Department of Computer Science and
Information Systems

MSc Project Guidance Document for Staff and Students of DCSIS

This document describes the basics for MSc projects. Follow the links for particular details for projects on MSc CS and MSc AIS/IIS/WIM.

Aims

For the MSc, each student is required to undertake an individual project, under the supervision of a staff member, which should represent some 1/4-1/3 of the student's effort for the degree. Students are required to submit a project specification and a project report including program documentation. The main aims of the project are to offer students the opportunity to:

  • develop a systematic understanding and critical awareness of an agreed problem relevant to the MSc programme as described in a project specification document
  • plan and execute a major piece of programming work appropriate to the MSc programme
  • critically present existing approaches in the problem area, place their own approach in the wider area and evaluate their contribution
  • gain experience in communicating complex ideas/concepts and approaches/techniques to others by writing a comprehensive, self-contained report.
Additional requirements exist depending on the Masters Programme:
  • For the MSc in Advanced Information Systems, MSc in Intelligent Information Systems and MSc in Web Information Management, the project should build on advanced topics in computer science in order to develop a system whose design is by no means obvious at the outset of the project.
  • For the MSc in Advanced Information Systems, the project should relate to one or more of the modules taught on the programme.
  • For MSc in Intelligent Information Systems, the project should be in the area of computational intelligence or intelligent information systems.
  • For MSc in Web Information Management, the project should be in the area of information management or web technologies.

Learning outcomes

By carrying out the project the student will be able to:

  • critically evaluate existing work in the area of study
  • choose and apply appropriate design and implementation techniques
  • propose, present, and critically evaluate a solution to the problem addressed; for MSc Computer Science projects the solution includes the development and demonstration of a software solution
  • clearly communicate the above achievements to the reader.

The project specification document

By the published deadline, students are required to produce a short specification of the project they intend to carry out using the template provided at the Project Tutor's web page http://www.dcs.bbk.ac.uk/~mick/. Students are encouraged to propose their own topic which they can then develop, in conjunction with a supervisor, into a project specification. Students can alternatively choose a topic from a list of project proposals created by members of staff; see MSc CS project ideas and MSc AIS/IIS/WIM project ideas.

The project specification document should present the research problem or question that the project will address and explain its relevance to the MSc Programme followed. The project specification should meet the following criteria:

  • It identifies the aims and objectives of the project.
  • It identifies an appropriate research approach/methodology.
  • It includes a project plan which shows how the project objectives can be met within the required timescale.
  • It specifies hardware or software that you hope to use in your project. This is particularly important if you intend to use something out of the ordinary. It enables the Systems support group to estimate the probable demand on their resources and to alert supervisors if there is likely to be a problem with this.

The project specification document should be discussed with a supervisor and, when it has been agreed, should be sent as an email attachment to the Projects Tutor (mick@dcs.bbk.ac.uk), with a copy to the supervisor. The file name should be msctitle_projspec followed by the student’s surname and initial, e.g. for student named John Smith doing an MSc Computer Science project the filename should be  msccs_projspec_SmithJ.doc. A project specification must not be submitted without prior agreement of a supervisor. Students who proceed with their projects without having agreed a specification with their supervisor risk having their projects refused for examination.

The project specification enables the examiners to form a judgement about whether the project, if carried out satisfactorily, would meet the requirements of the MSc. It is not expected that a project will necessarily follow the specification word for word, but, unless there is a good reason for doing otherwise, students should carry out substantially what the specification describes. If, for some reason, a student wants to change to a different project at a later date, they should submit a new specification, again after consultation with the supervisor.

Assessment

The assessment is by a written report (100%). Your report is read and marked by your project supervisor, a second examiner, and, occasionally, by additional internal or external examiners. To pass a project the markers assess whether the report meets the following criteria:

  • Background, research, presentation of problem: the report specifies a suitable problem, and discusses its requirements. It reviews the potential approaches and critically evaluates them.
  • Approach, design and implementation: The approach that the student used to address the problem or questions is described. A suitable design methodology is chosen and there is an attempt to justify it. The key stages of the approach/methodology and the implementation are explained.
  • Testing, results, analysis and critical evaluation: The report attempts to provide a clear and justified reflection upon the contribution and its limitations. It discusses how the software meets the specified requirements, and any problems identified. For students studying for Masters in Computer Science the report should include a software solution which is demonstrated.
  • Presentation of report, documentation: The report is coherent in its style and structure. It communicates the student's contribution to the reader.
  • Any other aspect of special relevance for this project.

For a distinction, a student would have to attempt a challenging project and to gain a high grade under each of the above headings. To award a distinction the markers assess the report according to the following criteria:

  • Background, research, presentation of problem: A problem is specified, and the potential approaches are reviewed and critically evaluated. The report clearly outlines the problem, its context and the technical/user requirements. It demonstrates that the student clearly understands the relevant research material and leads logically to a solution of the problem.
  • Approach, design and implementation: The report provides a clear justification of the research approach. It discusses the various design methodologies in an authoritative way and provides a clear justification for adopting a particular one. It presents the various stages of approach/methodology and implementation in detail and executes them to a high standard.
  • Testing, results, analysis and critical evaluation: The solution described demonstrates real insight into the problem/research questions. There is clear and justified reflection upon the contribution and its limitations. The key results are accurately analysed and stated and their relevance is explained. The author critically assesses the results and draws relevant conclusions from the study. For students studying for Masters in Computer Science the report should demonstrate that the software solution meets the specified requirements, and is shown to be reliable.
  • Presentation of report, documentation: Complex issues are explained clearly and concisely to a specialist audience. The content of the dissertation is well organised and structured in a way that demonstrates the links between the concepts presented. The report demonstrates that the student clearly understands the relevant research material and leads logically to a solution of the problem. The author uses various resources and cites most of the relevant sources using the appropriate consistent referencing style. The report is of professional quality, so there are very few, ideally no, typographic errors.

Work that meets some, but not all, of the criteria for distinction may be considered for a merit, at the discretion of the markers. A merit might be awarded for a respectable, if only partially successful, attempt at a challenging project, or for a less ambitious project carried out, and written up, to a high standard.

The separate examiners grade the project independently and then meet to arrive at an agreed grade. In addition, students might be called upon to make a presentation of their projects to a sub-committee of the Examination Board to demonstarte their grasp of the material.

Deferral

A student wishing to defer submission of the project must apply in writing or by email to the Programme Director, explaining the reasons. This should be done by the beginning of September. If permission is granted, the student continues work on the project, submitting it in the course of the following year, by the following year's September deadline at the latest. Regardless of when the project is submitted, it will be assessed with the following year's projects at the November board.

No penalty is imposed on students for deferring their projects, and their projects are assessed in the same way as other projects.

Students who have passed the other elements at MSc level may enrol as project-only students, at one third of the regular fee. They should enrol at least for the terms for which they receive supervision. Students are not allowed to submit a project without supervision, so they have to enrol at least for one term.

An MSc CS student who has passed everything other than the project at MSc level and who defers the project but does not submit in the following year will be awarded the PGDip CS.

Resit

A student who has failed the project may make one more attempt. This must be in the following year. The following year's project can be an improved version of the first effort or a brand new project, agreed with the supervisor (or with a new supervisor). Students who have passed everything else at MSc level may enrol as project-only; others would enrol as revision students.

Resit projects are assessed in the same way as other projects, but a resit student who would otherwise have been awarded a Merit will be awarded a Pass, and one who would otherwise have been awarded a Distinction will be awarded a Merit.

MSc CS students who have passed everything other than the project at MSc level and who have failed the project may choose to be awarded the PGDip CS. If they do not submit in the following year, they will be awarded the PGDip CS anyway.

Working with outside organizations

Students may choose to involve outside organisations, such as industrial or commercial companies (large or small), hospitals, departments, charities and so on. While this kind of "real-world" projects can provide valuable experience for students, they may carry a greater element of risk than "in-house" projects and need to be approached with more care. It is also essential that such projects still meet the criteria described in "Project specification document" above. What constitutes a satisfactory project for an outside organisation may be very different from what constitutes a satisfactory project for the MSc examiners.

Part-time students sometimes do projects associated with their full-time employment. These rarely raise any particular difficulties because the relationship of the student to the employer is that of an employee; the rights, responsibilities and obligations of the two sides follow from that; Birkbeck's involvement is relatively incidental. The one complication which sometimes arises is where some aspect of the work is confidential, perhaps for commercial or military reasons. If this is so, it is the student's responsibility to obtain whatever clearance is necessary from the employer. If it is essential for the supervisor to see sensitive material, the supervisor might be prepared to sign some undertaking of confidentiality, but the student and the employer should be aware that the MSc project report itself is normally a public document and should therefore contain nothing of a sensitive nature.

The position of full-time students working for an outside organisation is not so self-evident, and the following points should be made clear to both sides at the outset.

The project element of the MSc gives students an opportunity to demonstrate the required level of competence in computing. In a real-world project, an outside organisation is providing the context for this exercise, perhaps out of goodwill, perhaps in hopes of getting some useful work done or of attracting talented graduates as potential employees. Each side should appreciate the fairly limited extent of the commitment being made by the other. The student should not assume that the organisation is under any obligation to provide whatever support is necessary for the completion of the project. Nor should the organisation assume that the student is taking on the duties of a contract programmer, or that the staff of Birkbeck are taking on the duties of consultants.

More specifically, the student does not undertake to produce any deliverables (designs, pieces of software etc). Nor does the supervisor, the Department or the College. In practice, students usually work hard on their projects and often produce work that is of some value to the organisation, but there is no guarantee of this. It follows that the student should not receive payment for the work in the sense of a salary or a prearranged fee, since this would imply some sort of contractual obligation to produce the goods.

Similarly, the supervisor cannot be held responsible if something goes wrong. If, for example, a student corrupts a data file or deletes some software, the organisation cannot blame Birkbeck. It is up to the organisation to take precautions (backups etc) before putting students into positions where they could do such things.

Equally, the organisation is under no obligation to provide necessary equipment, advice and the like. It can happen that some promised piece of hardware or software or some crucial file of data fails to appear. Perhaps some key contact people are assigned to other duties, or perhaps they find it difficult under day-to-day pressures to provide as much help as the student would like. These are risks that the student takes with this sort of project. If a project founders, then, depending on the stage the project has reached, the student must either make the best of whatever can be salvaged or perhaps begin a different project. The examiners should be made aware of any such problems and will take account of them in assessing the project.

Real-world projects that go wrong in the ways just described are the exception, not the rule, but some problems could be avoided if both sides were clearer about the above points from the start.

In cases where two or more students are working in the same place, they must have clearly distinct projects. In addition the projects must not be so interdependent that the completion of one student's project depends on the successful completion of another student's project.

Students working with outside organisations as part of their dissertation should make those companies aware that it is expected that Birkbeck will have the first option to arrange steps for exploitation of any material/software/technique produced as part of an MSc project. Formal collaboration agreements can be negotiated between an outside company and the College (via the Birkbeck Research Grants and Contracts Office) if needed.