FAQ

This is the faq question where you will find answered for most commonly asked questions. Kindly note all questions are organised based on subject groups and we will keep adding more questions and subject groups if we feel more students could benefit from the answers of these questions.

• Do I always own the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of my project?
• The answer is No as it depends on many aspects. If you don't have any client in your project, you own the IPR. If you have a client, you may wish to check them first. Don't forget you can always approach your supervisor and the Project Coordinator for advice.

• What are the options that I can suggest to my client if they have privacy and confidentially concerns about my project dissertation?
• Usually your client will suggest you what you should do but please remind them your project must be presented to the examiners in full for assessment and your supervisor needs to know everything about your project. Just remember you should not have an agreement with your client without letting us know as your project is a final year project required as part of your undergraduate study at BU. There are a number of options depending on the level of concerns. (1) You can supply a shortened form of the report together with an additional document that contains the restricted information. The two documents are used for marking, but only the shortened report goes in the Project Library. (2) You can inform us to exclude your dissertation from the Project Library. In that case, the only people who will read it will be your supervisor, any second marker and the external examiner(s). (3) You may agree to assign IPR to the client wholly or, in part. Be careful with this. Consult your supervisor if in doubt.(4) You can enhance the security/confidentiality by using non-disclosure agreements between the external party and the supervisor, second marker and external examiner.

• My client is asking me to provide a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA), where can I get it from?
• It should be the responsibility of the client to provide the form. Your supervisor or the Project Coordinator has no responsibility to provide them.

• Who should sign the NDA?
• Usually it should be you, your supervisor and the client. Make sure the party in the NDA is your supervisor *not* the university.

• Can I use my placement firm for a project?
• If you got an idea for a project from your placement company, it is absolutely fine. In fact, we always encourage it. However, you need to make sure that you have access to the company and whatever it is that you are going to build/research/update. We always advise students to ensure there is someone in the company who will look after your interests. Make sure you have a Plan B. For example, what happens if your client/company or friendly support gets busy and you no longer have access/feedback etc. There might be copyright issues (typically with large companies), so please also check the copyright section and discuss this with your supervisor.

• I cannot think of anything for my project, so help!
• Please look at our project wiki for more ideas. Don't forget you can always approach your supervisor and the Project Coordinator for advice.

• I have a project idea so what next?
• If you have identified a possible project but need advice, please approach any available supervisor on the list of available supervisors. Please make sure you make an appointment with them for a face-to-face meeting rather than sending a long email. Note once a supervisor has reached their quota they will not be available to take extra projects. In that case, please do not contact them.

• How do I know if my project is valid?
• Please have a look at the project handbook or ask your potential supervisor (in person) or the Project Coordinator. Think about the remit of computing (whether the project can be done by a non-computing student) and think about your degree title.

• I am doing BIT, do I always need a client?
• First of all, you always need a real-world business problem. Even if you don't have a real client, you should have a potential client and as long as you can justify the problem, it will be fine.

• Can I have a written artefact instead of a development?
• Yes you can but you are recommended to examine the nature of your project carefully and check the project infosheet. Note we are in a computing department so no matter which artefact you are going to produce, it *must* reflect the remit of computing.

• When should I start my project?
• The earlier the better. Once your project proposal and the ethics checklist get approved by your supervisor, you are free to start your project at any time. We always recommend students to consider in their planning for doing some light project-related activities such as doing background research, reading more about the problem domain, meeting with your client to discuss some details (if you have a client), refreshing your knowledge, etc.

• I don't know any (most) of the supervisors so how do I find out about them?
• Since the list contains all available academic staff in our department, there will be a possibility that you do not know some of them. If you are a direct entrant, everyone is new to you. The best idea is to have a look at the supervisor interests and the projects suggested by them as well as the external projects, make appointments to see them and then make a decision about if you will be happy working with that supervisor.

• I now know whom to contact, but how do I approach them?
• We strongly recommend you email them for making an appointment. Please do not write a long email explaining your idea and interests and ask them whether they will be interested. Most of us would like to see a student in person and have a chat with them before deciding whether we would like to supervise the student.

• What is the policy of word count?
• The policy is simple, everything in the main body except for the figures and tables should be counted towards the word limit. Note using large table to bypass word count limit will be penalised. Please check Brightspace and look at the Project Handbook.

• I have an unanswered question what shall I do?
• Check the Project Handbook first.
• If you cannot find the answer, then contact your supervisor.
• If you still cannot find the answer, then contact the project coordinator via email.