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how-to-write-a-masters-thesis [2021/12/13 08:52]
strakova How To -> How to |
how-to-write-a-masters-thesis [2021/12/13 12:57]
strakova [The Content] |
| * **Minus 2 semesters, aka 2nd winter semester (2nd year)**: Again, don't forget to enrol for the second of the master's thesis courses. In this semester, some serious coding usually happens. If you haven't started in the previous semester, you will probably design experiments, guided by your supervisor. You will implement code for these experiments, run it on the computational grid. If your thesis is more practical one, you may implement an application. This semester is very busy and if your topic was chosen well, it is usually (at least mildly) fun :) At the end of semester, you will be granted credit for the course. | * **Minus 2 semesters, aka 2nd winter semester (2nd year)**: Again, don't forget to enrol for the second of the master's thesis courses. In this semester, some serious coding usually happens. If you haven't started in the previous semester, you will probably design experiments, guided by your supervisor. You will implement code for these experiments, run it on the computational grid. If your thesis is more practical one, you may implement an application. This semester is very busy and if your topic was chosen well, it is usually (at least mildly) fun :) At the end of semester, you will be granted credit for the course. |
| * **Minus 1 semester, aka 2nd summer semester**: Finishing the experiments, polishing your application. But mostly, the writing. I will say more about the actual writing later in the following sections. Again, hopefully, you will be credited and will pass the third and last of the master's thesis courses at the end of this semester. | * **Minus 1 semester, aka 2nd summer semester**: Finishing the experiments, polishing your application. But mostly, the writing. I will say more about the actual writing later in the following sections. Again, hopefully, you will be credited and will pass the third and last of the master's thesis courses at the end of this semester. |
| * **End of study**: The master's programme is finished by taking a final exam, which consists of two parts: | * **End of study**: Prior to being admitted to final exams, one has to have successfully cleared any other pending duties of the master's study, such as passed the mandatory exams and collected credits in sufficient amount, according to the specifications of your study programme. The master's programme is finished by taking a final exam, which consists of two parts: |
| - Master's study defence (''obhajoba'' in Czech): requires submitting the electronic (PDF) and the paper (hardcover) version of the thesis in the appointed [[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/academic-calendar/|deadline]], enrolling for the exam in the [[https://is.mff.cuni.cz/|Study Information System (SIS)]] (again, the in the official [[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/academic-calendar/|deadline]]) and obviously, showing up for the defence. More about the actual thesis defence later. | - Master's study defence (''obhajoba'' in Czech): requires submitting the electronic (PDF) and the paper (hardcover) version of the thesis in the appointed [[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/academic-calendar/|deadline]], enrolling for the exam in the [[https://is.mff.cuni.cz/|Study Information System (SIS)]] (again, the in the official [[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/academic-calendar/|deadline]]) and obviously, showing up for the defence. More about the actual thesis defence later. |
| - Master's state final examinations (''státnice'' in Czech): requires [[https://is.mff.cuni.cz/|registering]] for the examination in the required [[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/academic-calendar/|deadline]] and showing up for the examination. Also more on the examination later. | - Master's state final examinations (''státnice'' in Czech): requires [[https://is.mff.cuni.cz/|registering]] for the examination in the required [[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/academic-calendar/|deadline]] and showing up for the examination. Also more on the examination later. |
| So each of both parts is offered separately in the [[https://is.mff.cuni.cz/|Study Information System (SIS)]], each of them must be enrolled in the required [[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/academic-calendar/|deadline]] and they can be taken jointly or separately in three possible terms throughout the year: ''summer'' (June), ''autumn'' (September) and ''winter'' (February). Please note that the deadline for registration differs for each of the terms. Actually, there is a preferred way, when everything went well, and that is the summer final examination after the 2nd year's summer semester, taking both the defence and examination, which places the registration for both examinations and the submission of the thesis somewhere to **[[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/academic-calendar/|May]]**. | |
| | So each of both parts is offered separately in the [[https://is.mff.cuni.cz/|Study Information System (SIS)]], each of them must be enrolled in the required [[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/academic-calendar/|deadline]] and they can be taken jointly or separately in three possible terms throughout the year: ''summer'' (June), ''autumn'' (September) and ''winter'' (February). Please note that the deadline for registration differs for each of the terms. There is a preferred way, when everything went well, and that is the summer final examination after the 2nd year's summer semester, taking both the defence and examination, which places the registration for both examinations and the submission of the thesis somewhere to **[[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/academic-calendar/|May]]**. |
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| | ==== Survivor Advice: ==== |
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| | ''"One thing I would like to do better next time (and advise students to do better in their first time) is time management: The programming part should be finished in a half time assigned to bachelor's thesis (even in case it is the main part of the master's thesis). In the end, it will delay and there will be a lot to correct and improve. The experimenting, evaluation, text writing and corrections (corrections!!!) will take more time than one expects. And even if it is not the case - then it's great, at least one is not stressed out from submitting at the last time and will have some spare time."''' |
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| ===== Writing the Thesis ===== | ===== Writing the Thesis ===== |
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| ==== How Much Is Enough ==== | ==== How Much Is Enough ==== |
| The very fist question I usually get is ''"How much do I have to write?"''. As far as I know, there is no official number anywehere, so I'm just going to speak from experience: A master's thesis most probably non-rejectable on the basis of ''"too few text"'' if it consists of absolute minimum of 40-50 A4 pages of content, not including the front page, acknowledgements, table of contents, bibliography & appendices. That is, the Conclusion Section should appear on page 40-50. | The very fist question I usually get is ''"How much do I have to write?"''. As far as I know, there is no official number anywehere, so I'm just going to speak from experience: A master's thesis most probably non-rejectable on the basis of ''"too few text"'' if it consists of absolute minimum of 40-50 A4 pages of content, not including the front page, acknowledgements, table of contents, bibliography & appendices. That is, the Conclusion Section should appear on page 40-50. |
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| | ==== Me or We==== |
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| ==== Typesetting and Formatting ==== | Most scientific contributions were achieved in a team and it is therefore customary to write publications in plural, as in ''"We present"'', ''"We implemented"'' and ''"We conclude that..."''. If you are a single author of the work, though, opinions differ on the choice of singular (''"I"'') and plural (''"We"''). Some even say a third person should be used as in ''"The researcher found out that..."'' It is generally advisable to avoid the singular/plural choice wherever you can by using impersonal passive voice, such as ''"The research shows that..."'', ''"The findings suggest that..."''. The active voice singular (''"I"'') would then be kept for sentences in which you underscore your particular contribution: ''"I implemented"'', ''"I measured"''. Even the use of ''"We"'' throughout the thesis in all places where you are clearly referring to you as a single author, is acceptable. Using a plural ''"we"'' instead of singular ''"I"'' in scientific writings is supposedly called [[https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorsk%C3%BD_plur%C3%A1l|''pluralis auctoris'']] and Wikipedia says it is more common towards the East (hence the Wiki page is only in a few languages, including Czech, but excluding English). That being said, the choice is really yours. |
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| This is an area which you can get right and get some plus points for very low cost. Correct typesetting and formatting can be sitted through with a little of diligence and patience even if one is no Einstein. You won't get complaints for your thesis not being rocket science, but you can get a lot of complaints for poor presentation of your work. All of this can be avoided, if you: | |
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| * Read the official [[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/bachelor-and-master-thesis/guidelines-for-writing-a-master-thesis|Guidelines for Writing a Master Thesis]]. | |
| * Download the official [[http://www.mff.cuni.cz/studium/bcmgr/prace/vzor-dp.zip|LaTeX template]] and take this as an opportunity to learn LaTeX (or brush up your LaTeX skills). Please please be it LaTeX and not a WYSIWYG editor (Word, Libreoffice, ...). It's just so easy to get beautifully typesetted text and mathematical formulas with LaTeX and so easy to ruin things otherwise. Also, get BibTeX for managing your references. You'll find yourself having to resist less urge to through it all away when you have to reindex your references in Word for the 50th time. Your future self will thank your current self if you put just a little work into setting up your thesis in LaTeX. | |
| * Read some advice on typesetting and frequent errors here. | |
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| ==== Referencing, Plagiarism and These Things (Don't Skip Me!) ==== | |
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| Plagiarism is a big NO-NO in science. It's so big you can get in serious trouble if caught. The trouble is, many people are not quite sure what plagiarism is and what it isn't. Sometimes, there is a grey area, but sometimes, the borderline is pretty clear. | |
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| ==== The Content ==== | ==== The Content ==== |
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| An experimental NLP thesis usually consists of these parts: | An typical experimental NLP thesis usually consists of these parts: |
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| * Oficially required formalities such as front page, declaration of independent work, dedication, etc. Must be part of the thesis, must appear in the correct order and must look like EXACTLY like prescribed by the [[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/bachelor-and-master-thesis/guidelines-for-writing-a-master-thesis|Guidelines for Writing a Master Thesis]]. The good new is that since you already downloaded the [[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/bachelor-and-master-thesis/guidelines-for-writing-a-master-thesis|LaTeX template]], all these have already been sorted out for you as part of the template. You only have to fill in the blank fields. | * Oficially required formalities such as front page, declaration of independent work, dedication, abstract etc. |
| * Introduction | * Introduction |
| * Related Work | * Theoretical Background/Related Work |
| * Methodology | * Methodology |
| * Results | * Results |
| * Appendices | * Appendices |
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| === Dedication === | I describe [[how-to-write-a-masters-thesis-content|each section]] in detail on separate page. |
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| The Dedication is usually one paragraph or two paragraphs sitting on an otherwise empty page in the beginning section of your thesis. It is basically a small Oscar Acceptance Speech in which you want to thank all those who helped you through <del>insufferable and horrible pain of sweating out some passable text</del> inspiring and enjoyable process of creating the work of your life. It is usually the most personal (or the only personal) part of your thesis. It is considered good manners to thank your advisor in the first place and then whoever helped you professionally. Also your parents and partner/spouse. You can go ahead with phrases like: | |
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| * I would like to (sincerely/wholeheartedly) thank my advisor/parents for his/their ... (patience, support, ...) | ==== Typesetting and Formatting ==== |
| * I am grateful to ... for ... | |
| * I would like to acknowledge my colleagues ... | |
| * Her/his/their patience/valuable feedback/insightful feedback/support/constant support/guidance/valuable guidance/counsel helped me with/guided me through... | |
| * I could not have finished this thesis without ... | |
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| You get the idea :) | This is an area which you can get right and get some plus points for very low cost. Correct typesetting and formatting can be sitted through with a little of diligence and patience even if one is no Einstein. You won't get complaints for your thesis not being rocket science, but you can get a lot of complaints for poor presentation of your work. All of this can be avoided, if you: |
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| === Introduction === | * Read the official [[https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/bachelor-and-master-thesis/guidelines-for-writing-a-master-thesis|Guidelines for Writing a Master Thesis]]. |
| | * Download the [[http://www.mff.cuni.cz/studium/bcmgr/prace/vzor-dp.zip|official LaTeX template]] and take this as an opportunity to learn LaTeX (or brush up your LaTeX skills). Please please be it LaTeX and not a WYSIWYG editor (Word, Libreoffice, ...). It's just so easy to get beautifully typesetted text and mathematical formulas with LaTeX and so easy to ruin things otherwise. Also, get BibTeX for managing your references. You'll find yourself having to resist less urge to through it all away when you have to reindex your references in Word for the 50th time. Your future self will thank your current self if you put just a little work into setting up your thesis in LaTeX. |
| | * Read my [[how-to-write-a-masters-thesis-typesetting|advice on typesetting]], with good practices and frequent errors. |
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| === Related Work === | |
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| === Methodology === | ==== Referencing, Plagiarism and These Things (Don't Skip Me!) ==== |
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| === Results === | Plagiarism is a big NO-NO in science. It's so big you can get in serious trouble if caught. The trouble is, many people are not quite sure what plagiarism is and what it isn't. Sometimes, there is a grey area, but sometimes, the borderline is pretty clear. |
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| === Discussion === | |
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| === Conclusions === | |
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