Guidance on Projects: Extended Essays,

Dissertations and Other Project Work

Thursday 19 May 2016

• Introduction

• The options

• Overview of what is involved

• Choice of topic and supervisor

• Formalities: the proposal

• Content of a thesis

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Introduction

Plan for this session: to offer general advice and suggestions,with time for questions and discussion, both as we go alongand at the end.

Assumption: that you are in your 2nd or 3rd year readingMathematics or a joint School with Mathematics and begin-ning to plan your 3rd- or 4th-year options.

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What are the project options?

All the options below are double units.

Third Year—H level:

BE: Mathematical extended essay, 7500 words

OE: Other extended essay, 7500 words

Fourth Year—M level:

• Mathematical dissertation, 10000 words

• Other dissertation, 10000 words

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Why choose the project option?

Engaging in the research for a thesis is a different way oflearning mathematics deeply—and it’s exciting

Writing a thesis develops valuable skills different from thoselearned through more traditional courses

The timing of the project option permits adjustment of work-load over the year

Some students find writing a thesis more successful than writ-ing an examination against the clock

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Overview of what is involved

• Choose a topic and a supervisor—your Tutor can advise

• Apply for approval:submit proposed thesis title, with abstract, reference listand name of supervisor BY 12 noon, Friday, Week 0, MT

• Do the work!At any time from long vacation to Hilary Term

• Give informal presentation towards end of HT;submit thesis BY 12 noon, Monday, Week 10, HT.

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Choice of topic and supervisor

• Choose a topic that interests you! The web pages offaculty will give their research interests. Discuss with yourcollege tutors what interests you and who might be a goodsupervisor.

There is a list of suggestions on the projects web page.

• If a supervisor is hard to find then perhaps your topic isunsuitable.

• With the supervisor ensure your topic is suitably mathe-matical and suitably substantial.

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When to Begin

• Think about your topic and start looking for a supervisorNOW.

• You MUST get agreement from someone to supervise youby 15th September. Remember email contact may bedifficult during the vacation.

• If you are ready to start, for example if you want to dosome work during the vacation, you can apply for approvalof your project early. (See below.) It might be a mistaketo do too much work before your project is approved.

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Formalities

• Address proposal to:

Secretary to Projects Committee, Mathematical Institute.

• Submit application on standard form.

• Application must be received by 12 noon on Friday ofWeek 0.

• Projects Committee sometimes seeks modifications beforeapproving—in which case it gives guidance.

• Most applications are approved by the end of Week 1 ofMT.

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The proposal

• Should be > 150 words (but at most one page).

• Must be word-processed.

• Should be understandable by non-expert members of Projects

Committee.

• Should have sufficient information for committee to judge

scope and content.

• Should give a good sense of what work will be involved

for you, and what makes the project original in its aims or

something new within the literature.

• Should include main references, with full bibliographic details—

to help give context and idea of scope and content.

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Appropriate depth and content, I

It is impossible to be specific on appropriate depth and con-tent but here are guidelines.

• The H-level essay is 7500 words; the M-level dissertationis 10,000 words

• It is equivalent to two 16-lecture courses

• H-level essay should be Part B level material, or excep-tionally Part A;

M-level dissertation should be Part C level material, orexceptionally Part B.

• Projects Committee more often worries that a proposal istoo big rather than too small.

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Appropriate depth and content, II

• The subject should be adequately mathematical:

• For OE essays and OD dissertations a project closely re-

lated to mathematics is fine

• For BE essays and CD dissertations the project should be

mathematical

• But this does not preclude historical or philosophical top-

ics, nor topics where the focus is on applications outside

mathematics (such as advanced applications of relatively

non-advanced mathematics), etc.

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Further Information

• See the projects web-page

http://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/current-students/undergraduates/projects

• Email questions to me at

earl@maths.ox.ac.uk

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Other Options with Project Work

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BSP Structured Projects - Learning Outcomes

This double-unit option is designed to help students under-

stand applications of mathematics to live research problems

and to learn some of the necessary techniques. Students will

gain experience of

• applications of numerical computation to current research

problems

• reading and understanding research papers.

• presenting a well structured written report, using LaTex

• making an oral presentation to a non-specialist audience.

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BSP Structured Projects - Teaching

In past years projects have included applications to biology,

finance, and earth sciences. It is expected that a similar menu

of topics, from which students will select one, will be available

for 2016-2017.

At the beginning of the course students will be given written

instructions for their chosen project. In MT students will

read around their chosen topic and take preparatory courses

in LaTeX and Matlab. In HT students will meet regularly

with their specialist supervisors. The submission deadline is

in Week 10 and in Week 1 of TT there is an oral presentation

of the work.

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BSP Structured Projects - Assessment

The mark breakdown will be as follows:

• Written work 75%

• Oral presentation 15%

• Peer review 10%

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Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme - Learning

Outcomes

The Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme (UAS) was begun

by Simon Singh in 2002 to give university undergraduates a

chance to experience assisting and, to some extent, teaching

in schools, and to be credited for this. The option focuses

on improving students communication, presentation, cooper-

ation and organizational skills and sensitivity to others learning

difficulties.

It is a single unit and has the MT Mathematics Education

course as a pre-requisite.

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Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme - Timing

The Oxford UAS option is mainly run in Hilary Term. A

quota will be in place, of approximately 10 students, and so

applicants for the UAS option will be asked to name a second

alternative unit.

A student on the course will be assigned to a mathematics

teacher in a local secondary school (in the Oxford, Kidlington,

Wheatley area) for half a day per week during Hilary Term.

Students will be expected to keep a journal of their activities,

which will begin by assisting in the class, but may widen to

include teaching the whole class for a part of a period, or

working separately with a smaller group of the class.

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Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme - Timing

Students will be required at one point to give a presentation to

one of their school classes relating to a topic from university

mathematics, and will also design a calculus questionnaire for

the class.

Support classes will be provided throughout Hilary for feed-

back and to discuss issues such as the planning of the project.

The deadline for the journal and report will be noon on Mon-

day of 1st week of Trinity term.

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Undergraduate Ambassadors Scheme -

Assessment

Final credit will be based on

• the journal (20%),

• the presentation (30%),

• an end of course report (approximately 3000 words) in-

cluding details of the questionnaire (35%),

• together with a report from the teacher (15%).

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Q U E S T I O N S

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