Phil Gerla's Policies for Undergraduate Research and Thesis

Random list of possible thesis topics.

Be sure to visit regularly with me. If you want, we can schedule a once-a-week or twice-a-month time to review your progress.

487. Research I. One credit. Prerequisite: Senior standing in departmental major. Identification and proposal of research project. Includes literature review, feasibility review, and formal project identification and written proposal. Selection of faculty research adviser within first month of semester. F,S

Let's mutually decide on a research topic no later than six weeks into the semester! Please turn in a one page typewritten desciption of the project at that time.

"Feasibility review" I think means describing what methods you plan to use, along giving some assurance that the methods you choose will work.

No later than two weeks before the last day of classes, please turn in a completed draft of your research proposal. This should be about 5-10 typewritten double-spaced pages, include figures, maps, tables, etc., and have the following parts:

Title - brief and to the point
Introduction - What is the problem you will address or question you plan to answer?  Why is it important? Why should others care? What is your multiple-working hypothesis (see Chamberlin, 1890)?
Previous Research - What is our state of knowledge on this problem, both indirect and direct? Describe the work that others have carried out that relates to the problem you plan to address. Briefly summarize the gap in knowledge that you will explore.
Methods - Provide an overview of the methods you plan to employ and then go into each step in detail. Provide a time line - when will each part of the work you plan be completed? Are there contingency plans? What will happen if the methods do not work as well as you hope? How much will it cost and how will it be paid for?
Anticipated Results - What answers do you expect? How will the results be presented (text, figures, tables, appendices, etc.)?
List of References - Make sure that all references cited in the text are included and none others. Pay strict attention to citation style; I would recommend using the style required by the Journal of Hydrology.

I will try to return comments on your draft proposal no more than one week later. The final draft, with all comments and problems satisfactorily addressed, must be turned in no later than the last day of classes.

An Oral Presentation  of your proposal will be required as part of  Seminar I (Geol. 422), I think. Please provide me with the scheduled date and time as early as possible, but no later than one week before the presentation. Plan on one or more practice sessions.

488. Research II. Two credits. Prerequisite: Geol 487. Execution of research plan developed in Geol 487.

Be sure to begin early! Plan to turn in all your results in an organized format no later than two weeks before the last day of classes. It should be essentially the methods and results section of your thesis (see below).


494. Senior Thesis. One credit. Prerequisite or corequisite: Geol 488. Written results of research conducted in Geol 489. The thesis document should conform to the format guidelines of a major English-language journal in which the thesis could be published. A copy is to be provided to the F.D. Holland, Jr. Geology Library. F,S

No later than two weeks before the last day of classes, please turn in a completed draft of your senior thesis. Note that much of it can be adapted from your proposal. The final paper should be about 8-15 typewritten double-spaced pages and include figures, maps, tables, etc. Here is an outline of the essential parts:

Title - brief and to the point
Abstract - A 250 word or less summary of your thesis. It should include a sentence or two on each part that follows.
Introduction - What is the problem you will address or question you plan to answer?  Why is it important? Why should others care? What is your multiple-working hypothesis (see Chamberlain, 1890)?
Previous Research - What is our state of knowledge on this problem, both indirect and direct? Describe the work that others have carried out that relates to the problem you plan to address. Briefly summarize the gap in knowledge that you will explore.
Methods - Provide an overview of the methods you used and then go into each step in detail. Provide sufficient detail to allow someone else to replicate your work.
Results - What answers do you find? How do the results address the question or hypothesis you present? Present the results clearly and concisely using
text, figures, tables, and appendices. 
Discussion - How do your results relate to the work that others have done? Explain the answer to the question you posed.
Conclusions - Summarize your findings.
List of References - Make sure that all references cited in the text are included and none others. Pay strict attention to citation style; I would recommend using the style required by the Journal of Hydrology.

I will try to return comments on your draft thesis no more than one week later. The final draft, with all comments and problems satisfactorily addressed, must be turned in no later than the last day of classes. A copy should go to the library, too.

An Oral Presentation  will be required as part of  Seminar II (Geol. 422), too. Please provide me with the scheduled date and time as early as possible, but no later than one week before the presentation. Plan on one or more practice sessions.

last updated on 9 January 2008