Master and Remainder (Part 1)

We’ve all realised the “Master and Commander” wordplay was a mistake. Let’s just move on shall we.

As it’s my last year in Leicester, I thought I’d give a little insight into how a final year MMath project works in the eyes of a student. But don’t worry, it’ll mainly be “how to avoid the pitfalls and mistakes” that I’ll inevitably make. I’ll also try as best I can to make it relevant to everyone, not just maths aficionados!

The first task, which is probably the most important, is actually finding a project. If you’re lucky enough (or lazy enough) to find one you enjoy from the holy list of pre-approved topics you get sent, then hats off to you. But if you’re one of the particular, fastidious people who had a specific project in mind (me included!), you’ll have to go the extra mile. So be prepared for an endless summer of sending out a countless number of emails to lecturers, who most likely won’t be able to help anyway. Fortunately, I received some really helpful advice from the Maths department here at Leicester and managed to organise a project in salary and regression analysis (Believe me, it’s as fun as it sounds).

I’m now in the early stages of my research, which involves setting out my objectives and creating a timeline of my milestones throughout the year. Trust me, if you get these right now, it should save a lot of work near the submission deadline.

Some tips I can give you from my first few months of my MMath:
-It’s good to have a project area in mind but be prepared to compromise
-Expect a lot of members of staff to be unavailable but be patient and you’ll find the right supervisor for you
-Set out your aims and goals for your project early on

So find out in Part 2 if financial data collection is as exciting as it’s cracked up to be and whether I’ve managed to finally leave the library. If you have any queries about what a Masters involves or any more general questions, feel free to comment below!