New answers tagged thesis
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Bachelor's Thesis August 2019 - formal end date
<my institution> <my supervisor>
Blah blah blah. I have since extended my thesis to...
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I'm afraid there's no magic bullet here; all you can do is proceed as transparently and reasonably as possible.
First, present clearly the proof that the machine was broken. After years of debate about whether the machine was broken, your committee has probably stopped following the interminable discussion. So, you should explain very clearly and ...
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The case you describe seems extreme but I have known a lab that did somethnig similar. They had a huge task to do, analysis to conduct on all existing genes, and each master thesis with them tackled a fraction of that task, one gene.
It was a win-win situation: they got forward on the project and the students could tackle an interesting non trivial task much ...
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This is a poor supervisory practice. Unfortunately, it becomes increasingly common in Universities, particularly in countries with strong marketalization of Higher Education (e.g. US, UK). Students are treated as customers, and academics are assessed and promoted based on their "efficiency" in terms of the number of students they supervise, not the ...
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This is a symptom of bad supervisory practice.
While it is true that Masters students are not in general required to conduct original research, they should be taught the state of the art. In this case the supervisors have taught the same theory and methods repeatedly for 14 years. This indicates that the supervisors are not continually improving their ...
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In the UK there are 3 types of master's degree. An MA/MSc is usually what is called a "taught masters" or post-graduate taught (PGT). An MRes is referred to as a "masters by research" or postgraduate-research (PGR), and then you have "integrated masters" where the master's degree is part of an extended undergraduate. The title ...
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In some places, a masters is mostly based on coursework. A thesis, if even required, can be pretty pro-forma. It can just be intended as a learning experience for the student, rather than a serious attempt to create anything new. My own situation was a bit different, but the thesis was really just a review of a small area of math, bringing a couple of ideas ...
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Turn my initialism in something like 'OS3P' is an option, but it seems to be naive and informal.
There's no rule against such kind of initialisms, and I wouldn't consider it naive either. Actually, there are standards designated in similar ways, e.g. the I2C and I2S data busses, also spelled I2C and I2S.
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I doubt there's a rule. I agree that OSSSP is ugly. "OSP" for "optimum search parameters" with the full five word meaning when you first define it should work fine.
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Your edits/clarifications have changed the question substantially, so I'm going to post a second answer as I think the first still holds as general advice
The situation you describe is still confusing to me, I'm not sure I can gauge the extent of the "citation problem". Missing a (single?) in-line citation (which has been put into your own words) ...
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This answer may be bringing some new points only because, coming late, I've been able to draw from a number of more recent comments, trying to answer (semi-) briefly on select points. Otherwise, as the most relevant points have been discussed in great detail and length, the rest may just approximate some summarizing. But still...
How to defend plagiarism ...
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I coordinate graduation projects in our department, thus I have quite a bit of experience in this.
These things happen. It is normal. It happens to the better or worse students. If you are certain your mental situation is really tied to this mess, then it is the symptom. In this case it is easier to treat the issue then to treat the symptom. But just to make ...
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As others have suggested, step 1 is to address your mental health with a professional. That doesn't mean you'll feel better instantly: it means you'll have a place of support and some reality checking and some assistance monitoring how you're doing.
Step 2 is re-establishing a relationship with your advisor (or a new one). This type of project is supposed to ...
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I looks to me like you are overly ambitious regarding the goals you have set for your dissertation project. Modern C++ is a large and complex language with unsafe memory handling, thus offering you more than enough rope to hang yourself. In addition, OpenGL also offers a large and complex API, requiring you to understand the intricacies of dividing the ...
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Honestly, a BS project isn't expected to be great or even functional. It's expected to demonstrate problem solving methodology and show some results. I would argue your problem is that to even show any result involves a lot of boiler-plate coding which you seem to be having problems with.
What exactly are you trying to do?
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Your first and main source for help and advice on this should be your supervisor.
Working in industry I went through a high stress phase when I tended to cry during meetings with my boss. He was a very courteous person, and ignored my crying except for moving a box of tissues next to where I was sitting. Depending on your supervisor, you may need to bring ...
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You have to speak with your supervisor / course mentor / Head of Department as any solution will have to be within the course regulations.
We cannot suggest a solution as we don’t have the regulations for your course so you have to reach out to them.
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Talk to the disability office at your university.
The mental health and insomnia issues that you mentioned in the original post would qualify as disabilities, and the university is obligated under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) to grant you reasonable accommodations. Additional time to correct errors in your thesis paper that arose as a result of ...
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In my experience, this situation is pretty common, so even if the advisor/promoter aren't happy about it, they likely have dealt with this situation before. I think you can let your guilt go for now. The best course of action is simply to acknowledge the lateness without dwelling on it, and try and resume normal communications going forward. I think you know ...
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A masters thesis in math rarely has any significant original research in it. In fact I know people whos MS thesis in math consisted entirely of citing other peoples results and discussing them in an expository fashion.
As long as you didn't claim an original result from someone else I'm not seeing the problem.
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Short answer: Yes.
Longer answer: When the book is a reputable source and you are sure the electronic version has the same content, you can cite it just as the paper book. Nobody cares about if you read it on dead trees or as PDF and people will not even know it.
The versions you found online may or may not be legal to download, but this has nothing to do ...
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Admitting your mistake is the 2nd step in fixing things (finding the mistake is the 1st), and the 3rd step is making sure the mistake doesn't become a problem by fixing he mistake. There are lots of minor steps (which usually change based on the situation), but I've found these are the 3 major steps to get a situation back on track.
We're all human and can ...
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This answer does not respond to subsequent edits to the question.
Have you submitted your paper yet?
If you have not yet submitted then you haven't done anything wrong (yet!) and you have time to change it. If required you may have the option to ask for a deadline extension, given the current exceptional circumstances and your own health issues.
Reading your ...
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This answer does not respond to subsequent edits to the question.
If you submitted a thesis with plagiarism, the typical consequence would be expulsion. You would not get a degree. The good news is you didn't submit it yet, so there might be no consequences.
Can you still change your thesis? You need to ask your supervisor.
You have admitted there was ...
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Provided that you don't get pushback from your advisor or committee, I think it should be fine. Those are the main concerns about style for a dissertation. If you send it out for publication, the editor may accept it or not.
But write it they way you think it should be and consider any advice you get from folks that have influence over you.
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You want to reference reliable material - whether physical or virtual. If you read an article online in a refereed journal, or quote a standard book in your field that you read electronically, credit both the physical reference and the url in your bibliography.
References to, say, wikipedia or blog posts or unrefereed work you stumble across on someone's ...
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There’s no unique answer to this as citation styles (in text or in bibliography) are somewhat personal or institutional. Some good ways of getting guidance include
Get one or more previous theses on the same topic and follow those models,
Look up established journals in the field and use their models (if they have a common one).
I personally prefer your ...
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The PhD committee in top universities looks for a number of things which includes your publication record, the quality of your references, your work experience, etc. If you wish to do a PhD in a top university you should strive to have a publication in top conferences.
Your publication record in a local journal would be of little help if you wish to be ...
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In the end staying in the same topic is neither a necessarily good nor bad choice. If there is still room for improvement or even better to answer alternative questions then continuing in the same area can be a decent choice: You already know parts of the literature, you know relevant outlets and researchers - and you feel happy and confident with the topic.
...
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If the topic of both your bachelor's and master's thesis is the same, the master's thesis should be a far deeper exploration of the topic. My Master's thesis was a continuation of the same project that I began during my undergaduate degree with guidance from the same PI. At the end of my bachelor's degree, I felt I had only scratched the surface of the topic....
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It's a pretty common thing to do, go for it.
It's also a pretty common thing to then never look at it, and throw it away when you're downsizing your house 15 years later.
It's also not unusual to not be able to find it that one time you could actually use it, and therefore have to refer to your electronic version.
Source: my and spouse's personal experience.
...
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I don't see any problem studying the same subject. You could consider it an extension of your Bachelor's thesis. As a reviewer I would welcome such a proposal, as long as the one-pager is well written and has clear statements of the problems you want to solve.
I even suggest you think about what you could have done differently in your Bachelor thesis and ...
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I don't, personally, have any problem with the concept provided that you can clearly explain how the future work goes beyond the past work in some meaningful way. At the MS level it may not need to be earth-shattering, but it should be "meaningful".
The problem, however, is that even if your professors agree with me, they will be the ones to decide ...
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By the time I got around to defending, my university and program only required electronic submission (this had changed in the final year or two of my program). I was a lazy and cheap grad student who was already working a full-time job, and so I never got around to having hardbound copies produced. I was rude, so nobody got a hardbound version. Everybody got ...
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The requirements depend on the University. In my case, I was only required to submit a single hardcopy as well as a version in pdf.
Any additional copies were a personal choice. At the time I was getting frustrated and only the library copy was bound according to the university's specification. However I had additional copies bound for less (I think about 10£...
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In the Netherlands, the custom is to publish the thesis as a small book and provide copies to the thesis committee, friends and family. I eventually ended up throwing away a box of copies of mine after ordering too many.
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Once all three readers approved my Ph.D. thesis, my university required me to submit 3 loose-leaf hardcopies printed on heavy-weight archival-grade (e.g., acid-free) paper. I voluntarily had four additional bound hardcopies made of the thesis: One each for myself, my parents, my parents-in-law, and my main advisor. If I remember correctly, the bound copies ...
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Absolutely you should get your own personal copy printed and bound! After all that work, you should be able to feel proud every time you look at it for years to come.
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I also had several copies bound. I found a local bookbinder who did a lovely job. It's been over 25 years and I'm still proud of it and glad I had it done.
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In my old supervisor's office he had a bookshelf with bound physical copies of all of his PhD students theses, so I am assuming the students themselves probably kept physical copies as well.
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I had three personal copies made, although at my own expense, but it was offered as a normal option during the thesis submission paperwork with the graduate division.
In fact, at least one colleague from another university was required to have multiple copies made and submitted to the university library.
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Absolutely! I had 5 copies bound - Me, my supervisor, my parents and two for the library (these last two were a requirement).
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It's common enough that my program offered everyone 3 copies that they pay for: one each for you, your advisor, and the program itself. You could also have additional ones printed at the same time; I had one made for my parents and grandparents.
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From what I can think of there are two potential issues.
First is the copyright issue. In my previous university, for example, when each of the chapters could be either a conference or a journal paper, the university still could publish it online, but it was a grey area. But if you wish to publish your whole thesis to a new publisher as a monograph but ...
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You need to ask the relevant people and sources for the information you need.
Ask your advisor what he will accept for a PhD thesis. I suppose having the chapters accepted in peer-reviewed journals will be welcomed as it proves a high quality standard.
Read the copyright agreements of the journals. Usually you transfer the copyright to the journal, but most ...
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Putting it online usually cannot hurt, but do not expect many people to read it. I would only recommend against putting it online when you know larger flaws.
Minor flaws should be not big problem, because people know that a masters thesis is one of your first works and probably not perfect. And they probably know that their own master thesis is less ...
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In my field (cosmology), plenty of researchers and professors post lecture notes on arXiv, and of course many people write and publish review articles which don't contain any new results. So there's no requirement of novelty to post on arXiv.
Whether it looks immature largely depends on the quality of your writing. A poorly written review will not be read, ...
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The answer depends entirely on your advisor and program/university's policies (especially the 'new' one of each).
I know of several people who changed PhD advisors for a variety of reasons: loss of advisor's funding, advisor moving to a different university, unexpected inability of an advisor to continue advising (illness, death, etc), personal conflict.
In ...
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In the writing phase of masters thesis, is it advisable to take a course that is unrelated? [closed]
This is more a way for you to think through your dilemma than an actual answer. Only you can provide the answer.
In theory, there is no reason why a single course should interfere. But in practice it depends on how much time you have and how close is the deadline. Only you can evaluate the parameters.
It is good to keep flexible, and a good analysis course ...
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In most places, PhD theses whose chapters are simply reproductions of work published elsewhere is acceptable. At the very least that's the case when you just publish the thesis yourself -- the situation might be different if you publish with a company that will likely insist on transferring your copyright to them.
Regardless of this, as in most of the other ...
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