MSc Project: A Comprehensive Guide

Useful information on the module

The project is a showpiece opportunity for you to demonstrate what you know about current research and practices in your field of study and show off your skills in selecting and using appropriate techniques and tools employed in these areas to conduct a practical investigation into a particular problem. It is a self-directed piece of work, conducted with minimum supervision that demonstrates your ability to plan and manage a substantial piece of work, and steer your own efforts. You are expected to be thorough in your work, and particularly, identify and tackle any difficult or challenging aspects of the problems they are trying to solve. It is not just the quantity, or even the quality of work that is considered when gradingthe project, but the level of difficulty and the scope of the problem being addressed.

The aims of the MSc Project are to enable the students to

Select and use appropriate tools and techniques in order to conduct a practical investigation or solve a problem, and critically evaluate their own work.
Demonstrate that they can work independently with minimum supervision, plan their work effectively, and present the outcome of their work in written and oral form.
Draw on what they already know about the subject area to identify further areas of study, and extend their knowledge by making critical use of the technical and scientific literature and other materials, and conceive original ideas of their own.

Useful information on the module

“Projects in Computing and Information Systems: A Student’s Guide”, any Edition, Christian W Dawson, Addison Wesley.
“Thesis Projects: A Guide for Students in Computer Science and Information Systems”, anyEdition, Mikael Berndtsson, Jörgen Hansson, Björn Olsson and Björn Lundell, Springer.

The project is an individual, rigorous, critical and complex piece of work. It is not an assignment set by a tutor, where you mainly provide information that is coming from someone else’s research with your personal critical thinking. It is not just a piece of software development. You are expected to study what other people have done, and more importantly generate information yourself and develop expertise in your area of study.

Depending on your study mode, the MSc Project is carried out over an extended period and you should dedicate approximately 600 hours over one or two semesters -- the equivalent of 43 hours a week for one-semester (full-time) projects; for double-semester (part-time) projects, the equivalent of 21.5 hours per week on your project work. It is very important to plan ahead your work and not leave it to the last few weeks. Your participation is imperative. You should never forget to be working full time on your project. Please avoid taking leave in general. If you are absent, then plan with your supervisor and adjust your schedule.

There are eight different project modules, but only TWO really different kinds of project,investigative or development. You must do the type of project specified by the award you seek.

Learning outcomes for ALL students

be able to plan and manage a substantial body of work, identify any risks inherent in their chosen approach, and work independently with minimum supervision;
be able to both critically evaluate and discuss the outcome of their project work in written and oral form
be able to articulate the broader contexts of their work in relation to legal, social, ethical, and professional issues, and assess the economic impact of their project.

This type of project requires you to work on an investigative and practical project. It applies to those of you who study Software Engineering, AI with Robotics, Networking, Cyber Security, Data Science with Analytics or Advanced Computer Science.

Investigative and Development Projects

“This type of project involves a thorough investigation of a particular area; improving your understanding of that area, identifying strengths and weaknesses within the field, discussing how the field has evolved, and acknowledging areas suitable for further development and investigation. This kind of project will involve some form of literature search and review. Aresearch-based project may well have to do more than establish the field of study.”

You need to have a research question or hypothesis to investigate.

be able to critically evaluate advanced literature in topics relevant to their chosen project.
be able to refer to the findings of other academic writers to justify their chosen approach to the development of a solution, and to evaluate the outcomes of their project work;
be able to combine their knowledge of the subject, their reading of research papers and the outcome of their own investigations to conceive original ideas of their own.

Whichever kind of development project you tackle, it is unlikely that the development of a product would be acceptable on its own. In addition, you would normally be expected to include a critical evaluation of the product as well as the development process used. Critical evaluation emphasises the distinction between the academic qualities of your work from technical ability alone.”

be able to demonstrate a deep understanding of different approaches to modelling, design and programming;
show how these approaches might affect the nature of solutions to computational problems and critically evaluate their deployment in appropriate contexts.
be able to refer to the findings of other academic writers to justify their chosen approach to the development of a solution, and to evaluate the outcomes of their project work.
be able to undertake a practical piece of work that demonstrates that they can apply their knowledge and skills to the design and development of complex computerised solutions to a particular problem within the domain of computer science.

If you are planning to use other people in your project, you MUST apply for an ethics approval. You will need to get Ethics Approval before running a survey, conducting interviews, or getting people to evaluate your system. However, if the questions you propose to ask are noncontroversial, and you promise to keep the responses anonymous, this should be a formality, but not trivial.

To get approval, you need to complete some forms, write a statement that explains in detail what kind of questions you will ask (-- it would be better if you could provide the actual questions). You should email all the documents to your supervisor to check before submitting for the Ethics Approval.

Your application will be reviewed by the Ethics Committee. The Ethics Committee have many forms to look at, so you need to give them enough information to decide quickly. You should apply at least three weeks in advance. For example, do not just say "conduct a survey"or "interview some clients", because you haven't told them enough to let them judge whether there might be a problem with what you propose to do. You should explain the purpose(s) ofthe survey/interviews (e.g. to determine functional requirements, or to obtain feedback on the quality of the user interface) and say what the questions will be about. Read the Ethics notes on Canvas for further guidance and find the relevant links for your application. Breaching ethics rules can result in failure.

You should arrange to meet your supervisor as soon as possible and discuss your proposal with them. It is acceptable to be wrong about a few things during this stage. The project proposal has no marks allocation. However, you are strongly encouraged to invest quality time in the preparation of your proposal. A complete project proposal will give you a structured plan on how to work on your project.

The preparation of your proposal should comprise of extensive reading on your chosen topic that will allow you to develop plans for a literature review. Some questions that will helpanswering while working on your proposal are the following:

Does your project rely on data, information or code that will be difficult to access?
Are you planning to do something that will not help your grade?
Are you expecting the supervisor to tell you what to do for your project?
Is it realistic in terms of time?
Is it the right kind of project?
Does your proposal include some kind of investigation/ development?
What will you learn?
What is your contribution?
What question are you answering?