Back to Individual Dissertation

General Areas of Interest for Supervising Projects

The types of projects that are within my competence are those related to algorithm design and software development, particularly in the areas of automated search and optimisation in order to find solutions to operational problems in business and industry. Examples of operational problems are: workforce management, office space management, scheduling tasks, scheduling events, automated visualisation of operations, generation of routes, curricula design, allocation of tasks to people, allocation of budget, etc. Many of these types of applications are related to solving difficult combinatorial optimisation problems and then applying artificial intelligence (e.g. heuristics and evolutionary algorithms) and/or mathematical programming techniques to tackle these problems. Similarly, projects that are focused on the development of learning tools, web applications, cloud computing solutions, mobile applications, computer games, etc. that have some relation to some real-world operational problem. I would also supervise projects in other topics of computer science if the project is within my interests and I feel competent to supervise the project. For a list of past projects that I have supervised see UG projects and PG projects.

Please contact me if you are interested in me supervising your project. I always prefer to have a face to face conversation before agreeing to supervise a project.

What is required to undertake the projects suggested here? One typical question is: is this project adequate for obtaining a high grade? and the answer for all projects listed here is YES BUT IT STRONGLY DEPENDS ON THE STUDENT'S COMMITTMENT TO DEVELOP A HIGH-QUALITY DISSERTATION. The projects listed here have the potential to carry out research and develop a computer system. You definitely need to do considerable programming but also search the literature, select, read and analyse sources of information (not only Google search). As a computing student you are expected to produce good quality computer code. At first sight, these projects might seem too challenging, particularly if you are not familar with the problems or techniques. However, these are project ideas for which I can offer specific guidance. But of course, I will not tell you exactly how to develop the project. Selecting a challenging project does not guarantee you to obtain a high grade, that is only a good start. It is your performance and achievements which will be reflected in the final grade.

Are these project ideas suitable for 60/40/20 credit dissertations? Most of the project ideas suggested here can be adapted for developing a dissertation according to the degree type (Master degree, UG single honours, UG joint honours, UG Major/Minor, etc.). Please refer to the corresponding handbook for more guidelines and the requirements that your project should meet according to your course.

Some of the ideas listed below have been taken in previous years as undergraduate or postgraduate projects but are listed here because there is opportunity for further developments in the same area.

List of Project Ideas

SORRY BUT I DON'T HAVE MORE PLACES FOR SUPERVISING MSC PROJECTS THIS SUMMER 2013