Senior Thesis
Students electing to pursue a senior thesis will take CMSC B400, supervised by a faculty advisor, in addition to CMSC B399. Students working with an outside advisor (non BMC or HC) must have a BMC co-advisor. Students completing a senior thesis are required to submit a proposal by Nov. 15 in the fall semester of their senior year and register for the course CMSC B400 (Senior Thesis) for the spring semester that follows. More details regarding a Senior Thesis are presented below. CMSC B400 is optional and can not be used to fulfill any major/minor requirement.
Senior Thesis Topic/Proposal
A senior thesis has an expectation of producing new knowledge or advancement in a specific research area, and working with oral and written exposition of advanced material, culminating in a written report. Theses are typically carried out in the research areas of department faculty.
Identifying a topic typically starts before senior year. We suggest approaching faculty in the spring semester of your junior year. Students are required to submit a (one-page) thesis proposal by Nov. 15 in the fall semester of their senior year, outlining a research topic, together with a faculty advisor, a problem description, proposed direction/methods and a list of references.
Choosing an Adviser
To help develop their ideas for a thesis, students should engage their professor(s) in the process in the spring semester of their junior year. The advisor can help students with outlining the scope of the project, selecting background reading, computing materials, software, and other logistics. Students should make sure that they set a weekly meeting time to meet with their advisors.
Timeline
Spring Semester of Junior Year: Typically, planning for a senior thesis should begin then. Students can subsequently spend the summer doing background research on the topic before finalizing a specific thesis project. Excellent Summer Research opportunities are available at Bryn Mawr and at other national and international venues. Consult with your advisor about these.
Fall Semester of Senior Year: Students can spend this semester doing initial feasibility studies and further honing their projects. Try and meet with your thesis advisor(s) at least once every two weeks, if you have one. Generally, most good theses begin their work in earnest by the end of the fall semester. With the advisor’s assistance, a student can arrive at a specific proposal (a one-page abstract) that describes the thesis. You are required to submit a thesis proposal to the department by Nov. 15.
Spring Semester of Senior Year: Enroll in CS 400 (Senior Thesis) and work with the guidance of your advisor. Submit a senior thesis and give a presentation in the final two weeks of the semester.
Honors in Computer Science
Departmental honors are awarded to recognize excellence in the major, which is signified by an outstanding academic record (GPA of 3.8+ in the major) and the successful completion of a Senior Thesis.
For consideration for Honors in Computer Science, students should request their thesis be reviewed by a faculty committee of three at the time of submitting the final thesis. The department will award honors based on the thesis reviews according to the following criteria:
- original research contributions
- publishable or near publishable results
- well written thesis