Duke University

News in CBTE

**REMINDER**
A written research progress report, with copies (4) provided for each member of the supervisory committee, will be submitted by each student to the Director of Graduate Studies no later than January 10, of the spring semester of year two. As well as demonstrating accomplished research and an understanding of the project, this report is to measure (and correct) the student’s organizational and technical writing ability, and should be completed with minimal input from the research advisor. The report will be evaluated by all members of the student’s supervisory committee, each providing critical comments and suggestions for revisions. *The marked report(s), evaluation and comment forms should be returned to the DGS office by February 3rd.* After collecting all the reviewed reports, evaluation and comment forms the DGS office will return the information to the student by February 7. A final and updated version of this report will serve as the written document for the preliminary examination and will be considered part of the examination.

The report should normally include several sections, beginning with an Abstract of no more than 100 words. The body of the report will include an Introduction section that should state the broad goals and specific aims of the research, point to the significance and/or relevance of the research, and should provide sufficient background to place the research in the context of past and ongoing work in the research area, e.g. the literature. There should be a brief section outlining relevant Methods employed in the research, with expanded experimental details appended
outside the body of the document as necessary. The Results section should summarize progress to date, followed by a Discussion section and finally a description of future work. The body of the document should contain no more than 2500 words, not counting figures, references, and any appended experimental details. Students are encouraged to consult the ACS Style Guide and/or research journals in their research area for guidance on matters of style and format.

The preparation and submission of the research report emphasize research accomplishment at an early stage. The report also provides practice in technical writing, an important part of graduate training. Finally, the report serves as a first concrete step toward the preliminary examination, since the revised and updated version will also serve as the written document for that examination.