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MSc Cyber Security: Individual projects

COM00163M (PCYB)

Format and submission

Please direct any queries about the information on this page to Dr Siamak Shahandashti, Programme Lead for MSc Cyber Security.

View previous version of this page:  Pre-2021/22

Marking criteria

Every project is different and has its own special characteristics. Hence we do not give a precise allocation of marks to each desirable characteristic of the report. Instead markers apply their professional academic judgement to each project to judge the importance of each topic, and the quality with which it has been covered.

Examiners will consider the quality of:

  • the introduction,
  • use of literature and citations,
  • approach and/or methods brought to the problem analysis and solution,
  • evaluation of the solution and consideration of its consequences,
  • reflective conclusions, and
  • quality of presentation.

Candidates should also show recognition of any relevant legal, social, ethical and professional issues ("LSEPI").

Sample Marking Form

View the sample marking form

Limits

The body of the report must be at most 50 pages.

This limit includes material that it is necessary to be read, such as lists of acronyms, to extract the full sense from the main body. It does not include material that is merely helpful, such as title, contents, acknowledgements, abstract. As a special case the bibliography is not counted.

Rules

  1. All source material that is used, whether by direct quotation or not, must be acknowledged, in the IEEE referencing style. See the University of York Academic Integrity site. (If you are an undergraduate student see section 5.7.1 of the Undergraduate Handbook. If you are a taught postgraduate student see section 4.7.1 of the Postgraduate Handbook. Both handbooks are available via the Handbook page).
  2. Reports must be typeset. If absolutely necessary, some formulæ or figures may be handwritten or hand-drawn, and then scanned.
  3. Reports must only be submitted in PDF, through the Teaching Portal, the Department's electronic submissions system. (Other formats, such as hard copy, PostScript, .doc, .docx, .rtf or similar, will not be accepted).
  4. Students must adhere to any word and page limits. Staff marking your project dissertation are instructed to stop reading when a limit is reached. (Quality is much more important than quantity; you should not aim to come close to the upper limit simply to make your report appear substantial).
  5. Do not include your examination number anywhere in your report.
  6. Main text must be written in Helvetica size 12pt font, the left and right margins should be both 4cm, the top margin should be 2.5cm and the bottom margin should be 4cm. The spaces between paragraphs must be 8pt, and the indentation of the first line of a paragraph must be 8pt. These dimensions are setup automatically if you are using the LaTeX or the Microsoft Word templates, so you must not change the pre-defined margin in these templates. In OpenOffice or a similar software, you will have to setup the margin manually as well as the paragraph separation. If Helvetica font is not available on your software, you should use Calibri or Carlito at size 12pt.
  7. The report must start with a title page, containing title, author, date, supervisor and wording to the effect that it is the report on a project submitted for the degree of such-and-such in the Department of Computer Science at the University of York.
  8. Subsequent pages must show the contents of the report; this must include a table of contents showing the title and page number for each chapter and section (or each section and subsection). The table of contents may be followed by a list of figures and/or a list of tables. The abstract should be provided after this information and before the main body of the report. Where appropriate, appendices may start with their own table of contents. Each main subdivision (chapter or appendix) should start on a new page. The bibliography must be after the appendices. Refer to the examples provided with the templates given below.
  9. All tables, figures and equations should be labelled or numbered. Where appropriate, separate lists of tables, figures and equations should be included at the start of the report. Conventions for labelling or numbering tables and figures should be applied consistently.
  10. Numbering of subsections to one level of decimals (e.g. 2.1) is desirable; numbering to two levels (e.g. 2.1.2) is acceptable. Numbering to further levels (e.g. 2.1.2.3) is not normally desirable. Conventions for headings and indentation at various levels should be applied consistently.

Templates

While correct formatting is your responsibility, the Department provides the following templates:

LaTeX Project Template (zip , 89kb)

Word Project Template (MS Word , 71kb)

Electronic Submission System

All project work is submitted through the Computer Science Teaching Portal.