Chapter 1 · Practice 4 of 4
Decide whether it is a development project or a research project
Why it matters
Many departments recognise two kinds of final year project, and they are judged differently. The FAST School of Computing handbook, for example, separates development FYPs from R&D-based FYPs and gives each its own report structure.
| Development project | Research (R&D) project | |
|---|---|---|
| Main output | A working system for real users | A new or improved approach, with evidence |
| Typical chapters | Vision, requirements, iterations, implementation, user manual | Literature review, proposed approach, experiments, results |
| Success means | It works, users can use it, requirements are met | Results are measured, compared and explained |
Pick the type deliberately and say it in the proposal. A project that wants to be both, such as "build a full app and also invent a new algorithm", usually does neither well in two semesters. If your idea has a research core, keep the app around it small.
Do
- State the project type in the proposal
- Read your handbook for how each type is evaluated
Avoid
- Mixing a full product and a research contribution with no priority between them