Michtom School of Computer Science

To be considered for the thesis, the following requirements must be met:

• A grade point average of 3.75 in COSI courses by the end of junior year;
• Have completed all of the COSI core courses, see Bulletin for details;
• The advisor and Undergraduate Advising Head (UAH) agree the student has completed the coursework required to undertake such a thesis;
• Student has selected feasible topics during their second semester of the junior year and had a preliminary conversation with a potential faculty advisor;
• Agreement by a member of the COSI faculty to be the advisor for the thesis, by the end of junior year. Student must report this to the UAH with a carbon copy (cc) to their thesis advisor;
• Enrollment in COSI 99D in both semesters of senior year;
• Submission of a proposal to the advisor and the UAH in the first week of classes of their senior year.

Students must:

• Undertake independent research on an agreed upon area of the major, in accordance with the guidelines established beforehand by their thesis advisor.
• Write a well-developed and thorough thesis describing the project, discussing formal analysis of the data, detailing the research and addressing research questions. The appropriate thesis length is determined by the thesis advisor based on the selected subject matter.  
• Submit the final draft of the thesis to the COSI office (for distribution to the thesis committee) no later than two (2) weeks before the defense date.
• Defend the thesis on the day after the last day of classes of the spring semester.

A student must conceive of a research project, formulate a topic, draft their research questions and a methodology. Students must then seek out a Computer Science faculty member who agrees to advise the project. A student may ask the UAH for help in selecting an advisor.

Students must submit a proposal of at least 5-10 pages double spaced (note that in some cases an appropriate proposal may need to be longer) to the thesis advisor one week after the first day of classes in the first semester of their senior year (spring semester for midyear students). The proposal should include a bibliography, explicit descriptions of what the thesis topic is, and why the topic is interesting and important. Be sure to include what the central question(s) to be examined are, how the topic speaks to issues in computer science and the methodology/sources of data.

The proposal will then be reviewed by the faculty. If the faculty member agrees to mentor this senior thesis project, the student must then send the proposal to the Undergraduate Advising Head (UAH) with a copy to the advising faculty no later than the last day to add classes.

At the end of fall semester (spring semester for the midyear admits), the advisor will give a grade that reflects an evaluation of the entire process of research and writing the senior thesis thus far. If the advisor decides the project is not going to be continued, only a grade for fall will be given for the past semester. The remainder of the senior honors thesis will be discontinued.

At the end of the spring semester (fall semester for the midyear admits), the student presents their thesis to the defense committee. The Defense Committee, made up of thesis advisor and other faculty members, determines a recommendation for whether the thesis should receive honors (and, if so, what level of honors) after the defense. This recommendation is based upon both the written thesis and the oral defense.

IRB (Institutional Review Board) permission, where required, should be applied for well in advance so the student can use their data toward a thesis.

It is the student's responsibility to determine, with their faculty advisor, whether they need to obtain IRB approval for the collected data to be able to use it in the thesis. This is typically necessary for projects which involve data gathered from human subjects, e.g., through interviews, participant observation, databases, etc.

If IRB approval is necessary, it must be obtained before any experiments or other data collection begins. The purpose of IRB review is to make sure that research subjects are protected under applicable laws, and that the research benefits outweigh the risks. IRB approval takes time, and approval must be granted before beginning the study; thus, the proposal should be submitted as soon as the topic is formulated to avoid any unnecessary delays in the student's research.

The forms for requesting approval can be found on the Office of Research Administration website. Please note that the review form requires a description of the research and a detailed description of methodology, attached to the form.

Students must also participate in a training session through the CITI program.

Oral Defense Guidelines

• The oral defense usually lasts between 30-45 minutes.
• The student presents the central research topic or question of the thesis, explaining the motivation behind the thesis' line of investigation. The central argument(s) of the thesis are then presented, along with illustrated empirical examples, derivations, or visualizations, as appropriate to the computer science field. The presentation typically ends with a summary of the thesis' main empirical findings and theoretical proposals, along with suggested topics for future research.
• At the end of the presentation the student will take questions from the defense committee (and from other members of the audience, per their advisor's discretion). This discussion is an opportunity to showcase the depth of thinking that went into the project, and to get useful feedback.

See chart below.