Lancaster University

This module is an individual piece of independent research and experimental investigation work. Students will be provided with a choice of topics provided by the research staff of the Computing Department and will be expected to work on their topic over the course of two terms within one of Computing's ongoing research themes. The end result will be a scientific paper with appendices describing the student's work. As a guideline, the length of this paper should not exceed 12,000 words (which corresponds roughly to 12 pages of text in a 2-column ACM format).

Students will work on significant, typically strongly investigative, and research-oriented projects designed to help them practice the scientific skills, experimental skills and the computing-related knowledge gained in the rest of course. The management on these projects will be modelled on the highly successful CSc 300 projects carried out in Year 3 of our existing BSc in Computer Science (G400), with in particular the same Quality Assurance procedures. 

Completion of the 2nd year (first year of Part II) in Computer Science /Computer Science Innovation

The aim of this module is for students to develop their own scientific reflection and practice. Thanks to Computing's many research links with companies, this project may also include an industrial element, provided the overall research-orientation of the project is preserved. This project will also offer students the opportunity to apply their technical skills and knowledge on current research problems, to develop a detailed knowledge of a specific area of computer science - the area dependant on the topic they select for their project - and to evaluate their resulting solution in a self-critical reflection.

Through their project, students will be exposed to modern research thinking as practiced by Computing's academic staff. Students will refine the skills they practiced in their second year project (CSC 247). They will learn how to identify an interesting research question, how to frame relevant research problems, how to design and plan experimental work, and perform scientific evaluation. Students will also perfect their understanding of project management, and technical writing skills.

On successful completion of this module students will be able to...

- design a computer science project;
- plan and conduct an computer science research and development project;
- evaluate, overcome, and reflect on the difficulties of managing advanced computer science projects;
- produce appropriate documentation for a computer science research and development project.

On successful completion of this module students will be able to...

- identify an interesting research question;
- frame relevant research problems;
- propose scientific hypothesis;
- gather experimental evidence in support or in negation of these hypothesis;
- present their results efficiently and convincingly, both in writing and orally;
- and generally work autonomously and to a significant depth on a single problem while profiting from Computing's diverse and vibrant research environment.

As explained earlier, students will be asked to produce a scientific paper about their work, and present this paper orally in the same way they would be asked to at a conference or a workshop. The scientific paper and the presentation will be assessed in the way research results submitted to conferences and journals are evaluated in Computer Science. To ensure consistency across years and projects, a corresponding marking sheet will be produced in due course.

[A] The Craft of Research, by Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams, Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing & Publishing, University of Chicago Press, 2Rev Ed edition (15 April 2003), ISBN-13: 978-0226065687

BSc/MSci in Computer Science Innovation