Masters projects are typically 3 credits worth of work and are completed within about one semester, although finishing touches such as the writeup, preparing for an oral presentation, and packaging the results often spill over into the next semester.

Many faculty members keep lists of ideas that students might pursue for masters projects. Projects usually require some implementation, but usually no original research. However, the implementation usually involves tools and concepts that the student needs to learn.

The stages of a masters project are:

  1. Approach a faculty member, either with a project or a general area in mind, and ask that faculty member to advise you on the project. If the faculty member agrees, proceed.
  2. In consultation with the faculty advisor, explore the idea to see what a project might look like.
  3. Lay out a schedule of what should be done by what date. If the faculty member agrees, proceed.
  4. Meet regularly with the advisor to review progress, get suggestions for solving problems that arise, and continue to define the work.
  5. Write the results in a document, usually between 10 and 20 pages. If the faculty member agrees, proceed.
  6. Prepare a 1-hour talk on the project.
  7. Present the talk to a committee of three faculty members. If the committee agrees, you are done!

Recent Masters projects done under the direction of Raphael Finkel.