Diploma thesis supervision
seminar
David Svoboda e-mail: svoboda@fi.muni.cz
Centre for Biomedical Image Analysis Faculty of Informatics, Masaryk University, Brno
INVESTICE DO ROZVOJE VZDĚLÁVANÍ
D. Svoboda (FľDVBDP)
Diploma thesis supervision
1/15
Outline
Thesis - way of life
Q| Preliminary description
Q| The first appointment with student
Q| Thesis supervision
Ql Final description
Q| Thesis submission
Q| Writing the review
D. Svoboda  (FI:DVBDP) Diploma thesis supervision 2/15
• Initially, only the preliminary description is recommended.
• Description should be formulated:
» clearly » shortly • accurately
• The student should know what are the main goals of the thesis
• You (as a supervisor) should be experienced with time estimates. Namely bachelor students have troubles with scheduling. Initially, they are able to promise anything ... ©
Consider the suitability of the topic at this faculty
Ask your supervisor or the head of department to check the topics you plan to publish.
It is recommended to include the student into some working group/team.
aster thesis - description [li Bachelor thesis - description [link]
The first appointment with student
První setkání se studentem
• Make an appointment in time:
» autumn semester: September/October • spring semestr: February/March
• Try to reveal student's pieces of knowledge and skills
• Ask the student to work out some homework - till the next appointment
(this way, the low-motivated students will be expelled)
D. Svoboda (FI:DVBDP)
Diploma thesis supervision
5/15
The first appointment with student
První setkání se studentem
• Settle some kind of communication
» regular (written) report
• regular meetings (in fortnight, monthly)
» when needed (I?)
• Do not believe all students' promises.
• Prepare some schedule - how much time the student and you can dedicate/sacrifice to the thesis.
• Accept/Support students willing of writing the thesis in English
D. Svoboda (FI:DVBDP)
Diploma thesis supervision
6/15
Thesis supervision
Vedení práce
• During the first semester, the student should analyze the task, find out similar problems and already existing solutions.
• You only supervise the thesis, you should not work out the thesis.
• The students are not silly, they only have less experience than you have.
• Non-defensible thesis is usually product of bad supervision or poor description]
• Supervisor is not obliged to answer student's queries immediately.
• Offer your students training of oral presentations (internal seminars).
D. Svoboda  (FI:DVBDP) Diploma thesis supervision 7/15
Thesis supervision
Vedení práce
• At the end of each semester, supervisor gives credits provided the student did something.
• Offer your student some kind of draft defence (internal laboratory seminar) with proper feedback.
• Explain the students, how to present: their original work x work of another person (authorship should be apparent; namely when two or more students cooperate in one project).
• Pay attention to the way of communication with the student you supervise: employer x employee
D. Svoboda (FľDVBDP)
Diploma thesis supervision
8/15
Final description
Finální zadání
« You (as a supervisor) are responsible for the final description!!!
• Formulate the particular goals, in order the reviewer could decide if the task was completed:
• difficulty of the thesis
» expected level of programming
» expected level of theoretical aspects
• Ask the student for summary (state of the art) to avoid missing introduction in text of the thesis.
IfínalI
D. Svoboda (FI:DVBDP)
Diploma thesis supervision
9/15
Thesis submission
Odevzdání práce
• The student is not allowed the submit the thesis without obtaining the credits for the last semester.
• The thesis should be read by some uninitiated (relatives, girl/boy-friends, roommates, .. .), namely for grammar and style.
• Each student has the opportunity to have the thesis corrected/validated by professional
(common price: 40,- CZK/standard page).
D. Svoboda (FľDVBDP)
Diploma thesis supervision
10 / 15
Thesis submission
Odevzdání práce
• Help the student with proposal and writing the text part of the thesis.
a If student asks you for the revision of the text, require the delivery of the text in time - e.g. no later than one week before final submission.
• After the submission, you will be asked (by IS) to verify
» the originality of the thesis (anti-plagiarism)
o the presence of supplements (source codes, user guide, .. .)
D. Svoboda (FľDVBDP)
Diploma thesis supervision
11 / 15
Writing the review
Psaní posudku
• The length of review is typically one (single-sided) A4 page
• The review should contain:
» summary (reviewer shows that he understands the work properly) » classification of state-of-the-art
• classification of structure of the thesis
• information if the source codes (if included) are well documented and equipped with licence.
» ability of student to work with bibliography
» positive criticism - show the way how to improve the thesis
» verification, whether the goals were completed
• some questions for discussion after the presentation » conclusion and decision
D. Svoboda (FľDVBDP)
Diploma thesis supervision
12 / 15
Writing the review
Psaní posudku
• Do not miss the defence! You (and reviewer) are usually the only persons that understand the thesis.
• An example of positive review [link]
• An example of negative review [link]
D. Svoboda (FľDVBDP)
Diploma thesis supervision
13 / 15
Closing the topic in IS
Uzavrenf/Zrusenf tematu v ISu
• Do not forget to mark the topic of your bachelor/master thesis as completed!
• Keep the list of all available topics up to date!
• [link to IS]
D. Svoboda (FI:DVBDP)
Diploma thesis supervision
14 / 15
Thank you for your attention ...
...and good luck!
D. Svoboda (FI:DVBDP)
Diploma thesis supervision
15 / 15