DM932 Class Regulations PG Individual Projects 2025-2026 | University of Strathclyde

The Project

The project is a major element in the MSc course and must be completed satisfactorily for you to be eligible for graduation.

A dissertation may be defined as:

An ordered critical and reasoned exposition of knowledge in an approved field and shall exhibit evidence of knowledge of the relevant literature.

To accomplish this you will be expected to demonstrate:

• Ability to put into practice the knowledge gained in the taught part of the course.
• Understanding of the academic concepts, practical skills and management techniques gained on the course and the ability to apply them.
• Capability to write a substantial report in a well-structured and lucid way.

The project should not be looked upon as a “necessary evil‟ that is required to fulfil the requirements of the course. It should be taken as an opportunity for you to show your competence and ability in analysing and solving problems.

Tackled properly this work may offer you certain benefits:

• It will represent a substantial piece of work that will mark a “milestone‟ in your development.
• If conducted enthusiastically, it will impress the management of any industrial collaboration involved, which may lead to a chance of employment or promotion.
• It will give you a very quotable entry for your Curriculum Vitae.
• It will be a source of personal pride and esteem if well received.
• It could provide the basis of a publication in a learned journal or a presentation at a research conference, in collaboration with your advisor.

Relevant to your degree of study

Your project must be related to your degree of study:

• Product Design – A design project, or a research project on design process.
• Design Engineering – A design project in an engineering context, or a research project on design engineering.
• Design Engineering with X (e.g. Sustainability) – A design project in an (sustainability) engineering context, or a research project on (Sustainability) in design engineering.
• Mechatronics and Automation - A design project in the context of mechatronics and automation, or a research project on mechatronics and automation.
• Advanced Manufacturing: Technology and Systems - A research project on Advanced Manufacturing technologies or systems.
• Systems Engineering Management - A research project on systems engineering management.
• Engineering Management for Process Excellence - A research project on Engineering Management for Process Excellence.
• Supply Chain and X (e.g. Logistics) – A research project on (Logistics) in supply chain.

Learning Outcomes and assessment

For each of the Module Learning Outcomes the following criteria will be used to make judgements on student learning:

LO1 Define a valid project in a cutting edge field of study relevant to the student’s degree, e.g., design, engineering management, manufacturing technology:
LO1.1 Analyse a field of study to an appropriate degree of detail to define and justify robustly a suitable research project, its aim, and objectives
LO1.2 Justify and develop an appropriate and complete research methodology for a project involving technical analysis and demonstrating independent critical thinking.

LO2 Execute a project in a cutting edge field of study relevant to the student’s degree, involving where appropriate technical analysis and independent critical thinking:
LO2.1 Provide a thorough, logical and critical review of an identified field.
LO2.2 Generate clear outcomes, conclusions and recommendations from a project involving technical analysis and demonstrating independent critical thinking.
LO2.3 Employ appropriate tools, processes, assumptions, rationale, and levels of analysis in a project. LO2.4 Apply appropriate project management techniques in a project.

LO3    Document a research project in a cutting edge field of study relevant to the student’s degree:

LO3.1 Apply appropriate research formatting/presentation techniques in a dissertation and verbal presentation LO3.2 Describe and discuss a project to appropriate levels of clarity, completeness and quality via a
written dissertation and verbal presentations.

LO3.3 Show evidence of a clear knowledge contribution from a project.

Syllabus

The aim of this module is to develop students' research abilities. This will be achieved through each student carrying out research into a relevant topic and preparing a research dissertation.
Credit rating: 60 credits = 600 Hours

Each week will feature a self-guided online class (Approx. 1 hour to complete) and a Q&A session with the class registrar. This style is known as a flipped classroom. Students should also have a meeting with their advisor to discuss their progress.

Organisation

Research Advisors

The research advisor will provide guidance on suitable research methods you may use based on their experience. The advisor does not need to be an expert in the topic area. It is their job to be an expert in the requirements of the class and to encourage you to a good submission. You should aim to meet your advisor fortnightly (Once every two weeks) as required at a regular time. Students should discuss issues with their advisors and take responsibility for ensuring that these meetings take place. No two projects are the same and that which seems appropriate for one student may not be for another. It is the student’s responsibility to meet with their advisor and ask relevant questions.

Class Staff:

Registrar: Aleksandar Josifovic, email: aleksandar.josifovic@strath.ac.uk

Submissions

• Project Bid
  oStudents will select from the list provided or suggest their own project. Three projects’ students are interested in conducting should be selected. The preferred order should be determined. Any late bids will be dealt with after those who got their bid in on time. Justification for projects should be no more than 200 words.
• Project Brief
  oOne page on your plans for the research project. A template is provided on Myplace. Students should answer: What is the project? How will you conduct it? What is the significance of the work? (Use literature to justify the gap in knowledge and the need for your research / design project).
• Part 1 - Literature Review
  oSee assessment below.
• Part 2 - Methodology, Experimental and Analytical Work
  oSee assessment below.

Assessment

The class will be assessed on the basis of performance in both Part 1 and Part 2.

Research objectives should be fully justified, based on sound, critical and logical arguments. Literature review aids the definition of the problem and is not an end goal in itself. Structure and contents should be defined followed by objectives, deliverables, and relationships between each chapter. Advisors are not required to provide comments on English quality but will give general formative feedback as part of the literature review and meetings. The final dissertation is the responsibility of the student. The internet may be used as a search engine and not a reference source. The dissertation will be examined by a minimum of two assessors, neither of whom will be your research advisor. A third marker may be involved if the first two markers cannot come to an agreement. All grades are reviewed and approved at a moderation session by the DMEM T&L team, the project team and research theme champions.

Marking Scheme

Part 1 - Literature review submission

6,000 Words Maximum (You may not go over 6,000 words – there is no +/-10%)

• Literature review (20%) – understanding (depth and breadth); references to other work; logical development; etc.
• Identification of a gap in knowledge (5%) – completeness of literature search; justification; etc.

Part 2 - Methodology, Experimental and analytical work submission

8,000 Words Maximum (You may not go over 8,000 words – there is no +/-10%)

• Research objectives and methodology (5%) – justification; relevance to literature review; logical; appropriateness; completeness; etc.
• Documentation of research findings (20%) – clarity; completeness; appropriateness; etc.
• Analysis of findings (20%) – use of appropriate analysis tools; correctness of assumptions and deductions; completeness; etc.
• Conclusions and recommendations (5%) – logical argument; clarity; completeness; etc.
• Contribution to knowledge (10%) – justification; evidence of student’s own thinking; development; etc.

Both documents

• References and bibliography (5%) – completeness & appropriateness
• Presentation (10%) – quality; structure; grammar; layout; style; figures; etc.

Word count is calculated from introduction to conclusions i.e. not including frontmatter, figures, tables, list of references and appendix).
Design projects will be assessed using the same criteria and sufficient effort should be made to create the literature review with academic literature. However, this might extend to market research and user research to establish the need for the product (AKA the gap in the market).

Suggested Dissertation Structure

Dissertation change depending on the topic. Below is a suggested dissertation structure.

The following are typical of areas that should be included in a design dissertation. Students typically choose to include multiple documents including dissertation, folio, engineering documents, business plan etc

• Title page
• Acknowledgements
• Abstract
• Contents page
• Introduction/background
• Critical literature review (Gap in knowledge/Design problem to solve)
• Design methodology (e.g. Double Diamond)
• Discover (market/user research)
• Define (PDS, justification)
• Develop (concepts, evaluation, selection)
• Deliver (Embodiment, realisation, outcomes)
• Discussion/Reflections
• Conclusions
• List of references
• Bibliography
• Appendices

The following are typical of areas that should be included in a research dissertation.

• Title page
• Acknowledgements
• Abstract
• Contents page
• Introduction/background
• Critical literature review (Gap in knowledge/Design problem to solve)
• Research methodology
• Results/findings/outcomes
• Discussion/review of the work done and future steps
• Conclusions
• List of references
• Bibliography
• Appendices

A table of contents should be included indicating the headings for the various chapters and the page numbers. A list of Figures / Tables, and Appendices is also normally included.

The Literature review aids the definition of the problem and is not an end goal in itself. A student must use the literature review to become aware of the research area and go beyond to contribute towards a gap in the knowledge. Typically, this involves an experimental component. In terms of problem definition, the research objectives should be fully justified, based on sound, critical and logical arguments.
Note that the internet may be used as a search engine but only under exceptional circumstances can it be used as a reference source. Any such case must be fully justified with a footnote in the references section. Internet references should not number more than two to three. All references must be from a verifiable source. For guidelines on referencing see Citing references and http://www.strath.ac.uk/library/usingthelibrary/referencing/.

Front Cover

The dissertation is to be in A4 format using a word processing package. Design projects can be presented as an A3 folio. The front cover and title page must clearly contain the following information:

• Project Title
• Document title (Part 1 or Part 2)
• Student Name and Course
• Report type
• Class Title (DM932: Postgraduate Individual Project) - title page only
• Name of research advisor - title page only
• Year and Date

The report must be well constructed with the various sections clearly identified and laid out in a logical manner. Begin each new chapter on a new page, do not leave large gaps between paragraphs, and identify sub-sections clearly.

Figures, Drawing and Appendices

Text pages should be numbered in sequence and any drawings tables, pictures etc. clearly referenced by figure number. Figures, pictures, tables, etc. should generally be within the main body of text. Appendices are normally numbered independently of the main body of the report. Drawings may be included in the report or included in a separate drawing portfolio A4 or A3.

Style

Students should follow the guidelines on good writing skills in class material. In general the overall structure and contents of the dissertation should be defined followed by objectives, deliverables and relations for each chapter. Advisors are not required to provide comments on quality of English but will give general feedback on the content, structure and logical flow of the dissertation. Support of other aspects can be found at Strathlife – Academic Support. The final dissertation is the responsibility of the student and they are therefore encouraged to ensure adequate quality of English, content and presentation style.

There are no requirements for the style of the dissertation. Good guidance is to use a clear font (Arial, Calibre, Times New Roman etc.) and a normal font size (10, 11, 12) on a normal sized page (A4 Normal or narrow margins).

Effort should be taken not to include irrelevant material as assessment is based on quality of content not number of pages. Third person grammar should be used avoiding use of, I, me, we etc. Past tense should be used when reporting the work carried out within the project. Remember that the views expressed in the report are assumed to be that of the author and that any use of another author’s work must be acknowledged.

Academic honesty and plagiarism

Using another's work without giving them due credit or recognition is an act of plagiarism. Plgerism is defined as: “The unacknowledged use of another's work as if it were the student’s own work.” Examples, which apply to conventional sources and information downloaded from the internet, are:

• Inclusion of more than a single phrase from another's work without the use of quotation marks and appropriate acknowledgement of source.
• Summarising another's work by changing a few words or altering the order of presentation without acknowledgement.
• Copying another's work.
• Use of another's ideas without acknowledgement or the presentation of work as if it were the student’s own work when it is substantially the ideas of another.

Notwithstanding copyright law you can use other people’s work but you must give due recognition to them and explicitly identify it as their work. Any evidence of plagiarism within your dissertation may result in the non-award

of your degree. Therefore, students are required to make use of the "TurnItIn" plagiarism facility to ensure that there are no plagiarism concerns with your dissertation prior to their submission. You can upload your dissertation to the TurnItIn facility by following the process identified on the class MyPlace site.

Copying of Diagrams

A student may copy without permission (by means of a photocopy) a diagram for inclusion in a dissertation on condition that it is fully acknowledged and that it is for “non-commercial research‟. It should not be further copied and someone reading the thesis later (say if a copy is deposited in the library) might not be permitted to copy the copy.

Scanning the original diagram into digital form and submitting the thesis in digital form is far more risky. If the diagram has to be scanned you should ensure the digital copy is deleted once a printed version is put into the thesis. Do not publish the thesis on the web, especially if it is on open access. In this case, permission from the rights holder for the use of the diagram might be required and a fee might be charged.
In addition the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) photocopying licence allows students to copy up to one article or one chapter of a book etc., from most works, so in many cases a student would be covered under this licence as well as the relevant parts of the 1988 Act.
Student are referred to the CLA’s Higher Education licences guidance to ensure conformance.

• http://www.cla.co.uk/higher_education_licences.php

TurnItIn

Students MUST pass their final dissertation through TurnItIn before they submit and MUST include the summary page of the TurnItIn report as part of their submission. A screenshot of this summary will suffice. If subsequently when checked by the Department and the index is greater than prescribed then the project will not be marked until further investigation is carried out and this may result in a delay for the submission of marks and disciplinary action being taken.

Please note that the Department will run a TurnItIn plagiarism check on all dissertations as part of the grading process. Students are advised to ensure that the TurnItIn overall similarity figure for their submissions does not exceed 10% and that the similarity against any individual source is 1% or less. Any submissions which do not meet these criteria will be checked for possible plagiarism.
GenAI

The University of Strathclyde Guidance on use of Gen-AI identifies four broad categories when considering use of Gen-AI in learning and teaching and assessment:

Table: GenAI use in DM932

In the Table: GenAI use in DM932 only highlighted section are allowed. For Learning and Teaching activities you may use GenAI in Selective manner. For Assessment and Dissertation (both Literature Review and Final Dissertation) use of GenAI is Not Permitted for text generation, data generation and data analysis. It can be used in Selective category if the topic of the dissertation is directly relevant to analysing and comparing GenAI output to traditional analysis methods

Ethics and Risk Assessment

Students must submit a completed Ethics Checklist and Risk Assessment tailored to their research project. If changes are made to the requirements of the research projects then the ethics checklist and risk assessment should be considered for changes. If changes are made, students can upload the latest version to the link on Myplace.
If a students identifies a risk that may be severe, they should discuss how to mitigate this risk with their advisor. If students identify any ethics restriction on their project from the checklist, they should discuss this with their advisor and the class registrar. Applying for ethics approval is not recommended due to the time restrictions of the class. Alternatives methodologies should be considered.

Participant consent

Where human subjects are investigated including, but not limited to, surveys, interviews, observations, experiments etc, they should be supplied with a Participant Information Sheet to agree to the terms of the study and must sign a consent form. The students is responsible for collecting and holding these documents which can be stored on Myplace for prosperity. Where an online technology is used there should be an explanation in text of the study and

a question to ask that any data collected is included in the study. The participants should be given instructions if they wish to pull their consent at any time.

Data protection

You must ensure that you meet the University requirements for data protection. The dissertation is to be submitted in accordance with departmental practice. Data should be stored on secure University servers and any data must be anonymised before inclusion in the Dissertation.

Late Submission

This class is different from other classes you have studied at Strathclyde. The engineering faculty policy on late submission of projects is applied.

"Major projects and final dissertation submissions are treated as exams. meaning if a student misses the deadline, they forfeit all the marks associated with the final submission element of the project."

More information is available at the Assessment and Feedback Hub.

If you have experienced personal circumstances (PC's) which have impacted your ability to submit, you should check your eligibility to apply for PC's and follow the personal circumstances procedure with evidence. Please read all documentation if you plan to submit PC's. An extension to the submission date cannot be given, however, the zero-grade late penalty can be removed by the PC board.

Resubmission or updating Part 1

Part 1 is a formal submission. Once it has been submitted it cannot be resubmitted. If you have additional literature to add you may include it in the Part 2 submission. You may include a bridging section to highlight changes in the project between Part 1 and Part 2 to the reader at the start of Part 2, or include it as part of the discussion.

Both documents will be read and graded together. Both documents should be no more than 14000 words calculated from introduction to conclusions. Part 2 is worth 75% of the grade. Please ensure you put appropriate effort into completing it.

Information for research advisors (September start and Part-Time Students)

Purpose of the class

To develop students’ research abilities, achieved through each student carrying out research into a discipline- related topic and preparing a design dissertation or research dissertation that solves a problem or makes a contribution to knowledge N.B. there should be an experimental component to research projects. Students are advised to conduct primary data collection themselves as this increases their success in the class.

Format of submission (note changes for 2026 in red)

• Dissertation Part 1 - Literature Review Submission – 10th June 2026
• Dissertation Part 2 - Methodology, Experimental and Analytical Work – 5th August 2026 Both submissions marked together in August.
  Criteria for examination is:

Part 1 - Literature review submission 6,000 words maximum

• Literature review (20%) – understanding (depth and breadth); references to other work; logical development; etc.
• Identification of a gap in knowledge (5%) – completeness of literature search; justification; etc.

Part 2 - Methodology, Experimental and analytical work submission 8,000 words maximum

• Research objectives and methodology (5%) – justification; relevance to literature review; logical; appropriateness; completeness; etc.
• Documentation of research findings (20%) – clarity; completeness; appropriateness; etc.
• Analysis of findings (20%) – use of appropriate analysis tools; correctness of assumptions etc.
• Conclusions and recommendations (5%) – logical argument; clarity; completeness; etc.
• Contribution to knowledge (10%) – justification; evidence of student’s own thinking; development; etc.

Both documents

• References and bibliography (5%) – completeness & appropriateness
• Presentation (10%) – quality; structure; grammar; layout; style; figures; etc

Role of the research advisor

• To advise students on research methods that will support the student projects.
• To report back any issues to the class registrar/year advisor.
• NOT to act as an expert for the topic, this is the role of the student.

Advisors commitment

Advisors will be assigned in Semester 2 Week 7. Students will submit a project brief to their advisor by email.

Information for research advisors (January start Students)

Purpose of the class

To develop students’ research abilities, achieved through each student carrying out research into a discipline- related topic and preparing a design dissertation or research dissertation that solves a problem or makes a contribution to knowledge N.B. there should be an experimental component to research projects. Students are advised to conduct primary data collection themselves as this increases their success in the class.

Format of submission (note changes for 2026 in red)

• Dissertation Part 1 - Literature Review Submission – 1st July 2026
• Dissertation Part 2 - Methodology, Experimental and Analytical Work – 16th September 2026 Both submissions marked together in December/January.
  Criteria for examination is:

Part 1 - Literature review submission 6,000 words maximum

• Literature review (20%) – understanding (depth and breadth); references to other work; logical development; etc.
• Identification of a gap in knowledge (5%) – completeness of literature search; justification; etc.

Part 2 - Methodology, Experimental and analytical work submission 8,000 words maximum

• Research objectives and methodology (5%) – justification; relevance to literature review; logical; appropriateness; completeness; etc.
• Documentation of research findings (20%) – clarity; completeness; appropriateness; etc.
• Analysis of findings (20%) – use of appropriate analysis tools; correctness of assumptions etc.
• Conclusions and recommendations (5%) – logical argument; clarity; completeness; etc.
• Contribution to knowledge (10%) – justification; evidence of student’s own thinking; development; etc.

Both documents

• References and bibliography (5%) – completeness & appropriateness
• Presentation (10%) – quality; structure; grammar; layout; style; figures; etc

Role of the research advisor

• To advise students on research methods that will support the student projects.
• To report back any issues to the class registrar/year advisor.
• NOT to act as an expert for the topic, this is the role of the student.

Advisors commitment

Advisors will be assigned in Semester 2 Week 11. Students will submit a project brief to their advisor by email.