Students in the Aero MSc programmes must complete a Major Individual Research Project lasting approximately four months.

The project constitutes a piece of individual research which must include some element of originality and can be wholly experimental, wholly theoretical, or a mixture of the two. Students select projects from a list of topics proposed by university staff and by industry. The results from the study must be set in context against published work. The project is assessed by progress in conducting the work, a dissertation of about 10,000 words, and an oral presentation.

It is expected that many projects will have significant industry support and may be wholly or partly undertaken in industry, as appropriate. Some projects can be undertaken by students from all three MSc programmes, while others are more specific to a particular stream.

Further information about the projects and what they entail are only available to current students on their Blackboard VLE.

Project key dates

All project titles and short descriptions are collected from industry and university staff from April/May to August, prior to the start of the academic year.

Calendar

  1. Start of year
    Project titles and descriptions are issued to students.
  2. Mid-November
    Students to submit selections (if a company wishes to interview and select specific students for its projects then this process needs to be completed by early December).
  3. November - December
    Projects allocated to students. Light-touch group work and meetings take place from now.
  4. Mid-May
    Students begin projects.
  5. Early September
    Deadline for project report submission.

External projects - industry links

Any companies, organisations or industry professionals that are interested in offering a project to the Department should get in touch with Ravinder Panesar, Senior MSc Administrator, by emailing r.panesar@imperial.ac.uk.

The list of projects available is issued to students at the start of the academic year and therefore all project titles must be submitted by the end of August for the upcoming academic year. Benefits to the companies/organisations include:

  • four months of a high-quality research workforce;
  • a recruitment opportunity;
  • the establishment of links with the UK’s top aeronautics department.

Students are fully dedicated to the projects for their four month duration in terms of time and motivation as the projects comprise a significant part of their MSc programme. Our students are well-educated and talented, having already completed an undergraduate degree as well as the taught part of the MSc programmes.

External project students are generally hosted at the offering company/organisation. However, the only costs to the organisation/company are the provision of supervision (generally one hour per week) and the resources necessary for conducting the project.

Contact information

For further information about the Industry Projects and Literature Review for Department of Aeronautics MSc students please email r.panesar@imperial.ac.uk in the first instance. Information about the three MSc programmes offered by the Department can be found on the respective Programme Information pages:

To find out more about developing general links with the Department through the MSc programmes please visit the links with industry page.

Useful links