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--- how-to-write-a-masters-thesis [2022/03/28 11:14]
lopatkova [Timeline]
+++ how-to-write-a-masters-thesis [2023/04/20 10:08] (current)
vodrazka [Submitting]
@@ Line 53: / Line 53: @@
  The student and their supervisor put together the title of the thesis and the description of the work (abstract): this will constitute the official assignment. It should be broad enough to allow deviations once the student gets their first results and realizes that the originally anticipated course of experiments is not the best one to follow. Later changes of title and topic are in theory possible but it is an administrative hassle that is better to avoid.
-The supervisor puts the assignment into SIS (the information system), the student registers for the topic via SIS, the supervisor approves their name and also prints three hardcopies, which should be passed to Ms. Brdičková, the ÚFAL secretary.
+Necessary steps:
+  * The supervisor puts the assignment into SIS (the information system),
+  * the student registers for the topic via SIS,
+  * the supervisor approves their name and
+  * the supervisor also prints three hardcopies and pass them to Ms. Brdičková, the ÚFAL secretary.
 The student office will later send back the hardcopy stamped and signed by the vicedean. Ms. Brdičková will keep it until the end of the academic year. The student will then have to pick it up and include it in one of the printed copies of the thesis (mandatory part, this copy goes to the faculty library).
-Assignment of the thesis via SIS https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/bachelor-and-master-thesis/guidelines-for-writing-a-master-thesis
+Assignment of the thesis via SIS is described here: https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/bachelor-and-master-thesis/guidelines-for-writing-a-master-thesis
@@ Line 71: / Line 75: @@
 ==== Me or We ====
-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.
+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). The English term for this is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We#Author's_we|author's we]]. [[https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2009/09/use-of-first-person-in-apa-style.html|The APA style allows first person]] both in singular and plural. That being said, the choice is really yours.
@@ Line 104: / Line 108: @@
 (Petricek, 2016)((Tomas Petricek [@tomaspetricek]. (2016, May 11). //Making silly #latex jokes is much more fun than doing final tweaks in my thesis on #coeffects...//. Twitter. [[https://twitter.com/tomaspetricek/status/730442442827304961|URL]]))
+For LCT students: You should follow the instructions for the thesis formatting as strictly as possible; however, some slight deviations commonly occur for LCT students and are tolerated. You can have your other university's name and logo on the title page. If you have co-supervisor from the other university, you can include their name as well. For the purpose of defense at Charles University, you should show your CUNI supervisor (i.e. the one that is indicated at your CUNI official assignment) as the main one. Name your CUNI supervisor on the abstract page.
 ==== Referencing, Plagiarism and These Things (Don't Skip Me!) ====
@@ Line 125: / Line 131: @@
 In scientific writing, there is a rigid, accustomed way of proper referencing. TODO write about reference norms.
+=== Useful links ===
+**CUNI student handbook:**
+(pdf cz) https://karolinum.cz/knihy/foltynek-jak-se-vyhnout-plagiatorstvi-24022
+(web cz) https://www.akademickaetika.cz/prirucka-pro-studenty/
+(pdf eng) https://karolinum.cz/knihy/foltynek-how-to-avoid-plagiarism-24023
+(web eng) https://www.akademickaetika.cz/en/student-handbook/
+**CUNI handbook for academic staff:**
+(pdf cz) https://karolinum.cz/knihy/foltynek-jak-predchazet-plagiatorstvi-ve-studentskych-pracich-24082
+(web cz) https://www.akademickaetika.cz/prirucka-pro-akademicke-pracovniky/
+(pdf eng) https://karolinum.cz/knihy/foltynek-how-to-prevent-plagiarism-in-student-work-24024
+(web eng) https://www.akademickaetika.cz/en/handbook-for-academic-staff/
+Moodle kurz na FF
+https://www.ff.cuni.cz/2021/02/e-learning-focused-academic-integrity-research-ethics-english/
+(asi zatím dostupné jen pro studenty FF, pracuje se na verzi pro celou uni - mělo by být dostupné v dubnu/květnu 2022)
+odkazy na cizí uni:
+https://gpsdocs.rice.edu/orientation/Plagiarism_Hewitt_document.pdf
+http://cnx.org/content/col10604/1.1/
+==== Abstract ====
+píše se nakonec :-))
+Jak s překladem do češtiny - typicky lze požádat o pomoc supervisora :-)
+It is strongly recommended that the abstract in your thesis differs from the abstract in the official assignment. Even though in theory you could claim that you did exactly what was in the assignment, it is better to show the reviewer that it is not just a copy. Typically, the assignment is more vague because you do not know what exactly you will do after you see the results of the first experiments. In contrast, the abstract should summarize what you actually did. Even if your thesis closely matches the assignment, the abstract probably should highlight your main achievement(s) (e.g. “we were able to improve the state of the art by 50%”).
 ===== Submitting the Thesis ====
@@ Line 141: / Line 179: @@
 ==== Submitting  ====
+**Note that you have to finish all your courses and get necessary credits before you are allowed to submit your diploma thesis and/or registered for the state exam.**
 https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/bachelor-and-master-thesis/guidelines-for-writing-a-master-thesis
@@ Line 149: / Line 189: @@
 You are suppose to submit your thesis in the following formats:
-  - An electronic version of the thesis should be submitted to SIS in due time. The electronic file should not exceed 850 MB in size.
+  - An electronic version of the thesis should be submitted to SIS in due time.
-  - Two hardcopies are submitted as well -- the thesis must be bound in hardcover
+  - Two hardcopies are submitted as well
-The hardcopies typically also contain a CD/DVD with the electronic version of the text (PDF) and all data and software that you created during the work, including documentation and possibly third-party software, if it is relevant and redistributable.
+=== Electronic version ===
-//TODO: is this still true in 2021? The standard way is a zip attachment in SIS (plus a link to GitHub/Lindat/etc.).//
-If you order the binding in Prague, the stores typically know how the product should look like, so they will only ask you your name and the name of the faculty. You will have to submit two hardcopies of the thesis: one for the supervisor / the opponent and one for the library. The hardcopy for the library must also contain the original assignment, signed and stamped from the dean's office (at this time it is probably being kept for you by Ms. Brdičková – see above).
+Don't fall in the ''PDF/A'' trap! The electronic system requires all submitted PDF in PDF/A format and there is an automatic check for PDF/A. Allow yourself enough time to find out how to convert your PDF into PDF/A (like, not in the last two hours before deadline midnight). Some good advice on PDF/A, unfortunately only in Czech, can be found [[https://mj.ucw.cz/vyuka/bc/pdfaq.html|here]].
-Don't fall in the ''PDF/A'' trap! The electronic system requires all submitted PDF in PDF/A format and there is an automatic check for PDF/A. Allow yourself enough time to find out how to convert your PDF into PDF/A (like, not in the last two hours before deadline midnight). Some good advice on PDF/A, unfortunately only in Czech, can be found [[https://mj.ucw.cz/vyuka/bc/pdfaq.html|here]].
+The electronic file should not exceed 850 MB in size.
 //Dan píše ve svých poznámkách://
 PDF-A requirements:
-there is an ufal-wide installation of the verapdf tool available at /lnet/ms/projects/verapdf, with a useful wrapper script /lnet/ms/projects/verapdf/checkpdf that can be more talkative if you use the `–verbose` option.
+there is an ufal-wide installation of the verapdf tool available at ''/opt/tools/verapdf'', with a useful wrapper script ''/opt/tools/verapdf/checkpdf'' that can be more talkative if you use the ''–verbose'' option.
+=== Hardcopies  ===
+The hardcopies typically also contain a CD/DVD with the electronic version of the text (PDF) and all data and software that you created during the work, including documentation and possibly third-party software, if it is relevant and redistributable.
+//TODO: is this still true in 2021? The standard way is a zip attachment in SIS (plus a link to GitHub/Lindat/etc.).//
+If you order the binding in Prague, the stores typically know how the product should look like, so they will only ask you your name and the name of the faculty. You will have to submit two hardcopies of the thesis: one for the supervisor / the opponent and one for the library. The hardcopy for the library must also contain the original assignment, signed and stamped from the dean's office (at this time it is probably being kept for you by Ms. Doušová – see above).
 ===== Final Examination ====
@@ Line 179: / Line 229: @@
 https://www.mff.cuni.cz/en/students/bachelor-and-master-thesis/guidelines-for-writing-a-master-thesis
+Prepare a presentation (PDF, Microsoft PowerPoint or LibreOffice Impress). A laptop will be available (or you can use your own), with a dataprojector.
+You will have only **10 minutes,** which is very short time! The committee will be NLP-literate, but not necessarily specialized in your problem. Keep the introduction very short: the area I selected is XXX, the concrete problem is YYY, it is a problem because ZZZ (impact, motivation). Then another slide introducing methodology, then possibly a few interesting details from your research, then results. As with every presentation, avoid slides with too much text or too many numbers (or if you believe you need many numbers to be able to answer questions, highlight the one or two numbers that the audience should not miss). Avoid complicated formulas or anything that may take some time for the audience to grasp (remember, you will not give them much time because you will not have it). Avoid too many slides (1 minute per slide should be minimum).
+Present the slides to yourself **aloud,** possibly several times. Try to arrange a dry-run with your supervisor. Get confident about what you are going to say. Check the timing.
+There will be two written reviews of your thesis: one by your supervisor, the other by an opponent. Both reviews shall be available to you at least one week before the defense. The reviews may contain questions that you will have to answer during the defense. If so, prepare the answers. You may prepare slides to back the answers if applicable. In that case, don't include these slides in your main presentation. They don't count towards your time limit. Wait until asked, then show them (they may be part of the same presentation file, e.g. you may put them after the Thank You slide).
 ==== Final State Examination ===
 https://ufal.mff.cuni.cz/teaching/state-exams

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