Mathematics and Statistics (Masters)

[Maths Forever]

Hi,

I would like to please ask a question about the research project in the Master of Science (Mathematics and Statistics) to anyone who has completed this course.

I was wondering what the time commitment is like in the research project. Would you say that 12.5 credit points of the project takes an equivalent amount of study time as a regular 12.5 point coursework subject? I'm also interested to hear about what each part (1, 2 and 3) of the project involves.

Is most of the research project conducted during the semester, or is a significant amount undertaken outside of the semester (i.e. December/January/February/July)?

Thanks very much!

[stolenclay]

I've just finished this exact degree. Let me put a placeholder here though — bit busy at the moment, but I'll come back and edit this post later.
I guess the real answer is that the per-semester point allocation is just a formality. Most of my classmates put time towards the project as needed depending on whether they thought they were behind or not.

Some basic information (please see the handbook or the the MSc guide on the School website for more complete information):

• The only "assessment" due in Part 1 is a literature review. This is a short (2-page, I think) document giving a review of the existing literature (that is, research papers) relevant to your research project.
• In Part 2, a short intermediate research report is due; short meaning something like 2 pages.
• Part 3 is when the main thesis is due. You also have to give a 23–25-minute presentation at the end of this semester.

Officially, the research is meant to be conducted in "60 of the next 66 weeks" starting from the January/July closest to your Part 1 commencement. However, I'm not sure that anyone strictly followed this. There was also an "indicative total time commitment of 800 hours", and I'm pretty sure most of my classmates estimated that they didn't even reach half of that by the time they finished.

The common pattern is that most people do little during Part 1 (less than what 12.5 points are worth) and put in colossal amounts of work during Part 3 (more than what 25 points are worth). My own situation was even more extreme than this: I did very little in Part 1 (started in July 2017), did not look at research during the 2017/2018 summer, did little in Part 2 (okay, this was not laziness; I had really tough coursework that semester), and let Part 3 dominate my workload for the last semester (as well as the winter break before it).

My impression is most people usually worked on research during their (two) semester breaks after Part 1 — some during the first break (after Part 1) and lots during the second break (after Part 2).

I'm not so sure I answered everything, so feel free to ask anything else.

[Maths Forever]

I've just finished this exact degree. Let me put a placeholder here though — bit busy at the moment, but I'll come back and edit this post later.

No problem at all stolenclay. Thank you very much!
Thanks so much stolenclay! You have provided some very useful information and insight.

It's good to know that the time commitment is lower in part 1 compared to part 3. I'll definitely keep this in mind when it comes to picking subjects throughout the Masters course.

I just have a few more questions, if that’s alright. It sounds like the main obligation for part 1 is just the literature review. If you find that you lose time in part 1 from other subjects, could you focus just on the review for that semester? This is assuming that you catch up over the summer break with the main research (since I plan to take part 1 in semester two).

Since the literature report and research plan (in parts 1 and 2) are hurdle requirements, is the main use of these just to assess whether you are on track, rather than actually contributing to assessment? Also, is the final mark for part 3 worth all 50 credit points towards your WAM for the Masters program?

Thanks for answering all of my questions. It's great to have some insight into this for forward course planning.


MOD EDIT: In future, please avoid double posting and instead, use the "modify" button on the top right to edit your posts. 

[lzxnl]

No problem at all stolenclay. Thank you very much!
Thanks so much stolenclay! You have provided some very useful information and insight.

It's good to know that the time commitment is lower in part 1 compared to part 3. I'll definitely keep this in mind when it comes to picking subjects throughout the Masters course.

I just have a few more questions, if that’s alright. It sounds like the main obligation for part 1 is just the literature review. If you find that you lose time in part 1 from other subjects, could you focus just on the review for that semester? This is assuming that you catch up over the summer break with the main research (since I plan to take part 1 in semester two). Honestly, you really don't do much in sem 1 of research; you don't have to. The assessment is just to make sure you're on track. Doing just lit review is fine, provided your supervisor(s) think you're on track.

Since the literature report and research plan (in parts 1 and 2) are hurdle requirements, is the main use of these just to assess whether you are on track, rather than actually contributing to assessment? Answered above Also, is the final mark for part 3 worth all 50 credit points towards your WAM for the Masters program? Yup. Research counts a lot, doesn't it?

Thanks for answering all of my questions. It's great to have some insight into this for forward course planning.


MOD EDIT: In future, please avoid double posting and instead, use the "modify" button on the top right to edit your posts. 

Here are some of my thoughts; like stolenclay above, I just finished the same degree too.

[Maths Forever]

Thank you very much for your input stolenclay and lzxnl. That's good to know that part 1 of the project can be focused just on the literature review if the supervisor agrees. All the best with your future endeavours after the Masters program!