Newcastle upon tyne: university of newcastle upon tyne, computing laboratory, 1975. Suggested classmarks primary classmark underlined library of congress: dewey 17th: 378.242 u.d.c. 378.2 suggested keywords: computer science education computer science research ph.d. In the form suggested, the proposal comes at about the mid point of a post graduate student's career and includes six specific parts: the statement of the problem to be addressed in the thesis, a survey of previous and related work, a summary of the candidate's own ideas and preliminary work, a characterization of the solution being sought, a plan of action to bring the research to a conclusion, and an outline of the thesis. dr. Lauer has been a lecturer in newcastle university computing laboratory since january 1971, before which he was a ph.d. Candidate in computer science at carnegie mellon university, pittsburgh, pennsylvania.

Do Thesis Graduate School

Candidate in computing science at newcastle typically comes to us with some knowledge of programming, and a clear indication of high ability. But his specific background in computing may range from a broad appreciation of some of the fundamental problems of the science to a total ignorance of others and he perhaps may have some specialized experience in some area of interest. We educate him to a level of expertise worthy of the title doctor by providing an environment in which he can learn, teach and do research and by demanding of him a thesis representing an original contribution to the science. The actual character of this educational program is, necessarily, tailored to the individual or to small groups of individuals with closely related interests. In one model for such a program, the student spends the first part of his candidacy the whole candidacy normally taking about three years, as in most british universities working on small projects, attending lectures and doing reading to broaden his knowledge and to fill gaps in his background, and exploring the science for topics which interest him. During this time, he develops close working relationships with one or more members of staff who, in turn, agree to become his supervisors. With their help, and the help of visitors, his own colleagues, and others, the candidate eventually narrows his sights to a particular area of the science as a potential source of research problems.

He hones his skills to the point at which he can do original work in that area and finally defines a problem which he believes he can solve and which is suitable for presentation as a thesis. It is at this point in his career that he ought to be able to present a thesis proposal. This article is concerned with the character and content of such proposals, and it concentrates on this important period of a research student life. Obviously, the necessity or desirability of this kind of thesis proposal in different ph.d.

Programs and/or different sciences is a matter for debate but that discussion is beyond the scope of this paper. Instead, we concentrate on what we expect of the proposal and on six vital points it should address. A thesis proposal should represent a considerable effort, perhaps several months of very intensive, full time work. It should lay the ground work for the thesis research by providing convincing arguments that the problem is worth solving and can be solved. It provides a good yardstick against which the candidate can measure his own progress or lack of it, and it helps him to focus his energy when he feels he is waffling. It provides extremely useful evidence of achievement if he needs to seek additional financial support when his grant expires.

For a three year research program, it should be presented during the second year. If it is done much earlier, it is likely that the problem will not have been well enough defined or that the candidate will not have done enough background work and/or made enough progress in the area to convince himself and others that he can solve it. If the proposal comes much later, then either there is too little time to do the work before the money runs out or it is a spurious proposal produced after the fact, when the thesis is nearly done. The form of a thesis proposal is a matter of individual taste of the candidate, his supervisors, and the university. It may be written down in one document, presented orally in seminar, evolved by mutual agreement, or done in some other fashion. It may include research memoranda and/or published articles by the candidate or co authored by him.

The different sections of the proposal may be done in any order, depending upon how the thesis topic was developed. But it is important that it be 'public' at least within the department, so that everyone can know what the candidate is investigation and why. if the candidate is unable to include and defend these six points in his thesis proposal or indeed, if he cannot defend them at the corresponding stage in his career even if he does not prepare this kind of thesis proposal then he is not ready to commit himself to the one or two years or blood, sweat and fears to turn it into an acceptable thesis.

Naturally, neither his supervisor, nor the university, nor his examiners are going to hold him to the details presented in the proposal. The nature of research in this science is that it provides the biggest surprises to those who are most strongly convinced of some fact or idea. When a lot of people are working in a given area at a lot of universities, anyone can be easily scooped or may feel it necessary to revise his plan or problem in mid stream he may find that his original ideas do not work and he must modify his expected solution. This is perfectly acceptable, and the plan of research will have to be adapted to fit. Nevertheless, a candidate who is unable to answer the six points is not ready to embark on the work, let along follow it, control it, adapt it and force it to some kind of conclusion.

The first obvious thing which a thesis proposal should contain is a statement of the problem to be considered, in both specific and general terms. The specific statement must deal with the very specific issues in which the candidate is interested, for example, the optimization of tables of lair parsers. The general statement should relate the problem to the larger context of the science and show why it is worth solving. The problem statement in the thesis proposal should be directed to an audience of intelligent scientists who have no specific interest in the problem but who are interested in knowing what the candidate is doing.

It should not be directed to the candidate's supervisors and/or to people with similar research interests. It fails to state important constraints and frequently does not provide enough background. Sometimes the candidate assumes that his supervisors know as much about the specific area of the thesis as he does something which makes it difficult for the department and the examiners to evaluate the research on its merits. The candidate is then exposed to the very real danger that he and supervisors may have been working very happily in their own microcosm, only to find that at the end of three years he has no results which justify a ph.d.