You will register in the COMP 898 Master’s Project course or COMP 899 Master’s Thesis or GRAD 900 Continuing Research by selecting the course section that lists your project/thesis faculty advisor.

Course Instructor

The course instructor is responsible for helping you to:

  • Engage with peers in the project/thesis work process through five scheduled class meetings that coincide with important project/thesis milestones
  • Write drafts of the project paper or thesis manuscript iteratively, from one-page outline to the first full draft and to the almost final draft
  • Reflect on your work and on your best possible self to learn about yourself, how to restructure your priorities, and how to increase your sense of control over your life to achieve your personal and professional goals.
  • Use effective tools to support the test-driven and incremental process of:
    • Managing your project/thesis work activities using the GitHub Kanban project board
    • Progressively documenting your work while drafting the project paper or thesis manuscript using the Overleaf platform
    • Give a presentation of your project or thesis to peers, faculty advisors, thesis committee members, and other guests in the second to last week of the term.

Project/Thesis Advisor

The project/thesis advisor is responsible for helping you to:

  • Define the goal, objectives, scope, and outcomes of your project/thesis
    • Master’s Thesis: Select your thesis committee
  • Identify and use appropriate methods and tools
  • Meet weekly to give you prompt feedback
  • Participate in your final presentation
  • Review project/thesis artifacts and project paper/thesis drafts and final version
  • Evaluate your overall achievements in the course.

Thesis Committee

The thesis committee is chaired by your thesis advisor and includes two other members you select in consultation with your advisor. Two committee members are faculty in the Applied Engineering and Sciences Department. The third committee member can be another academic (from UNH or external to UNH), or a professional whose expertise is relevant to your thesis.

Thesis committee members are required to:

  • Participate in your final presentation
  • Review your thesis manuscript
  • Give evaluative feedback to your thesis.

The committee has to be determined no later than the end of the second week of the semester.

Project/Thesis Topic Selection

The project/thesis topic, overarching goal, scope, and expected outcomes are determined by you and your advisor based on:

  • Your interest, professional experience, and level of preparation and readiness
  • Expertise and research program of your advisor.

Different projects/theses make use of different research methods. To learn more about research methods in computing see the recommended readings at https://unh-comp-master-project.github.io/resources/.

Evaluation

Upon successful completion of your project/thesis, the course instructor and your project/thesis advisor will evaluate your project/thesis. Your advisor will submit the final letter grade (project) or credit/fail decision (thesis).

If you make progress with the project/thesis work but don’t finalize it at the end of the term, your advisor will submit an IA grade (meaning that you will continue your work the following semester). To continue and complete the project/thesis in the following semester you will enroll in the GRAD 900 Master’s Continuing Research course with the approval of your advisor. GRAD 900 course carries no credit, but ensures that you will receive advising and feedback from your advisor and course instructor. You will also participate in the scheduled course meetings and the project presentation or thesis defense session at the end of the semester.

If no or insufficient progress is made with your work, your advisor submits an F grade, and you will need to retake and pass the course in order to fulfill the program requirements.

If you need to take time off from the graduate program of studies for personal reasons, you may sign up for GRAD 800 Continuing Enrollment, which carries zero credits and allows you to continue to be officially matriculated in the program of study. There is no advisor supervision during GRAD 800 enrollment.