The aim of doing the undergraduate thesis is give a small amount of research training. That is, give some idea what it is like to be a researcher and implement scientific techniques to solve problems. At the end of the first semester (term), you will be asked to write a progress report, upon which you will be graded. It seems there is very little support for undergraduates for writing this report. This short post aims to provide you with some guidance.

This is really important. This is how we assign marks to the report. If I can’t relate what you have written to the marking criteria, then few marks are awarded. Please read the marking criteria and keep them at the forefront of your mind when writing your report.

Pick a style and keep to it. There is a template on the Moodle website. I encourage you to use LaTeX and use an author-date referencing system. Pay particular care to the figures and tables. I will provide examples of good figures and tables in another post.

This is what I expect to see in your progress report. I’ll go through each section for you.

Introduce the project and research by first telling us what the problem is. For example: “Noise from aircraft must be reduced because.... (all manner of reasons, list a few), one of the main noise sources if the aero engine fan. Therefore, it is very important to understand the noise production mechanisms on a fan in order to design effective noise control methods." This is just a short example that justifies the project and research,. You need to tell the reader why research in this area is in general, important.

Then, the introduction should go to your project. What is the problem you are working on? What are the aims? If some background explanation is necessary, please use a figure that neatly describes the physics of the problem (or whatever the topic is). For example, if fan noise is the topic, a diagram showing flow over a fan blade would be helpful, indicating where the noise source is and what is is comprised of. Make sure you list the AIMS of your project here.

The purpose of the literature review is to review previous research related to this project to provide an overview of the state-of-the-art. Then, you can describe how your work extends the knowledge base (even if it is only just a little bit, which is all we can hope for). Recent research papers should be included. Any review papers should be acknowledged and perhaps used as a starting point for more recent research. The literature review is not a review of textbook material nor is it a place to summarise background material. It is not a history of science. It also isn’t a race to include as many pages and references as possible. Review recent and important research papers. Provide a summary that clearly shows how your aims extend the knowledge base. Note that the literature review will inform your aims and methods, research is not a linear process. You will start with a general aim, then refine the aims, objectives and methods of your project as you do your literature review.

For example, perhaps your aim is to measure noise from a UAV propeller under different flow conditions. Then your literature review should review all other research that did similar measurements. Summarise their findings - what did they conclude? How will your project be different? What will be new in your work? The literature review thus informs your project and helps formulate its execution.

Perhaps you can formulate research hypotheses at this point? For example: “I hypothesise that flow noise will increase when a fan is tested at yaw because...". Hypotheses are a good way to reformulate your aims as scientific questions that also help put together your methodology.

In this section, describe how you will answer your research aims (or hypotheses). For example, if you are designing an experiment, describe it in detail. What is the setup, methods etc? I really like it when the methods are described as a diagram, with lots of labels that show in one step what you are going to do and how. Each label might be a subheading in this section. Describe the method and why it is the best technique for this project.

Also include a timeline, Gantt chart or schedule (that is, the Research Plan). Breakdown the project into tasks and put each one on the schedule. Include major deliverables such as this report, presentations and final thesis submission.

The aim of this section is to show how much progress you have made. Describe what you have achieved in the last year. If it is design, describe these designs. Calculations, experiments, simulations - all results that have meaning and relate to the progress of the project are valid here. But - please avoid including information that is nit needed (padding).

Summarise the report and any conclusions (even preliminary) that you have learned from your research so far. I am interested in what you think, tell me what you have found out!

I hope that this provides some guidance for writing the progress report. Remember to:

1. Read and apply the assessment criteria when writing the report (this includes any requirements as specified by UNSW)

2. Pay attention to the style and format. Quality is the goal, not quantity.

3. Use the tried and tested report structure I outlined above.

4. Make sure you have aims that can be measured or tested.

5. Tell me what you think! That’s what it is all about.

Professor Con Doolan is at UNSW Sydney in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. He runs the Flow Noise Group and is also Deputy Head of School (Education).