An MS thesis typically involves the implementation of working systems (or extensions or experimental evaluations thereof). In some cases, they may provide theoretical contributions instead. MS theses require a thorough literature review, are typically longer (30-50 pages), and represent the kind of research which could be presented at leading conferences in our field (ACL, COLING, NAACL, HLT, etc.). MS theses give experience with independent research as well as academic writing. The MS thesis is required for students who wish to petition for admission to the Department's PhD program, and encouraged for students who wish to apply to other PhD programs in the NEAR future.
Negative results (but not null results) will be accepted. That is, experiments showing the non-effectiveness of the technique studied are appropriate. Experiments whose results cannot be interpreted are not.
While the MS theses are normally completed in the summer, they are conceived of as year-long projects. For part time students, this is the schedule for the final year of study. Finishing in a quarter other than summer requires approval from your thesis chair.
Students who plan to finish in the summer quarter must have their thesis proposal approved and their committee constituted by 3/1 (with previous drafts submitted on 1/3 and 2/1). Students failing to meet deadlines between 1/1 and 6/15 may be "dropped" from the thesis track in favor of one of the non-thesis tracks.
| Late September | Orientation. MS thesis requirements presented |
| Late September | Fall quarter begins. Students are on the look out for topic areas of particular interest. Faculty are available to discuss where the open issues are |
| October | First graduation planning meeting: Faculty explain MS options. |
| Late Fall | Second graduation planning meeting: Faculty outline expectations for first thesis report, due 1/3 |
| 1/3 | Draft thesis proposal due. |
| 2/1 | Revised thesis proposal due. |
| 3/1 | Final proposal due. At this point, students are committed to pursuing this particular thesis topic. |
| 4/1 | Literature review due. Survey of strengths and weaknesses of previous approaches |
| 5/1 | Methodology chapter due. How will you approach the problem? How will you evaluate the results? |
| 6/1 | Interim presentation of results. Prepare slides for presentation at a roundtable discussion with other students. |
| 7/1 | Results chapter due |
| 7/7 | First complete draft due |
| 7/15 | Feedback from advisor and reader on first draft |
| 7/30 | Second complete draft due |
| 8/5 | Feedback from advisor and reader on second draft |
| 8/10 | Final version of write up, ready for signature |
The thesis proposals (drafts 1/3 and 2/1, final 3/1) should include:
A thesis write-up will typically involve the following chapters:
You will need to follow the university's formatting guidelines. A LaTeX style-file which is supposed to match the guidelines can be found here, but it is your responsibility to make sure that they are met. Note that the Degree and Program Name fields in the frontmatter should be filled in as "Master of Science" and "Department of Linguistics", respectively.
Here is some further information from the grad school on the thesis submission process.
The CLMS faculty will work to let you know about our own on-going research and areas in which students can find MS thesis topics. In addition, we are happy to advise projects that are separate from our own research yet still within our expertise. If you would like to work on something outside our area of expertise, you are encouraged to approach other faculty on campus and/or send proposals to relevant groups in industry where you may do an internship (and we will help you make those connections). Keep in mind that it is up to the faculty member or industry group to decide whether to take you on, and you'll need to sell your ideas to them. Note that faculty do not usually take on students whom they don't know. The best (and most common) way to get to know faculty is to take a course with them and participate actively (and do well!) in that course. You'll want to get started on this early. Your must have your topic and advisor finalized by 3/1.