Department of Natural Resources

Guidelines for Major Project

(Course No. NRS 105)

Objective

The major project is a twenty-credit project, designed for MSc students for five months
(January 01 to May 31, 2011), and is positioned at the third semester (second year) of
studies. The objective of the minor project is to widen the students’ perspective by
providing an exposure to real life issues related to the technical, scientific, conservation,
management, policy and economic aspects of environmental studies, water resource
management and natural resources management.

Timeline for important activities

Activity Due date
Dispatch of joining report from the host organization January 15, 2011
Tentative topic January 20, 2011
(by email to supervisor, HOD and Major Project coordinator)
Synopsis/Proposal January 30, 2011
(by email to supervisor, HOD and Major Project coordinator)
Brief progress report Every fortnight*
(by email to supervisor, HOD and Major Project coordinator)
Draft Project Report – Submission for evaluation May 17, 2011**
Response/Feedback from the Host Organization/Supervisor to May 24, 2011***
be submitted to HOD
Presentation and Question & Answers/Viva Voce May 31-June04, 2011
*I February 15, 2011, II-February 28, 2011; III-March 15, 2011; IV-March 30, 2011; V April 15, 2011; VI-April 30, 2011. Send all
emails to msc_dnr@teriuniversity.ac.in
**Two spiral bind copies are to be submitted to HOD.
***It is responsibility 0 the candidate to ensure that the response/feedback form reaches before time
This is sole responsibility of students to meet the timeline. Failing to this will attract ‘Negative Marking’

Evaluation Criteria
An evaluation committee will be formed to assess the work. The distribution of marks
for the evaluation will as follows (weights of each is indicated in parenthesis)
(a) Meeting time line (10 marks) (1 Topic + 2 Synopsis + 4 progress report + 2
Report + 1 Feedback form)
(b) Response/Feedback from the Host Organization/Supervisor (10 marks)
(c) Project Report (25 marks)
(d) Presentation (15 marks)
(Organization of slides, contents, and presentation skills)
(e) Question & Answers/Viva Voce (40 marks)

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Format of the Proposal/Synopsis

The length of the proposal/synopsis is limited to six pages (counting both sides) only.
The proposal/synopsis can be structured as following:
• Cover Page: Clearly indicate Title, Name of Candidate, Supervisor (s) and
Department & University with Year at the bottom.
• Introduction: State the purpose and goals of the work, supported by the
background of the work done and some ideas about the achievements in the area.
• Literature Review: Provide related concepts that affect your work. The reference
sources should be textbooks, journals, statutory and legal reports and publications.
Limit yourself to authentic sources. All references are to be reported in the
references section.
• Objectives: Limit yourself to objectives which are doable in a semester.
• Materials and Methodology: Please mention very explicitly the materials (data,
software, equipments etc.) and methods you propose to use to carry out the study.
• Expected Outcomes: This should list the major products/knowledge gained
through the Independent Study and, if possible, how the work can be carried
forward.
• References: Refer to Harvard System of Referencing Guide
(http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/files/Harvard_referencing.pdf).
• Time Line/Schedule: Use a Gantt-Chart (PERT) format to represent the time line
of the proposed work.

Format of the Report

The length of the report should be limited to 40 to 60 pages (counting both sides) only.
Please refer to the Annexure at the end of document for detail structure. The report can
be structured as following:
• Abstract: This is a summary of the work done within 300 words. Broadly, it defines
the concepts studied and key findings. (Use 10 font and italics in this section. It
should be followed by five key words.
• Introduction: As above
• Literature Review: As above
• Material and Methods: Please mention very explicitly the materials (data,
software, equipments etc.) and methods you used to carry out the study.
• Results: This is the final outcome of the work done during this period. It is to be
expressed qualitatively or quantitatively.
• Discussion and Conclusion: This section should have your assessment (in terms
of important advances in the field of study, critics, gaps, limitations and scope for
further research) of the state-of-art-knowledge in the field.
• References: Refer to Harvard System of Referencing Guide
(http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/files/Harvard_referencing.pdf).
• Annexure(s): Any graphs, boxes and tables that could not be accommodated in the
main section.

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Each student has to prepare multiple copies of the report for (i) self; (ii) host
organization/supervisor; (iii) University Supervisor and (ii) two copies for the
University.

Page setup suggested for proposal/synopsis/report writing

The suggested format, in brief, is as follows.
• A page size of A4;
• Left margin: 42 mm, right margin: 30 mm, top: 15 mm, bottom: 20 mm;
• Times New Roman 12 point as the base font and 1.5 lines spacing;
• Page numbers in the top margin, centered; and
• Printed on both sides

Presentation and Question & Answers/Viva Voce

The time allotted for the Presentation is only 15 minutes (maximum). The
presentation should explain (a) Background/Introduction; (b) Objective(s); (c) Research
Questions; (d) Materials & methods; (e) Results/Learning; (f) Conclusion; (g)
Limitations.

Points to be noted
1. Grade ‘F’ will be awarded, if the student is not able to complete the course work.

Important personnel

Major Project Coordinator Dr Suresh Jain (sureshj@teri.res.in)

(January – April 2011)

Major Project Coordinator Dr P K Joshi (pkjoshi@teri.res.in)

(May 2011 – June 2011)

Office Support Mr Raj Kumar (msc_dnr@teriuniversity.ac.in)

(January 2011 – June 2011)

Note: You have to send all emails and progress reports to Mr Raj Kumar
(msc_dnr@teriuniversity.ac.in)

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 Annexure

TITLE

Major Project Report

Submitted by

NAME OF CANDIDATE

For the partial fulfillment of the

Degree of Master of Science in

YOUR STREAM

Submitted to
Department of Natural Resource
TERI University

May 2011

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 DECLARATION

This is to certify that the work that forms the basis of this project “TITLE” is an original work
carried out by me and has not been submitted anywhere else for the award of any degree.

I certify that al sources of information and data are fully acknowledged in the project report.

YOU NAME

Date:

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that NAME OF CANDIDATE has carried out his major project in partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in YOUR STREAM on the
topic “TITLE” during January 2011 to May 2011, The project was carried out at the
ORGANISATION YOU ARE WORKING WITH
.

The report embodies the original work of the candidate to the best of our knowledge

Date:

Name Name
(External Supervisor) (Internal Supervisor)
Designation Designation
ORGANISATIO Department of Natural Resources
TERI University New Delhi

Head
Department of Natural Resources
TERI University
New Delhi

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF TABLES
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
LITERATURE REVIEW
MATERIAL AND METHODS
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
ANNEXURE(S)

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