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Category: Students

  • M.Sc. Dissertation Examples

    The best way for post-graduate students to visualize their final deliverable (i.e. their dissertation) is to actually get hold of two or three works from others who did brilliantly. I have been meaning to put these online for ages. Two important differences to your own volume could be the number of ECTS. This affects the level of detail. Another difference could be the study programme. This affects the word count and general submission regulations.

    So here you go. Below please find three “distinction-quality”, 60 ECTS, M.Sc. in AI dissertations from Etienne, Joseph, and Daniel (all brilliant ex-students of mine). These dissertations resulted in publications (here, here, and here). Note that these dissertations were submitted for the M.Sc. AI programme at the University of Malta, but will still help you get a feel for what is required (and excellency). The BoE requested no corrections for Daniel’s dissertation (the only case I have ever seen at UM). Also appreciate these dissertations were written in pre-GenAI times.

    msc_dissertation_examplesDownload

  • The 10+ Commandments of Undertaking Postgraduate Research

    This post is written with some tongue-in-cheek; I do not mean for you to take these points as unassailable. No doubt there are some omissions here, but I had to pick my top ten (plus). These are things that looking back at my M.Sc. (Imperial) and D.Phil. (University of Oxford) experiences have forged the way I do scientific research, and built my academic character. My B.Sc. was too long ago to recall anything accurately! I find the exercise of writing them down useful (see the second commandment…).

    Stop trying to be funny, JP
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  • Content Tips for your Dissertation or Project Write-up

    These tips are mostly focused at writing an academic (and scientific) dissertation. But I think most of these suggestions are sensible enough they should feature in any lengthy document. Based on my experience as an examiner and a supervisor, these are the most common things I notice each time I pick a project write-up.

    Writing is hard, but the tips in this post can make it better
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  • LaTeX Tips for your Dissertation or Project Write-up

    I see many students who struggle with LaTeX write-ups and who burn in typesetting hell for their mortal sins (hanging lists, anyone?).  This post will focus on some of the more sophisticated details to publish a perfectly set document.  This post is the first of a two-part series; focusing on LaTeX hints.  The second part will focus on the actual write-up/content.

    Typesetting your dissertation is a perilous but satisfactory journey
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  • Presenting Your Work – Assignments/Dissertations

    Some presentation tips, based on my experience of the things which trouble students (and for which they lose marks) and the things which irked me in previous study-units’ presentations.

    JP Presenting @ valletta.ai
    Presenting is fun. But it is your responsibility to make it so for the audience as well.

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  • Three Tips for a Successful Start to your Academic Project

    So, you have contacted me to undertake a project (Dissertation/FYP/Thesis) together.  That is Great!  I am enjoying it already. I always find myself repeating the same pointers to each student at the start (or throughout the project really).  Thought I would write them down for posterity.  So here comes my recipe for success, for the first few weeks at least.

    My projects are typically on the life sciences/computer science interface (but we’ve had many different ones – including intelligent automated sports betting).  But these three ingredients apply to any kind of project really.

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  • What’s in a progress report (BSc FYP/MSc dissertation)?

    It is that time of the year again.  December, light drizzle, grey skies, Christmas presents lists, and of course progress reports for your B.Sc. final year project (FYP) or M.Sc. dissertation.  So I understand the blank stares when students sit in front of LaTeX, wondering what they should write.

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