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…

  • 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…

  • 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.

  • 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…

  • 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.

  • 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…

  • 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.