Working towards equal opportunities Sheffield HaUam University

Education for business and the professions

Research Studentships

You will join our established team in the policy research center, initially for two years

but with a possible extension to three. We are offering salaries of £5, 000 per annum,

and you will be required to register for the award of MPhil or PhD.

We have three Studentships to offer, and in addition to holding a good first degree or

master’s qualification, your interests should cover one or more of these areas:

Applied economics, industrial policy, government-business relationships; small

business promotion; local economic policy; regional policy; business history; local

governance; labour market analysis.

To apply, you should submit your CV and a covering letter, outlining your research

interests, to Dr. Royce Turner

Policy Research Centre Sheffield Business School

Sheffield Hallam University Unit 7

The Science Park Howard Street

Sheffield SI 2LX

Closing date is 19 March 2005

(Taken from The Guardian)

Task 4. 38. Read the text below to find the answers to the following questions:

DEGREE REQUIREMENTS AT MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (MIT)

1. What degrees are conferred by MIT?

2. How long should one do research to get the Master’s degree (Engineer’s degree, Doctor’s degree)?

3. Where are theses prepared? Is residence obligatory?

4. Compare the time necessary and the requirements to the thesis prepared for obtain­ing Master’s degree, Engineer’s degree and Doctor’s degree at MIT.

5. What are the language proficiency requirements at MIT?

6. Where are PhD and ScD awarded?

Graduate students may pursue work leading to any of the following degrees:

Doctor of Philisophy, PhD

Doctor of Science, ScD

Engineer’s Degree (in engineering departments only)

Master of Science, MSc, SM

Master of Architecture, MArch

Master in City Planning, MCP

Students’ reseach work

The Master’s degree requires ,a minimum of one academic year of study, the Engineer’s degree - two years and the Doctotr’s degree - three or more years beyond a baccaulaureate in the same field. For the S.M. the minimum is one academic term, for the Engineer’s it is two academic terms and for the Doctorate it is four academic terms. All degree requirements include completion of an acceptable thesis prepared in residence unless special permission is granted for the part of the thesis work to be done elsewhere.

In the School of Engineering students may be awarded an Engineer’s degree. This program provides a higher level of professional competence than it is required by the program leading to the Master’s degree but with less emphasis on creative research than it is expected in a doctoral program.

A Doctor’s degree requires original research of high grade and satisfactory completion of an approved program of advanced study. The degrees of Ph.D. and Sc.D. are awarded interchangeably by all departments in the Schools of Engineering and Science (except biology) and in the fields of architecture, biology, economics, linguistics, management, operations research, philosophy, political science, urban studies and planning. Admission to MIT for the Master’s degree does not necessarily imply an automatic commitment by MIT beyond that level of study.

A few departments require that the Doctoral candidate take a “minor” program outside the principal field. Language requirements vary and some departments require a thorough knowledge of one relevant foreign language or reading knowledge of two.

All students Whose first language is not English will be required to take the English Evaluation Test (EET) which is given during the week prior to Registration Day. The EET test is a diagnostic test (unlike the TOEFL which is an achievement test). The purpose of the test is to help students identify their strengths and weaknesses in written and oral English. Scores below 575 may result in the withdrawing of the visa documentation for a candidate found admissible.

Task 4. 39. One of the practical skills a researcher needs while presenting the results of his/her investigation (submitting an article to a scientific journal, for example) is the skill of writing an abstract of his/her article correctly. Get acquainted with the abstracts presented below and pay attention to the phrases in italics that are characteristic of article abstracts. Translate them.

A Methodology of fitting and validating metamodels in simulation

Abstract. This expository paper discusses the relationships among metamodels, simu­lation models and problem entities. A metamodel or response surface is an approxi­mation of the input/output function implied by the underlying simulation model. There are several types of metamodel: linear regression, splines, neural networks etc. This paper distinguishes between fitting and validating a metamodel. Metamodels may have different goals: (i) understanding; (ii) prediction; (iii) optimization; (iv) verification and

Unit 4

validation. For this metamodeling, a process with thirteen steps is proposed. Classic design of experiments (DOE) is summarized, including standard measures of fit such as the R-square coefficient and cross-validation measures. This DOE is extended to sequential or stagewise DOE Several validation criteria, measures and estimators are discussed. Metamodels in general are covered, along with a procedure for developing linear regression (including polynomial) metamodels.

Cryptanalytic Attacks on Pseudorandom Number Generators (PRINGs)

Abstract. In this paper we discuss PRNGs: the mechanisms used for real-world secure systems to generate cryptographic keys, initialization vectors, “random” notices and other notices assumed to be random. We argue that PRNGs are their own unique type of cryptographic primitive and should be analyzed as such. We propose a model for PRNGs, discuss possible attacks against this model and demonstrate the applicability of the model (and our attacks) to four real-world PRNGs. We close with a discussion of lessons learned about PRNG design and use, and a few open questions.

Task 4.40. Translate the following text into English working in groups or pairs and use the information in making up an abstract of a specialist article assigned to you (your group) by the teacher.

Анотацш спещально! стагп чи книги - це коротка характеристика оригшалу, що

викладае його змют у форм! передач! основних проблем, а школи подае його

критичну оцшку.

Анотацш повинна дати уяву про характер оригшалу (стаття, науково-популярна

книга i т.п.), про його побудову (питания, виСновки, яю робить автор), об'ем

матер1алу, якють викладу, обгрунтованють висновюв. Щодо критично! ощнки, то

п може не бути, якщо у цьому немае особливо! потреби.

Для складання анотацп треба мати вдаювщш знания та навики, вмгга скласти

план, видшити основш положения та централью питания. Тут необхщш навики як

анал1зу тексту, так i його синтезу.

Анотащя об'емом бшьше, н1ж 500 друкованих знаюв на практищ не зустр)чаеться.

Task 4. 41. Translate the text and compare the information it contains with the information on abstracts from Task 40.

Abstracts

Abstracts appear at the beginning of technical reports and briefly summarize what the document contains. Most abstracts contain four elements - (1) the purpose, (2) the methodology, (3) the results, and (4) the conclusions - and which of these you include depends on the type of document you are writing, the requirements given to you (from your company, your teacher or a professional board and the needs of your readers). Usually, writers draft the abstract after they have written the report, so that it accurately reflects the material in the document. There is a school of thought that suggests you

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149

should write the abstract first as a means of focusing on what you want the document to say, but most technical communicators choose to wrestle with the report first and then write the abstract afterwards.

Whether you decide to write your abstract before or after you draft the document, you should think carefully about which kind of abstract serves your purpose best and meets the needs of your readers. In general, there are two types of abstracts:

1. The descriptive abstract acts as a prose table of contents indicating the main topics
that are covered within the body of the document. In other words, it is a general-purpose
device that doesn’t contain a lot of details or quantitative information. Readers who
prefer this type of abstract want to know what the general coverage of the document is,
what the subdivisions are, and how the material is developed. An example of a
descriptive abstract:

Organizational communication and Culture: A Study of 10 Italian High-Technology Companies. An important contribution of this research is the testing in international environments of communication and culture models previously developed within U.S. high-technology organizations. Specifically, this research demonstrates that relationships among organizational culture themes, employee values, organizational communication activities, and perceptions of a variety of organizational outcomes are similar but not identical for U.S. and European high-technology organizations. Second, the research extends previous work by identifying cultural dimensions that are related to a variety of communication processes.

2, The informative abstract acts as a document in miniature, a capsule version of the
overall report or proposal highlighting the primary ideas. It is often longer than the
descriptive abstract and is preferred by readers who want to get the main points without
reading the entire document or who need to take action on these important points
immediately but will read the entire document later. For example:

The objective of the electro-mechanical project was to design and build an experimental testbedfor nonlinear control research. The final design is a Twin-Bar Rotaiy (TBR) System that consists of two easily reconfigured flywheels with a flexible shaft. Masses are attached to each bar on a pulley connected by a wire to a single compression spring. A DC motor rotates the testbed at a maximum of lOOipm to accommodate safety constraints. When the shaft on the testbed rotates, the masses move out radially allowing the entire system to achieve a 90% inertial change. Our data acquisition group has also provided the means to control and analyze the system with computer program and optical encoders. This TBR System can be used to demonstrate physical programming - a highly effective system optimization approach - in the context of control research. Most abstracts are no more than one page in length - most often they are no more than 150 words.

(Taken from Writing for the Technical Professions by Kristin R. Woolevef)

Unit 4

Task 4. 42. Note some useful tips on how to write a summary. It is simple and exciting. Translate the tips to be further used for practical purposes:

I. Study the textt: ead iitirst tather quickly to geethe general meaning. Then read morr carefully following the author’s argument and noticing what is a fact and what is an opinion, what is general statement and what is particular example. It is also helpful to summarize each paragraph in a few words at this stage.

П. Identify the key points: note that some parts of the text may be completely irrelevant. Go through the text again and mark the places where important information is given by underlining, highlighting with coloured pen or simply making a mark on the margin. Ш. Make notes: write down the key points you’ve identified in note form in your own words. It is especially important for two reasons:

a) it shows how you understand what you have read;

b) it helps you to fit all the necessary information into the word limit.

At this stage a good command of English vocabulary is required (synonyms, antonyms, particular and general words).

IV. Put points in order: look at the list of points you have made and see if there are any
which go together. Then decide the best order to put the points in, this may be different
from the order in the original text. Number the points in this order.

V. Leave out unnecessary details: e.g. lists, figures, explanations.

FIRST DRAFT

VI. Edit your first draft: check the spelling and grammar, count the number of words.
If you have many fewer words than the limit, you have probably left out something
important, so check the original text again. If you have more than the limit, look for
ways of combining points in one sentence or of omitting words here and there.

FINAL DRAFT

Your summary should consist of three logical and coherent parts: an introduction, the main part and conclusions. Connecting the points with link words is recommended. Here are some of them:

hence, consequently, therefore, so, but, accordingly;

firstly, secondly, on the one hand... on the other hand, etc.

(Taken from The Basics: A Rhetoric and Handbook)

Task 4. 43. Translate some more information about how to write a good summary. Are there any new hints compared to what you have read above? Discuss every­thing you know about writing summaries in small groups or with a partner.

When conducting a research on a particular issue students are encouraged to work with the primary and secondary sources of information. Primary sources of information include interviews, observations, and questionnaires, while secondary sources comprise books, magazines etc. Once the research has been completed and all relevant informa­tion has been gathered, it needs to be summarized.

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Writing a Summary

“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires...that every word tell.

(William Strunk.)

Writing a summary is the process of condensing and shortening a particular text, but preserving its overall meaning. Summarizing serves the following purposes:

(1) To demonstrate understanding of a reading;

(2) To establish the ideas to be discussed;

(3) To inform a reader unfamiliar with the text.

Writing a good summary requires not only good reading comprehension, but also the ability to find the main idea of the text and the most relevant supporting mformation. Summaries are substantially shorter (up to 75 percent) than an original text. In a good summary, a student conveys the main idea of an article or a book and, thus, saves a reader the time needed to read the entire original.