Project Guidelines

Source: https://cce.iisc.ac.in/iken/mtech-online/project-guidelines/ Parent: https://cce.iisc.ac.in/iken/mtech-online/

Project Guidelines for M.Tech.(Online) Degree

Pre-requisites

• The project must be done individually.
• Students must have completed all core course credits in prior terms, before commencing on their project credits.
• The usual limits on the maximum course/project credits per term is applicable. Additional requirements set by individual PCCs are given below.
• Every project will have an internal company guide from the sponsoring organisation and a faculty mentor from IISc.

Internal Company Guide Selection

• Students should identify a guide from their company who can advise them on a problem of their interest.
• The internal guide will be responsible for monitoring the project progress on a regular basis.
• The internal guide must have a Ph.D. degree, or a Masters’ degree with 5 years of post-Masters’ experience.
• One internal guide from an organization can supervise at most 6 students.
• The internal guide and the student will work together to identify the project topic and the scope of work.
• Student must work with the same internal guide for the entire duration of the project. Any change in the guide due to exceptional situations must be approved by the PCC.

IISc Faculty Mentor Selection

• Students are encouraged to contact faculty in the EECS or the IDR division to serve as project mentors as they are likely to be most relevant. Some of these are listed under “Project Mentors and Interests” on the website, but any faculty from IISc can serve.
• Students are responsible for finding the faculty mentor and should start planning their project well in advance by identifying the topic, company guide and faculty mentor. If you are unable to find a suitable mentor despite sustained efforts, you may contact the respective PCC committee with: (1) Proof of having contacted and being denied mentorship, (2) The detailed problem statement and project plan, and (2) Contact details of the internal company guide. The PCC may suggest a few more names to contact. Use this as a last resort.

The faculty mentor will be responsible for: - Approving the project goals and work plan. - Answering high-level questions and give broad directions to the project. - Bringing in the needed academic rigour, and advice on what constitutes a good and acceptable thesis. - To conduct the mid-term and final evaluations, as approved by the PCC. - NOTE: If active guidance on the technical details of the project is sought from the IISc faculty mentor by the organisation, a separate IPR agreement for the retainer consultancy should be negotiated and put in place before the commencement of the project. IKEN and the PCC need to be informed of the same. Typically, completing this agreement takes about 1 term. So, if planning on such an IPR agreement, the student and organization should initiate this process 1 term before the first term in which the student plans to register for project credits. - One faulty mentor can guide at most 6 students at any point time, across batches. - Note:In case a faculty mentor goes on sabbatical or is otherwise unable to continue with the mentoring, a suitable alternate faculty member may be identified to take over, with the approval of PCC. Likewise, if a company guide is unable to continue with their supervision, an alternate company guide may be appointed with the approval of the PCC. In both cases, a fresh undertaking letter needs to be submitted to the PCC for approval.

Project Proposal

• The student should work with the internal guide to identify the project topic, the scope of work, and the schedule. This has to be approved by the faculty mentor.
• The proposal should motivate the problem being proposed, the specific questions to be addressed, an overview of the technical approach, the feasibility for completing the project, and a work plan with timeline.

• The guide and mentor acceptance letter and the approved project proposal and work plan must be submitted by the student to the PCC no later than the drop without mention date of the Phase 1 term of the project (See Annexure).

• NOTE: If you are unable to submit this before the drop without mention deadline, you must drop the project credits before the drop without mention in deadline for that term. Else you will receive a failing grade.

Project Schedule and Evaluation

• All projects span multiple terms, between 2-3 Phases depending on the stream, as given below.
• The project credits determine the level of effort required for each Phase. E.g., 8 project credits roughly translates to 8 hours of project work per week for about 12 weeks in a term.

• There will be one mid-term evaluation and one final evaluation.

• The mid-term evaluation will be conducted by a committee consisting of the internal company guide, the faculty mentor, and one other faculty member nominated by the PCC.

• The final evaluation will be conducted by a committee consisting of the internal company guide, the faculty mentor, and two other faculty members nominated by the PCC.
• The student shall submit to the faculty mentor a written report before the mid-term evaluation and the thesis report before the final evaluation. These should have been reviewed by the internal guide before submission.
• Before every evaluation, the internal guide must fill out a shortProgress Report (TBD) describing the quantum of work completed, context and the importance of the project work for consideration by the committee. This must be shared with the faculty mentor.
• During the evaluation, the student must make a presentation to the committee describing their work.
• The student and the company guide may attend the evaluation online.
• The project will be adjudged as satisfactory/unsatisfactory and will be given a Pass or Fail grade for the project credits. No letter grade will be awarded to the project.
• The standards for the project quality, and acceptable project work and thesis, are set by the PCC. These should be of the highest academic caliber for the award of a Master’s degree.

DSBA Stream

• Students must complete the 32 project credits over three consecutive terms (2 regular + 1 Summer), which form Phases 1, 2 and 3.

• In the AUG and JAN terms, students can register for 4, 8, 12, or 16 project credits, depending on the other course credits they are taking. In the Summer term, they MUST register for 12 project credits, and not take any other courses.

• The recommended plan is AUG+JAN+Summer as 8+12+12 or 12+8+12. E.g., In AUG or JAN, students can take (i) 8 project credits and up to 8 course credits, or (ii) 12 project credits and up to 4 course credits.

• One summer with 12 project credits must be fully dedicated to project work. No other course credits are allowed in this term.
• An alternative plan is to take 4+16+12 project credits. But with 16 project credits, no other course credits can be taken in a regular term.
• All course credits for the degree must be completed before the Phase 3 term of the project is taken up. No course credits are allowed to be taken in the Phase 3 term.
• The students will be internally evaluated at the end of Phase 1 term by the faculty mentor and the company guide.

• Once a student completes 20 project credits in the Phase 2 term, they will appear for the mid-term evaluation at the end of that term.

• In the recommended plan, this happens in Apr of the 2nd year.

• Once the student completes all 32 project credits at the end of the Phase 3 term, they will appear for the final evaluation at the end of that term.

• In the recommended plan, this happens in June of 2nd year.

• Publications in top-tier conferences or journals are encouraged but not mandatory.

ECE Stream

• Students must complete the project credits over two terms, which form Phase 1 (10 project credits) and Phase 2 (18 project credits).
• The Phases should be in consecutive terms. However, if Phase 1 was done in JAN, then Phase 2 should be done in AUG (skipping summer) since 18 project credits are not allowed in summer.

• All course credits for the degree must be completed beforethe Phase 2 term of the project is taken up.

• NOTE: Start Phase 1 of the project in a term only if all course credits will be completed before Phase 2 of the project starts in the next regular term.

• Students must register for 10 project credits in the Phase 1 term. Up to 2 other courses may be taken in this term, while keeping within the credit limits for a term.
• Students must register for 18 project credits in the Phase 2 term. This must be in the AUG or the JAN term. No other course credits are allowed in this term.
• Any faculty member from can serve as the faculty mentor. The project topic chosen needs to be broadly in areas related to ECE, and is subject to approval by the PCC.
• A mid-term evaluation will be conducted by a committee at the end of the Phase 1 term. This will evaluate the Phase 1 progress.
• A final evaluation will be conducted by a committee at the end of the Phase 2 term.

AI Stream

• The project should be completed over three consecutive terms: Phase 1 (3 project credits), Phase 2 (12 project credits)andPhase 3 (12 project credits).
• The students will be internally evaluated at the end of Phase 1 term by the faculty mentor and the company guide. A committee will conduct the mid-term evaluation after Phase 2 and the final evaluation after Phase 3.

• Project-Phase 1 (3 Project Credits)

• In this semester the students must finalize the project statement, internal guide and the faculty mentor.

• Students should prepare a tentative problem statement in consultation with their internal guide within 4 weeks of the start of the term. Based on the project statement, they should identify a faculty mentor also within 4 weeks from the start of the term.
• The student should finalize the guide and mentor acceptance letter and approved project proposal and work plan for the remaining two terms and submit it to the PCC by the drop without mention deadline for the term.
• The student should make a presentation at the end of the term to the internal guide and faculty mentor on this work plan and preliminary progress.
• Students are encouraged to take elective courses in this term that are relevant to their project topic.

• Project-Phase 2 (12 Project Credits)

• A mid-term evaluation will be conducted by a committee at the end of Phase 2 term.

• Project-Phase 3 (12 Project Credits)

• All course credits for the degree must be completed before the Phase 3 term of the project is taken up. No course credits are allowed to be taken in the Phase 3 term.

• A final evaluation will be conducted by a committee at the end of Phase 3 term.

Project Thesis

• The project thesis evaluated by IISc is a public document. Confidential information should not be placed in the thesis.
• Confidential information, if present and required to evaluate the merit of the project, may be included in the closed presentation to the committee during evaluation.
• Before submitting a thesis, the student is responsible for checking the thesis for plagiarism using relevant software that will be made available (e.g., Turnitin). In addition, the student should certify that they are aware of the academic guidelines of the Institute, have checked their document for plagiarism, and that the thesis is original work[1].
• The internal guide should ensure that proper methods are followed for experiments, computations and theoretical developments, and that data are properly recorded and saved for future reference. In addition, they should review the thesis carefully.

Intellectual Property

• Any IP that is generated by the student in the Project under the guidance of the company, shall solely vest with the company, unless guidance is also provided by the IISc faculty mentor. Prior to such guidance by the IISc faculty mentor, a specific agreement for the retainer consultancy and Intellectual Property Rights sharing shall be put in place.

[1] IISc Academic Integrity Policy, https://iisc.ac.in/about/student-corner/academic-integrity/

Annexure

• When Initially Registering for Project in Phase 1
• Project Proposal and Work Plan template (MS Word and PDF)
• Company Internal Guide Undertaking Form (MS Word and PDF)
• IISc Faculty Mentor Undertaking (MS Word and PDF)
• Midterm Project Evaluation Form (PDF)
• Must be signed by Company Guide, IISc Mentor and one PCC nominee, and PDF copy submitted to office.iken@iisc.ac.in by the notified deadline.
• Final Project Evaluation Form(PDF)
• Must be signed by Company Guide, IISc Mentor and two PCC nominees, and PDF copy submitted to office.iken@iisc.ac.in by the notified deadline.
• Template for Final Project Report(LaTeX and MS Word)
• Please use either the LaTeX template using Overleaf (prefered) or the Word template to prepare you final report and share it with the committee by the notified deadline.
• List of faculty mentors who have opted in, with topics