Examination

The Part II thesis is examined by thesis and orally usually in 9th or 10th week of Trinity Term.

PDF Schedule of Vivas 2011

There are guidelines on what the examiners are looking for in a Part II thesis. These guidelines were written by Professor George Smith, Chairman of Part II Examiners 1999-2000.

Guidelines for Preparation of Part II Thesis

Extract from the Examination Regulations for the Honour School of Materials Science Part II:

'Every candidate for Part II is required to submit three copies of a report on the investigations which he or she has carried out under the direction of his or her supervisor. The report on the investigations shall also include a literature survey, a brief account of the project management aspects of the investigation, and a description of the engineering context of the investigation and should be accompanied by a signed statement by the candidate that it is his or her own work. The copies should be handed in to the Chairman of the Examiners in the Honour School of Materials Science, Part II, c/o Head of Examinations and Assessments, Examination Schools, High Street, Oxford, not later than noon on the Wednesday of the seventh week of Trinity Full Term. The report shall be word-processed or typewritten on A4 paper (within a page area of 247 mm x 160 mm, using double line-spaced type of at least 11pt font size, printed on one side only of each sheet, with a left hand margin of at least 30mm) and presented in a binder. The main report should not normally exceed 15,000 words together with a maximum of a further 1,500 words for the reflective account of the project management aspects of the investigation that must be included in the final chapter. These word counts exclude references, title page, acknowledgements, table of contents and the three Project Management Forms. Additionally, the main report should not normally exceed 120 pages in length (including an abstract, the text as defined above for the word limits, the three Project Management Forms, computer programmes, graphs, diagrams, photographs, tables, and similar material). All pages of the report should be numbered sequentially. The report must be accompanied by a signed declaration that it is within the allowed word and page limits. Candidates seeking permission to exceed the word and/or page limits should apply to the Chairman of Examiners at an early stage. Further detailed data, computer programmes and similar material may be included in one or more appendices at the end of the main report, but appendices are not included within the limits of the word or page counts of the thesis and, entirely at the discretion of the Examiners for each report, may or may not be read. '
  • The word limit is 15,000 words for the main body of the thesis, plus 1,500 words for the mandatory final chapter containing an account of the project management aspects of your investigation. Word counts exclude references, title page, acknowledgements, table of contents and the three project management forms. N.B. The Exam Regulations do not explicitly exclude figure captions, and so they should be included in the word counts.
  • The page limit is 120 pages. Page count includes an abstract, the text as described in the word limits above, the three project management forms, computer programs, graphs, diagrams, photographs, tables and similar material. All pages of the thesis should be numbered sequentially.
  • If you feel that you have an exceptional case for exceeding the word and/or page limit, and you wish to seek permission to do so, both you and your supervisor should contact the Part II Coordinator who will put your case to the Chairman of Part II examiners. Such a case should be made at the earliest possible stage. The Examiners will enforce the word limit strongly, and any thesis submitted over the word limit may be subject to penalties.
  • Appendices: the purpose of the above word and page limits is to prevent the excessive inclusion of material that is unnecessary for development of the key argument(s) of the thesis. Material which is additional to the main body of the thesis, e.g. further detailed data, may be included in appendices. However, whilst examiners are required to consider the main body of the thesis, whether they read appendices is entirely at their discretion.
  • The thesis must include:
  • a one-page abstract;
  • a literature survey;
  • a brief account of the Engineering Context/Relevance of your project (a requirement of Accreditation);
  • a final chapter containing an account of the project management aspects of the investigation;
  • a declaration of authorship form Word signed by the candidate that it is his or her own work and that it adheres to the previously described word and page limits.
  • The thesis must be submitted to the Chairman of the Examiners in the Honour School of Materials Science, Part II, c/o Head of Examinations and Assessments, Examination Schools, High Street by 12.00 noon on Wednesday of week 7 of Trinity Term.
  • Three copies must be submitted.
  • The thesis must be word-processed or typewritten on A4 paper. The text should fit within a page area of 247 mm x 160 mm (i.e. top and bottom margins totalling 50 mm, and left and right margins totalling 50 mm) with a left hand margin of at least 30 mm (for ease of reading after binding). The thesis should be printed/typed on one side of the paper only. The text should be double line-spaced. The typeface should be of at least 11pt size.
  • The thesis must be presented in a binder. Paula Topping (Teaching labs) will assist with the binding in 7th week.
  • The viva voce examination is normally held in 9th or 10th week of Trinity Term. Please keep these weeks clear in your diary.
  • Following the formal submission of your thesis to the examiners, you are requested to submit to the Department Librarian 2 CD-Roms each containing an electronic version of your thesis. Please see the section on “Leaving the Department” later in this Handbook. This requirement is not a part of the formal examination process.

Marking

The Part II contributes a maximum of 400 marks towards the total of 1200 marks for the whole degree.

Your thesis will be read independently by two internal examiners, who will each allocate a provisional mark before the viva. The markers mark according to a set of guidelines.

Each thesis will be read by one of two External Examiners.

Those 3 marks are declared to all the examiners just before the viva begins.

After the viva all the Part II examiners discuss the 3 marks from the two internal and one external examiners and agree collectively a mark out of 400.

It must be stressed that in order to preserve the independence of the examiners, you are not allowed to make contact directly about matters relating to the content of the exams or the marking of coursework. Any communication must be via the Senior Tutor of your college, who will, if he or she deems the matter of importance, contact the Proctors. The Proctors in turn communicate with the Chairman of Examiners. If you have any queries about the Examinations or anything related to the Examinations, for example, illness, personal issues, please don’t hesitate to seek further advice from your College tutor, or one of the Department’s academic support staff.

Part II Prizes

Part II Talks

There is a prize of £400 and a medal from The Worshipful Company of Ironmongers for the best talk.

Best Project

The Armourers and Brasiers’ Company award a medal and a prize of £250 for the best MS Part II project.

The award is based on the recommendation of the Part II examiners, after the examination of the Part II thesis is completed.

The Armourers like to award the prize and medal at a formal presentation by one of their senior people, on a public occasion.