Information for Student Projects

We are glad that you are considering to carry out your Semester or Master Thesis Project within the LMIS1.

We highly recommend that you get in contact with us as soon as possible to show interest, preferably a few weeks before the start of the semester, as the projects can be taken very quickly!

Hereby you will find all the information related to the important requirements, dates, templates and grading for semester and master projects in our group.

Milestones

  • Before the start of the semester: Agreement on a project in our lab. You should specify and define your project by having a discussion with the responsible assistant. Thereafter inform Prof. Brugger (email with: title of the project and name of assistant).
  • Two or three weeks after the beginning: short introduction presentation of the project (10 minutes + 5 minutes questions), presenting the detailed work plan and objectives established with your supervisor.
  • Mid-semester: midterm report (1 page) or presentation on the status of the project.
  • End-of-semester: final presentation and submission of report.
  • Grading: The grade is based on your work and behaviour in the lab, the final presentation and the final report.

It is highly recommended you discuss your future project a few weeks before the start of the semester. Available projects can be found here.

 

Important Dates

Semester Projects (Projets de Semestre)

Semester projects consist of 13 weeks of work plus 1 week of holidays in the middle of the semester.

Start of the project: 1st Monday of the Semester (week 1).

Introductory Presentation at LMIS1: Week 3.

Midterm report submission: Week 7-8.

Final Presentation at LMIS1: Week 14.

Report submission deadline: First (spring semester) or Second (fall semester) Friday after end of lectures (week 15). 

For the Fall 2024, the report hand in date is January 3rd 2025. For the Spring 2025 semester it is June 6th 2025.

MSc Projects 17 weeks (Projets de Masters 17 semaines)

The master projects for EPFL students last 17 weeks + 1 week of holidays. It is suggested to start them at the first week of the semester. Some flexibility on the start date is possible, provided that the final report and presentations allow to submit the grades on time for graduation and, eventually, master theses prize applications.

Start of the project: usually 1st Monday of the Semester (week 1), to be fixed with the supervisors.

Introductory Presentation at LMIS1: Week 3.

Midterm report and presentation: Week 8-9.

Final Report submission: Week 18, friday at 12:00 pm.

Final oral exam: Week 20-22.

For MNIS or exchange master thesis students, duration and dates for the different submissions needs to be arranged according to the home institution, on a case-by-case basis.

 

Important information

2 or 3 weeks after start, present to the lab members the research topic, the state-of-the-art that is to be advanced, the project goals, and a work plan.

  • 10 minutes presentation + 5 minutes Q&A.
  • File format .pdf or .pptx
  • Use the EPFL Template.
  • Sugested content (adapt according to need)
    • Context and Motivation
    • State-of-the-art
    • Project objectives and plan
    • Preliminary results if any.

For Semester projects, around week 7 or 8, a 1-page report presenting a short summary of work objectives, results so far and outlook. This report is NOT graded. Find the template here.

Contents:

  • Main goal, with initial plan
  • Work done so far, and self-assessment (on track? deviation considered?)
  • Outlook and readjustment of the expected outcome

Send by e-mail to your supervisors and the student’s project responsible in the lab ([email protected]).

Por Master projects, around week 8 or 9, a mid-term report and presentation will be requested.

For Semester projects, on the last week of the project, present in front of all the lab members the overall advancement of the project, with conclusions and possible outlook. This presentation is GRADED.

  • 13-15 minutes presentation + 5-7 minutes Q&A.
  • File format .pdf or .pptx
  • Use the EPFL Template.
  • Sugested content (adapt according to need)
    • Context and Motivation
    • State-of-the-art
    • Project objectives and plan
    • Results and Discussion.
    • Summary and Outlook.

For Master projects, the final presentation needs to be scheduled after the report is handed in, with a designated jury composed of the professor, supervisors and other examination expert(s), and is followed by a deliberation by the jury in private (the student and anyone else external to the jury need to leave). The examination expert(s) is chosen by the Professor from amongst experienced EPFL staff members or persons external to EPFL, and by virtue of their competence in the subject to be examined. The expert cannot be someone from LMIS1 or a PhD student. This presentation is GRADED.

  • 20 minutes presentation + 10 minutes Q&A.
  • File format .pdf or .pptx
  • Use the EPFL Template.
  • Sugested content (adapt according to need)
    • Context and Motivation
    • State-of-the-art
    • Project objectives and plan
    • Results and Discussion.
    • Summary and Outlook.
  • Semester Project
    • Find the template here.
    • Your report should be sent to Prof. Brugger and Hernán Furci by email before 12h00 of the official due date.
    • Electronic copy of the report should be given to your supervisor and will be uploaded to infoscience EPFL by the responsible group member in LMIS1 (if not confidential).
    • All reports are scanned for plagiarism (website here).
  • Master Project
    • Find the template here.
    • The final report takes the form of a master thesis, and has a strict deadline: the Friday of the end of the project by 12 pm, with no exception.
    • The submission method may vary depending on its level of confidentiality. Students: Check the section’s guidelines and contact Isabelle Schaffer and your supervisor to arrange the hand-in in advance! The master’s projects registered as “non-confidential” must be uploaded on IS-A on the submission day, before noon.
    • Electronic copy of the report should be given to your supervisor and will be uploaded to infoscience EPFL by the responsible group member in LMIS1 (if not confidential).
    • All reports are scanned for plagiarism (website here).

In both cases, send the report by e-mail to student’s project responsible in the lab ([email protected]).

Grading will be based on

  • your behavior and work in the lab
  • the final report
  • the final oral presentation and attitude towards questions

To help you understand in depth the grading, find the grading sheet here.

The microengineering section has several Prizes that are attributed each year to exceptional master theses. The professor decides to recommends the student to apply for one of these prizes at the end of the oral defense. It is up to the student to follow the described application procedure.