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Projects 2012-2013

Mathematics, Statistics, Applied Mathematics,
Financial Mathematics, Mathematics and Education, Master of Mathematics

The final year project is an extemely important component of most degree programmes. As well as carrying a significant number of marks, it is used by external examiners to decide borderline cases, it is used by lecturers when writing job references for students, and it is used when deciding on admissions to postgraduate study and research. It is the component which, more than any other, provides an opportunity for independent and original work.

Masters students should note that their project counts for 40% of their year's marks and hence is substantial part of their course. They should view it more as a minor thesis.

Science undergraduates may wish to participate in the Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme in place of a traditional style project. The scheme involves working with local schools and has a limited number of places. Those interested in this option should contact Dr Kirsten Pfeiffer and Dr Claas Roever as soon as possible and no later than 11 September 2012.

The following are some important dates and details concerning undergraduate projects in 2012-2013. The details for masters projects are slightly different and marked in this colour.

• 4th - 14th September: Students should discuss project topics with potential supervisors. The School home page is a good way to find the areas of particular interest of staff. Some supervisors have posted specific ideas for projects on their web pages, others have listed ideas on their office doors, others have scheduled information sessions. Many supervisors are keen for students to suggest their own ideas for project topics. The following links contain loads of project ideas.

• 17th - 21st September: During this week students will need to persuade 3 potential supervisors to provisionally agree to take them on as a project student, or to gain provisional admittance into the Undergraduate Ambassador Scheme.

  Each student must submit a list of those provisional agreements, in order of preference. Both, student and supervisors should sign this list. The deadline for submission to the School office is 4pm on Friday 21st September. Students who fail to submit a signed list of preferences will be allocated to a supervisor "at random".

• 24th September: The final student-supervisor pairings will be made available here.

• 26th October: A mid-project report or project outline should be submitted by undergraduates, respectively masters students, to the School Office by this date. Alternatively, two copies in PDF format can be sent by email; one to your supervisor and one to Claas Roever.

  A penalty (typically 5%) will be applied to late submissions. The mid-project report/project outline should be about 5-10 pages, and should include: names of the supervisor and student, a title, detailed aims of the project (against which the final project can be assessed), the scope for independent and/or original work (against which the final project can be assessed), a description of the work done so far. This report should have a bit of substance, so feel free to include equations, diagrams, references etc. It can be a useful exercise to browse through previous years' project reports (available in the School office) to get a feel for what is expected of a project. The mid-project report will be assessed with the final project report and will count 10% towards your final mark.

• 8th February 2013: Undergraduates only! Three bound (spiral binding suffices) printed copies of the final report should be handed in to the School office, and an electronic copy should be e-mailed to your supervisor and Claas Roever by this deadline. A penalty (typically 5%) will be applied to late submissions. This report will count for 80% of the final mark. It is fine for the final report to re-use material from the mid-project report. Details on the required format for the final report are given below.

• 21st February 2013: All students will be required to give a 15 minute presentation on their project. Undergraduates will present their finalised project, while masters students will give a detailed progress report. This presentation should allow for questions from examiners. That means that you should only talk for 10min, so there is time for questions and transition between speakers. The presentation will count for 10% of the final mark for all students. A detailed schedule is here.

• Late July 2013: Masters students only! Three bound (spiral binding suffices) printed copies of the final report should be handed in to the School office, and an electronic copy should be e-mailed to your supervisor and Claas Roever by this deadline. A penalty (typically 5%) will be applied to late submissions. This report will count for 80% of the final mark. It is fine for the final report to re-use material from the mid-project report. Details on the required format for the final report are given below.

Final Report Format

The final report should be typed and normally of the following length (excluding the title page, bibliography and any computer printout).

• Masters – 25 to 35 pages (maximum 40)
• Undergraduates – 20 to 30 pages (maximum 35)

The cover page of the final report should contain (in this order) (view an example):

• The title of the project.
• The full name of the author.
• The type of project, e.g. 'Final year project' or 'Masters project'.
• 'National University of Ireland Galway'
• The full name of the supervisor.
• The month and year of submission.

The next page should contain these words, and the submitted copies must be signed:

It is important that the final report conveys clearly to any reader the extent to which the work was independent and or original. The report often includes three main sections (which are often subdivided):

• The introduction: a clear explanation of the context, motivation, objectives etc.
• The body of the work: an account of the main results, including maybe some proofs, examples/counter-examples, algorithms, ...
• The conclusion: a summary of what has and has not been achieved, suggestions for further work.

At the bottom of this page you can find links to books on how to write mathematics and help with LaTeX, which is by far the best choice for typesetting your project.

Assessment Procedures

The typed reports will count 90% and the presentation will count 10%. Feel free to read/download a detailed description of the marking procedure.

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