Undergraduate thesis

All undergraduate students enrolled in the dual degree with Biomedical Engineering (regardless of undergraduate major), must enrol in 12 UoC of thesis courses with the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering.

Students will complete their thesis over three terms (4+4+4) or over two terms (4+8). A summary of the assessment is as follows:

BIOM4951 Thesis A: It is intended that Thesis A cover the scoping, planning, and completing preparations for the project.

BIOM4952 Thesis B: The primary intention behind Thesis B is to ensure students stay on track with their projects and project work as they progress through the year.

BIOM4953 Thesis C: Thesis C continues the project work. The key deliverable is the Written Report, alongside a poster presentation.

Before commencing Thesis A

You must nominate 3 different supervisors to work with.

Please follow the below instructions in order to view the projects available and to find a supervisor.

The instructions to view the projects are as follows:

You must complete this process and have a project allocated BEFORE starting BIOM4951. If you are planning on doing a project with industry, this requires an industry supervisor and a supervisor from GSBmE. Please contact me thesis.biomedeng@unsw.edu.au.

• Go the Moodle course Selection of Biomedical Thesis Project 
• Self-enrol as a student using the key Student50
• The projects are listed under Thesis Database
• Contact the supervisor directly if you have any questions
• When ready, follow the instructions on the Moodle page for nominating your three supervisors. Project selection opens midway through the previous term (e.g. for Thesis commencing in T2, selection opens in Week 6 of T1). Selection closes on the last day of exams of previous term.

You must complete this process and have a project allocated BEFORE starting BIOM4951. If you are planning on doing a project with industry, this requires an industry supervisor and a supervisor from GSBmE. Please contact me thesis.biomedeng@unsw.edu.au.

Undergraduate students are required to complete at least 12 UOC of thesis courses. The table below shows the default Thesis course sequence for your stream and any additional options you may have. The following sections provide more information about each of these sequences.

Research thesis (CEIC4951/2/3)

Research thesis consists of three courses worth 4 units of credit each – CEIC4951 Research thesis A, CEIC4952 Research Thesis B & CEIC4953 Research Thesis C. Undergraduate students may commence Research Thesis once they have completed at least 126 UOC from a School of Chemical Engineering discipline stream and their 3rd year core.

You must identify a supervisor and project prior to commencing CEIC4951. To find out more about Research Thesis courses, the projects available and how to find a supervisor, please join the Research Thesis Projects page on Moodle (enrolment key co3shyh).

Note:

• These courses are normally taken over three consecutive terms. However, students that make excellent progress in Thesis A, may be allowed to take Thesis B and Thesis C in the same term.
• High performing students may be permitted to take CEIC9005 (or CEIC4005) in lieu of their regular Research Thesis courses. Contact the course coordinator for more information.

Product Design Project Thesis (CEIC4007/8)

Product Design Project Thesis consists of two courses both worth 6 UOC – CEIC4007 Product Design Project Thesis A and CEIC4008 Product Design Project Thesis B. Undergraduate students may commence Research Thesis once they have completed at least 126 UOC from a School of Chemical Engineering discipline stream. CEIC6711 Complex Fluids Microstructure and Rheology is a co-requisite course.

You do not need to secure a supervisor before commencing Product Design Project Thesis A.

Research Thesis Extension (CEIC4954)

Research Thesis Extension (CEIC4954) aims to provide you with an opportunity to go extend your thesis project by exploring your research problem in more breath &/or depth. The work you do in this course builds on the work completed in CEIC4951, CEIC4952 and CEIC4953. This course is especially relevant for undergraduate students considering a research career in fields related to chemical engineering and food science. The activities in this course are designed to introduce you to the ways in which research is practiced and communicated in a higher degree environment.

CEIC4954 is considered a practice elective in the Chemical Engineering stream (CEICAH) and a discipline elective in all other streams.

Students enrolled in an undergraduate degree within the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering need to complete a thesis as part of their program. Students have the option of taking one of the following course combinations to complete their thesis requirement:

CVEN4951/4952/4953 (Research Thesis A/B/C)

Students must complete the Thesis Application Form to be registered for the course. This combination of courses are worth 12UOC in total, and will take 3 terms to complete (or 2 with prior approval from the supervisor). A minimum WAM of 70 is required for entry.

CVEN4961/4962/4963 (Higher Honours Thesis A/B/C)

Students must complete the Thesis Application Form to be registered for the course. This combination of courses are worth worth 24UOC in total and requires students to have a minimum WAM of 80.

Note: If you choose to undertake the Research Thesis option (CVEN4951/4952/4953 or CVEN4961/4962/4963) you must also complete CVEN4701 prior to finishing your studies.

CVEN4050/4051 (Thesis A/B)

Students are able to enrol themselves into this course directly via myUNSW, it has no minimum WAM requirement, and does not require students to find a supervisor.

Summer

If you would like to register for Research Thesis subjects in Summer, you must first obtain approval from your supervisor prior to Summer enrolment. Please check the course notes for more information.

Thesis Submissions

As of Summer 2024, students will need to submit their Thesis submissions via Moodle instead of the School’s intranet.

For the list of topics and available supervisors, you can visit: Find a Supervisor or Project

UNSW Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours) and Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) students can find a guide to getting started with Thesis A on the CSE Thesis Topics Moodle site. Use cse-44747437 to enter the site as a student.

On this site, you will find the Thesis Topic Database. You can look through the topics or visit the academic supervisors' profile pages to find a topic you would like to work on. Once you have chosen your topic(s), you will then need to contact the relevant Supervisor for confirmation.

On this site, you can also find the course outlines of Thesis A, Thesis B and Thesis C, and the detailed instructions about finding a supervisor.

Final year students in Mechanical Engineering and Postgraduate coursework students are required to undertake a three-term, year long project. These projects are usually open-ended research or design projects, where the student works with an academic supervisor to find an answer to an engineering question. Students are required to manage and plan their projects over the three terms. The Thesis course can be started in any term and is generally completed in the final three terms of the degree.

If taking a Research Thesis (individual project), enrol in Research Thesis A (MMAN4951), Research Thesis B (MMAN4952) and Research Thesis C (MMAN4953).

For Research thesis, you will first need to find a supervisor and get their approval. An approved application is required to undertake Research and to gain permission to enrol. The deadline to enrol in MMAN4951/MMAN9451 is Friday Week 1, but get in early to get the project and supervisor you want.

For information on available projects and the enrolment process, please see our Sharepoint site, or contact Professor Tracie Barber.

If you’re an Electrical Engineering student and planning to take Thesis course, you will need to find a supervisor and get their approval prior to enrolling to the course. The deadline to find a supervisor and enrol into the course is Friday week 1. Please follow the procedure below to look for potential supervisors, their topics and enrol into the course

1. Go to: https://moodle.telt.unsw.edu.au/course/view.php?id=20890
2. Enrol yourself as student using the enrolment key: EETTPstudent
3. Login to Moodle course: 'EET School Thesis/Project'
4. View research profiles of prospective supervisors and topics in 'Research Topics' section.
5. Contact potential supervisor to discuss the possibility of working with them.. You must get their written permission to sign up on a topic before you can proceed to next step.
6. In Moodle, 'Registration’ icon:
   1. a. Go to ‘Select Supervisor’, find the supervisor and click action box to become a member
   2. b. Go to ‘Register Topic,’ ‘Add Entry’ and enter your details and topic title.
7. Enrol into Thesis course on myUNSW.

Research Thesis

Research Thesis is a compulsory pathway in the Mining Engineering (Hons) degree, Engineering (Hons) – Petroleum Engineering [Main Stream], and an optional pathway for high WAM students doing Petroleum Engineering. This thesis allows a student to work closely with a particular supervisor, learn particular skills – like programming or laboratory work, conduct research and write up their findings. To take this stream, you will need to first enrol in MERE4951 Research Thesis A.

MERE4951 Research Thesis A

In this course you will be required to find a supervisor and topic to work on. You can find a list of our research strengths here:

https://www.unsw.edu.au/engineering//our-schools/minerals-and-energy-resources-engineering/our-research

You can also find an individual academic and ask them about topics that they work on. Academics from our school are available here:

https://www.unsw.edu.au/engineering/ourschools/minerals-and-energy-resources-engineering/about-us/our-people

Once you enrol, make sure you have access to the Microsoft Team (the link is on the Moodle page), which is filled with information and has active forums for asking questions:

MERE4952 & MERE9453 Research Thesis B & C

These two units (4UoC each) can be taken in the same term or separately. Thesis B involves submitting a video/audio reflection of the work so far and an interim report. Thesis C involves writing your thesis and recording and submitting a scientific presentation of your results./engineering/our-schools/minerals-and-energy-resources-engineering/our-researchengineering/our-schools/minerals-and-energy-resources-engineering/our-research

All undergrad thesis sudents can find a list of thesis topics will posted on the Thesis A Moodle site. The student key to access the site will be sent out by the thesis co-ordinator to all students who will be taking thesis the following term. You should review the list and discuss the topics with the relevant supervisor to get an idea of what it entails.

Once both the supervisor and student have agreed on the topic, a Thesis Nomination Form should be completed. This is submitted to the Thesis Coordinator and uploaded to the SOLA 4951 Moodle site prior to the student commencing work on their topic. All students must have chosen a supervisor by 9am Monday week 1 of term.

You can develop your own thesis topic, if you can find a supervisor from within the School. This will require you to attach a one page description of the thesis topic and signed by the supervisor to the Thesis Nomination Form.

The School also encourages students who wish to do an industry-led thesis topic. In this case the mentor from industry would be the student’s co-supervisor, however an academic staff member from the School must act as the supervisor of the thesis.

For an industry-led thesis, you must obtain approval from an academic of the School to supervise the topic. You should submit a signed letter from the industry representative and academic supervisor with a brief outline of the project with a Thesis Nomination Form.

All information needed for the deliverables of thesis A can be found in the course outline which is available on the SOLA4951 Moodle site.

The Engineering thesis will be taken for the duration of three terms - as Thesis A, Thesis B and Thesis C.

Each course will carry 4 Units of Credit (UoC) for a total of 12 UoC. The total UoC requirement remains unchanged from current.

Students will have two options to take Thesis from 2019:

• Option 1 - Standard: (4 UoC per term starting T1, T2 or T3): Students enrol in Thesis A, Thesis B and thesis C and complete the Thesis across three consecutive terms. Total of 12 UoC. Note than once Thesis A is taken, Thesis B and Thesis C must be taken consecutively in the two terms that follow.
   
• Option 2: (4+8: 4 UoC in one term and 8 UoC in the following term): Students who demonstrate satisfactory progress in Thesis A may apply to their School to take a 4+8 UoC structure where both Thesis B and C are taken in the next single term of that year. Total of 12 UoC. This option is subject to having demonstrated satisfactory progress in Thesis A.

Students who do not maintain satisfactory performance in Option 2 will revert to Option 1 and take Thesis across three terms.

Thesis A, Thesis B and Thesis C will run in every term (T1, T2 and T3).

Yes, it’s possible to start your thesis in any term, however once Thesis A is taken, Thesis B and Thesis C must be completed in each term consecutively afterward.

Depending on the thesis course you take, your topic may be provided to you or you will need to develop one.

If you need to develop one, most schools have a website that lists available topics and the staff willing to supervise those topics. You may wish to select a topic based on areas of engineering interest, extracurricular interests (such as the ChallENG Projects), or preference for working with a particular academic in your field.  You can even come up with your own in consultation with your thesis supervisor. Take a look!

The process is different for each school, so review the information above.

If you still have questions, contact your school’s postgraduate thesis coordinator.

Doing thesis in industry is a great opportunity and worth pursuing. Some students are able to arrange a thesis project that follows on from an industrial training placement.

Students wanting to take an industry-based project still need to take the Research Thesis courses for their specialisation. You need to arrange a UNSW academic as a co-supervisor and apply for permission to take thesis offsite.

Please check with your school’s Undergraduate Thesis Coordinator for further details.

Yes, there are a number of Humanitarian Engineering Thesis Supervisors within UNSW Engineering who can potentially supervise a thesis.

Students who demonstrate satisfactory progress in Thesis A may apply to their School to take a 4+8 UoC structure where both Thesis B and C are taken in the next single term of that year.

The 4+8 UoC option is intended for high performing students to finish their thesis project in two terms. Students enrolled in this structure will take Thesis A in the first term and then, provided that satisfactory progress has been reached, will take Thesis B and C in the term following Thesis A.

Yes. In addition to the Thesis, you can enrol in up to two additional courses per term. You should enrol in these courses when annual enrolment opens. Overloading is possible but will require program authority approval.

If progress is deemed as unsatisfactory at the end of Thesis A, the student will move to the default Thesis option: Thesis A, B and C (4 UoC).

Yes, you’ll still be able to enrol in up to two additional courses. Given the increased workload of having to do Thesis B and C together, two courses per term would be the maximum recommended by the Faculty.

An enrolment continued (EC) grade will appear against your Thesis A/Thesis B subjects until you’ve completed your thesis. At this time your final grade will appear against your Thesis C. Around a week after you have received your final mark, a roll back process will be run so that the EC grades previously against Thesis A and Thesis B will be updated to reflect your overall Thesis mark.

Information on honours calculations are available on the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) program rules page.

It’s possible to take leave and then continue your thesis on your return. Talk to your supervisor about your situation and the dates involved so that you can work out a suitable plan together.

Most schools have a Moodle, intranet, or web page with detailed information about their thesis program. That should be your next port of call – check your school’s section above for access instructions.

Schools often run information sessions during the year. These will be advertised via email, on social media and/or during class. Keep an eye out for these events.

If you have questions related to enrolment or progression, contact the Nucleus.

Finally, each school has an Undergraduate Thesis Coordinator who can answer specific questions related to your personal circumstances.