Outline

The project is a substantial component of the MSc in Mathematics and Finance, occupying up to 4 out of the 12 months of the MSc programme. It is a piece of original work undertaken by you under the direction of an academic project supervisor and in most cases also an external supervisor as described below. Our intention is that most projects will be carried out in association with a bank, finance house, hedge fund, consultancy, or systems provider in the finance industry, and we endeavour to arrange suitable placements. The project may be an ``internship’’, where you work at the bank full time for 3 months or so, or a collaborative arrangement where you work at College and visit the company on a regular basis to discuss the project. In either case you will be assigned an academic project supervisor who will be a member of staff of the Department of Mathematics. Examples of past project topics and past industry project sponsors can be found here.

Allocation of supervisors and project topics usually takes place during the Spring Term or early in the Summer Term. As you will appreciate, arranging these projects is a complex process where we are ultimately dependent on the goodwill of our industrial partners and on market conditions. It cannot be guaranteed that everybody will get exactly what he or she wants, but every effort will be made to achieve reasonably satisfactory arrangements. If you have your own contacts in the industry, or specific ideas as to your project topic, you should discuss these with your tutor at the earliest possible time, so that these can be taken into consideration.

Project theses must be submitted to Anna Lisowska by 16.00 on Friday 11 September 2015. The length of the thesis will be agreed with your supervisor; it is normally 30-50 typed pages (we ask you to use LaTeX). One spiral-bound copy is required, together with an electronic copy in PDF format.

Please note that 11 September 2015 is an absolute deadline. You will fail the MSc if you do not submit your thesis by this date.

Template

It is recommended to write the thesis in LaTeX. A template [] can be downloaded here.
TeX/LaTeX processors and associated software packages for generating character fonts and viewing output on-screen, and much more, are freely available from the UK TeX Archive. Versions are available for a variety of computer operating systems, including Windows, linux, and MacOS. Download LaTeX software for Windows Download and run the Miktex-setup file

  • This installs the MikTeX TeX distribution, the TeXnicCenter integrated development environment (IDE), LaTeX documentation, example files, GSView, Ghostscript and configures the software to work together. You can if you prefer download the latest versions of the software from the above sites and carry out the configuration steps yourself.
  • The software comes with an un-installer if you should wish to remove it from your pc.
  • An easy to configure text file can be edited to taylor it to your system setup. The only assumption if makes is the location for Adobe Reader.
  • Here is an introductory LaTeX guide

Useful links to journals and preprints

Useful software and databases

Advice on special aspects of writing mathematics

Professor Stephen Maurer, a Professor of Mathematics at Swarthmore College in the U.S. wrote an introduction to the technical requirements of writing good mathematics: Special Aspects of Writing Mathematics. Although it is written for final year (fourth year) undergraduates, you may find it helpful for the preparation of y our MSc thesis. Other useful res ources for academic English writing:

Plagiarism

In an academic setting plagiarism is completely unacceptable. Plagiarism is formally defined as follows:

 “The action or practice of plagiarizing: the wrongful appropriation or purloining and publication as one’s own, of ideas, or the expression of ideas, of another.” (Simpson & Weiner 1989)

Here “publication” is taken to mean all f orms of presentation including project reports, dissertations, theses etc. An “idea” will include observation of facts, opinions, conclusions etc. Plagiarism can be avoided by adopting a couple of simple rules. If, in a piece of work, you wish to include an idea, which was first pronounced by someone else, then there are several choices:

  • rewrite the idea in your own words and follow it by a short reference to a bibliography (or list of references);
  • quote the original words within quotation marks and follow it by a reference.
    Illustrations can cause problems;
  • if you redraw a diagram etc, which is substantially the same as that published by someone else then it should be referenced as “after Bloggs 1995“ ;
  • if you include a photocopy of an illustration, it must be referenced “ from Bloggs 1995”. In both cases the full reference must be included in the Bibliography.
    If you wish to include an idea from a colleague in your report then you should reference it as, for example “Jones, personal communication 1995”.

The accepted format for references (e.g. journal articles) is:
· Simpson, J.A & Weiner, E.S.C. (1989) Oxford English Dictionary (second Edition), Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Downloading from the web without acknowledgement is an instance of plagiarism. Imperial College London regards plagiarism as an ‘examination offence’ and has strict procedures for dealing with it. All suspected cases will be reported to the College Registry. Minor cases may be referred to the Board of Examiners for consideration. All other cases will be referred to the University and may be heard by a panel of senior members of staff from outside the College.

The penalties for plagiarism may include:

  • reduced marks or zero marks for that piece of work or for the whole course module;
  • a resubmission of the work after a specified time in the case of projects and dissertations;
  • exclusions from future examinations of Imperial College London;
  • degrees already awarded by Imperial College London may be withdrawn.

www3.imperial.ac.uk/registry/proceduresandregulations/policiesandprocedures/disciplinary

Marking criteria for the MSc thesis

A thesis in the distinction range (70-100) is a sustained, coherent contribution that:

  • demonstrates broad understanding of the subject
  • demonstrates a high level of independent and/or critical thinking
  • demonstrates evidence of effective synthesis of ideas
  • demonstrates thorough investigative research, high level problem-solving and/or high level creative performance
  • demonstrates the student’s ability to critically evaluate their own research in the context of the existing body of literature
  • may demonstrate originality in topic, method, theoretical development, creative practice or findings and conclusions (this would be expected at A+ level)
  • may include material of publishable quality (this would be expected at A+ level)
  • is presented to a consistently high standard

More specifically, the following subdivision applies:

  • 90-100: written to a publishable standard as it stands – contains good original work, with a significant result, explained very well, with very good account of and references to existing work. Presentation excellent.
  • 80-89: written almost to publishable standard – containing good original work, with a significant result, explained very well, with very good account of and references to existing work. Good presentation.
  • 70-79: good original work, completing a significant result; explained well, with good account of, and good references to, existing work.

Merit theses (60-69) are sound and compelling, and demonstrate evidence of critical thinking and an understanding of a significant body of knowledge. Work at this level also:

  • provides a logical overall argument
  • selects and applies suitable methods
  • gathers original data (where applicable) and analyses it in a careful and coherent manner
  • provides evidence which clearly supports its findings and arguments
  • may in parts be more descriptive than evaluative or synthesised
  • may not fully realise the possibilities of the research data/findings
  • includes discussions and/or conclusions which show some appreciation of the significance of the findings
  • may make fewer or weaker links to existing research, theoretical concepts or creative practice than would be expected in Distinction level work
  • is presented to a generally high standard but may contain noticeable errors in referencing, punctuation, grammar and/or spelling

More specifically, the following subdivision applies:

  • 65-69: some good original ideas, developed independently, but not far enough to complete a significant result; the work still explained well and with good account of and references to existing work. Close to Distinction but not quite there.
  • 60-64: some good ideas, developed independently, but not far enough to reach a significant result; fair explanation of the work and with some account of and references to existing work.

A thesis in the pass range (50-59):

  • demonstrates understanding and analytical ability at a level that is clearly beyond undergraduate level
  • presents an overall argument, but may not be fully developed or consistent in its application
  • outlines a research plan and applies appropriate methods
  • demonstrates competence in the formulation, conduct and analysis of an independent piece of research
  • is generally sound but may be uneven or limited in some respect
  • may demonstrate limited evidence of synthesis and critical engagement with literature
  • is likely to focus more on description than analysis of findings
  • has appropriate, but limited, evidence in the support of its findings and arguments
  • is competent in its presentation, but may have numerous, obvious errors of referencing, punctuation, spelling and/or grammar.

More specifically, the following subdivision applies:

  • 55-59: an explanation of the problem and the work of others on it, but without much independent work of the candidate’s own.
  • 50-54: as above but in some way defective – for example one from: few references, some unclear text, poorly presented; however still showing some understanding.

A thesis in the D-E-F range (0-49) demonstrates serious deficiencies in one or more elements:

  • may present research literature, theory or methods ineffectively, inaccurately or in an unreflective way
  • may lack an overall argument
  • lacks breadth and depth
  • lacks cohesion a cross the thesis
  • contains limited or inappropriate evidence
  • interpretation may be minimal or flawed
  • presentation is poor with numerous errors of referencing, punctuation, spelling and/or grammar.