Submitting the Thesis Evaluation Request by MS/PhD Students (IIIT Hyderabad) : NOTES

Highlighted notes on:
Submitting the Thesis Evaluation Request by MS/PhD Students
(IIIT Hyderabad)

The thesis evaluation request should contain:
1. Essential details: name, roll no, advisors, key contributions
2. Synopsis: background, key references (2-3 pages)
3. Research resume: research experience, contributions, publications (in reverse chronological order), short abstract of thesis
4. Expert reviews: received from conferences of journals for the key publications (submit the reviews even if the paper was not accepted)

The complete thesis should be submitted within 2 weeks in a spiral bound (use LaTex/Word/PFD formats).

1. Academic Office




International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad
(Deemed to be University)

Submitting the Thesis Evaluation Request by MS/PhD Students

Materials to be submitted

The thesis evaluation request should contain the following in hardcopy:
1. The essential details about the thesis, such as name, roll no., advisor(s), key
contributions etc., as given in the request form (PDF version, LaTeX version, MSWord
version). Hints on the form are given below.
2. The synopsis or detailed summary of the thesis. This is expected to be 2-3 pages long
and can give a bit of background into the thesis as well as key references, if necessary.
Write the synopsis to be read by researchers not necessarily very familiar with your
problem area.
3. A research resume of the student, highlighting the research experience, contributions,
publications in the standard citation format in reverse chronological order, short
abstract of the thesis and other details. This should be the resume you want to send to
prospective employers for a research position. This resume with all relevant information
may be used as a guide, but feel free to improve it or to use your own styles and
appearance.
4. The expert reviews received from conferences or journals for the key publications and
submissions related to the thesis work. Submit the reviews even if the paper was not
accepted. They provide critical view on the work from experts outside of the institution
and can be a key component in quickly evaluating the research work. Submit a copy of
the submitted manuscript if the paper in question is not yet formally accepted.

The process starts with the submission of the above. The complete thesis should be submitted
within 2 weeks of this in a spiral bound. Thesis Template in LaTeX Format Word Format PDF
Format.


Time schedules

A representative schedule for a evaluating an MS thesis is given below. The times are given as
indications only.
• Thesis Evaluation Request: at least 1 month before defense.
• Thesis submission: at least 3 weeks before defense.
• Open presentation: at least 1 week before defense.
• Thesis Defense and approval by committee: To be completed by June 30th for July-
dated degree and November 30th for December-dated degree.
Doctoral dissertations are evaluated more elaborately and may need 2-3 months for evaluation
itself. The submission procedure to be followed is the same as given below.
Doctoral dissertation proposals are also evaluated elaborately and will need 1-2 months. The
submission procedure to be followed is the same as given below.

2. Academic Office


Expectations and evaluation of theses

It is difficult to quantify the expectations from a thesis, but research work that expands the
horizon of knowledge in the field is expected as part of MS/PhD theses. Critical evaluation of
the current scenario, conceptual suggestions towards improving it, and concrete validation of
those suggestions are all expected from a thesis, whether it is theoretical, experimental, or
system-building. The nature of the contribution expected is same for both MS and PhD, but
they differ in the depth of the contribution. The institute expects the thesis to be accepted by
the peer-experts in specific respective area. Peer review can be obtained in two ways:

• Publication in journals and focused conferences is the most recommended way to get
acceptance by the peer group. It is also the easiest way. This needs planning to
complete the work, write the paper, and send it to the conference as per their
deadlines. Reviews provided by the conference or the journal provide useful feedback
from experts. PhD students should definitely have a number of publications in journals
and top conferences before they think of submitting the thesis. MS students also can
get papers into conferences with a bit of early planning such that the decision of the
conference/journal is available by the time of the MS thesis defense. The reviews
received should be filed along with the evaluation request serve as peer-review.

• Sending the thesis by the PG committee for evaluation to 1-2 experts in the field to get
their opinion on the work is the other way. This is the method followed by the IITs, IISc,
and most universities in India. This may result in a long process, often extending to
months.
Requirements for formal completion of the degree


Instructions to fill the request form

Name, Roll Number, Advisors, etc: Fill in the details. If you are advised by more than one
faculty member including external ones, write all the names.

Key contributions: List the major contributions of the thesis. Rather than copying the whole of
the abstract of your thesis to this space, you should try to enumerate the contributions of the
work undertaken to the prior art. Every thesis should have a section/subsection on its
contributions in it anyway. List those out in this space. More details are included in the thesis
synopsis being submitted along with this form. The synopsis should briefly describe the
problem and its importance, should mention how it is related to the past efforts, and present
the key technques and results of the thesis. The synopsis is expected to be 2 pages long for MS
theses and 3-4 pages long for PhD dissertations.

Example 1:
1. Modified the quick-sort algorithm to speed up sorting when alternate elements are
odd numbers.
2. Provided a formal proof that the algorithm work and has better average-case
complexity.
3. Demonstrated the advantages on sorting voter registration list containing 1 million
entries.

3. Academic Office


Example 2:
1. Pointed out the deficiencies of the proposed IEEE 16514 standard in handling networks
containing between 100 and 200 nodes.
2. Carried out extensive simulations and established that the network indeed performed
suboptimally for the range of nodes.
3. Proposed changes in representing the node-tables to reduce the problem.
4. Communicated the suggestions to the standards committee.

Example 3:
1. Developed a system to display weather data on a Rs 5000/- PDA.
2. Modified memory allocation scheme on PDA so large climatic data could be
represented.
3. Modified display architecture so 24-bit colours could be mapped to 8-bit colours of PDA
with minimal loss in information
4. Implemented it on Taurus 500 low-cost PDA and tested for 25 different conditions.

Nature of the contribution: Contributions of a thesis could be largely theoretical/algorithmic
(which involves the development of a new theory or algorithm that alters the state of the art in
important ways) or largely experimental (which involves using experimental methods to
discover an important and previously unknown characteristic or property and can be the basis
for future development of better theory) or largely system building (which involves the
development of a system or parts thereof that provides significant improvement in
performance or functionality that wasn't available before). A good thesis would have high
marks on one of these dimensions and average marks in one or more of the other. It could also
be that a thesis gets very high marks in one aspect and zero in others. Average marks in 2 or 3
aspects and high marks in none are not signs of a good thesis. The contributions have to be
evaluated in the context of the degree sought. Thus, a PhD dissertation is expected to have a
deeper impacnt and significant results than a Masters thesis. The examples given above get
high marks respectively in theory/algorithms, experimentation, and system building.

Publications: Peer reviewed publications are the best means to establish the depth and
importance of one's research contributions. Theoretical, experimental, and system building
efforts are also published in top journals and conferences. Journals follow elaborate review
process and form the best way to establish the utility and novelty of the research for the long
term. Conferences provide the means to place the results in front of the peers in a shorter time
frame. They also provide the opportunity to present your work in person and to interact with
the peers. There are many journals and conferences. Conferences are taking place in large
numbers in our areas and tend to be of varying quality. Publications can take a few weeks to
get accepted and a few months to appear at the conference. For an MS thesis, there may not
be enough time to get a journal paper accepted there usually is enough time to get a feedback
on a conference submission. PhD dissertations take a long time for fruition and a student has
ample time to get a journal paper or two accepted. Roughly, the contributions of a Masters
thesis should be equivalent to a paper in a good journal or a domain-focussed conference. The
contributions of a PhD dissertation should be equivalent to two good international journal
papers: one accepted already and at least one more on significantly different work in the
review process. The different publication categories could be described as follows.

4. Academic Office

International Journals are journals with international audience and reach, published by reputed
publishers such as IEEE, ACM, Elsevier, Springer, etc. They have extensive review processes
with the participation of the top experts in the field and can take several months to decide on a
paper. They provide the stamp of the highest academic quality to the research. They are also
available at the libraries of most institutions of higher learning in the world, bringing wide
dissemination of the research work. Examples include the Transactions of IEEE and ACM on
various topics and other journals by Elsevier, Springer, etc., that have been existing for several
years.

Top conferences are conferences that are conducted and attended by many top researchers in
its focus area. A conference's quality depends primarily (if not solely) on the kind of people
running it and the effort they put into it. Tradition and history are perhaps the best indicators
for a conference's quality. No other factor (the "international" adjective, location of the
conference, sponsorship by "IEEE", low ratio of acceptance, etc) seems to have a direct
relation with its quality. Pressure to publish has resulted in a mushrooming of conferences
which makes the determination of quality all the more difficult. Top conferences are known to
the researchers from the tradition. Examples include: IJCAI, SIGGRAPH, FOCS, SIGMOD, ICCV,
STOC, ICPR, ISCA, etc.

Domain-focused conferences are focused on an area and is attended by a number of experts
who work in it. These could be a national or international conference or one held at the same
place every year. They follow a good review process and exercise quality control. They are,
again, distinguished by its tradition, the kind of people involved with them and the effort they
put in and not by being focused narrowly. Examples of these include SPCOM, FSTTCS, ICON,
ICVGIP, etc.

National Journals have limited scope and reach but with a review process involving local
experts. These provide archival but probably do not reach many universities outside the
country. Examples include journals by IETE, CSI, etc.

Dissemination conferences are meant for disseminating the results of the research to a wide
and often widely focused audience. Their areas of interest are wide and the review process is
often inclusionary. Many such conferences have been taking place in India of late. These
conferences are helpful in meeting a large cross-section of researchers from the country and
establishing a proof of publication. Their value as publications in one's resume may be low in
general. Examples of these include CIT, IICAI, ADCOM, ICSCI, etc.

Other conferences abound too which are conducted by institutions occasionally and follow
minimal review etc. They may be useful in meeting some of the researchers but may not help in
interacting with the top researchers. These include many workshops conducted by institutions,
seminars in connection with specific events, etc. Their value as publications in one's resume is
zero. Some of them, like the international multiconference that seemed to be held in fun places
every year, appear to be commercial ventures whose academic value may be negative!

System Building: Building large, complex, and useful systems involve serious effort and
learning. MS/PhD students are encouraged build such systems. However, innovation and
critical analysis are essential for a research thesis. A system-building thesis should provide new
insight into the system, the process of its design, conceptualization, and implementation, and
report the performance of the system on all kinds of test cases. A mere study of the the

5. Academic Office

problem and the description of the system that was built does not qualify for even an MS thesis
unless accompanied by the above elements. Most conferences, if not all of them, accept
system-building papers. Publishing them is the surest way to prove the stranding of your work
in the community to the world and to the committee.

Patents: Research work can generate patents on innovative aspects of the research or system.
These are very valuable. Typically, patents take years to grant but should be applied for at the
earliest opportunity and legally before any open publication of the work appears.

Demonstrations: Demonstration of parts or whole of the research at important forums is a way
to disseminate the activity as well as to get recognition for it. These could be at different
academic/technical events or forums. at IIIT's R&D Showcase, etc. Some conferences have
official demonstrations to which you can submit your system. These are reviewed by peers and
are given time/space at the conference. They get attention from peers and is a good way to
publicize your work as well as to get constructive opinion on it.

Software packages: Other forms of output of research could be useful software tools and
packages made available to the community either in the open source model or only as
executables. These packages may gain widespread acceptance bringing recognition to the
work and individuals behind it. Such packages could be directed at specific groups or could be
of wide appeal. Naturally, one can make many packages available for download, but nobody
will use them unless they are useful. The real achievement is in getting people to use it,
appreciate it, and give you feedback on it; the number of downloads is not the achievement.