Overview

All MAM4001W students must complete a Project, which consists of a thesis and two seminars. The aim of the Project is to introduce you to the basics of research methods in Applied Mathematics, including academic writing and presentation.The Project mark counts 25% of your final mark for the course, weighted as follows:

  • Practice seminar: 5%
  • Thesis: 75%
  • Thesis seminar: 20%.

There is a subminimum of 50% for the Project --- if you get a mark of less than 50%, you fail MAM4001W!

Seminars

All MAM4001W students are required to give two 15-minute seminars:

  • A Practice Seminar during the 1st Semester (the exact date is here).
    • The aim of the Practice Seminar is for you to gain some experience presenting mathematics to an audience so that you are better prepared for the Thesis Seminar (see below).
    • The subject of the Practice Seminar is not terribly important, as long as it is mathematical. For example, you can present something from 1st year calculus, or you can read up some new material on your own and present it.
    • In particular, the Practice Seminar does not have to be on the same topic as your Thesis.
    • The Practice Seminar will be recorded. The recording will be used to give you feedback to help you prepare for the Project Seminar.
  • A Thesis Seminar during the 2nd Semester (the exact date is here). In this seminar, you will present the material in your Thesis (see below).

The rules for the seminars are as follows:

  • You must use a laptop and data projector (in fact, we suggest you use Beamer).
  • Seminars that are significantly shorter or longer than 15 minutes will be penalized.
  • Please make sure you thoroughly understand the material that you're presenting!

Thesis

  • All MAM4001W students are required to write a Thesis under the supervision of a MAM staff member. The requirements for the Thesis are:
    • The Thesis must be in LaTeX. The LaTeX source must be submitted with the final draft of your thesis.
    • You must submit an initial draft of your Thesis to the Honours Program Convenor early in the 2nd semester (the exact date is here). The initial draft should be at least 1,000 words and cover a portion of the material that will be in your thesis. An Initial Draft which is below the required word count will be penalized. Late submissions will be penalized an amount per day (see below).
    • The Final Draft of your Thesis must be at least 7,000 words (about 30 pages in length, though the page count will change if you choose a smaller or bigger font, etc). A Final Draft which is below the required word count will be penalized. Theses with significantly higher word counts will not be penalized
    • You must submit the final draft of your Thesis to the Honours Program Convenor by the deadline. Late submissions will be penalized an amount per day (see below).
    • The topic of your Thesis must be something which you are not covering in a taught module or reading module.
    • A list of proposed topics will be published early in the year; you are also free to propose a new topic, as long as you can find a staff member who is willing to supervise you.
    • Once you have found a topic and supervisor, you must fill in the Project Topic and Supervisor Form, then ask your supervisor to sign the form and return it to the Honours Convenor.

Submitting the Initial and Final Drafts of your thesis; penalties for late hand-ins

  • The Initial Draft and Final Draft of your thesis must be emailed to the Honours Program Convenor. The time of receipt by the Honours Program Convenor will determine whether or not your hand-in is late.
  • Your mark for your project thesis wil be penalized as follows:
    • 3% for every day (or part thereof) late for the initial draft.
    • 5% for every day (or part thereof) late for the final draft.