Dear Honors graduating seniors,

One of the conditions to receive your scholarship is that you make good
progress on your senior honors thesis by the end of this semester. If you
haven't found an adviser yet, you need to do so ASAP; if you are unsure
about this, let me know.

I need to receive from you by

*September 1*

the following items:
1) Name of your thesis adviser.
2) Short description of project.
3) Short but specific description of the progress you expect to have made
by the end of fall semester--approved by your adviser.

Your thesis adviser may be at another college or university, but he/she
must be willing to oversee your thesis and monitor your project, in
particular should approve your plan for this semester.

If you have already made substantial progress on your thesis, then that
means you will have less to do this semester. At a minimum, by the end of
this semester you should have a draft of your thesis, an outline of what
the final version will look like, and 80% of your research done.

In case of co-authored research, you must entirely write a separate
document about the project, giving credit to collaborators.

If your research was mathematical in nature (i.e. you proved some theorems
that were new, at least to you), then your thesis may be relatively short,
but should include an introduction/background that is substantial enough
that another math honors senior (with background in algebra, analysis,
probability, and numerical math) could read and understand it.

If your thesis is more expository or historical (without any "new"
mathematics) then your thesis is expected to be substantially longer. I
won't give minimum page numbers or other specific guidelines; discuss that
with your adviser and include it in your plan.

Finally, if you are in Chancellor's honors, your math thesis will count
for that program as well, but you may be required to take thesis hours
(Math 498) and follow other formalities. Check with CH for the latest.


Conrad Plaut
Professor, Director of UT Math Honors
Math Department
Aconda Ct. 104
1534 Cumberland Ave.
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-0612

Office: Aconda Ct. 401A
Phone: 865-974-4319
http://web.utk.edu/~cplaut