| BSc/MSc Dissertation Projects |
| Here is a list of BSc dissertation and MSc summer term dissertation project ideas that require some further thoughts and discussions. Some of these are more research oriented (focusing on building a test bed for scientific investigations, evaluated via experimentation) and others are more software engineering oriented (focusing on software development, evaluated via software and user tests). All projects are open to modification and negotiation, if you think you have a good idea to make them more interesting. |
| You will notice that several of these projects are related to Agent-Based Modelling and Simulation, my primary research interest. If you want to find out more about the topic, you can watch a video of a presentation I have recently given at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge [url]. |
| Research Oriented Project Ideas |
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| Software Engineering Oriented Project Ideas |
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| Full Year MSc Dissertation Projects |
| I am happy to discuss how to streamline these into UG dissertation projects |
| Project 4: Reimplementation "Little Computer People" Game using modern AI/ML |
This project aims to develop an innovative multi-floor Pac-Man-style game that explores advanced AI pathfinding and movement techniques. By leveraging a top-down view game framework, the task is to implement and compare sophisticated navigation algorithms including A*, D* Lite, and Reinforcement Learning. You are also asked to analyse and benchmark different AI implementations, evaluating their effectiveness in complex, multi-level environments. A bonus would be to integrate the Social Force Model to create more natural, dynamic character movement patterns.
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| Project 3: Translating Causal Loop Diagrams into System Dynamics Diagrams |
| Causal loop diagrams are qualitative tools used to illustrate and understand the relationships and feedback loops within complex systems without requiring numerical data. System dynamics diagrams, on the other hand, often incorporate quantitative elements, modelling system behaviour over time using stocks, flows, and differential equations to simulate and analyze system dynamics. In this project we want to investigate, if we can use AI tools to translate qualitative diagrams into quantitative ones. If time allows, we could also look at using generative AI for creating causal loop diagrams in the first place. This projects requires someone proficient in Applied Data Science. |
| Project 2: Improving the 'Smarter Travel - Nottingham' Platform |
| In collaboration with Nottingham City Council we have developed the 'Smarter Travel - Nottingham' platform (http://51.140.251.121/), a website to provide smart travel information. We want to add some new widgets and update the ones that are not working anymore. The project uses VertX (https://vertx.io/) for the backend, a toolkit for building responsive, resilient, and scalable JVM applications, and Bootstrap 4 for the frontend. If you want to take on this project, you need to be proficient in Java, and have some experience with web development. Knowledge in data science (predictive modelling) would be a bonus. |
| Project 1: IDE for an Agent-Based Modelling Library |
| The task is to create a component based drag-and-drop IDE for developing state machine diagrams. These then need to be translated into a script that can be read by an agent-based simulation library other dissertation students have developed in the past. The library is written in Java. There is also some maintenance work on the library to do. If you want to take on this project, you need to be proficient in Software Engineering and Java. There is an alternative project for Python programmers, so if you are interested in the topic let me know , and we can discuss the Python variant. To find out more about agent-based modelling and simulation and the related state machine diagrams, have a look at https://arxiv.org/pdf/0803.3905/. |
| Advice for Dissertation Students |
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