本文主要从Civil Engineering Project Guidelines分析，由代写英国留学生论文中心策划组提供。是英文语种、Civil Engineering 研究方向、不需要数据处理的硕士课程论文，不需要盲审（博士或硕士生有这个需要），如有需求请联系本站论文购买中心或者提交相关文章的代写需求。
Summary
Administrative
The decision to progress students to MSc Dissertation is dependent on them achieving an average of 50% in their module exams and coursework with no marks below 40%
A list of potential project titles nominated by the University academic staff is available at
If you wish to undertake one of the University nominated projects contact the supervisor named in the project list directly
Student nominated project titles must be approved by the course leader
External supervisors must be approved by the courseleader
Submission of the completed dissertation will be via Turnitin on the Vision website Dissertation (Civil Engineering Discipline) on 12th August 2011. Three soft bound copies of the dissertation will also be submitted via the SBE Student Office, PG admin desk.
Guidelines
Each project should undertake in depth research resulting in a dissertation that is the student’s own work and adds to the knowledge in the chosen research area
Students should regularly consult the Vision website Dissertation (Civil Engineering Discipline) for any new information and the Postgraduate Programme Handbook, which is available under:
Students should monitor their progress continually so that the project workload can managed efficiently
The MSc project is primarily the students’ own work. Supervisors will most likely support at the beginning and the end of the project and may guide students with expert questions.
The project research methodology should be carefully considered to ensure that it is logical and will achieve the desired outcomes
We expect the dissertation to be presented in a professional manner, using graphs and tables where appropriate to support the research findings and should be rigorously referenced throughout. Three soft bound copies are to be submitted to the student office.
Administrative
Introduction
The final part of your MSc programme of study is a project dissertation on a topic to be agreed between yourself and the respective course leaders. The dissertation is a substantial piece of work, equivalent to 4 of the taught modules.
Proceed to Dissertation
You should bear in mind that the final decision to allow you to progress to the MSc project will not be taken until after all of your taught module marks are available. This decision is dependent upon you achieving an average mark of 50% in your module exams and coursework and none of your marks being below 40%. If you decide to start your project before you have been formally progressed you must do so at your own risk as it is possible that you may not achieve the required criteria when your full set of results are available.
Although you may choose to start your dissertation project before you have been formally progressed, the University will not accept it for marking until after you have been progressed to the dissertation stage at a formal exam board. If you submit a dissertation before you have been progressed, you will have the dissertation returned immediately.
Students who do not achieve an average mark of 50% will be required to transfer to the PG Diploma course and graduate. Alternatively they may prefer to resit one or more of their modules to try to improve their marks and achieve the performance level required for progression to the MSc project. A maximum of three resits is allowed for each postgraduate student during their MSc / PGDiploma.
Role of Supervisor
The role of the supervisor is to supervise the project, not to do it for you. The supervisor will give guidance and help but at all times it is the responsibility of the student to ask for help and assistance. It is likely that most of the supervisor’s effort will be spent at the commencement of the project getting it started and at the end in helping the student to finish.
The student should always drive the development and progress of their project and demonstrate initiative and the ability to work independently throughout its execution.
Project Timescale
Duration
For full time on campus students, it takes a semester to complete their research project. Part time students may take longer to complete their Masters dissertation. The dissertations will only be examined in May and August so full time on campus students and part time students should consider the 12th of August 2011 and part time students the 30th of March 2012 to be the approximate deadlines for submission of the project dissertations. You may of course submit your dissertation at any time of the year if you have been formally progressed to the MSc dissertation stage, but it will only be examined at the next scheduled project exam diet in May or August.
Submission
You cannot submit a dissertation before formally being progressed to the dissertation stage by an exam board. Any dissertations submitted before progression will be returned immediately.
Selection of Project Topics
It is important that you choose a topic which interests you and will help you develop the knowledge, understanding and skills which will help you further your career. All students have the option of undertaking a Student Nominated Project in which you propose your own topic, perhaps on consultation with your employer or colleague, or a University Nominated Project where you select from a list proposed by academic staff of the School of the Built Environment
Student Nominated Projects
Proposals for student nominated project topics must be approved by the course leader and a supervisor nominated before the project can formally begin. Once you have decided upon the area you wish to research, you will need to provide the course leader with a title and a single paragraph abstract of your proposed project.
Especially part time students may wish to consider nominating a “local” supervisor from amongst your senior colleagues and acquaintances within the engineering profession. However they must be approved at the start of the project by the course leader and be willing to submit their CV to the course leader for consideration. The format of what you are required to submit for approval is given in Appendix 1.
Approvals for Student Nominated Project topics will be considered in January, May and September each year, (coinciding with Progression Boards). In order that a proposal can be reviewed (and if necessary revised) prior to the meeting, they must be received by 15 April (on campus full time and part time students) for consideration at the following Board.
University Nominated Projects
If you wish to select a University Nominated Project, you should consult the list available on the internet . The list is updated annually, usually around the end of March. You should contact directly the member of staff who has nominated the topic for his/her agreement to act as supervisor (you may also want to find out more details of what the project will entail).
Research Proposal
Once the project title and abstract has been agreed with the course leader/supervisor, the student must develop the project idea into a research proposal. It should be about 2 pages long and provide details of the planned research methodology and tasks that will be undertaken.
Your Submitted Research Proposal should contain the following.
Your name, course title, registration number and the title of the project.
An outline research proposal, describing in no more than 2 pages:
The background to the project,
A statement of aims & objectives
An outline of your planned research method,
A list of potential beneficiaries or end users of the research.
A list of any resources required from Heriot-Watt University
A list of any resources required from other sources
Supplementary supervision (if appropriate)
A statement confirming that issues of confidentiality will be addressed.
A list of any ethical issues that may arise form the project.
Name, relationship & expertise (brief CV) of proposed local supervisor should additionally be provided where appropriate
If the course leader approves the research proposal, they will allocate a project supervisor from amongst the University staff. This will normally be the academic who nominated the project for a University Nominated Project.
Submission Procedures
Submission of the final dissertation will be in electronic format via the School’s virtual learning environment Vision. Documents can be submitted in *.pdf or MS Word format. Please make sure that Content Copying or Extraction is allowed when you submit the dissertation as a *.pdf document. You can verify this setting by choosing Document -> Security -> Show Security Settings for this Document.
The submission deadline is 12th August 2011. Specific information can be obtained on the Vision website Dissertation (Civil Engineering Discipline).
Three paper copies must also be forwarded to the student office. They should be printed on A4 paper and securely bound in ring binders or an equivalent system of binding (loose leaf binders are not acceptable).
Students must make their own arrangements for copying and binding of the dissertations.
Marking and Assessment of the Dissertation
Each dissertation will be independently read and assessed by two members of staff, one of whom will be the supervisor. An agreed mark is then reported to the postgraduate examination board. If necessary the assessors will interview the student to clarify any uncertainties and help inform their view of an appropriate mark. If the two assessors disagree about the standard of the report a third assessor will be appointed to adjudicate the result.
A local supervisor, if nominated, may be asked to provide an opinion on the quality and originality of the submission, but responsibility for assessment lies wholly with the university.
The assessment guidelines for marking the dissertations are detailed in Appendix 2.
Plagiarism
The School and the University treat plagiarism extremely seriously. Suspected cases of plagiarism will result in disciplinary action being initiated against the student. Section 9 of the School Dissertation Guide explains the issue of plagiarism in greater detail. Please work with your supervisor to ensure that any published work used in the preparation of your dissertation is done so legitimately and referenced appropriately. You will normally be expected to submit your work for plagiarism checking electronically through the Turnitin site prior to final submission.
| 
