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Research and Presentation 1. dissertation as final stage of postgraduate studies Writing a dissertation is a final and major step of the postgraduate degree programme. This is by no means a simple task and requires skills that go beyond coursework and taught modules. Completion of the dissertation is not a matter of quantitative expansion of knowledge, but is concerned with achieving a higher level of professional maturity and independence. 2. Role of Dissertation Advisor The dissertation should provide evidence that you, the student are capable of conducting independent study and research to MSc level in the field of Mathematical Finance. The role of the Dissertation Advisor is to discuss directions (set by yourself) and (your) ideas with you, to evaluate and provide feedback on your work, to provide suggestions and to pose questions. However, the role of Dissertation Advisor does not include answering such questions for you, solving problems, doing research, or locating References for your dissertation. On completion of the dissertation, the Advisor will usually act as an Internal Examiner, working together with the External Examiner to prepare a report and to suggest a mark for the dissertation. 3. Role of student a. Risk and initiative Please always bear in mind that in this research work neither you nor the Dissertation Advisor are likely to be sure in advance exactly where it will lead to. If everything were known and clear to begin with, there would be no research project to embark on in the first place. It is up to you as the author of the dissertation to take initiative. In doing so you need to accept the risk that some, often many, attempts at various tasks may turn out not to be viable. You need to be prepared to go back and try something different, often many times. The Advisor will try to suggest possible directions for your work or help to evaluate your own plans and progress, but cannot guarantee that you will be successful, as this is largely up to you. b. Responsibility for own work The responsibility for everything written in your dissertation lies with yourself as the author. For example, if there is a problem that does not emerge until you dissertation is submitted and marked, it is no excuse at all to say that the Advisor did not point this out at an earlier stage. The Advisor will try to provide general guidelines and examples of typical problems spotted in your work, but hardly ever a comprehensive list of them. The Advisor will typically check selected fragments of your work in some detail, and have a quick look at the whole, but cannot be expected to read it cover to cover and check every detail at each stage. It follows that addressing the comments made by the Advisor may be a necessary condition for success, but by no means is it sufficient. 4. Main goals. These can be summarised as follows: a. Fully understand the contents of the source paper(s) and relevant chapters in recommended books. Your dissertation must provide evidence that you have understood and can present the material in your own words. b. Present a unified approach to the topic. It needs to be self-contained, complete and consistent. c. Aim for clarity and precision, but beware of a pedantic approach,which often clashes with clarity. If in doubt, rewrite from scratch. d. The source papers have to be analysed critically. The fact that a result is published does not guarantee its validity, though mistakes in reviewed papers are rare. e. Students s