Guidelines for writing your project reports

Due 5pm EST, Tuesday December 10, 2013

The text in your proposal should be in 11 point Times New Roman font. Your paragraphs should use single line spacing. Use 1 inch top, bottom, right, and left margins.

Length: 8-10 pages, not including title page and bibliography.

Your proposal should have the following major sections:

Titlepage

This page should contain: You should use the following example as a template.

Abstract

The abstract should present a synopsis of your project. Think of it as a 1/2-1 page version of your project. It should present your research hypothesis, motivation for the research, significance of the work, relevant background, and results. For an example of a proposal asbtract look at Abstract. For an example of an NSF-style abstractlook at ProjectSummary.

Length: approximately 1 page.

Introduction

The first paragraph(s) of the introduction should briefly introduce the research area of your project in order to establish the context for your research hypothesis. Next, you should clearly and concisely present your research hypothesis. You should then briefly list the specific aspects that you investigated. Finally, you should list the results/benefits of the your project. For an example look at Introduction. For an example of an NSF-style introduction look at Intro. Note that both of these examples are for proposals as opposed to completed projects.

Length: approximately 1 page.

Background

This should be the easiest part of the proposal. This is where you take advantage of the material that you already used in your proposal. In this section you elaborate on the relevant background that you briefly mention in the abstract. The function of this section is to establish the context for your project. It is in this section that you describe previous work in the area, i.e., what you should have learned from the elevant papers that you read prior to starting your project. Include only the background that is truly related to your project. Make sure that you convey the relevance of background material you present in this section to your project. Do not simply insert the background from unsundry papers you've read.

Length: approximately 2 pages.

Data and Methods

In this section you elaborate on the data and methods that you used to carry out your project. Be very specific. Clearly indicate what approach you are taking. Describe and explain all of the major aspects of your project, e.g., representation, techniques, algorithms, components, design, and implementation issues if relevant. Keep in mind that in this section you are trying to convince the reader that this project is the best thing since sliced bread. Consequently, in addition to describing and explaining all of the major aspects of your project, you should also justify each aspect. You are trying to sell your idea.

Length: approximately 2-3 pages.

Results and Assessment

In this section, you specify what if any deliverables (software, reports, etc.) you produced and how you evaluated them. You should present the criteria (metrics) and evaluation methods that you used to evaluate the results of your project. Typically, this section will contain a description of the experiments that you used to generate results as well as how you evaluated the results. Length: approximately 1-2 pages.

Bibliography

This section contains the complete references of papers, book chapters, websites, etc. that appear in the project description. Length: no limitation.