The MBC information booklet - RMIT University

11.3.17 Intellectual
Property
11.3.18 Guidelines to
Examiners of a
Minor Thesis
11.3.19 Guidelines to
Examiners of a
Minor Project
Chapter 11: Minor Thesis/Project
Subject to any employment relationships between the University and a student or any
provision under the next paragraph, any intellectual property created by a student is
owned by that student.
Where a student contributed to the development of intellectual property as part of a
research or other project involving other students or members of staff or uses existing
University intellectual property, the contributors to the creation of the intellectual property
associated with that project will be recognised. Where a student is involved in a project
or specific commission in respect of which the University or any party to an agreement
with the University has provided funds, equipment, facilities or supervision the University
may require the student to be a party to an intellectual property and/or confidentiality
agreement before commencement.
The University may require that public access to a thesis be restricted for a specified
period to enable the student, the University and any outside funding bodies to benefit
commercially from the results of a research project.
The following are the criteria which the examiners will use to assess your thesis.
1. Is the thesis written according to the guidelines described in this document?
2. Is there an adequate summary?
3. Is there an adequate literature survey?
4. Is the thesis relatively self-contained?
5. Are the results presented in a proper scientific manner?
6. Is there an adequate conclusion?
7. Is the problem and background clearly defined?
8. Is the approach to be followed in solving the problem and the objectives clearly
defined?
9. Does the thesis demonstrate a general understanding of the field of study?
10. Is the work done original? That is to say, is the work that of the candidate and does
the work constitute something that has not been done before? Original work can
include that which verifies an existing theory in a new situation.
11. Is the work a contribution to the field of study?
12. Has the work shown a development in the application of knowledge?
13. Does the thesis demonstrate the candidate’s ability to undertake systematic
supervised enquiry?
The following are the criteria which the examiners will use to assess your project.
1. Is the project written according to the guidelines described in this document? That
is:
• Is there an adequate specification?
• Is there an adequate literature survey (where relevant)?
• Is there an adequate design?
• Was a proper testing regime employed?
• Is there an adequate conclusion?
2. Is the problem and background clearly defined in the introduction?
3. Does the project demonstrate the candidate’s ability to undertake systematic
supervised project work to a high standard?
4. Is the program relatively free of bugs?
5. Is the user manual satisfactory?
Examiners will not be expected to make a judgement of whether the project is a worthy
piece of work, rather, they should pass a project on the basis that the specification of the
problem (and its value) has been determined by the supervisor. The examiner’s role is to
determine if the work has been done professionally and to a high standard.
Usually, there will be a two stage process:
• First, the examiner will read and possibly comment on the documentation
• Next, the examiner will take a “test-drive” of the software. The test drive may or
may not involve the student. At some stage, the examiner may choose to test the
software in the presence of the student and supervisor.
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