School of Mathematics
Course 499 - Project 1998-99 (SS Mathematics )
Lecturer: R. Timoney (coordinator)

Requirements/prerequisites: Students must find a member of staff in College willing to supervise their work and must agree the arrangements with the course coordinator as outlined in the rules below.

Duration:
Number of lectures per week:
Assessment:
End-of-year Examination:

Description:

Rules adopted for Senior Sophister Projects by the School of Mathematics, January 22, 1998

1  Basic Rules

Senior Sophister students of the Mathematics Moderatorship may choose to take a project/thesis course (499) as one of their 5 group III Sophister courses, provided that the agreement of the course 499 coordinator is explicitly given and that a member of staff is willing to supervise the work.

The basic standard of the work should correspond to a Sophister course in depth and difficulty. A written thesis must be submitted and the students concerned may also be asked to make an oral presentation of their work. The external examiner will assess the marking of the projects along with examination scripts.

The Chairman of the School of Mathematics will appoint a course 499 coordinator for each academic year.

Students and their project/thesis supervisors should arrange to meet on a regular basis to discuss the progress of the work.

2  Deadlines

Work on the project must commence before the second week of Michaelmas term in the Senior Sophister year and the agreement of the course 499 coordinator should be obtained by this time. Students may opt to discontinue the project before the end of Michaelmas term and change to a regular (group III) course.

The supervisor of the project/thesis should warn the student during Michaelmas term if the work is not proceeding satisfactorily.

Theses should be completed and submitted by the first day of Trinity term. Oral presentations of the project/thesis should take place before the end of Trinity teaching term.

Theses must be submitted to the course 499 coordinator who will give each student a written and mydated receipt. The coordinator will keep a copy receipt counter-signed by the student and will arrange for the thesis to be examined (normally by the supervisor and one other member of staff). Each thesis must include a statement signed by the student that the thesis is their own work except where due citations are given.

3  Progress Report

In December, each project/thesis supervisor will submit a formal (written) progress report on each student to the course 499 coordinator answering the questions:

  1. Is the student making adequate progress on the project/thesis?
  2. Should the student be required to abandon the project and take a group III course instead?

Each student will be given a copy of the report on their work.

4  Marking Criteria

Theses/projects should be marked according to the following criteria

Presentation (oral & written) 10%
Bibliography 5%
Clarity of exposition and style of writing 20%
Difficulty of the topic 25%
Understanding of the material (including execution of any software or practical part of the project, conclusions reached) 30%
Originality 10%

Theses submitted more than 1 week late will be liable to be be penalised by 10% of the total marks times the number of weeks they are late.

Jun 10, 1998