Choosing a Thesis, Dissertation or Independent Study Topic

Master’s degree students in some departments have the option of completing either a thesis or an independent study as part of their degree. In other departments, the independent study option is not available. You should consult the most recent NMT Program and Course Catalog to see if the independent study option is available to you. Selection of either of these options begins with completion of the committee selection process in Banweb and is confirmed with approval of your Report of the MS Advisory Committee. Since each option has different course requirements, the courses listed on your course program must conform to the option you want to use. Should you later decide to change (from thesis to independent study or vice versa), you do so by submitting a revised and approved course program.

You will be spending many hours working on your research. Your advisor and advisory committee must be involved in the selection, preparation, revision and approval of all research/independent study proposals, and theses/dissertations/independent study papers. If you are on a research assistantship, the research you are working on may or may not be the subject of your thesis or independent study.

The report of your research (thesis, independent study, dissertation) must be legally available for publication and must be publicly released into ProQuest and the NMT digital repository. As is the case throughout the United States, New Mexico Tech is increasingly involved in contract research for corporations and governmental entities and many times portions of these research projects are proprietary or restricted in nature. While a research assistant may complete conditions of employment by working on proprietary projects, there must be a prior understanding between the student, advisory committee and funding source (corporation) regarding precisely what will be available for the student's thesis, dissertation, or independent study, and what will not be available. This agreement is to be documented in writing and a copy is to be filed with the Center for Graduate Studies. Please speak with your advisor and the Dean of Graduate Studies before you commit to a project that involves proprietary material.