Students are also required to undertake a project, the results of which are to be submitted by 30th September of their first year. The project may be submitted as the M.Sc. dissertation if considered of sufficient quality. In the second year, students take the remaining CATS required and write a dissertation, unless their first year project counted. They may not take modules which are substantially the same as modules taken for credit in the first year. One of them is to be designated as the primary supervisor.
Students are encourage to discuss research topics with other members of staff.
Students are to give an oral progress report once a year, generally in the form of a research seminar. In addition to the normal requirements for the Ph.D., the assessment of the thesis will take into account originality of use of mathematics in an area of application, or the development of new mathematical techniques. The standard University Ph.D. regulations apply. In particular the award of an M.Phil. is open to examiners under certain circumstances. The M.Phil degree is an intermediate research degree, obtained by thesis and oral examination.