Expectations | Project
Plan | Reporting
Requirements | Progress Reports |
Abstract | Final Technical Paper
In addition to your progress reports, an abstract is due by the August pay
date, regardless of when you started your project. Details regarding the
abstract are below:
Please provide the final title of your project. Often titles change from the
original proposal to submission of the abstract. We need your final project
title now for preparation of program materials. We will use the title you give
us now in the annual report, abstract book, and proceedings for each of the
seminar days.
The abstract is a succinct outline of your research project. For experimental
projects, it (1) presents the principal objective and scope of your project;
(2) describes the methodology; (3) summarizes the results; (4) states the principal
conclusions. If you have no results yet, give the conclusions or recommendations
for continuation of the project or for subsequent work to be done. For a theoretical
paper, the abstract (1) describes the issue; (2) describes the analysis; (3)
states implications for further research. Use clear, significant words when
writing your abstract; eliminate extraneous words. Do not use abbreviations,
jargon, or specialized words. Abstracts rarely cite references. Your abstract
should stand alone and be intelligible without reference to your final paper.
The abstract will be printed in the Seminar Day proceedings, so it is essential
that all information appears as you want it in print. Be sure to proofread
the text! We will print it as you submit it. Remember that careless writing
gives the impression of careless work. Be concise! Abstracts should be no longer
than 100-200 words. Abstracts that exceed the word limit will be returned to
the student for editing and resubmission.
Submitting Your Abstract
We need two copies of your abstract, one submitted by email as a Word attachment
(very important) to sfp@caltech.edu, AND the other a hard copy, signed by both
you and your mentor. Both of these are due by the August pay date, regardless
of when you started your project.
If you have special symbols or formatting as part of your abstract, it must be
formatted for a PC in Microsoft Word. We do not have the software capability
to translate other programs. (This is especially important if you include equations
or a graphic - it must be reformatted to Word.) For the two or three of
you who need to insert chemistry graphics - it needs to be embedded in
the Word document. Click
here to view how your abstract should look. Please submit your abstract by
e-mail to sfp@caltech.edu. The title of
the message should be "Your Last Name, Your First Name - Abstract" so
that we can better track the messages.
