Computer Science Senior Thesis
Your thesis is a year-long project in which you identify a research
question of interest to you and the computer science research community,
plan and carry out an approach to answer that research question, and
analyze and evaluate the results. Along the way, you'll share
your progress and results in reports, posters, and presentations.
CSC 497 [Spring, Junior year]
To produce...
a proposal that motivates your topic
and research question, and lays out in detail what you plan to do in
order to answer the question.
You will...
- Determine the topic of your thesis.
- Read publications in your area of interest.
- Determine what research question you will address.
- Determine the methods you will use to address the question and
evaluate the results.
- Perform preliminary experiments or gather initial
data.
- Produce a plan to answer the question in the time available.
- Find a thesis adviser.
CSC 498 [Fall, Senior year]
To produce...
a poster that you'll present in a
poster session and a report, each of which motivates your
research question, describes the methods you'll use to answer it, and
lays out any preliminary results.
You will...
- Design, in detail, any experiments or other activities you need
to answer your research question.
- Implement any software or hardware needed to carry out those
experiments.
- Perform any preliminary experiments or other work needed to have
confidence that the question will be answerable.
- Produce preliminary results.
- Assess progress and narrow the question, if necessary.
CSC 499 [Winter, Senior year]
To produce...
- a presentation about your project, its results, and its
significance.
- a revised poster with complete results.
- a substantial final thesis report suitable for publication.
You will...
- Finish any experiment design and software/hardware
implementation work.
- Perform the experiments or other activities you planned to
answer your research question.
- Analyze the results of those experiments.
- Evaluate whether you have answered the research question.
- Plan future work your thesis suggests.