The Report

The report should show evidence of understanding the nature of the problem studied, and contain reasons for the chosen solution - typically a survey of possibilities with their advantages and disadvantages, leading to a reasoned choice; it should also contain a detailed account of the work done, with a sound discussion of its significance or effectiveness, and some reference to the literature. The appendices may contain implementation details (for instance, computer programme listings).

The final report will be around 50-60 pages while the mid-year report will be around 25-30 pages, both excluding appendices. But you may consider something smaller or larger if you think it is appropriate. Talk to your academic supervisor about the contents and length. The report should contain a one page abstract that summarizes the contents of the report.

LaTeX is a good document preparation system for producing reports. If your report involves quite a bit of mathematical symbols and equations, do consider using LaTeX. You may also consider the EPUB format for your report. EPUB is essentially HTML, and therefore easy to author using an HTML editor of your choice (e.g. Visual Studio).

You must check the report for spelling and grammatical errors. A first-pass is easily done using automatic tools. You then need to carefully proof-read your report. It may be useful to get one of your friends to help you with proof-reading.

The mid-year report is due on the first working day after the last teaching week of the first semester, while the final report is due on the first working day after the last teaching week of the second semester.