Research Projects
Guidelines
The idea of a Research Project is to tackle a single topic (which could be composed of several intertwined problems) borrowed from recent research literature and spend time on researching references, doing computation, and writing a Report. This should allow students to:
- practice how a scientist really thinks - if you learn anything in school, it should be how to think; memorization is less useful since you can always look it up.
- get insight into the science of tomorrow which is not the science of yesterday; the new ideas of tomorrow, in any branch of science, will not come from just decades old physics.
- get experience in the same activities that Ph.D. scientists conduct on a daily basis.
When you have enough results to tell a coherent story, you should end the Research Project by writing (in a clear writing style, obeying the rules of grammar and spelling) and submitting a Report. The Report should be understandable to a person who has not done the assignment.
Tiny formatting errors bring rejection terror: Can incorrect formatting impact my manuscript acceptance? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. While most journals will not reject you solely for minor formatting errors. At the desk check stage, formatting inconsistencies can be the deciding factor between acceptance or rejection for top journals. Improper use of symbols, spacing errors, mistakes in reference style or incomplete figure legends can lead to desk rejection. Even if the paper is sent for review, formatting errors create a negative first impression, suggest a lack of attention to detail, and may delay the editorial process. Adhering to the journal’s formatting guidelines shows professionalism, respect for the editor’s time, and increases the chances of a smooth review and timely decision.
Format of the report for the midterm project
The midterm project should be finalized as a paper similar to research articles dealing with Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics posted every day on arxiv.org. The format of the paper mimicking this is:
- Title, Name of the person and affiliation, Abstract, Introduction, Models and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References.
- Paper should be typed in two column style. For this you can use:
- LaTeX (as offered by Overleaf) in the form of RevTeX style for Physical Review journals, as exemplified by: PHYS 824 template and the embedded EPS figure for this example. You can also find more examples of typing mathematical formulas in Math into LaTeX: How to Beautify Equations (and the embedded EPS figure).
- Open Office or Microsoft Word but with additional packages (such as MathType) so you can type professionally looking equations.
- The final report of the midterm project should be produced as a PDF file and emailed to the instructor, together with your Python, Matlab etc. codes (compress everything into a single file) before the deadline.
Format of the report for the final project
The final project will be reported through a Poster Session, during the final exam time, and it will also include peer reviewing. To make a poster, you can use this PowerPoint Template. Poster printing is available in Smith Hall and its cost will be covered by the Department.
