National Centre for Maritime Engineering & Hydrodynamics

Insert Thesis Title Here

Student’s Name1
*Insert your name above (do not include your supervisor – this paper is your work, not theirs). Also edit the Footnote at the bottom of this first
page: Ensure the correct degree is displayed and insert your UTAS email address. Delete this note.

Abstract
This document is the template that all students must adopt for their Thesis. The format of the Thesis is similar to that of a
journal article or conference paper. There is a strict 15-page limit (papers exceeding the limit will be penalised in
accordance with the unit outline). Do not remove the UTAS AMC banner from the top of the first page. It is recommended
that the main body of your paper include the following key sections: Introduction, Methods, Results & Discussion, and
Conclusions. Where appropriate, use sub-headings to arrange your work in a logical manner.

The abstract should provide a clear and concise summary of the paper. It should state the study objectives, provide a brief
background, outline the work undertaken, and the main findings of the paper. It should not contain any references to other
work, and should contain only material already included in the main body of the paper. A typical abstract will consist of
approximately 200 words.

Keywords
Please include a maximum of five keywords sufficient to highlight the relevant topics addressed in your paper. For
example: vessel wave patterns, trans-critical speeds, wave dispersion, experiments, slenderness ratio.

Nomenclature
Notation Description Nominal Unit
c Speed of light ms-1
E Energy kgm2s-2
Frh Depth Froude number -
FrL Length Froude number -
h Water depth m
L Vessel waterline length m
m Mass kg
 Wave height constant -
V Displaced volume m3

1 Introduction
The research project unit is different to most other units at university. Essentially it is supervised self-directed learning
(research), other units are more prescriptive and normally have a weekly schedule planned for you. When conducted
properly the research project unit is driven by you, the student, although you have a supervisor who may have initiated the
research topic. The supervisor’s role is to guide you in your learning and the project direction, not to tell you what to do
every step of the way (however they should tell you if you are going off track).

1
Corresponding Author information:
Bachelor of Engineering (Ocean Engineering) (Honours)
email: xxxxxx.xxxxxx@utas.edu.au
NCMEH, Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania
The thesis you generate as part of the research project unit is the major assessment piece of your final grade (70%). As
mentioned above, the style and format of the thesis are fixed and there is a 15-page limit.

The main purpose of an introduction is to outline the rationale for the paper, its objectives, and summarise key background
information to provide context to the new work being presented in the main body of the paper.

Depending on the nature of the project, the introduction should make as many of the following points as are relevant:

 Explain how and why the subject of the project is of interest. This is particularly relevant when the project is highly
theoretical. Be as specific as possible. Practical examples of applications of the theoretical issues may be helpful.
 Avoid unnecessary jargon - As George Orwell said “never use a big word when a small word will do”.
 Is the project proposing an improvement on a previous development (for example, a project undertaken last year)?
What exactly is the improvement expected? Identify the future advances required to realise the full potential of the
proposed ideas.
 Are there any practical tests that have been performed? Have these tests been conducted through simulation,
laboratory experiments or field tests?
 Is the work new? How close is it to the work published in scientific magazines and journals?
 Put your work in the context of previously completed work (your literature survey – refer below for more details).
What have others done which is relevant to your work?

As covered in your Project Plan, your literature review should be brief but give the reader enough information to understand
the context of the proposed research. It may include references to previous findings and specific studies similar to the
current study, and to relevant methodology. A good literature review:

 Includes all literature that is relevant to justifying the proposed research;

 Does not include literature that is irrelevant to justifying the proposed research;
 Supports undertaking the proposed research;
 Avoids speculation and unsubstantiated statements;
 Is critical (a critical review does not merely accept previous authors’ conclusions, but weighs them carefully,
examining them on the basis of the weaknesses and strengths in the methodologies of the studies being reviewed);
 Is organised under subheadings, but keep the hierarchy simple (no more than three levels);
 Forms a connected argument; and,
 Has a summary at the end, which clearly identifies the gap in current knowledge to be addressed in the project

2 Methods
The methodology or methods section explains what you did and how you did it, allowing readers to evaluate the reliability
and validity of your research. It should include:

 The type of research you did.

 Any tools or materials you used in the research.
 Your rationale for choosing these methods.

This section requires attention to detail and precision, such that it allows readers to, if necessary, reproduce your
experiment, design, or method for achieving a task.

The key here is to also highlight the best features of the work. Equations, derivations, figures, tables and text must all help
advance the central topic of the project.

 Photographs of the equipment may be included in the thesis but they are not a substitute for a description of its
performance. Figures and graphs should not be excessively crowded. The emphasis should be placed on the aim of the
project. Avoid putting in trivial and irrelevant details.
 If laboratory experiments are being reported, enough detail should be provided so that an informed reader or reviewer is
convinced that he or she can repeat the experiment and validate the result.
 State any assumptions made clearly. Often the results being reported are dependent on the assumptions made. The
reviewer should not have to infer what assumptions the author has made.
 In a theoretical project, particular attention must be given to the equations. Relevant material that is available in the
scientific papers and books should be presented and references should be made. Lengthy derivations of equations or
 proofs of theorems should be relegated to an appendix. The students should state the result and refer the interested
reader, if necessary, to a proof. It is much more important to explain the meaning and use of the results.
 Does the project deliver what was promised in the introduction?

Figures, either diagrams or photographs, must be placed in the body of the text. They need to be cited and numbered
consecutively (i.e. Figure 1, Figure 2 etc.), and appear as soon as possible after its first mention. When referring to a figure,
use capitals in the text (e.g. “It can be seen in Figure 1 that...”). The figure should have a caption that contains enough
information to make the combination of figure and caption self-explanatory.

Where appropriate, try to adopt the three-sentence rule for figure captions: (1) what are we looking at; (2) a feature that you
wish to emphasise, i.e. the reason for the figure being included; and (3) the significance or consequence of that feature.
Refer the example provided in Figure 1. This may cause some minor repetition by having the same discussion in the text
and in the figure caption, but it makes the document far easier to read. The good documents are the ones that get read!

70
Frh = 1.07 Wave A Monohulls
FrL = 0.64 Wave A Catamarans
60 h/L = 0.35 Wave B Monohulls
Wave B Catamarans
Wave C Monohulls
50 Wave C Catamarans
Wave Height Constant, g

40

30

20

10

0
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
L / V1/3

Figure 1. An example of wave wake prediction tool output (Macfarlane, 2012). The wave height constant (y-axis) is
plotted as a function of vessel length-volume ratio (aka slenderness ratio). It is clear that hull form has a significant
influence on the height of the waves generated, with wave height generally decreasing with an increase in length-
volume ratio for both monohulls and catamarans.

Figure captions are placed below the figure and table captions above the tables.

Equations should be considered as part of a sentence and written as such. If you need to reference back to an equation, then
you will need to number it. Otherwise, the equation can just be written inline. All symbols that appear in equations should
be described in the nomenclature. Ensure the format of each symbol remains consistent throughout the thesis (for example,
note the use of italics, where adopted). An example of how to include an equation is included in Equation 1, which presents
Einstein's theory of special relativity
2
E=mc 11\* MERGEFORMAT ()

where E is energy, m is mass c is the speed of light.

Where units are provided the units should be in normal font with a space between the number and the unit. For example
acceleration due to gravity is 9.81 ms-2.

The use of appendices is discouraged, but there may be occasions when their use is warranted. If included, appendices must
start on a new page at the end of the thesis. The 15-page limit includes appendices.
3 Results and discussion
The results section simply and objectively reports what you found, without speculating on why you found these results. The
discussion interprets the meaning of the results, puts them in context, and explains why they matter.

This is the main section of your research paper where you present and explain the data you have collected or gathered and
the findings of your data analysis and interpretation. It is sometimes good to start your results section by briefly restating the
aim and objective of your research paper, so that your readers can refocus on the core of your paper.

Visual aids, such as figures, tables and graphs, are useful methods for gathering a great deal of information into one place
that can then be mentioned in the content of your paper. If any research question or hypothesis is confirmed by your data
and analysis, you can point to a table or figure that illustrates your finding.

When you present tables or figures in your results section, describe at least some of the data included in these visual
representations so that readers can clearly understand how the table/figure works and what interpretations can be concluded
from them (refer the example given in Figure 1).

The academic writing should be clear, impartial, and objective. Each result, which confirms or refutes your assumptions,
should be noted in an unbiased manner to increase the credibility of your study. Do not use vague terms and be as concise as
possible when you are reporting your research findings.

Experimental uncertainty (error analysis) should be presented with your results to show that your research findings
objectively confirm or disprove your hypotheses. Even if not all of your research results are confirmed, you should not
ignore them. These negative results that do not support a particular hypothesis should be noted and discussed.

It is sometimes appropriate to compare or contrast your results with findings from previous and similar studies. For
example: “Similar to Author [Year], one of the findings of this study is the strong relationship between…”

4 Conclusions
The conclusions section should sum up the key points of your discussion and the significant outcomes of your investigation.
It should:

 Relate directly to the aims of the project as stated in your introduction and indicate the extent to which the aims
have been achieved;
 Summarise the key findings, outcomes or information in your paper;
 Highlight the significance or usefulness of your work;
 Acknowledge limitations and make recommendations for future work (where applicable).

In this template we have outlined the formatting requirement and shown the expected layout of your thesis. If you use this
template then you shouldn’t get any penalties, provided you submit it on time, in PDF format and don’t exceed the 15-page
limit.

A thesis in journal article format will assist you in developing the skills necessary to write concisely and allow you to
convey all the important findings of your research.

Acknowledgements
Look at scientific papers and what people usually list under acknowledgements. For instance, you could (should) mention
those who provided scientific guidance or shared unpublished results. Also persons that provided facilities/equipment or
assistance preparing experiments or activities, such as technicians, lab assistants etc. If your project benefitted from
financial support then mention the funding agency, grant number and/or institution. Keep this concise!

References
A consistent reference style should be used. An exact reference style is not enforced however APA is recommended (style
guide). Only papers cited in the text should be listed in the references. Use only the references that are in the open literature.
In general, unpublished work should not be used as references. References should be sorted alphabetically. A citation
manager may be useful, such as Endnote, Mendeley or Zotero.
Macfarlane, G.J. (2012). Marine vessel wave wake: focus on vessel operations within sheltered waterways. Doctor of
Philosophy thesis, Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania.