MSc in Mathematical Sciences and MMath in Mathematics Handbook (2025-26)

6.2. Dissertation Supervisors

Each dissertation topic will be associated with a member of faculty or a researcher at either the Mathematical Institute or the Department of Statistics. Based on your topic allocation, the associated individual will be your dissertation supervisor. For MSc students, it is possible that you might have the same individual acting as your departmental supervisor and dissertation supervisor.

The pattern of supervision should be decided with the supervisor, but students will normally have two meetings with their supervisors during Michaelmas Term, allowing work to be done on the project prior to the Christmas Vacation. These meetings are intended to be an introduction to the topic and an opportunity to discuss potential avenues of investigations. For these meetings, and possibly those in Hilary Term, those students who have also been allocated the topic will be in attendance. It is expected that students will meet with supervisors four further times in Hilary Term. These will serve as opportunities to update your supervisor on the progress of your dissertation and any issues you may have encountered. Your supervisor will be able to give suggestions on how you can overcome these issues, as well as advice on writing mathematics, if required. In total, you should have 6 meetings with your dissertation supervisor over the course of the year.

Dissertation supervisors will act as an assessor for the project, thus, will not complete a read-through of the final dissertation. However, your supervisor will attend your oral presentation and will be able to provide feedback on content towards the start of the Easter Vacation.