STUDENT HANDBOOK 2018-19 - MSc Pure Mathematics Faculty of Natural Sciences Department of Mathematics - Imperial College London
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Faculty of Natural Sciences
Department of Mathematics
MSc Pure Mathematics
STUDENT HANDBOOK
2018-19
Contents
Welcome to the College ........................................................................................... 3
Our Principles ........................................................................................................... 4
Welcome from the Graduate School....................................................................... 5
The Graduate School ............................................................................................... 6
Welcome from the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) ............................................ 7
1. Introduction to the Department ........................................................................ 8
Welcome from the Head of Department .................................................................. 8
Welcome from the Director of Postgraduate Studies ............................................... 8
Welcome from the Programme Director .................................................................. 9
Academic and Administrative staff ........................................................................... 9
English language requirement .............................................................................. 10
Attendance and absence ....................................................................................... 10
Key dates 2018-19 .................................................................................................. 10
2. Programme Information .................................................................................. 11
Choice and approval of courses and the project .................................................... 11
Work on the project ............................................................................................... 13
Written report ........................................................................................................ 13
Submission of the written report ............................................................................ 15
Imperial Mobile app ................................................................................................ 15
Imperial Success Guide ......................................................................................... 15
3. Assessment...................................................................................................... 16
Overall Course Assessment .................................................................................. 16
Mastery Question .................................................................................................. 16
How Module Marks are Determined ...................................................................... 16
Assignments and Projects ..................................................................................... 17
Submitting Assessed Work .................................................................................... 17
Collection of marked assessed coursework ........................................................... 17
Marking of the written report .................................................................................. 18
Oral presentation ................................................................................................... 18
Title of degree ....................................................................................................... 19
Class criteria ......................................................................................................... 19
Re-sit rights ........................................................................................................... 19
Instruction to Candidates for Examinations ........................................................ 20
Plagiarism ............................................................................................................. 20
Collusion: .............................................................................................................. 20
Exam offences ...................................................................................................... 20
Dishonest practice ................................................................................................. 20
4. Board of Examiners ....................................................................................... 21
Board of Examiners ............................................................................................... 21
External examiners................................................................................................ 21
5. Location and Facilities .................................................................................... 21
Facilities ................................................................................................................ 22
Maps ..................................................................................................................... 22
Accessibility........................................................................................................... 22
6. Working While Studying ................................................................................. 23
7. Health and Safety............................................................................................. 23
The College Safety Department ............................................................................ 24
8. College Policies and Procedures ................................................................... 24
Regulations for Students ....................................................................................... 24
Academic Feedback Policy ................................................................................... 25
Provisional Marks Guidance ................................................................................. 25
Late Submission Policy ......................................................................................... 25
Academic Misconduct Policy and Procedures .................................................... 25
Appeal and Complaints Procedures ..................................................................... 25
Student Disciplinary Procedure ............................................................................ 26
Intellectual Property Rights Policy ....................................................................... 26
Use of IT Facilities .................................................................................................. 26
9. Well-being and Advice .................................................................................... 27
Student Space ........................................................................................................ 27
Departmental support and College tutors ............................................................ 27
Advice services ...................................................................................................... 27
Health Services ...................................................................................................... 29
Disability Support................................................................................................... 29
Library and IT ......................................................................................................... 30
Religious support ................................................................................................... 30
Support for International Students ....................................................................... 31
10. Student Records and Data .............................................................................. 32
11. Work-life Balance............................................................................................. 33
Imperial College Union .......................................................................................... 33
Graduate Students’ Union ..................................................................................... 33
1
Physical Activity Sport ........................................................................................... 33
12. Student feedback and representation ............................................................ 34
Feedback from Student ......................................................................................... 34
Student Representation ......................................................................................... 34
Staff-Student Committee ....................................................................................... 34
13. Student Surveys .............................................................................................. 35
14. And finally ........................................................................................................ 36
Alumni Services ..................................................................................................... 36
Opportunities for Further Study ........................................................................... 36
2
Welcome to the College
Congratulations on joining Imperial College London, the only university in the UK to focus exclusively
on science, medicine, engineering and
business.
From Fleming’s discovery of Penicillin to
Gabor’s invention of holography, Imperial
has been changing the world for well over
100 years. You’re now part of this prestigious
community of discovery and we hope you will
take this opportunity to make your own
unique contribution.
We’re committed to providing you with the
very best academic resources to enrich your
experience. We also provide a dedicated
support network and a range of specialist
support services to make sure you have
access to the appropriate help, whether
that’s further training in an academic skill like
note taking or simply having someone to talk
to.
You’ll have access to an innovative range of
professional development courses within our
Graduate School throughout your time here,
as well as opportunities to meet students
from across the College at academic and
social events – see page 6 for more
information.
We actively encourage you to seek out help when you need it and try to maintain a healthy work-life
balance. Our choice of over 380 clubs, societies and projects is one of the largest of any UK
university, making it easy to do something different with your downtime. You also have access to gym
and swimming facilities (following an annual fee of £30 in 2018-19) across our campuses.
As one of the best universities in the world, we are committed to inspiring the next generation of
scientists, engineers, clinicians and business leaders by continuing to share the wonder of what we
do through public engagement events. Postgraduate students, alongside our academics and
undergraduate students, make a significant contribution to events such as our annual Imperial
Festival and our term-time Imperial Fringe events – if you’re interested in getting involved then there
will be opportunities for you to do so.
3
Our Principles
In 2012 the College and Imperial College Union agreed ‘Our Principles’ a series of commitments
made between students and the College. The Principles are reviewed annually by the Quality
Assurance and Enhancement Committee and changes recommended for Senate approval.
Imperial will provide through its staff:
• A world class education embedded in a research environment
• Advice, guidance and support
• The opportunity for students to contribute to the evaluation and development of programmes
and services
Imperial will provide students with:
• Clear programme information and assessment criteria
• Clear and fair academic regulations, policies and procedures
• Details of full programme costs and financial support
• An appropriate and inclusive framework for study, learning and research
Imperial students should:
• Take responsibility for managing their own learning
• Engage with the College to review and enhance provision
• Respect, and contribute to, the Imperial community
The Imperial College Students' Union will:
• Support all students through the provision of independent academic and welfare assistance
• Encourage student participation in all aspects of the College
• Provide a range of clubs, societies, student-led projects and social activities throughout the year
• Represent the interests of students at local, national and international level
www.imperial.ac.uk/students/our-principles
4
Welcome from the Graduate School
Professor Sue Gibson, Dr Janet De Wilde,
Director of the Head of Postgraduate
Graduate School Professional
Development
The Graduate School
has several roles but I would like to welcome
our main functions are you to the Graduate
to provide a broad, School programme for
effective and innovative postgraduate
range of professional professional
development workshops and to facilitate development. Our team of tutors come from a
interdisciplinary interactions by providing wide variety of experiences and we understand
opportunity for students to meet at academic and just how important it is to develop professional
social events. Whether you wish to pursue a career skills whilst undertaking postgraduate studies and
in academia, industry or something else, research. Not only will this development improve
professional skills development training will improve success during your time at Imperial College, but
your personal impact and will help you to become a it will also prepare you for your future careers. We
productive and successful researcher. are continually working to develop the courses we
offer and over this year you will see a range of
Professional development courses for Master’s new courses including face-to-face workshops,
students are called “Masterclasses” and they cover interactive webinars and online self-paced
a range of themes, for example, presentation skills, courses. I encourage you to explore and engage
academic writing and leadership skills with the diverse range of opportunities on offer
(http://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/graduate- from graduate school and I wish you well in your
school/professional-skills/masters/). All studies.
Masterclasses are free of charge to Imperial
Master’s students and I would encourage you to
take as many as you can to supplement your
academic training. The Graduate School works
Janet De Wilde
closely with the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU)
and is keen to respond to student needs so if there
is an area of development training, or an activity
that you would like us to offer, but which is not
currently provided, please do get in touch
(graduate.school@imperial.ac.uk).
The Graduate School also runs a number of
exciting social events throughout the year which are
an opportunity to broaden your knowledge as well
as to meet other students and have fun. You
should regularly check the Graduate School’s
website and e-Newsletters to keep up to date with
all the events and development opportunities
available to you.
Finally, I hope that you enjoy your studies here at
Imperial, and I wish you well.
Sue Gibson
5
The Graduate School
You automatically become a member of the Graduate School when you register as a postgraduate
student at Imperial.
The Graduate School has been set up to support all postgraduate students at the College through:
Training and development courses
Networking activities, social and academic
events to encourage cross-disciplinary
interactions
Forums to represent the views of
postgraduate students throughout the College
‘Masterclass’ professional skills courses
You can see the full range of free professional skills
courses for postgraduate students on the Graduate
School website:
www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/graduate-
school/professional-skills/masters
All courses can be booked online.
Contact us
Level 3, Sherfield Building, South Kensington Campus
020 7594 1383
graduate.school@imperial.ac.uk
www.imperial.ac.uk/graduate-school
6
Welcome from the Graduate Students’ Union (GSU)
I am delighted to welcome you to Imperial College! Let me introduce you to the Graduate Students’
Union (GSU). We are the representative body defending your interests as a postgraduate student in
major decisions taken by the College. Beyond that, we work towards building a thriving postgraduate
community that spans faculties and where students effectively communicate in an interdisciplinary way.
Our committee is comprised of motivated postgraduate students like yourself, who have been appointed
in university-wide elections and volunteer to make your experience at Imperial as fulfilling and enjoyable
as possible.
So, what are we up to for this coming year 2018/19? We are going to focus on three major areas of
action:
Continue improving post-graduate well-being by increasing the quality of supervision and by
creating strategies to tackle common mental health challenges in higher education.
Develop the GSU to become central to the postgraduate community by improving the two-way
flow of information, between the GSU and you.
Organise exciting events around the topics of well-being, interdisciplinary research, and
entrepreneurship.
As the GSU president, I would like to emphasise that Imperial College London is relying on its
postgraduate students to maintain its position as a front-runner in world-class research and teaching.
For us, the GSU, to be successful we need to receive as much of your input as possible. We want to
work with you, for you!
Finally, I hope that you have a fantastic time here at Imperial and take advantage of the richness of
opportunities that awaits you. If ever you have questions or ideas to share with us, please do not hesitate
to get in touch with us and we are looking forward to seeing you at our events!
Ute Thiermann, GSU President 2018/19
gsu.president@imperial.ac.uk
7
1. Introduction to the Department
Welcome from the Head of Department
Dear Colleague,
Welcome to the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College.
I hope that your time here as a postgraduate student is both productive
and fruitful.
Best wishes with your studies.
Prof David van Dyk
Welcome from the Director of Postgraduate Studies
Dear New MSc Students,
Welcome to the Mathematics Department at Imperial. The Department
is eager to help you make your year of study a satisfying period of
learning and creativity.
Please read on. Your success and comfort will depend on your familiarity
with the essentials of being an MSc student. I know you may experience
a degree of information overload initially. But read at least this page and
keep the welcome pack within reach for reference.
(1) Engage: Mathematics and science are social activities. Your fellow students across the
department and throughout the college are wonderful resources of help, friendship, inspiration
and creative stimulation, so get involved.
(2) Academic and administrative support: The intention is that you develop a constructive,
and hopefully friendly and fulfilling, relationship with the lecturers of the courses and your
project supervisor.
(3) Depth and breadth: Good mathematics and science needs the right balance between
depth and breadth. One inevitably needs a thorough knowledge of ideas, methods and
techniques from as broad a field as practically possible. Through breadth one may become
aware of existing approaches that can turn out to be helpful when working on specific
problems. Breadth is also needed in order to know what today's interesting and important
open problems are. On the other hand, depth is needed to ensure that one's level of
understanding is sufficiently detailed to allow one to make creative contributions.
During your MSc study it is a good idea to attend seminars and the department colloquia,
participate in discussion groups, etc. and in general feed your curiosity.
I sincerely wish the next year may lead you to the insights and achievements you are hoping
for,
Prof Henrik Jeldtoft Jensen
8Welcome from the Programme Director
I am very happy to welcome you to the Mathematics Department of Imperial
College London, one of the top research departments in the UK. We have
strong research groups in analysis, algebra and combinatorics, geometry and
number theory. In the UK research rating REF 2014 the department was
named third for research among the mathematics departments. I hope that
you will have an enjoyable and productive year. Please email me for an
appointment whenever you want to talk about anything related to this
programme.
Prof Alexei Skorobogatov
Academic and Administrative staff
Henrik Jensen Location Electrical Engineering Building EEE1201
Professor of Mathematical Physics Telephone 020 7594 9853
Director of Postgraduate Studies Email h.jensen@imperial.ac.uk
Alexei Skorobogatov Location Huxley Building 664
Professor of Pure Mathematics Telephone 020 7594 8493
Programme Director Email a.skorobogatov@imperial.ac.uk
Tony Bellotti Location Huxley Building 522
PG Welfare Officer Telephone 020 7594 8521
Email pgr.welfare@imperial.ac.uk
Agnieszka Damasiewicz-Niccolai Location Huxley Building 652
MSc Administrator Telephone 020 7594 2843
Email a.damasiewicz@imperial.ac.uk
9English language requirement
If you are not a native English speaker you must meet the College’s English language requirements.
See the Admissions website for details:
www.imperial.ac.uk/study/pg/apply/requirements/english
For information on English language support available while you’re here, see page 31.
.
Attendance and absence
You must inform your Senior Postgraduate Tutor if you are absent from the College for more than
three days during term. If the absence is due to illness you must produce a medical certificate after
seven days. If you miss an examination through illness you must contact your Senior Postgraduate
Tutor on the day and provide a medical certificate within five working days. If illness has impacted on
your ability to take assessment, you should seek advice and support about making a claim for
mitigating circumstances. Please note that there is a deadline of 5 working days from the date the
assessment is due (hand-in date or examination date for example) to make a claim.
The Registry will be informed of all student non-attendances as the College is obliged to report the
non-attendance of students on Tier 4 visas to the Home Office.
Key dates 2018-19
Term dates
Autumn term: 29 September - 14 December 2018
Spring term: 5 January - 22 March 2019
Summer term: 27 April- 28 June 2019
Closure dates
Christmas/New year: 24 December 2018 –1 January 2019
(College reopens on 2 January 2019)
Easter holiday: 18 April - 23 April 2019
(College reopens on 24 April 2019)
Early May bank holiday: 6 May 2019
Spring bank holiday: 27 May 2019
Summer bank holiday: 26 August 2019
Key events
Monday 1 - Friday 5 October 2018: Welcome week programme
Election of the Pure Mathematics MSc student representative
May 2019 Examinations Spring term
Mid July 2019: Release of informal results
11 and 12 September 2019 Project Oral Presentations
4pm 13 September 2019: Final deadline handing in MSc Thesis
Mid-late October 2019: Final meeting Board of Examiners
Early-mid November 2019: Results released by Registry
May 2020: Graduation Ceremony
102. Programme Information
Choice and approval of courses and the project
On enrolment each student is assigned a Course Adviser who will advise on the choice of courses (to
be approved by the Programme Director), the subject of project and the Project Supervisor. You need
to make arrangements to meet with your Course Adviser at least twice per term.
MSc students can take the following types of courses:
The Pure Mathematics courses with an M5 coding (which can also be taken by final year
undergraduate MSci students) listed below and on the website (with course description)
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/mathematics/postgraduate/msc/msc-in-pure-mathematics/pure-
mathematics-course-list/. The department reserves the right not to run courses if the numbers
of students registered do not make them viable.
Coding Theory course taught in the MSc in Communications and Signal Processing run by the
Electrical Engineering department.
In exceptional cases courses given by Imperial College faculty at the Taught Course Centre
(TCC) http://tcc.maths.ox.ac.uk. This must be approved by the Programme Director beforehand.
Courses from MSc in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces run by the Physics department
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/theoretical-physics/postgraduate-study/msc-in-quantum-fields-and-
fundamental-forces
Courses from other MSc programmes at Imperial College London, subject to approval of the
host Department and the Programme Director.
Other courses approved by the student’s Course Adviser and the Programme Director.
We have created a form for students to complete if they wish to take a course that is outside of
the programme, available here.
The timetable of courses can be found at www.imperial.ac.uk/natural-
sciences/departments/mathematics/study/students/msc
Students must take 7 courses (usually four in the first year and three in the second year for
part-time students) including at least 3 core courses. The core courses are marked with a (*)
below. The other 4 courses can be other core courses or other approved courses. The courses
chosen should not overlap in a substantial way and together should form a coherent program.
Students with a degree from Imperial College London will not be allowed to repeat a course
they already attended as undergraduates. Please discuss your choice of courses with your
Course Adviser as soon as possible. At the very latest you must confirm your choice of courses
by the time you complete the examination entry form (the end of January).
Pure MSc Course List
Module Module Title Term Lecturer Exam% CW%
Code
Algebra and discrete Mathematics
M5P10 Group Theory 1 Professor A Ivanov 90 10
M5P11 Galois Theory 2 Professor A Corti 90 10
M5P12 Group Representation Theory 2 Dr T Schedler 90 10
M5P17 Algebraic Combinatorics 1 Dr J. Fawcett 90 10
M5P63* Algebra 4 2 Dr N. Arbesfeld 90 10
M5P65 Mathematical Logic 1 Professor D Evans 90 10
M5P8 Algebra 3 1 Dr D. Helm 90 10
11M5P46* Lie Algebras 2 Dr A Pal 90 10
M5P55* Commutative Algebra 1 Professor A. 90 10
Skorobogatov
M5P61* Infinite Groups 1 Dr J Britnell 90 10
M5P72 Modular Representation 2 Professor M. Liebeck 90 10
Theory
Analysis
M5P18 Fourier Analysis and Theory of 2 Dr S. Boegli 90 10
Distributions
M5P19 Measure and Integration 1 Dr I Krasovsky 90 10
M5P6 Probability 2 Professor B Zegarlinski 100 0
M5P60 Geometric Complex Analysis 2 Dr A. De Zotti 90 10
M5P7 Functional Analysis 2 Professor B Zegarlinski 90 10
M5P41* Analytic Methods in Partial 2 Dr G Holzegel 90 10
Differential Equations
M5P67* Stochastic Calculus with 1 Professor D Crisan 100 0
Applications to non-Linear
Filtering
M5P70 Markov Processes 1 Professor X-M.Li 90 10
Dynamics
M4PA40* Random Dynamical Systems 2 Professor J Lamb 40 60
and Ergodic Theory: Seminar (Oral)
Course
M4PA38* Advanced Dynamical Systems: 2 Professor J. Lamb 40 60
Seminar Course (Oral)
M4PA48 Dynamics of Games 1 Professor S. van Strien 40 60
(Oral)
M4PA23 Dynamical Systems 1 Professor J. Lamb 100 0
M4PA24 Bifurcation Theory 2 Professor D Turaev 100 0
Geometry
M5P20 Geometry 1: Algebraic Curves 1 Dr M. Talpo 90 10
M5P21 Geometry 2: Algebraic 2 Dr C. Urech 90 10
Topology
M5P5 Geometry of Curves and 1 Professor T. Coates 90 10
Surfaces
M5P33* Algebraic Geometry 2 Dr G. Fernandez da Silva 90 10
M5P51* Riemannian Geometry 2 Dr H. Argüz 90 10
M5P52* Manifolds 1 Dr S. Feyzbakhsh 90 10
M5P54* Differential Topology 2 Dr S.A Filippini 90 10
M5P57* Complex Manifolds 2 Dr C. Spicer 90 10
Number theory
M4P14 Number Theory 1 Professor T Gee 100 0
M4P15 Algebraic Number Theory 2 Dr A. Caraiani 90 10
M5P32* Number Theory: Elliptic 1 Professor T Gee 90 10
Curves
M5P58* Modular Forms 1 Dr D. Helm 100 0
12Work on the project
In addition to the taught courses students are required to work on a project, submit a written report and
have an oral examination. The project is the study of a mathematical topic in one of the core areas of
analysis, algebra, combinatorics, geometry or number theory at the postgraduate level. The written
report is the student's own work in the sense that the student gives an original account of the material,
but it does not always contain new mathematical results. The work on the project is done under the
direction of a Supervisor, who need not be the Course Adviser. A student interested in doing a project
in a particular area should ask a faculty member with an expertise in this area to act as a Supervisor.
Students unable to find a Supervisor should seek the help of their Course Adviser. All students are
expected to have a Supervisor at the start of the second term. Students without a Supervisor by week
2 of the second term must report the matter to the Programme Director.
You should arrange a meeting with your supervisor in early January to discuss your project in detail.
After this meeting you should aim to prepare a provisional project plan, including target dates for the
various steps of your work. Usually you will do preliminary work during the Easter vacation, discuss with
the Supervisor during the Summer term, and do most of the writing-up after the end of the written
examinations. You are advised to spend at least one month writing up and revising the report. Work on
the project and writing of the project report should account for about a third of the student's total study
time.
Supervisions will take place by arrangement with the supervisor. Supervision meetings are generally
more regular at the start of the project. You are expected to meet your Supervisor once every two weeks
for about one half hour. By July you should be able to work largely independently on your project. You
are warned that the Summer supervisors will often be away attending conferences and taking their
annual leave.
If you are unable to attend an agreed meeting with your Supervisor, please email him or her at least 24
hours in advance (unless you are very unwell or there is some emergency). If your supervisor needs to
cancel a supervision, then she or he should give you at least 24 hours’ notice by email. So please check
your email before leaving home in the morning before traveling to Imperial for a meeting with your
supervisor.
The same project can often be tackled in different ways starting from different backgrounds. The
Supervisor will give you a reading list based on what you know. The purpose of the project is to give
you a chance to explore in depth a particular area of pure mathematics and help you to acquire the
skills for an independent research work. Supervisions are not the same as private tutorials. It is not the
job of the Supervisor to teach you the material, but rather to give general guidance and to point you in
the right direction by providing a reading list and recommending resources. The Supervisor cannot be
expected to provide a list of all the individual results that should go in the report, although a few major
items will probably be mentioned. Generally speaking, it will be you who ``drives'' the supervisions, not
your supervisor. Please come prepared to each meeting with some idea of what you want to discuss in
that supervision. When you encounter particular difficulties, your supervisor will give you more specific
help as necessary.
Written report
The written report contains a detailed exposition of the work that you have done. The style of the report
is largely the same as in mathematical textbooks and research papers. You are expected to give precise
definitions, theorems, lemmas, proofs, examples, and any new results or computations, where relevant.
You are encouraged to be original in your presentation, the choice of examples and a review of
published literature, should explain the context of your work in the introduction, and perhaps discuss
possible further work and open question in the conclusion. The introduction should contain a description
of the structure of the written project and its main results. You should aim to present your dissertation
so that it can be understood by a mathematician who is not necessarily an expert in the particular area
13of your project. So please recall the necessary background, results and methods that you use, for the
convenience of the reader. Keep these explanations reasonably concise, and in any case do not
reproduce in detail the contents of undergraduate mathematical courses that you rely upon. (Any such
basic material should be explained in a few paragraphs or pages, ideally with a reference to a standard
textbook.)
The body of the written report should normally be between 7,000 and 15,000 words, or approximately
between 25 and 40 pages of typewritten text and formulas on A4 paper at 1.5 or double line spacing
using font size of 12 point. These are not strict rules for the volume of your written project but only rough
guidelines: the appropriate length depends on the project itself and its subject matter. (The depth of a
mathematical result is not always reflected in the number of pages it takes to write it down!) The printed
copy should be in a simple binding; a ring or spring-back binder is sufficient. The following points are
here for your guidance:
Your dissertation should contain a title page, giving the following information only: the title of
project, the student’s name, the student’s college number, the year (2018/19), the supervisor's
name.
A separate page should contain an abstract of between 50 and 300 words, summarising the
key points of your dissertation.
Another separate page should contain a signed declaration that the work is entirely your own
and that all sources have been fully acknowledged. You should be aware that plagiarism is a
serious offence.
As an option you can include a page with acknowledgements and/or a dedication.
You can include a table of contents.
The title, abstract and declaration pages, along with any tables and charts, the table of contents
page, appendices and bibliography are excluded from the page count as indicated above.
All pages of your dissertation should be numbered.
The total number of pages should not exceed 50. Substantial deviation from this rule can be
penalised.
Include a detailed bibliography (list of references), giving full details of all books, papers and
online resources cited anywhere in your dissertation. You are encouraged to use the style of
mathematical journals, e.g. the Journal of the London Mathematical Society. Each reference
should be complete, allowing the resource to be easily and unambiguously identified. A
reference should be cited in the text of your project each time you use it.
Appendices, if any, should contain material that supports the main body of the text, but which
does not have to be read in detail in order not to interrupt the flow of the argument.
Do not use fancy font styles. Use wide margins (minimum 2cm for top, right and bottom, 4cm
for left-hand side to allow room for the binding).
Substantial credit will be given for a professional presentation. You are strongly advised to use
LaTeX and not Microsoft Word, especially if your dissertation contains many mathematical
equations.
Submit by email to your supervisor before the deadline all of your source code for any programs
that you have written. This is required for anti-plagiarism detection and to allow cross-checking
of your results. This source code need not be included verbatim in your dissertation if such
programmes are essentially a `means to an end'. Your dissertation should still, of course,
describe what your programmes do and all the algorithms involved. On the other hand, if you
have developed a novel or fast algorithm that, in itself, constitutes a major achievement (and
for which you want specific credit), then the relevant code should be included verbatim in the
dissertation, possibly as an appendix. Any such code will be expected to meet high
programming standards, including proper commenting.
In your dissertation you should make it completely clear which results are your own and which are
obtained by others. Any results mentioned in your dissertation that are not your own should be properly
referenced. You should also acknowledge any books, journal papers, lecture notes, research notes,
other people's MSc/PhD theses, websites, third-party computer programs, etc. that you use during the
course of your work, even if you do not directly incorporate material from these sources into your
dissertation.
14Please submit a printed draft of your dissertation to your Supervisor at least two weeks before the final
deadline. The Supervisor will comment on the format, the style and may point out any major
mathematical errors. The correctness of your project is your responsibility.
Submission of the written report
One hard copy and one electronic copy of the report must be submitted to the MSc Administrator
Agnieszka Damasiewicz-Niccolai, room 652 by 4pm Friday 13 September 2019. Late submission will
normally delay the marking of the report to the following year.
Imperial Mobile app
Don’t forget to download the free Imperial Mobile app for access to College
information and services, including your programme timetable, College
emails and a library catalogue search tool.
www.imperial.ac.uk/imperialmobile
Imperial Success Guide
The Imperial Success Guide is an online resource with advice and
tips on the transition to Master’s level study. More than just a study
guide, it is packed with advice created especially for Imperial
Master’s students, including information on support, health and well-
being and ideas to help you make the most of London.
www.imperial.ac.uk/success-guide
153. Assessment
Overall Course Assessment
The full-time course is examined in two sections:
The lecture courses are examined by written exam papers, one for each course, in May or June
(exceptionally in January). You will need to complete Exam Registration on DSS in the last two weeks
of January. (A reminder will be sent.) Candidates absent without good cause from any examination for
which they are entered will normally fail the MSc course. For some lecture courses, the written paper
may be supplemented by a coursework. If you fail to hand in coursework on time, you must file a
Request for Mitigation Form with the Programme Director or the Postgraduate Director. This form can
be found at
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/student-records-and-data/for-current-students/undergraduate-and-taught-
postgraduate/exams-assessments-and-regulations/mitigating-circumstances/
The project is examined by a written report and an oral presentation.
A part-time student will normally sit the written examinations in two parts, one part after the first year
and another part after the second year. The project report must be submitted on 13 September 2019
Past exam papers may be found on the Maths Central page on Blackboard. Students are encouraged
to use these papers to become familiar with the format and style of the examinations in the MSc. These
papers may also be used to supplement exam revision. Any queries about the examination for a
particular module should be directed in the first instance to the lecturer of that module. General exam
queries should be directed to the Course Administrator or Course Director.
Mastery Question
Written examinations for MSc students consist of 5 questions, which are each scored out of 20 marks.
The 5th question is a”mastery” question that MSc and the M4 (4th year) undergraduate students are
required to take on top of the other four questions. This question is designed to test the subject in
greater depth. Students will be given an extra half an hour for this question (M3 students have 2hrs for
the whole exam, MSc and M4 students have 2.5hrs for the exam) and it has the same mark weighting
as questions 1-4. For modules where there is no corresponding M3 paper, there will still be a mastery
5th question and the exam will be 2.5 hours long.
How Module Marks are Determined
Most modules are examined by a written paper in May or June. If assessed coursework is part of the
module, this is incorporated into the raw mark using the specified weighting (typically coursework carries
a 10% weighting) to produce a raw mark for the module. The marks for each module are then re-scaled
in a piecewise-linear fashion according to the following procedure.
Based on students’ performances in the module assessments and performances in the module relative
to average performance in other modules, the module examiners make a decision about what they
consider to be the pass / fail boundary (P), the Pass/Merit Boundary (T), the Merit/Distinction Boundary
(E) and the maximum mark (M) which was realistically possible for the module. In the case of M1, M2
and M3 modules, the raw marks P, T, E and M are mapped to 50, 60, 70 and 100 respectively (with 0
being mapped to 0). These choices of grade boundaries (PTEM) are compared by a sub-Board of the
Board of Examiners (the Liaison Panel) and further adjustments are made to ensure comparability of
marks across modules. Once the values of the grade boundaries for a module have been finalised, an
16individual raw mark is then mapped to the 0–100 scale by linear interpolation and this becomes the
student’s mark for that module.
Note: Until 2016-17, examination papers included a system of ‘bonus marks’ designed to give extra
reward to high-scoring answers. You will see this when you look at past papers. Following a consultation
exercise, this practice has been discontinued in all years from 2017-18.
Assignments and Projects
For many modules, particular pieces of work are set as assessed coursework or progress tests and
they contribute up to 10% of the overall assessment of the module concerned. Some Module Lecturers
may choose to use a combination of assessed coursework and progress tests whilst others may choose
to only set assessed coursework or only set progress tests.
The exact nature and frequency of these forms of assessment is decided by individual Module Lecturers
and the timing is staggered as far as possible so that, for different modules, the submission dates for
assessed coursework and the sitting dates for progress tests are not all clustered together. Assessed
coursework is not normally set with a submission deadline after the end of the current term.
Marked assessed coursework are returned to students to provide useful feedback. This should normally
take no longer than ten working days.
Some modules have assignments that contribute more substantially to overall module assessment
(over 10%).
Some modules are wholly project based and have no end-of-year examination. For some of these
modules, oral presentations about the project(s) may form part of the overall assessment for the
module.
Assignment and project scripts normally need to be retained by the Department as External Examiners
have the right to see them. Students should keep a copy of all assignments and project work
submitted. For modules where assignments are worth over 10%, if work is returned to students, they
will be asked to return the marked work to the Department to be examined by the External Examiners.
Submitting Assessed Work
Most assessed work is submitted via the coursework pigeonholes although some staff members may
ask you to hand your work directly to them.
Please note that these are not the pigeon holes inside the UG Office on the side – these are for
collecting your work.
The corridor pigeonholes are in three sections. These three sections are arranged by TID number for
First Year students and alphabetically for all other years. Please place your work in the relevant section
and slot, according to the first letter of your surname, beneath the sign specific to your coursework.
Collection of marked assessed coursework
If a particular piece of assessed work or progress test has been marked and is available, the marks will
be made available on Blackboard. Once marks are visible on Blackboard, this indicates that the work
is now available for collection.
17The Department works towards a two week turnaround deadline on tests and short CW assignments
(worth 5% or less). Larger CW pieces may take longer to return. If there is a delay, please contact the
UG office.
Marking of the written report
Your written report will be marked by your supervisor and at least one other member of the Imperial
College academic staff, who will agree an overall mark for your project. The report will also be
scrutinised by the Examination Board (including the External Examiners) for consistency of marking.
Oral presentation
In addition to submitting a written report, students will be required to give an oral presentation. Oral
presentations will take place on the 11 and 12 September 2019. This is an integral part of the project
work and is worth 10% of the project mark. It is a 20-minute talk followed by a brief questions and
answers session. For the oral presentation, you will be able to give a computer presentation, use an
overhead or data projector or the white-board. If you plan a computer presentation, it is best if you save
your presentation in PDF format in your College computer account where it can easily be accessed
from the computer in the lecture room. The audience will consist of two faculty members (other than
your Supervisor). You are advised to prepare your oral presentation with great care; this is an important
part of your training. Note that your talk lasts only 20 minutes and that you should not expect the
audience to be experts in the area of your project. The primary purpose of the oral is not to test your
technical mastery of the material, but rather to see how you convey its flavour to a general mathematical
public.
18Title of degree
Successful candidates will be awarded the degree of MSc in Pure Mathematics. This degree is awarded
only once each year, following the final Meeting of Examiners, usually held in October. (Preliminary
marks on the written papers are available in the first week of July. These results are not official until
after the final Meeting of Examiners.)
Class criteria
Sufficient conditions for a Pass mark are:
Register for, and take the examination in, 7 course papers.
A pass mark (i.e., at least 50%) in 6 papers, with no mark below 40%. (A student who receives
a mark below 40% in a course paper will have to re-sit that paper.)
The average mark over all 7 papers should be at least 50%.
A pass mark (i.e., at least 50%) in the project.
Sufficient conditions for a Merit mark are:
A pass mark in each of 7 papers.
The average mark of at least 60% over all 7 papers.
A mark of at least 60% for the project.
Sufficient conditions for a Distinction mark are:
A pass mark in all 7 papers.
The average mark of at least 70% over all 7 papers.
A mark of at least 70% for the project.
Borderline candidates
If a student does not meet the relevant sufficient condition they can still be considered for promotion to
pass, merit or distinction at the discretion of the Board of Examiners. College regulations 2017/18 on
the examination of Master degrees state:
Candidates should only be considered for promotion to pass, merit or distinction if their aggregate mark
is within 2.5 per cent of the relevant borderline.
The aggregate mark is defined as 0.7(avg. mark on 7 papers) + 0.3(project mark). The promotion is
always at the discretion of the Board of Examiners and never automatic.
Re-sit rights
A full-time candidate who at first entry fails in either the written examination or the report, may re-enter
once, a year later, in the failed section (or in both failed sections). There are no further resit rights. A
part-time candidate taking the examination in two parts who fails an examination in part one may
normally re-sit the examination one year later, at the same time as part two. There are no further resit
rights for part one. A candidate failing an examination in part two may re-sit the examination or the
written report (or both) a year later, with the part one marks being carried over. There are no further re-
sit rights. Any resit that requires further attendance of the College is subject to the approval of the
College. A full-time candidate who fails the written examination and intends to re-sit, should proceed
with the report and submit it by the standard project deadline. A part-time candidate must submit the
project by the standard project deadline of the second year. Resit marks are capped at the pass mark
(i.e. 50%).
19Instruction to Candidates for Examinations
Students who are candidates for examinations are asked to note that all examinations are conducted
in accordance with the College’s Academic Regulations, the Regulations for Programmes of Study
and the Examination Regulations.
Instructions for exam candidates can be found here:
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/administration-and-support-
services/registry/academic-governance/public/academic-policy/exam-arrangements-and-re-
sits/Instructions-to-candidates-for-examinations.pdf
Academic Integrity and Academic Misconduct
As your programme of study continues, you will be taught the concept of academic integrity and how
you can ensure that any work that you complete now, or in the future, conforms to these principles.
This means that your work acknowledges the ideas and results of others, that it is conducted in an
ethical way and that it is free from plagiarism.
Academic misconduct is the attempt to gain an academic advantage, whether intentionally or
unintentionally, in any piece of assessment submitted to the College. This includes plagiarism, self-
plagiarism, collusion, exam offences (cheating) or dishonest practice. Full details of the policy can be
found at:
www.imperial.ac.uk/student-records-and-data/for-current-students/undergraduate-and-taught-
postgraduate/exams-assessments-and-regulations/plagiarism-academic-integrity--exam-
offences/
Definitions of the main forms of academic misconduct can be found below:
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the presentation of another person’s thoughts, words, images or diagrams as though
they were your own. Another form of plagiarism is self-plagiarism, which involves using your own prior
work without acknowledging its reuse.
Plagiarism must be avoided, with particular care on coursework, essays, reports and projects written
in your own time and also in open and closed book written examinations.
Where plagiarism is detected in group work, members of that group may be deemed to have
collective responsibility for the integrity of work submitted by that group and may be liable for any
penalty imposed, proportionate to their contribution.
Collusion:
This is the term used for work that has been conducted by more than one individual, in contravention
of the assessment brief. Where it is alleged that there has been collusion, all parties will be
investigated under the Academic Misconduct procedure.
Exam offences
Exam offences include behaviour such as bringing authorised material into an exam, attempting to
communicate with others apart from the invigilator, trying to remove examination material without
permission, taking an exam for someone else or getting someone else to take an exam for you.
Dishonest practice
Examples of dishonest practice include bribery, contact cheating (buying work from an essay mill or
other individual to submit as your own), attempting to access exam papers before the exam, making a
false claim for mitigating circumstances or providing fraudulent evidence, falsifying documentation or
signatures in relation to assessment.
204. Board of Examiners
Board of Examiners
This includes the Programme Director, all faculty involved in lecturing an MSc course or supervising an
MSc project, as well as the external examiners.
External examiners
Prof Mark Kambites (University of Manchester)
Prof Tony Carbery (University of Edinburgh)
It is common for Master’s level students to have some form of academic or social interaction with their
external examiners at some point during or after their studies as well as during the assessment
process itself.
It is inappropriate for you to submit complaints or representations direct to external examiners or to
seek to influence your external examiners. Inappropriate communication towards an examiner would
make you liable for disciplinary action.
A summary of External examiners reports from the previous academic year can be found here:
www.imperial.ac.uk/staff/tools-and-reference/quality-assurance-enhancement/external-
examining/information-for-staff
5. Location and Facilities
Imperial has a number of campuses in London and the South East. All have excellent travel links and
are easily accessible via public transport.
Your main location of study will be:
Huxley Building
180 Queen`s Gate
London - SW7 2AZ
This is based on the South Kensington Campus.
21Facilities
Level 2
MSc Student computer room - 215
Level 4
Mathematics Learning Centre – 416 contains 64 computers, two study desks fitted out with audio-
visual facilities for project presentations, two printers and a range of additional study areas.
Level 6
MSc Administrator Office – 652 open Monday-Friday 9:00-17:00
The printing room is located opposite the lifts
Lockers
There are a (limited) number of lockers in Level 1 of the Huxley building.
Maps
Campus maps and travel directions are available at:
www.imperial.ac.uk/visit/campuses
Accessibility
Information about the accessibility of our South Kensington Campus is available online through the
DisabledGo access guides:
www.disabledgo.com/organisations/imperial-college-london-2
Smoke-Free Policy
All Imperial campuses and properties are smoke-free. This means that smoking by staff and students
is not permitted on or within 20 metres of College land. The policy covers all College properties,
including student accommodation and sports grounds.
www.imperial.ac.uk/smoke-free
226. Working While Studying
If you are studying full time, the College recommends that you do not work part-time during term time.
If this is unavoidable we advise you to work no more than 10–15 hours per week, which should be
principally at weekends and not within normal College working hours.
Working in excess of these hours could impact adversely on your studies or health.
If you are here on a Tier 4 visa you can work no more than 20 hours a week during term time. Some
sponsors may not permit you to take up work outside your studies and others may specify a limit.
If you are considering part-time work during term time you are strongly advised to discuss this issue
with your supervisor or Personal/Senior Personal Postgraduate Tutor. If you are on a Tier 4 visa you
should also seek advice from the International Student Support team regarding visa limitations on
employment.
The College’s examination boards will not normally consider as mitigating circumstances any negative
impact that part-time work during term-time may have had on your performance in examinations or in
other assessed work. Examinations or vivas cannot be rescheduled to accommodate your part-time
working arrangements.
7. Health and Safety
You are responsible for looking after your own health and safety and that of others affected by your
College-related work and leisure activities. You must:
comply with all local and College policies, procedures and codes of practice and with the
arrangements which the College has in place to control health and safety risks.
ensure that your activities do not present unnecessary or uncontrolled risks to yourself or to
others.
attend appropriate induction and training.
report any accidents, unsafe circumstances or work-related ill health of which you become
aware to the appropriate person.
not interfere with any equipment provided for Health and Safety.
inform your supervisor or the person in charge of the activity in cases where you are not
confident that you are competent to carry out a work or leisure activity safely, rather than
compromise your own safety or the safety of others.
The College’s Health and Safety Statement can be found at:
http://www.imperial.ac.uk/safety/safety-by-topic/safety-management/health-and-safety-
policy-statement/
Your Departmental safety contact is:
Andy Pope
131 Huxley
020 7594 8544
a.pope@imperial.ac.uk
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