Process for Completing the Research Requirements Project

As of August 2000 The process described below has been established for proposing and initiating MS projects and second-year PhD projects.

If you plan to do an MS project or second-year PhD project within one of the four research groups, your intended advisor will most likely ask you to go through this process before agreeing to advise you on the project. However, most faculty members will be happy to advise you on course choices whether or not you go through this process.

We expect that projects will be proposed in the spring of your first year. This means that you should start thinking about it during the Fall semester via your participation in CPS 300. Projects are not "cast in stone" once they are proposed; we expect that the scope and methodology will evolve as the work is carried out, but it pays to do as much planning as possible early on.

The process has three basic goals:

  1. Present proposed projects to the research group members at an early stage. This gives everyone an opportunity to learn what other people are doing, and to voice any objections and suggestions before a lot of effort is expended.

  2. Encourage students to invest more effort in defining and justifying project goals and methodology from the start. We hope that this will improve the quality of the projects and lead to more satisfying outcomes for everyone.

  3. Safeguard against overloading of faculty. Faculty members are capable of successfully supervising only a small number of students. Too many students and students procrastinating until the last minute leads to poor advising and more frustration for everyone.
The student is responsible for successful completion of the process which consists of the following stages:

  1. Preparation. During the first semester (fall), you should use your attendance of CPS 300 as an opportunity to develop your skills in presenting research material before an audience. Regular attendance in one or more research area weekly seminar is also strongly recommended, for the same purpose.

  2. Exploratory discussions. Begin discussing your interests with one or more faculty members before the end of the fall semester. An opportune time to accomplish this is after classes end in December. Faculty members can assist you in identifying possible project topics. By April 30 of the second semester (spring), you are responsible for finding a supervisor for your project, and reporting his or her name to the DGS Assistant. You and your Supervisor then begin discussing tentative project topics.

  3. Initial project design.Think hard about the project area over the summer. Search out related work. Think about what questions you want to answer with your project, and what experiments you can devise to answer those questions. We expect that all projects will involve either (1) building (or simulating) and evaluating a new software program or technique, or (2) more detailed measurements of existing software or technique. Paper designs are not sufficient. Therefore, you will need to figure out how to define the project so that it is achievable within the time constraints.

  4. Pre-proposal. Near the end of the summer, you and your Supervisor should begin zeroing in on a project topic and agree on specific goals. Your project may be more successful if you have addditional input and guidance. Thus, you are encouraged to ask up to two additional faculty members to serve on your 3-person project committee. E-mail a paragraph or two about your project to others in the appropriate research group who might be interested. Your Supervisor will tell you who should be included in the mailing; the list will include all faculty in the group, and perhaps some other graduate students and research staff as well. They may wish to ask questions, make suggestions, or otherwise discuss your project with you. Talk to them.

  5. Proposal. On or before September 1 of the third semester (fall), write a draft project proposal discussing the goals, scope, and significance of the project, related work that you have identified, and how you plan to complete the project. Your proposal should be five pages or less (11-point font), including a bibliography. You must give a copy of your proposal to each member of your project committee for their review.

  6. Proposal review. Your proposal will be read by your committee in early-September. The committee may also include advanced graduate students and research staff as well as faculty members. The committee will decide whether or not you should go forward with your project. The committee may recommend changes if the project is accepted. At this point, the supervisor/student relationship for the project will be formalized with the department. Before the 15th of September of the third semester (fall), you will make a public presentation of your project proposal on a day devoted to such talks. Your project committee must attend the talk, and agree by signing a form that the talk was acceptable. The form and a copy of your final proposal document is to be given to the DGS Assistant at that time, for placment in your student records.

  7. Project. If your project is accepted, you will schedule regular meetings with your Supervisor and other interested group members. For most students, monthly meetings will be appropriate. Before each meeting, you will give your advisor a brief written summary of the previous meeting and the issues to be discussed. During the third and fourth semesters, you will proceed with your project. At least one formal progress report presentation is required as part of the appropriate research area seminar during the first week of the 4th semester (spring). Before the end of the 3rd semester (fall), prior to the holiday break, you must contact the person in charge of the research area seminars, and schedule this presentation. The Supervisor will be asked to e-mail a report of the student's progress to the DGS Assistant by Feb 1 of the fourth semester (spring) so faculty evaluations of your progress can be accomplished. Do not procrastinate on project work. If you wait until the fourth semester to begin, you will not have enough time to conduct your work and write a professional report.

  8. Project Report. At the conclusion of your project, you are expected to produce a written report describing your results. This report should include a complete bibliography, and it should be high enough quality to be published as a Technical Report. The report should be no more than 15 pages, unless it is developed and presented as a Master's Thesis. For a second-year Ph.D. project, the report will meet the departmental requirement for a project writeup. You will schedule and make a final project presentation during the month of April of the fourth semester (spring). The talk is scheduled thru the DGS Assistant. You are responsible for announcing the talk, and providing the DGS Assistant with an abstract. Your entire project committee must attend this public talk, and sign the appropriate form indicating the acceptability of the final project report. This form is to be given to the DGS Assistant. A copy of the report must be given to the DGS Assistant one week before the talk.
Important Deadlines for Research Requirement Project

Important Deadlines for Research Requirement Project

1st Year

1st Semester

• CPS 300 requirement

• Talk with faculty and graduate students

• Attend research area seminars
 

2nd Semester

• Spring Term - Explore project alternatives with faculty and senior graduate students.

• April 30 - Select Supervisor and report to DGS Assistant. A tentative project topic should be established at this time.

• Attend research area seminars.

2nd Year

3rd Semester

• September 1 - Complete project proposal draft, and select two additional faculty to serve on Project Committee.

• Early September - Proposal reviewed by Project Committee.

• On or Before September 15 - A day will be scheduled for project proposal presentations and evaluation. After presentation, submit Proposal & Committee Acceptance Form to DGS Assistant.

• Monthly progress meetings with Supervisor.

• Attend research area seminars.
 

4th Semester

• Monthly progress meetings with Supervisor.

• First week of the spring term - public presentation of progress in research area seminar.

• Feb. 1 - Progress report by Supervisor due to DGS Assistant.

• March - Schedule Project Final Report Talk with DGS Assistant, and publicly announce talk

• April (one week prior to talk) - Present Project Report hardcopy and talk Abstract to DGS Assistant. After talk, submit final paper & Committee Acceptance Form to DGS Assistant.

• Attend research area seminars.

Other important May graduation Deadlines (Check with DGS Assistant for exact dates each year):

Late January - File Intent to Receive Degree Form with Graduate School

Early April - Final date for Ph.D. dissertation format check with Graduate School

Mid April - Final date for M.S. thesis format check with Graduate School

Early May - Final completion date for earning a May degree
Richard Lucic
Last modified: Tue Aug 15 15:16:22 EDT 2000