At Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, each student gets an individual topic on which he/she works in the final year project for two semesters in close collaboration with a personal supervisor. The different projects and advisors are allocated at the beginning of the academic year.
Within each project, each student works on a (small) research topic and produces a thesis and a presentation about the topic and his/her findings. In some projects the focus may be on literature studies and on the combination of information in scientific papers. In some other projects, the evaluation of statistics or writing small computer programs may be required. Sometimes, the usage of computer algebra programs may be suitable. There is a wide variety of topics and research questions. In all projects, writing skills in mathematics and English are crucial. All projects should contain some research aspect, some challenge. There should be space for creativity and scientific curiosity.