8/4/2019 Mid-Year Report Tips

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BIOLOGY4C09/4F06

SampleMidYearProgressReport

GeneralTips:

Adheretothedeadline OnecopytobesubmittedtoeachofyourSupervisorandCosupervisor(s) TheCourseCoordinatorandAdministratordoNOTrequireacopy Yoursupervisormayhavegivenyouadifferentframework,whichisfinebecauseyour

supervisoristheonlypersonwhowillmarkthiscomponentofyourthesis/project.

PLEASEMAKESURETHATYOUGETYOUROWNREQUIREMENTSCLARIFIEDFROMYOURSUPERVISOR.

1.WriteinaClear,FocusedandLogicalManner

Regardlessofyourwritingstyle,youneedtowriteinaclear,focusedandlogicalmanner.Use

correct grammar and punctuation, no slang please. When you have questions, you should

consultyoursupervisordonotmakeassumptions.

SuggestedLayout:

UseyourNovemberreportasastartingpoint,makethechangessuggestedbyyoursupervisor

afteritwasreadandgraded,andnowexpandthedocumenttoincludemoredata.

Thereportshouldbewritten1.5ordoublespaceusing12pointfont(TimesRomanorArialare

popularfonts).Use0.75inchmarginsallaround.

Coverpage 1page

Name,ProjectTitle,yourName,Student#,program,Supervisor(s)

Name(s),Date,Course

TableofContents 12pages

ListofFigures 12pages

Abstract 1page

Summarize your entire report: brief introduction, provide rationale for

studies, state hypothesis to be tested and/or objectives of project,

summarizeresults,concludingsentence(ortwo).

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Introduction 7 10pages

Startwithgeneraloverviewofthefieldunderwhichyourresearchfalls.

Thengetintospecificsanddetails.Usesubheadingstohelporientreader

toyourtrainofthoughtandlogic.Setthestagefortherationalebehind

yourproject.

Hypothesis Onesentence.

Objectives List34objectives,12sentenceseach.

Verybriefandsuccinct,pointform.

Methods&Materials2 4pages

Succinctlydescribethemethodsusedinenoughdetailsothatanother

studentcanrepeatyourexperiments.

Results Asmanypagesasnecessary(1015pages?)

Includedatatodate.SummarizebutdonotDISCUSSyourresults.

Discussion Asmanypagesasnecessary(510pages?)

Discussresultstodateinthebigschemeofthings.Whatdidyourdata

contributetotheresearchfield?Whatshouldbedonenexttoaddressor

clarifyunansweredquestions?

References Asmanypagesasnecessary.

PleaseuseanacceptedstylesuchasinthejournalsCell,Mol.CellBiol.,

J.CellScience,J.CellBiology. etc.oroneappropriatetoyourresearch

field.

Thisisajustasuggestedlayout. Ifpossible,takealookatthereportsofprevious4thyearthesisstudentsinyourlaboratory.Themoreeffortyouputintothisdocument,thelessyouwillhavetoworkonitinMarch2010,

andyoucanfocusyourwritingthenontheresultsanddiscussionaspectofyourthesis.

Afigure is worth a thousand words. If possible, include at least one model diagram thatcapturestheoverallresearchthemeofyourprojectorthelab.

2.HaveYourProposalEditedbyatLeastTwoPeople

Themorefeedbackthebettersincetheywillseeitfromdifferentperspectives.

Pleaseplanaheadandaskthegradstudents iftheyarewillingtodothisandmeetwhatever

deadlinetheygiveyouforgettingittothem.Remembertheyhavetheirresearchanddeadlines

aswell.

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Sincethereport isduethesecondweekof Jan, Isuggestsending ittothegradstudent(s)as

soonasyouarebackfromthebreak(ifnotbefore)withtheagreementthattheywillreturnit

to you by the Friday before the deadline so you will have the weekend to make all their

suggested changes and corrections. Feel free to make different arrangements with the

editors.Somegradstudentsmayaskyouforadraftsooner.Remembertheyaredoingyoua

favor!

3.PleaseBudgetYourTimeAccordingly.

Workwillexpandtofillthetimeallottedtodo it.Sosetconcretefinitedeadlinesandstickto

them. Thekeytoenjoying4th

yearisTIMEMANAGEMENT.

YoumustbudgetMeTimejustlikeyoubudgetstudying.

Use ittoreadoneresearcharticle,organizeyourweeklyschedule,runerrands,groceryshop,

fillinapplicationformsetc.

SaveblocksoftimeonSaturdays&Sundaysforstudying&writingratherthangroceryshopping

etc.

Cutbackonyourvolunteeractivities(shoulddonomorethan10hrs/week)