Announcements Page

Library Workshop Recording/Slides and Q&A 3 Recording

Hi All,

Just a quick email to say that the slides for the library workshop and the recording for both the workshop and 3rd Q&A are now on the website or at the links below:

Library workshop Slides, Recording Q&A 3 Recording

Have a good weekend,

Mike and Sarah

Week 2 of Projects

We’re now entering the second week of the Project. If you haven’t been able to meet your supervisor and don’t have a date this week, please email me and Sarah Connolly, and we will chase them for you.

This week there is the Library Workshop to help you maximise your research skills and the Projects Q&A on Thursday – we recommend you all come to these.

Library Workshop Thursday 11:00-12:00 Ivy Gate 1.01. Get info on how to find reliable sources, incorporating AI tools effectively, and more!
Project Q&A Thursday 13:00-14:00 Queens Building 1.4. Get answers to all of your burning questions! Write them on the Padlet here.

We also wanted to remind you about some project resources for you:

Project website. The front page has the main dates, including the various workshops. These, and Poster Day, are optional, but we strongly recommend all students use the opportunities.
The website also includes the marking scheme, the dissertation template and the Project handbook.
The Individual Projects Team will be our main way of communicating with students, and has a Frequently Asked Questions channel, where you can ask us anything about the projects.
Example projects from last year are in the Project Team (general -> files -> Class Materials). The filenames start with the unit code (M&CS 20c project, BSc 40c, MEng 40c)
If you missed the kick-off, the recording is in the Re/Play section of the unit Blackboards, and the slides are here.

If you have any questions, bring them to the Q&A on Thursday, or ask in the FAQ Channel on Teams.

All the best

Michael Wray and Sarah Connolly

Project Specification Spreadsheet Released

Hi all,

The spreadsheet of supervisors and project ideas is here (finally). It’s available here or on the unit page - you’ll need to open it in Excel desktop, then agree to the warning about external connections.

The project specification form is available here or on the unit page, but before filling it out you’ll need to watch the ethics training and pass the quiz also now available on the unit page or on the welcome page on Blackboard. As a reminder, the quiz is modelled on workplace training - you can take it as many times as you like, but you need to pass it on Blackboard to proceed to the project (telling your friends the password to the form will not work).

What you need to do now is:

Take a look at the “supervisor interests” section of the spreadsheet to find a shortlist of supervisors interested in the general area you want to work in.
Take a look at the “suggested projects” section of the spreadsheet to look up those supervisors, see their particular interests and supervision style, read the ideas they’re putting out there, and pick someone you want to work with.
Send them an email! (See the intro talk for more details on how to approach people and what to expect.)
Discuss the project with them and come to an agreement (maybe repeating steps 1-3 a few times if there’s a flurry of early activity).
Set up a meeting with your supervisor at the start of TB2 so you can hit the ground running.
Do the mandatory ethics training. Each correct answer on the quiz has one character in the feedback on Blackboard. By putting these characters together, ordered by question number, you’ll obtain a passcode.
Using this passcode, submit a project specification to the system and get an email from MarkerBot confirming receipt.
They sign off on the specification, you get another email from MarkerBot to say so and now you’re done for this unit in TB1!

Warning: steps 3 and 4 are not optional - if you submit a project specification for a supervisor without talking to them first, they’ll definitely turn it down!

Also, as a reminder: next Wednesday afternoon (October 25th) from 2pm-4pm we’re running a project matching session in Bill Brown. We strongly recommend you come if you don’t have a project signed off by next Wednesday.

Kind Regards,

Mike and Sarah

Start of TB1 Video Released

Hi All,

Just to mention that the start of TB1 video has been released at this link (you can also find this on the home page under the introductory talk). If you have any questions, please put them in the padlet for the first Q&A session here.

Later this week we will have a new list of example projects from last year spanning different units and areas for you to draw some inspiration from.

Hope the start of term goes well!

Thanks,

Mike and Sarah