We expect students to work at least 10 hours per week for the project, so a thesis project should aim to have about 180 hours of practical work at least. Remember, you will get out of it what you put in. However, it is important not to go overboard, as this can have a negative impact on your physical and mental health. Your supervisors should not be putting unreasonable and excessive demands on you – at the end of the day Honours is about you, not what a supervisor can get out of you.
Eligible externals supervisors are listed on the website, and more details can be found in the Thesis Management system. If you have found an external supervisor who is not listed, they must be approved and establish a connection with the School, including nominating a CSE academic to act as co-supervisor for any student they supervise.
This is not compulsory, but advisable. This is so if a given supervisor does indeed get your application, they will have some idea who you are, showing your enthusiasm, commitment, interest in their work, and such – all about leaving a good impression with a potential supervisor.
For your Honours you will only have the capacity to focus on one project; while you may get a chance to work on the periphery of other projects in the group, it is important you work on a defined project to ensure you can realistically achieve goals.
Yes, CSE offers Honours intake in all terms (1, 2 and 3).
Yes, however, students can only start their honours year after a minimum number of credits.
Note that your supervisor is not there to tell you what to do, but to advise you. In general, you should take the initiative to organise meetings, and you should drive the work. Manage your time. You are responsible for monitoring your own progress and ensuring that you remain on track to meet deadlines. However, your supervisor should be able to tell you whether you are being too optimistic, or whether you need to do more.
Do not under-estimate how much time it will take to write up the work. Writing-up as you go is not only more time-efficient, it also forces you to formulate your ideas more clearly and completely, and this will substantially increase the overall quality of your work. As well, your final mark will depend largely on the quality of the work and the quality of the presentation in the thesis.
Understanding the context of your work is important in placing and motivating the research. However, having a concrete, narrow focus when you are working towards a goal and understanding thoroughly the deeper issues involved is better than working too broadly or tackling too wide a problem. Your supervisor should help you to keep your work suitably focused.
Many students are too ambitious in Thesis Part A and Part B and find they run out of time with a thesis that is nowhere near finished. Make sure that the project is feasible (do this early in consultation with your supervisor), write-up whenever you can, and keep an eye on the plan.