Happiness Lies Within

Guidelines for Progress Reports

Purpose

Progress reports serve a variety of important functions. First, the practice of research often requires attention to detail, occasionally to the extent that details begin to obscure the broader goal of a research program. A progress report provides an opportunity to step back from the details of day-to-day research activity, and to describe the conceptual framework into which that research fits. This exercise often helps to clarify the motivation for a program of research, and can be a catalyst for new research ideas. Second, a critical component of scientific research is the communication of that research to others. One form of communication that will play an important role in your progress as a scientist is that of writing. The progress report provides an opportunity for you to practice writing, to receive critical feedback on writing, and therefore to improve writing skill. Although the subject matter of both of these objectives is past research, an important function of the progress report is to chart the course of future research. As such, a progress report should describe the progress made to date in such a way that the supervisory committee can understand the motivation for the research that you plan to carry out in the near future.

Structure of the Progress Report

The structure of progress reports may vary from one to another for several reasons. Students who have been in the program for several years may write a progress report aimed at addressing a prior concern of the supervisory committee, or they may use the progress report to get feedback on a particularly important aspect of their thesis. Suggestions, and sometimes directives, of committee members, provide the most important guide to the structure of the progress report. As such, students should seek information from committee members if it is not entirely clear what is expected. If your committee does not have specific instructions