Project Planning Report (Thesis Plan)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Project Background

This section must provide a discussion of the background of the project being undertaken as part of the Industry Affiliates Program (IAP). It should clearlyoutline the project being undertaken, as well as identify the need on which the project is based. This will include a brief outline of the social, economic, environmental or organisational justification for the development of the project.You should provide a brief background about what is already known about the topic, including some review of relevant literature here.

It is expected that the Project Planning Report will require no more than six (6) ± 10%A4 pages of text, not including the title page, table of contents and risk assessment. The electronic copy of the full submitted document must not exceed 5.0 MB. Files which exceed the size limit will not be marked until they are reduced in size to 5.0 MB. Delays resulting from reduction in the size of the final report will incur standard penalties resulting from late submission of assessment items.

Projects which involve the use of University-provided software must state on the front of all deliverables, including the Project Planning Report, the following statement:

“This project was created using ……………..software provided by the University. Use of, or commercialisation of the product created pursuant to the project is not permitted under the terms of the license agreement governing the university’s use of the aforementioned software. The project and the product created there under is provided only on the basis that any use of or commercialisation of the product is replicated through appropriate commercial software.”

Purpose of the Project

An important part of the project plan relates to the definition of your research question, project focus or issue being investigated. This section of the report should clearly identify the research question, project focus or issue being investigated. It should also clearly identify the scope, aims and objectivesof the project.

It is important that there is a logical and clear link between your research question, project focus or issue, and your aims, objectives and the expected outcomes from your project. Remember that aims are big picture items which are generally not able to be measured against, whilst you should be able to measure whether or not your objectives have been met. Generally the outcomes will allow you to meet your defined objectives, which will satisfy the aims within the scope specified. In turn, these aims should allow you to answer the research question, project focus or issue you have set for the study.

expected project outcomes

This section must provide a description of the expected outcomes and deliverablesthat will be produced from the project. It is important to discuss here how these outcomes or deliverables are related to the objectives of the project and how this relates to the specialist body of knowledge appropriate to the project. Deliverables for the IAP project relate to measurable outcomes or products that will be delivered. You are encouraged to keep your academic supervisor informed of your progress through regular milestone reports. However, these milestone reports should only be considered as deliverables from the project where they will be directly submitted as an outcome or product from the project.

Methodology to be Adopted and Project Schedule

Briefly describe the project methodology you will adopt to achieve your project solution, outcome and/or deliverables. This methodology should focus on the project, research or investigation strategies you will adopt to achieve these outcomes. Some review of literature would be expected to support the adoption of your methodology here.

You should also provide a work breakdown, or task list for the project being undertaken, including the deliverables from each task. A suitably labelled Gantt chart must be included in this section of the report which identifies the critical path for the project, while demonstrating the concurrent processes involved in the project. This must be in a readable form, either contained on one A4 sheet, or on sheets suitably attached so they can fold out and the chart can be clearly read on one page. A software program such as Microsoft Project can be used to produce the Gantt chart. Google “Gantt chart” for advice on the various ways these can be developed. It is also appropriate to use Excel to create your Gantt chart.

Helpful Hints:

The IAP project takes place over 14 weeks including the semester break which is a normal working week. When preparing the scope and timeline of your project it would be wise to allow for less time than 14 weeks. Students enrolled in 20CP IAP should note that they have approximately half the time mentioned above to complete their project and should plan to complete their project in 14 weeks across 2 days per week. This will be equivalent to approximately 28 working days. Remember that this section of the report should provide some discussion of the tasks and resources, rather than simply providing a list of items. This allows you to demonstrate your understanding of how the project schedule will allow you to meet the research question or focus of the study being undertaken.

Ethics Issues Related tothe Project

This section of your report should identify whether or not your project will require ethics approval from the University Office of Research.

IAP Projects with External Industry Partners

Where your IAP project is being undertaken for an Industry Partner external to the university, there is no requirement for you to undertake any ethics approval through the University Ethics Office. However, ethics approval may be required for the project where your academic supervisor wishes to publish any research papers with you or where your work will be claimed as a student, school or University research activity. Please consult with your academic supervisor for more clarification on issues relating to ethics approval for the work you are undertaking. Where no ethics approval is required for an External IAP project you should include the following statement in this section of the report:

"The IAP project is considered to be outside the scope of the University's research ethics arrangements as the work is being undertaken under the auspices of the industry partner and;

i) there will be no University research papers or outputs from the work (excluding academic assessment items);

ii) the student's work will not be claimed as a student, school or University research activity; and

iii) the industry partner has Intellectual Property of any outputs arising from the work."

IAP Projects with Industry Partners who are Internal to the University

Where your IAP project is being undertaken for an Industry Partner who is part of the University, you will be required to consult with your University Research Supervisor (AcademicSupervisor) to determine whether or not the project requires ethics approvals.As part of this consultation, you must review the research ethics information provided by the University’s Office of Research. Based on this review, you must include a statement in this section of the report that clearly identifies whether or not ethics approval is required for this research project. Where the project does require ethics approvals you will need to outline this process in the Project Planning Report.

REFERENCES

As with any academic report it is essential that you include a list of references at the end of your report which identifies any work that has been published both nationally and internationally relating to your discussion. You should adopt the same referencing style that is adopted in the Final Project Report. You are encouraged to discuss referencing styles with your Academic Supervisor, who will be able to provide guidance on an appropriate style in the particular discipline. Electronic students are to comply with the IEEE referencing style.