Major Research Paper

Completion of a Major Research Paper is required. The Major Research Paper will focus on an open problem in Mathematics, which could be theoretical or applied in nature and must be defended before an Examination Committee.

MSc Mathematics MRP Guidelines and Processes

Under Construction

Ethics
MRP Proposals
1. Proposal Tips
2. MRP Proposal Approval
Degree Extensions
First MRP Submission
1. MRP Formatting and Technical Guidelines
2. MRP First Submission Process
Examination Committee
Defence
After the Defence
1. Final Submission Requirements
  1. Digital Copies
  2. Bound Copies
Graduation
Resources
1. Binder's Contact Information
2. Sample References
3. Forms
4. Sample MRP Documents
  1. Bound Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Author's Declaration

Ethics

All MRP/Thesis research involving human subjects must be approved by the Research Ethics Board (REB) before the research may start.

This pertains to all students, faculty or staff conducting research at Nipissing University. This also includes research on campus by individuals or organizations that are not Nipissing University affiliated, while on campus, using University facilities, equipment or resources.

The Nipissing University Research Services website will provide all the forms and resource materials needed to submit an ethics protocol for review, here.

Additional information regarding Ethics at Nipissing University is available from Martee Storms, ext 4055.

MRP Proposals

Students must have their MRP proposals approved by their Supervisory Committee prior to proceeding with their research. The research proposal may be in the form of an oral presentation or a written report, and the Research Supervisor will advise on which proposal method to use.

Proposal Tips

The Research Supervisor is responsible for providing proposal preparation details and requirements. The following is an overview of some general proposal writing tips for specific questions please contact your Research Supervisor.

Purpose of a Proposal:

The purpose of the MRP/Thesis proposal is to convince your program that:

there is a need for the research; it is significant and important;
you are contributing something interesting;
the topic is feasible in terms of availability of funding, equipment, supervisors, and data;
The research can be completed in the expected time period. Usually 15 weeks from the proposal approval for full-time candidates.
The topic matches your interests and capabilities.
Provide a substantial overview of some problems in mathematics, it may also present a new way of approaching solutions of some problems.

How should I structure the proposal?

The following are recommended sections for your MRP/Thesis proposal. Please check with your supervisors for optional sections, variations and additional sections that may be required.

Routine Information

This can be a full cover page or a quarter page header.

• Name

• Address, telephone and email details

• Degree for which you are a candidate

• Supervisor’s and co-supervisor’s names

• MRP/Thesis proposal title

• Date

Statement of Topic

Introduce the audience to the general subject area and how your topic is related. Briefly point out why it is a significant topic and what contribution your work will make.

Goals of the MRP/Thesis

Set out specific objectives of the research.

Review of the literature

This, together with the following section on the theoretical orientation, will be the main substance of the proposal and will be the basis for discussions of your methods and your total research program.

The literature review should explain the relation of your topic and research goals to significant literature and recent (and current) research in your field. The form of the literature review may vary according to the nature of the field: experimental,

philosophical, theoretical, comparative, etc., but its purpose will be the same in all fields.

The literature review should place your proposed research topic clearly in its relevant research context, and should demonstrate your awareness of significant similar or relevant research.

You may need to make qualitative judgments concerning the literature.

Be careful not to allow the evaluation of previous work to become a large open-ended task. You should consult with your supervisors on the types of questions you need to be asking and what boundaries you should place on your literature review. In one sense the literature review for the proposal is incomplete. You will

continue to expand and update the literature as your research progresses and as you locate new publications. The final literature review will be included in your MRP/Thesis.

MRP Proposal Approval

The research proposal must be approved by the student’s supervisory committee before they continue with their MRP research. Students receive proposal approval using the MRP/Thesis Proposal Approval form.

Degree Extensions

Students who have not completed all degree requirements not later than their MRP/Thesis submission deadline may request an extension of one-term. An extension will be considered provided that they have applied as required within the time limit and provided that the degree requirements can be reasonably completed within a one-term period.

To apply for a degree extension, you must complete a Degree Extension Request Form outlining the causes for the delay, confirming satisfactory progress towards the completion of your degree and a reasonable expectation of completion within one term.

First MRP submission

MRP formatting and technical guidelines

Characters should be in black, evenly spaced, neat, and dense. For best results, use a laser printer or a letter-quality printer where the dots cannot be seen with the naked eye. Correcting liquid and other impermanent methods of correction must not be used.

Good-quality white bond paper, thick enough to be opaque, should be used (20lb. base is acceptable). The opacity is important to prevent the typing on the following page from showing through. Font size must be a minimum of 11 points and preferably Arial. You may use a smaller font size for graphs, formulas, and appendices.

The spacing of the printed lines must be at least one-and-a-half spaces, on one side of the paper only. Formatting style should follow the latest version of the American Mathematical Society’s Guidelines (see sample references)
The preferred location for footnotes is at the bottom of the page.
The size of the pages should be 8 ½” X 11” (21.5 cm X 28 cm), the text reading across the 8 ½” (21.5 cm) dimension.
The left-hand margin should be at least 1 ¼” (32 mm), and the remaining three margins should be at least ¾” (20mm) to the main text.
For questions not answered in these guidelines, you are urged to consult your Research Supervisor and to use your discretion in maintaining a consistent style.

Check that all pages are present, in sequence, and correctly numbered. Every page in the MRP must be numbered, except for the title page, the MRP Signature Page and the Author’s Declaration page.

The preliminary portion of the paper should be numbered with small Roman numerals placed in the centre of the page, about half an inch from the bottom. Numbering begins with the Abstract as iv. The Title Page, MRP Signature Page and the Author’s Declaration page count as pages i, ii, and iii respectively, but the number does not appear.

Preferred placement of the Arabic numerals is in the upper right-hand corner (about half an inch from each edge), including the first page of the reference or bibliography and appendices.

The accepted order within the preliminary sections of the paper is as follows:

Title page
MRP Signature page
Author’s Declaration page
Abstract
- Acknowledgements (where applicable)
- Table of Contents
- List of Tables (where applicable)
- List of Plates (where applicable)
- List of Figures (where applicable)
- List of Appendices (where applicable)
Introduction

The remainder of the MRP, starting with the first page of the introduction should be numbered with Arabic numerals starting with number one (1) and on from there.

Illustrations, Photographs, Charts, Graphs, Maps, and Tables:
For information regarding formatting of graphics such as illustrations, charts, graphs and tables, please refer to the American Mathematical Society’s document “Creating Graphics for use in Books and Journals”.

Copyright
If copyrighted material is included in the MRP (such as questionnaires, graphs, tables, maps, illustrations, web pages etc.), the student must submit a letter of permission from the copyright holder (i.e. the creator) granting permission to use their material.

All materials copied from web sites are considered to be copyrighted unless a statement on the site explicitly says otherwise, in which case a copy of that public domain statement must be submitted with your MRP. Failure to include proof of public domain or a permission letter from the copyright holder is a serious offence.

This letter of permission should be addressed to the student and a copy should be included at the back of each submitted MRP. Referencing or citing the material in the MRP is not sufficient. MRP with outstanding copyright infractions will not be accepted until corrected by the student.

The student is responsible obtaining a letter of permission early on in the process or this could delay the submission of their final copy of the MRP.

Abstract
All MRP must have an abstract included. The following technical guidelines must be followed:

Font size must be a minimum of 10 points and 10-15 characters per inch and the lines of text must be double-spaced, on one side of the paper only.
The size of the page(s) should be 8 ½” x 11” (21.5 cm x 28 cm), the text reading across the 8 ½” (21.5 cm) dimension.
The left-hand margin should be at least 1 ¼” (32 mm), and the remaining three margins at least ¾” (20 mm) to the main text.
Symbols, as well as foreign words and phrases, must be clearly and accurately displayed.
Do not include graphs, charts, tables, or illustrations in the abstract.

MRP first submission process

The student’s Supervisory Committee should approve the MRP before the formal submission to the SGS. Once approved, the student should send a digital copy of their MRP in PDF format to the School of Graduate Studies via email (sgs@nipissingu.ca). Once the MRP is received, the SGS will distribute the document to the members of the Examination Committee for review prior to the Defence.

The submitted copy must include a title page and must be presented to the SGS before the stated deadline

Examination Committee

Examination Committee composition

Each Master's MRP shall be examined by an Examination Committee, which shall consist of:

A Chair (either the Director of Graduate Studies or designate) who is not a regular member of the Supervisory Committee.
Research Supervisor and Second Reader (if applicable)
External Examiner

Process to select an External Examiner

It is the responsibility of the Research Supervisor to send a list of at least two names for External Examiners to the Graduate Advisor/Chair at least 4 weeks prior to the MRP/Thesis submission date, using the External Examiner Recommendation form.

The Research Supervisor should first attempt to provide names of External Examiners who are as much as possible selected from within the university, then the region, then from one of the Ontario universities before going nation wide or outside of Canada.

The External Examiner should be a graduate faculty member or someone with a status equivalent to a graduate faculty member and should be from outside the program or department, The external examiner must not have been involved with the supervision and direction of the MRP and must be in a position to render an objective and impartial assessment of the quality of the work.

Process to establish Examination Committee

The Graduate Advisor/Chair will issue a formal invitation to the External Examiner. After the External Examiner has accepted the invitation, the Graduate Advisor/Chair will send notice of the Examination Committee membership to the School of Graduate Studies using the Memo-Examination Committee Members.

Once the memo is received and approved by the Director of Graduate Studies, the School of Graduate Studies, in consultation with the Graduate Advisor/Chair and the research supervisor(s), will establish a time and place for the examination.

The School of Graduate Studies will send a copy of the MRP to the External Examiner at least two weeks before the examination, with a request to submit a written appraisal of the MRP using the External Examiner’s Report form no later than one week prior to the date of the defence. A copy of the External Examiner’s Report will be sent to the department Graduate Advisor/Chair.

Defence

Defence process

The Chair of the Examination Committee will make a brief introduction and will clarify the procedures or agenda for the examination.

The Student will make a presentation on the thesis/MRP, about 20 to 40 minutes in duration depending on the guidelines of the program.

Questions from the Examination Committee will begin. The order of the questions will vary between programs. The questions will normally occur in rounds, with each examiner asking a question for each round.

After the questioning is complete the Examination Committee will deliberate in camera the outcome of the defence and complete the Examination Committee Report form. After deliberations the Examination Committee Chair will inform the student of the outcome.

The Signature Page will be completed and signed in accordance with the Examination Committee’s decision as described below. The complete list of Examination Committee Decision definitions is also available on page two of the Examination Committee Report form.

Role of the Chair

The primary role of the Examination Committee Chair is to Chair the MRP oral defence to ensure procedural fairness and to assist the Examination Committee to reach a unanimous decision.

The Examination Committee Chair will also inform the student of the result of the MRP oral defence and will report the results to the School of Graduate Studies.

Examination Committee decisions

After the completion of the MRP oral defence question period, the Examination Committee will meet in camera to asses the students MRP and vote on a the possible outcomes to reach a unanimous decision. The possible outcomes of the MRP are as follows:

Unconditional Pass

Although corrections may be required, these are limited to very occasional grammatical or spelling errors, formatting problems, minor redundancies or omissions (e.g. transitional paragraphs, notes). After the defence, the marked copies of the MRP are returned to the student who shall make any necessary corrections.

The Research Supervisor ensures that the corrections are made no later than one (1) month from the defence date.

All members of the Examination Committee will sign the MRP Examiners’ Committee Report and the Signature Page at the time of defence except for the supervisor who will sign the Signature Page when the MRP amendments have been completed satisfactorily.

Pass conditional upon specific revisions

Revisions (i.e. correction of numerous grammatical or spelling errors; clarification of concepts or methodology, addition of sections) are required. The committee must provide the student, within five working days, with the MRP Examiners’ Committee Report, a copy of which must be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies.

This written statement will clearly and directly explain what changes the student must make to their MRP in order to make it satisfactory. Revisions made to the MRP should be sent to the Research Supervisor prior to being sent to the School of Graduate Studies.

The student will normally be given no more than two (2) months from the defence date to complete the revisions and to deposit a digital copy of the amended MRP to the School of Graduate Studies for redistribution to the Examination Committee.

Each member of the Examination Committee will sign the MRP Examiners’ Committee Report at the time of the defence. Once each member of the Examination Committee has reviewed the revised MRP, they will sign the Signature Page, indicating that the necessary amendments have been completed satisfactorily.

Fail with a provision to resubmit for another exam

Major revisions (involving a rewrite of large sections of the MRP because of significant problems related to the theoretical and/or methodological approach and/or interpretation of the results) are required. The student is required to revise the MRP and to submit the revised version for revaluation with a new Examination Committee. The outgoing committee must provide the student, within five working days, with a MRP Examiners’ Recommendation Report a copy of which must be submitted to the Director of Graduate Studies. This written statement will clearly and directly explain why the examiners found the student’s performance unsatisfactory on the written and/or oral components of the examination, as may be relevant. After the student has submitted the revised version for revaluation with a new Examination Committee, a new defence will be held. A student who is not recommended for the degree after the second defence must withdraw from the program.

Fail outright

This recommendation is given only when the MRP requires extensive and critical revisions, and when the MRP defence makes it clear that the student is incapable of making such revisions. In this case, the Chair will provide the student, within five working days, with a MRP Examiners’ Recommendation Report, detailing the reasons for the decision. A copy of this report will be sent to the Director of Graduate Studies, along with the examiners copies of the rejected MRP. Once a decision has been reached, the Chair will immediately invite the student back into the examining room and convey the decision.

After the defence

If the Examination Committee report requires changes to the MRP the student will have 1 to 2 months to complete the revisions based on the decision of the Examination Committee.

After all of the revisions have been completed a revised copy of the MRP will be submitted to the School of Graduate Studies. The SGS will forward the MRP to the Research Supervisor and/or Examination Committee members who will ensure all of the necessary revisions have been completed and will sign the Signature page. Upon receipt of the completed signature page, the School of Graduate Studies will notify the appropriate Dean of the completion of supervision

Once the student receives the signed signature page, it is the responsibility of the student to have their MRP formatted to the library’s guidelines.

Final submission technical requirements (required copies under review)

Once the student has received the required final signatures on the MRP Examination Committee Report and the Signature Page, indicating that all stated revisions have been made, the student must submit two digital copies and three bound copies of the revised MRP to the School of Graduate Studies.

One digital copy and two bound copies will be forwarded to the library, and one digital and one bound copy will held at the School of Graduate Studies.

Digital Requirements:

The CD or DVD copy should be placed in an envelope or jewel case and clearly labeled on the top right-hand corner with the students name (surname first), student number, title of MRP, degree, school and university. Label only the envelope or jewel case and not the disk itself.

The digitally reproduced copy should be submitted on CD or DVD ROM. A floppy disk or hard drive will not be accepted.

The document should appear in both Adobe PDF format and the format that the document was created in, for example Microsoft Word.

No compression or password protection should be used. No changes will be made to the document. Therefore, the burden of how the document looks when it is accessed or printed is entirely your responsibility. It is recommended that you assume responsibility for reformatting the document into Adobe PDF, checking the reformatted document for accuracy and for submitting the PDF document to the School of Graduate Studies.

If multimedia elements are used in the document, file formats should be identified in the MRP abstract. Acceptable file formats include the following:

Images: PDF (.pdf) use Type 1 PostScript fonts, TIFF (.tif) with a resolution of 300dpi for colour images, 600pdi for black and white images.
Video: Apple Quick Time (.mov), Microsoft Audio Video Interleaved (.avi), MPEG (.mpg)
Audio: AIF (.aif), CD-DA, CD-ROM/XA, MIDI (.midi), MPEG-2, SND (.snd), WAV (.wav)

Include the source files of multimedia elements included in your MRP.

Supporting documents should remain on paper and be forwarded in an 8.5 x 11 envelope. Those documents should include:

Title page
Author’s Declaration page (signed in the appropriate locations)
MRP Signature page
Abstract
Third party software licenses, if required
A description of software or other applications used to create the CD/DVD-ROM disk, including a list of files and file sizes on the CD/DVD-ROM disk
Letter of permission to reproduce copyrighted images, video, graphics, animation, data and images of individuals.
Signed Non-Exclusive License form

Bound Requirements:

The cost of MRP binding is the responsibility of the student.

The MRP must consist of a sewn volume with 24F Buckram cover. Gold stamping must be used for the cover and spine. The cover must be in the specific colour, dark brown OBV-650, with the font Tempo Medium Italic (or similar font), 24pt, in gold stamping. The bookbinders above are aware of the School’s colour and font specifications.

The front cover should read

The title
Author’s name
Program
Nipissing University
Year of completion of MRP

Graduation

In order for students to receive their degree or have their official transcripts indicate they have completed their degree, they must apply for graduation through the Registrar’s office. The application for graduation must be approved by both the Graduate Council and Senate before any changes are processed on the student’s transcripts. Please note that applications for graduation will not be approved until at minimum the digital submission requirements are met.

Resources

Binder’s contact information

Wallaceburg Bookbinding 95 Arnold St. Wallaceburg, ON N8A 3P3 Telephone: 800-214-BIND Fax: 519-627-6922	Van Huizen Book Binder & Finishing Ltd. 8 Hiscott St. St. Catherines, ON L2R 1C6 Telephone: (905) 682-1221 Fax: (905) 682-4814
Commercial Bookbinding 3011 Markham Rd. Scarborough, ON M1X 1L7 Telephone: (416) 291-9300 commercialbookbinding@yahoo.ca