Honour School of Chemistry:
Chemistry Part II, 2012
Information for Candidates
1. Deadline for submission of theses
Two copies of your thesis must be handed in at the Examination Schools by 12 noon on Friday 8th June 2012 (7th Week of Trinity Term). You should address the package to The Clerk of the Schools, Oxford, for the Chairman of the Examiners in the Honour School of Chemistry (Chemistry Part II). This is a serious deadline, and you should schedule the preparation of your thesis to meet it: be aware that the final production of a thesis may take longer than you anticipate. If you are prevented by illness from completing your thesis in time you should apply, with an accompanying medical certificate, through the Senior Tutor of your College to the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors for permission to submit late. The authorities insist on precise adherence to the deadline, so anything from 12.01 pm is late and will involve inconvenient correspondence and possibly a penalty, which is out of the hands of the Examiners.
2. The content, form and style of theses
(a) The thesis should be a professionally produced research report, accurate, brief and clear, as far as possible free from spelling, grammatical and scientific errors, and properly presented. It should start with a title page followed by a short summary, a list of contents, acknowledgements, and (if appropriate) a glossary of abbreviations, acronyms, and any special terms used. The summary (not more than 2 pages) must be independent of the main text. The thesis should end with a brief (e.g. half-page) formal conclusion on the results.
The attention of candidates is drawn to the University policy on plagiarism, the web link to which can be obtained in the Undergraduate Course Handbook 2011/12 p 37.
In particular, all sources must be properly referenced in an appropriate standard form, and students are reminded that internet sources are not generally refereed and are not always reliable.
A signed Declaration of Authorship form must be completed and submitted in each bound copy of your thesis. This form can be download here "Declaration of Authorship Form"
(b) Each page of the thesis should be of A4 size with a text area of ca. 15 by 24 cm, double-spaced 12 point type being used for normal text, a normal density font should be used, such as Times New Roman or Calibri. A thesis based on experimental work should not normally exceed 60 sides (including figures, references, etc.); excessive length may detract from the value of the thesis and may be penalised by the Examiners. For the first time this year all candidates will be supplied with a template in either LaTex or MS Word which you can use as the template for your thesis, which can be downloaded here. Do not try to squeeze in more writing by using, e.g. smaller type, a narrow font, a larger typing area, or narrower line spacing. You are encouraged to use both sides of a page to produce a slimmer thesis. However, if you do so, it is essential to set margins to ensure that the verso page is fully and easily legible.
Any mathematical equations should be properly displayed, for example using Equation Editor or MathType in a Word document, or by using Latex. Figures should be large and clear enough to be easily legible, and figure captions may be in 10 point or italic font and separated by at least one blank line from the main text, in order to distinguish them from the main text. Tables should be in the same font as the main text, but the table caption should be distinguishable from the main text in the same way as Figure captions.
A thesis that is not based on experimental work may need to be longer than 60 pages; in the case of a historical thesis the agreed limit is 70 pages and for a theoretical thesis the agreed limit is 100 pages, but candidates are still strongly advised to be as concise as possible. You may put detailed tables, computer program listings, or similar material, into one or more appendices at the end of the thesis. Appendices will not count towards the length of the thesis and will not be evaluated by the Examiners. The pages of the thesis should be numbered sequentially, including those containing only figures or diagrams.
NB In the past, some theses have remained within the page limit by such artifices as reducing margin size, line spacing or point size. This is not allowed and students may find themselves being penalised. Last year one student was penalised for this. In addition, some theses have made excessive use of abbreviations and did not have sensible schemes for numbering schemes and figures. Please take time to organise the layout of your thesis professionally and appropriately.
(c) The thesis should be typed or word-processed, and the pages secured by stapling along the inside (left) edge and sealed to the spine of a flexible cover containing thermoplastic glue (your section will have further information).
N.B. Spring-back folders, ring binders and hard backed folders with screw fittings are not acceptable.
(d) The front cover of the thesis must be clearly labelled with the title of the examination (as given at the top of this notice), the title of the thesis, and your name and college. Your name, the title of the thesis (abbreviated if necessary), and college should also appear on the spine.
(e) CD Appendices
(i) Detailed information that is an important part of the research record, but which the examiners may not need to scrutinise, should be included as a CD, this being securely housed in a pocket on the inside of the back cover. In mind here are data such as those pertaining to crystal structure determination, the listing of code for a long computer programme, etc.
(ii) For any IT theses where the bulk of the work is only assessable in electronic form, this should be supplied on a stand-alone disc.
(iii) Any CD accompanying a thesis, for whatever reason, should be carefully checked for proper functionality and a copy deposited with the supervisor. The CD should be labelled unambiguously. The supervisor, or a delegated associate, should be asked by the candidate to check that the CD loads correctly on a standard PC platform before it is submitted with the thesis.
(f) Two copies of the thesis should be submitted; one will be returned to you at the end of your viva, and the other will be retained in the Examination Schools for one year and then returned to your section or supervisor. You are strongly advised to bring a further copy of the thesis to the viva.
3. Viva voce examinations These will be held in the Examination Schools from Monday, 25 June to Tuesday 3 July, inclusive. The main purpose of the viva is to assure the Examiners that you have carried out and understood the work described in the thesis, but you may be asked more general questions relating to your project. The viva may also provide an opportunity for you to clarify points in your thesis that were unclear to the Examiners. You should ensure that you are prepared to analyse the state of the project and to explain interesting points with the aid of suitable schemes or diagrams. Lists of candidates with times and dates of vivas is now on the web, except in cases of real emergency the timetable cannot now be altered. NB Last year several candidates were late for their viva, not only is this rude to the examiners, but candidates who are late will receive a shorter viva and will be unlikely to accumulate as many marks as they would have given the proper viva time. A candidate who is so late as to miss the entire slot is formally deemed to have failed the examination, and any rescheduling in these circumstances can only be made by permission of the Proctors. DO NOT BE LATE!
4. Communication with the Examiners
Direct communication between Candidates and Examiners before or after the viva is strictly forbidden except with me, via Mrs. Jupp, for matters relating to the viva timetable. All communications on other matters must be conducted through your college and the Proctors.
Nick Green
Chairman of Examiners,
Chemistry Part II 2012
May 2012
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