MPhil in ACS students undertake a substantial research project during the Lent and Easter terms, and submit a project report of no more than 15,000 words via Moodle to the Postgraduate Education Office by 11:00a.m. on 4 June 2021. Each project must be supervised by a member of the academic staff (who will also act as one assessor).

More information on ACS projects (timetable, guidelines) ...

Part III students undertake a research project similar to the MPhil in Advanced Computer Science project above, but of only half the size (and no more than 12,000 words). Part III students submit their project reports via Moodle to the Postgraduate Education Office by 11:00 a.m. on 28 May 2021. Each project must be supervised by a member of the academic staff (or alternative approved by Head of Department) who also acts as one assessor.

More information on Part III projects (timetable, guidelines) ...

Resources for students and supervisors

Project proposals

Students who wish to undertake a project of their own devising (including self-proposed projects to be supervised by staff in the NLIP group) must identify a willing supervisor and have their agreement to supervise the project. Phase 2 of the project proposal must be submitted a week earlier than those projects suggested by the teaching staff, that is 13 November. The Postgraduate Education Committee will consider the project being proposed to ensure it meets the criteria for the MPhil or Part III. If the proposal is not acceptable, the student and supervisor should select a project from those published and submit the alternative proposal, as above, by 20 November.

• Project proposals have 2 phases:
  1. Phase 1 Due 4 November: complete Moodle online form indicating project supervisor's name and topic and confirm the supervisor has agreed to supervise the project.
  2. Phase 2 Due 20 November:†
     1. Project proposal coversheet
        All project proposals must be accompanied by a proposal coversheet. This needs to be signed by the project's originator, the supervisor and also the Course Adviser.
     2. Project proposal
        Write a project proposal, respecting the word limits and include your work schedule in blocks of two weeks including dates. A LaTeX template is available if required.
     3. Project resource form
        All project proposals must be accompanied by a project resource form even if you are using your own machine.
• NLIP Projects
  • Projects based in the NLIP Natural Language Processing Group are allocated by the Group's lecturing staff.
  • Students interested in undertaking a project in this Group select 3 projects from those published and indicate their preferences on the NLIP project preferences form. This is to be submitted on 20 November 2020.
  • Once allocated, students write up a full Phase 2 Project proposal with the approval of the project supervisor, as above, and submit it to the Postgraduate Education Office at the beginning of Lent Term (Thursday 21 January 2021). Background work on the project will, nonetheless, commence at the end of Michaelmas Term.

Some further guidelines:

• Official ACS project guidelines
• Official Part III project guidelines
• Slides from MPhil Project briefing (PDF)
• A sample dissertation for the ACS research project (see the sample dissertation tar ball which expands to a directory with a number of files including a LaTeX template acs-dissertation.tex and a Makefile which builds acs-dissertation.pdf)
  Students might also find the advice on PhD thesis formatting useful.

Submission and assessment

• Submitting your research project report (see above for a sample dissertation)
• Assessment and marking guidelines for MPhil project reports
• Assessment and marking guidelines for Part III project reports
• The Faculty's statement on plagiarism and collusion