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Structure of the honours course

Structure

The honours year in mathematics and statistics consists of 120 credit points usually taken across two full time semesters (60 credit points each):  45 credit points are allocated to work on an honours project thesis (some potential projects that may be offered in 2009 are listed at the end of this entry) and the remaining 75 credit points consist of coursework units.  Further details are provided below.

Students must complete 120 credit points which includes either:

• MAT4THA (Mathematics Thesis A, 15 cp) and MAT4THB (Mathematics Thesis B, 30 cp)

OR

• STA4THA (Statistics Thesis A, 15 cp) and STA4THB (Statistics Thesis B, 30 cp)

The remaining 75 credit points consist of:

• STA4 (15 cp each) and/or MAT4 (15 cp each) honours level units (not including the thesis units).
• Up to two approved STA3 or MAT3 units (15 cp each).  Example of appropriate units include STA3SI (Statistical Inference, 15 cp) and MAT3TA (Topology and Analysis, 15 cp) for students who have not yet completed these units (or equivalent at other institutions).
• Up to two fourth year level units (15 cp each) from related disciplines where the units have sufficient mathematical or statistical content.  An example appropriate unit is ECO4ATE (Advanced Time-Series Econometrics, 15 cp) for students wishing to pursue an analytical career in finance.
• At least 45 credit points must consist of MAT4 and/or STA4 units (not including the thesis units).

Access Grid Room (AGR), Key Centre of Statistical Science (KCSS) and Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) summer school units offered from external institutions:

• MAT4ATA & MAT4ATB (Advanced Topics in Mathematics A & B, 15 cp each) are shell units that allow students to enrol in honours level AGR units or AMSI summer school units.
• STA4ATA, STA4ATB, STA4ATC, STA4ATD and STA4ATE (Advanced Topics in Statistics A, B, C, D & E, 15 cp each) are shell units that allow students to enrol in honours level KCSS units, honours level AGR units or AMSI summer school units.

The selection of MAT4 and STA4 units available to honours students is subject to enrolment numbers and student interest. 

Important note
All enrolments must be approved by the Mathematics and Statistics Honours Coordinator.

Thesis Work

The independence with which students conduct their project work is a significant part of the assessment of the thesis. The thesis supervisor is required to report to the honours examiners’ meeting on the level of independence. This being the case, students should endeavour to pursue their research topic as independently as possible, following up their own ideas and leads. However, students should balance the need to work independently with the need to complete the thesis on time.  If students find themselves unable to make any progress for more than a week, they should not hesitate to seek assistance from their supervisor. In any case, it is recommended that students report their progress to their supervisor at least once per week. The department has copies of honours theses from previous years. They provide a useful guide to the expected style and scope of an honours thesis. Supervisors can arrange to make copies available to students.

The department will provide a form of binding for students theses submitted for grading and storage.  Other appropriate forms of binding may be acceptable but must be paid for by the student and agreed to by the Honours Coordinator.  Three bound hardcopies of each honours thesis is to be submitted to the supervisor by the thesis submission date for assessment.  One of these will be returned to the student and one of these will be stored in either maths or stats departmental libraries.  A pdf version of each thesis should also be sent to the Honours Coordinator for electronic storage.

Facilities

• Each honours student will be provided with a desk for personal use throughout the duration of their enrolment.  The desk will be situated in a room nominated for use exclusively by Honours and/or Masters by Coursework students.
• Each honours student will also be provided with a computer for personal use throughout the duration of their enrolment.  The computer will include all relevant freeware and software that is provided to undergraduate students within the department’s computer laboratories.  The installation of software packages that require individual licence agreements (such as MATLAB) may be requested but must also be agreed to by the Head of Department in consultation with the relevant thesis supervisor.
• Students will have after-hours building access via their student identification card. 
• Each room designated for exclusive honours student use will include a printer connected to all computers within the relevant room. Each student will be provided with two reams of white A4 paper for personal use.

Preliminary and Final Talks

1. Preliminary talks
   • Each honours student will give a 10 minute presentation outlining their chosen topic once they have completed one semester’s worth of work on their honours thesis.
   • For students who commence the honours program at the beginning of the academic year, these talks will be held towards the end of 1st semester on a day and time determined by the Honours Coordinator.
   • For students who commence honours mid-year, these talks will be held towards the end of 2nd semester on a day and time determined by the Honours Coordinator.
   • These preliminary talks are not graded and therefore do not form part of the honours year assessment.  They are, however, compulsory for all students.

2. Final talks
   • Each honours student will give a 20 minute presentation detailing work that they covered in their thesis topic.
   • For fulltime students who commence the honours program at the beginning of the academic year, these talks will be held towards the end of 2nd semester on a day and time determined by the Honours Coordinator.
   • For fulltime students who commence honours mid-year, these talks will be held towards the end of 1st semester the following year on a day and time determined by the Honours Coordinator.
   • These final talks are not graded and therefore do not form part of the honours year assessment.  They are, however, compulsory for all students.

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