Conducting Your Masters Proposal

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Conducting Your Masters Proposal

• David A Watt

www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/daw/masters-projects
daw_at_dcs.gla.ac.uk
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MSc development projects overview
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MRes research projects overview
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Outline

• Perform the background work relevant to your
  project.
• Meet your supervisor regularly.
• Submit a written report of
• 1525 pages (MSc Development Proposal)
• 2030 pages (MRes Research Proposal).

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Meeting your supervisor (1)

• Meet your supervisor regularly (3060 mins)
• once per fortnight (MSc Development Proposal)
• once per week (MRes Research Proposal)
• Fix the first meeting date now!
• Try to fix all dates in advance, for the whole
  semester.

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Meeting your supervisor (2)

• Always listen to your supervisors advice!
• Nevertheless, it is your project, and you must
  make your own decisions.
• You should lead the meetings
• Plan in advance what issues you wish to discuss
  at the meeting.
• Say what you have achieved since the last
  meeting.
• Say what you hope to achieve before the next
  meeting.

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MSc Development Proposal (1)

• Study the problem domain.
• Read articles about related projects.
• Survey related software products
• Test them (if readily available).
• Read their documentation.
• Do not rely on sales literature!

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MSc Development Proposal (2)

• Critically evaluate previous projects and
  products
• What are their strengths? (Aim to build on these
  strengths!)
• What are their weaknesses? (Aim to avoid these
  weaknesses!)
• Develop a clear statement of the development
  problem.
• Choose a suitable development method, and develop
  a suitable work-plan. (See Professional Software
  Development.)

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MRes Research Proposal (1)

• Study the problem domain.
• Review the relevant research literature.
• Where applicable, survey relevant products.
• Critically evaluate previous research
• What were its strengths? (Aim to build on these
  strengths!)
• What were its weaknesses? (Aim to avoid these
  weaknesses!)

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MRes Research Proposal (2)

• Develop a clear statement of the research
  problem.
• Choose a suitable approach for solving this
  research problem, and develop a suitable
  work-plan.

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Submission

• There will be a seminar on report writing about 3
  weeks before the deadline.
• Plan to start writing your report about 23 weeks
  before the deadline.
• Submit one printed copy and one PDF copy of your
  report.
• Deadline Friday 27 March 2009 at 1400 (except
  for part-time students).

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Conclusions

• Your proposal is important, to ensure that the
  background work is completed before your project
  itself starts.
• Devote the correct amount of time to your
  proposal
• 100 hours (MSc Development Proposal)
• 200 hours (MRes Research Proposal).