MSc Data Science: CSC8639 Project and Dissertation Q&A 2021/22
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<!--https://hackmd.io/@Fig78KWdS3mtTh6qrg-FzQ/Hy3llgXH9/edit-->
###### tags: `Thesis` `Meeting` `Project` `CSC8639`

:::info
- **Location:** Zoom
- **Date:** April 25, 2022 10:30 AM
- **Agenda**
1. Welcome and Session Overview `5min`
> [name=Matt]
2. Open Discussion and Q&A `40min`
> [name=Everyone]
3. Session Close and Next Steps `5 min`
> [name=Everyone]
:::

:::warning
**Please note:** the Zoom session will be recorded for note-taking purposes following the session, an anonymised version of this HackMD document.
:::

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# Session Aims
The aim of this session is to discuss the thesis deliverable for CSC8639, and answer any questions you have about the process.

You may find the following links useful:
- [Project Handbook](https://ncl.instructure.com/courses/39394/files/5508157?module_item_id=2236456)
- [Interim Report Guidance](https://ncl.instructure.com/courses/39394/pages/interim-report-guidance?module_item_id=2236127)
- [Typesetting your Thesis](https://ncl.instructure.com/courses/39394/pages/typesetting-your-thesis?module_item_id=2236130)
- [(Frequently) Asked Questions](https://ncl.instructure.com/courses/39394/pages/frequently-asked-questions)

# Ice-breaker
*Write your name and your favourite cartoon character*

* Roshan - Dexter
* Hammad -
* Sarah - Scooby Doo
* Syed - Popeye
* David Jarrett - Tom
* Sushanth - Jerry
* Antreas Kasiotis - Sid (Ice Age)
* Matt Forshaw - [Hacker T. Dog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr_vl62JblQ&ab_channel=MazH)
* Avi Gupta - Tom
* subathra - Jerry
* Carter - Ben
* Iro - Scooby doo
* Parth Sagar- Tom and Jerry
* Debraj - Scrooz
* Aditi Sony
* - Alladin
* Shubham - Garfield
* Vishesh - Pink Panther
* Thabsheera - Wall-E
* Ron [ He-Man from a long long time ago](/8fX2Mc80QmqvPbN3dFpAdQ)
* Muzaffer - Ash ( Pokemon )
* Dhruv- Goku
* Simran- Samurai Jack
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# What are you most looking forward to from the disseration?

* Deepening understanding & knowledge (ML/DL + subject area)
* Research Skills
* Making contacts across uni.
* Building research acumen and exploring the application in healthcare.
* Concentrate on a particular area and go deep into that subject.
* Just an experience with the research side of the field
* Freedom to explore some new ideas and techniques
* ability to implement all the concepts and build confidence in using tools we learnt
* Implementing and gainnig indepth knowledge in our chosen area.
* Deeper understanding of a specific concept
* More time to understand/ explore work
* Getting a full hands on experience on Data Science project cycle.
* Becoming more confident in completing challenging projects
* Good valuable experience for the resume and job hunt
* Ability to write valuable research papers
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# The Worry Wall
*It is completely fine to be a little nervous abou the dissertation. Let's try and get a sense of things which are most worrying*

* I don't know much about my topic at the moment.
* I feel like I might have chosen a topic that might not be the best fit for me. :+1:
* Finishing without having to go into crunch time
* Procrastination
* Loosing Focus
* That I have chosen the right topic which I would be able to make most of and finish in time.
* I've bitten off more than I can do - I'm not skilled enough.
* Not sure if my project, that has been proposed by my supervisor, is enough for a dissertation -- the idea seems less work or not as complicated than some of the 4 week modules we have done. I especially feel the project won't have enough coding - would like reassurance before I start the project.
* Not having other students to dicuss work with
* Don't know how to initiate the task
* Difficulty in filtering the paper to read for our dissertation topic
* How to implemnet our tought into project?
* +1 How relevant is it to what the industry is looking for immediately
* Not feeling confident with my skills
* Literature Review
* Making sure my work is unique
* Feeling of getting lost while figuring out how to do it
* Coding
* Finishing
* Not heard back from Dissertation Supervisor

# Support on CSC8639
- Individual supervision meetings with your supervisor(s)
- Subject Communities related to methodologies (e.g. compuer vision) or application areas (e.g. health) as a way to bring communities of learners together around common themes.
- Drop-in clinics for individualised support.
- Plenary lectures on research skills

## What kinds of plenary session (lecture) would you find useful?
*Use this space to capture notes from your discussion*

* How to read a reseach paper. :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1:
* how to make a poster- more "good" examples- what to include etc.. :+1::+1::+1: :+1: :+1:
* Overview of the steps taken for a diss project. :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1:
* An overview of what the scope and scale of a project would be in terms of the work that needs to be done.:+1::+1: :+1:
* The best source to get the dataset :+1:
* Best source for research papers :+1:
* project template for python :+1::+1:
* Helpful packages in R/Python :+1:
* Structuring and writing the dissertation.
* How to identify novelty of your topic/ project :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1: :+1:
* How to avoid plagiarism while quoting the research paper and past works? :+1:
* How to know when to stop exploring a particlar line of research and go for an alternate one. How to know when a particular avenue is a dead-end::+1:
*

*Endorse ideas with a :+1:*

## What kinds of Subject Communities would you find most relevant?
*Use this space to capture notes from your discussion*

* Time-series Analysis :+1:
* Deep/Machine Learning (general):+1: :+1:
* General Technical (R/Python/etc):+1: :+1:
* Synthetic Data to Maintain Privacy & Handle Class Imbalance
* Those whose projects are within industry :+1:
* Paper readings
* Cleaning text data

*Endorse ideas with a :+1:*

## Technical Help Clinics: Which areas do you foresee help being particularly useful?
*Use this space to capture notes from your discussion*

* Coding help- especially with technical errors :+1::+1: :+1:
* External compute instances and new programming languages
* CNN - Applications (Computer Vision, Localization, Face recognition, Pose Variation affects etc :+1:
* Reinforcement learning
* Coding help on how to approach something we would likr to do but do not know how
* Help with getting fresh pair of eyes on what could be done additionally or differently on work we are doing.
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## General Q&A
Please feel very welcome to enter any questions here. Add a :+1: if you would also be interested in this question.

* If my project is from outside the list provided, can i still ask for help from the professors?
* I want to be more ambitious with my project, can I change the scope with my supervisor?
* Can you please explain about the poster that we need to make?
* Will there be a generic FAQ section where we can keep asking as well as tracking any generic questions?
* will we need to submit git log as well?
* Resource access, such as GPU instance, linux machine etc. :+1: :+1: :+1:
* Is it possible to change my topic/supervisor? :+1::+1:
* Where should we do the write-up of our thesis? (word, rmarkdown, jupyter notebook) :+1:
* can we get some provisional sort of marking at some half-way stage where we get this understanding early on whether we are doing ok
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*Endorse existing ideas with a :+1:*