc) as one’s own.
– Using or copying the work of other people and claiming falsely that it
is your original work and denying due credit to the original author.
Either accidentally or deliberately.
– http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/copyright.php
2. How to avoid plagiarism
– Many research reports are based on the work of other people, their
ideas, text, pictures, etc. (e.g. your literature review is of the work of
others).
– “If I have seen farther than other men, it is because I have stood on
the shoulders of giants." [Isaac Newton : of Galileo & others]
– Distinguish clearly between your work (your ideas / intellectual
contribution) and the work of others or what is known generally in the
public domain. [continued]
Project Assessment
Procedures & penalties for plagiarism
3.
How to avoid plagiarism [continued]
–
Reference the work of others in your report to give them full credit
[Smith 2005]. Including all illustrations, tables, etc.
–
Summarise the work of others in your own words with a reference
[Smith 2005] or use their original words in “quotation marks” [Smith
2005] with a reference.
4.
Penalties for plagiarism
–
0 marks awarded and University disciplinary procedures started.
Project Management
Supervisory Support
1.
Students are responsible
–
–
2.
your project, your responsibility.
you plan and manage it.
Information and advice
–
–
–
3.
literature search for relevant publications (library & information
services including the Web).
people (project supervisor, academic staff, external organisations
& industry).
your own work data collection & analysis (lab or fieldwork
experiments, market research).
Project supervisor
–
regular meetings to monitor progress and review objectives.
Summary
• Plan and manage your project.
• Regular progress updates with your project
supervisor.
• Seek further help immediately if necessary.
• Enjoy your opportunity to research a topic
which interests you and you selected.