Research Project Guidelines

2016

Guidelines for
Graduation/ Research Projects

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Research Project Guidelines

2016

Contents
Guidelines for ........................................................................................................................................... 1
Graduation/ Research Projects ................................................................................................................. 1
1.

Objective of Research Project ........................................................................................................... 3

2.

Scope of Research Project ................................................................................................................. 3

3.

Potential areas of research................................................................................................................ 3

4.

Stages of Research Project ................................................................................................................ 4

5.

Calendar for research project: ........................................................................................................... 8

6.

Word of advice.................................................................................................................................. 9

7.

Logistics of approving appropriate topics .......................................................................................... 9

8.

Format for documenting final topics with sponsor details ................................................................. 9

9.

Expected student learning from the Research Project ....................................................................... 9

10.

Expected outcomes/benefits........................................................................................................ 10

11.

Sponsorship of Project ................................................................................................................. 10

12.

Number of students taking Research Projects - Individual or team projects ................................. 10

13.

Guides .......................................................................................................................................... 10

14.

Evaluation matrix ......................................................................................................................... 11

15.

Criteria for evaluation .................................................................................................................. 11

16.

Details on Jury.............................................................................................................................. 14

17.

Award Categories : ....................................................................................................................... 16

Reference: Document prepared by Prof Prabir Jana in 2003

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Research Project Guidelines

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1. Objective of Research Project

A research project (RP) is a research based project done by the students in the final Semester
(final semester) in partial fulfillment of their degree. The purpose of the project is to integrate the
learning of the students of the last semesters through research/experimentation in the chosen
area by the applications of technology in apparel manufacturing.

2. Scope of Research Project

Students may take up projects within the scope of fundamental research or applied research.
Fundamental research is an activity designed to broaden scientific and technical knowledge not
directly linked to industrial or commercial objectives. Applied research is designed for the purpose
of producing results that may be applied to real world situations.
Therefore, the Research Projects maybe any of the following
1) Projects which studies the relationship and/or applicability of theories or principles to the solution
of a problem which is either organization specific or industry specific.
2) A careful investigation or scientific research into a subject in order to discover facts, to establish
or devise/revise a theory/hypothesis.
3) A survey based research of an industry phenomenon, trend or an issue of concern.
4) Research done with an eye towards making products/software applications that can be
commercialized, or at least made available for practical benefit.
5) Any research which is used to answer a specific question, determine why something failed
or succeeded, solve a specific, pragmatic problem, or to gain better understanding.
The research project is not
1) An additional Industry placement after summer internship.
2) An opportunity provided to factories to get piece meal work done from students, which may not
fulfill the Departments RP requirements.

3. Potential areas of research

Few Suggested Areas for Research Project are:
Productivity Measurement and Improvement techniques.
Fit analysis
Quality Measurement and Improvement Methods.
Implementation of any Production or Quality System.
Product Development Process for new/unexplored products.
Product/Process Re-engineering
Sizing
Research on new products/technology/processes.
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Technical evaluation and/or implementation of MIS/ERP/CAD systems.

Software Design and Development covering various functions in an apparel firm.
System Analysis and Design
Retail / Vendor management
Merchandising
Human Resource Management
Corporate Social responsibility
E Commerce
Compliance issues such as social, environmental and technical
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
Process automation for productivity and/or quality improvement etc.

To ensure appropriate and balanced coverage of various issues/subjects a prescribed percentage

of projects to be done in different areas. The Centre Co-ordinator should ensure that the
coverage should not only be in terms of above topical issues but also is in terms of four basic types
of research i.e. descriptive, analytical, applied and empirical.

4. Stages of Research Project

There are four stages of Research Project
Stage I Preliminary
Identification of Topic
Identification of Sponsor
Development of research proposal
Allotment of Faculty guide
Stage II Planning
Literature Study
Design and development of Research Methodology
Submission of documentation of first three chapters
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Review of Literature
Chapter 3 Methodology
Stage III Execution
Field work
Analysis
Report writing
Stage 4: Assessment & evaluation

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Stage I: Preliminary
1) Identification of Topic
Student shall identify suitable topics for the project. For this purpose they shall need to do extensive
reading of literature available (this includes projects done in similar areas both in NIFT and in other
institutes), interact with faculty and industry people.
The committee of department faculty members shall collectively provide feedback on the proposed
topics submitted by the students. This should be undertaken in Sept- Oct 2014
Students may be advised not to undertake a specific topic due to certain reasons like duplication of
topic, limitation of reference material on the subject or perceived difficulty for the particular student
in undertaking the project.
Alternately the faculty of the department may have some topic in mind and offer to the class or
directly assign the topic to a student/student group based on subject of the topic and capability of
the student.
Decision of the committee will be final in the selection of RP topic.
Since the students have already been associated with the industry they should identify the area of
work and the CC and the faculty guide should help them shape the topic as per the objective of the
department and research project. Student should formulate clear research proposal.
2) Identification of Sponsor
This shall be done by the students with departmental concurrence. Student may interact with
prospective sponsors and obtain sponsorships in tune with departmental policy. The finalization of
sponsorship shall be done with endorsement of the departmental head and formal acceptance in
writing shall be obtained by the students from the sponsor and deposit the same with the
departmental head.
As part of GP drive the students are given opportunity to interact the potential Sponsor. The students
should identify the one in line with their area of research interest with help of CC.
3) Development of research proposal
The student are required to prepare a detailed research proposal which involves introduction to the
topic to be investigated, spell out objectives of the project with the proposed methodology
to be followed, indicate the plan of work, resources required, budget of expenses, formal details
of sponsors etc.
Format of the Proposal
- Introduction and Justification of the topic
- Objectives of the research
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Research Project Guidelines

Review of Literature
Proposed Methodology
Time Plan & Budget
Resources Required
in terms
of
equipments/infrastructure requirements etc.

sponsorship,

organization

2016

support,

The research proposal will be attested by a committee of departmental faculty . Acceptance by this
committee will convey approval of the concept note and the authorization to proceed to the next
stages of project work. This activity should be completed latest by 1st week January 2015

4) Allotment of Faculty Guide

After approval of concept note, the guide for each project shall be allotted. From this point onwards
the students are required to be in continuous touch with their guide on the progress of the
project. The guide has a role of a facilitator and showing academic direction than of editing or
rewrite the report.
it is essential to have an industry guide from that sponsor organization to facilitate the work. In
some cases an additional specialist guide may be allotted to a student. This will be in addition to NIFT
faculty guide who will have the main responsibility of the project. Faculty guide and student
group(s) may mutually decide the schedule for meeting.
The students should report to faculty guide minimum once a week. D u rin g th ese m eet in g th e
written feedback should be given to the student and should be filled up on weekly basis.
It is essential to give written feedback to the students

Stage 2: Planning
1) Literature study
The body of literature studied is based on secondary source of data. Students should use the library
extensively. Review of literature will help them understand the existing extent of research done on
the same topic; understand other research approaches and it will also help the students to save
precious time in not doing repetitive work.
2) Design and development of Research Methodology
Students shall review the available body of literature and determine the methodology by which the
project will be executed. Students are required to identify the various research methods and tools
that will be employed.
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3) Submission of first 3 chapters of Report.

At this stage students will commence the documentation task by preparing the first chapter of the
report of the study as follows
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Review of Literature
Chapter 3: Methodology
These chapters shall be submitted on or before a midterm review.
The submitted report will be vetted by a departmental committee and improvements if any shall be
communicated to the students who will be obliged to carry out the same. The Feedback shall be
provided during the midterm review. Student may proceed to the next stage of work after the approval
is conveyed along with the feedback.

Stage 3: Execution
1) Field work and Data collection
This involves the collection of preliminary data, carrying out actual experiments and compilation of
results.
2) Analysis
This involves the analysis of preliminary data and the analysis and carrying out actual experiments
and compilation of result with supportive discussion and conclusions.
3) Report writing
On a due date draft report along with a synopsis must be submitted duly printed in 3 copies in
unbound form for the viva-voce. Students are also required to prepare presentation for the
industry. If the draft report is not found satisfactory, faculty guide many not allow the student to
appear for viva-voce and/or the presentation.

Stage 4: Assessment & Evaluation

1) Viva voce
Students shall undergo an interactive viva-voce for approximately 20 mins, between the student
and a panel of experts/faculty members to evaluate the overall performance of a student at the
end of the project. The details of the viva-voce and evaluation criteria are mentioned below.
2) Submission of Final Report
The students are required to submit two sets of the report in hard and soft copy (2 final hard
bound copies of report and 2 final soft copies on CD).
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5. Calendar for research project:

RP ACTIVITY(2015-2016)
Briefing students about RP to students

DATES
Completed by 2nd week September

Identifying students groups, areas of interest and at least 3

potential concept notes
Submission of 3 concept notes
Letters to the companies and inviting them over for RPs
RP confirmations & Guide allocations
Students to get in touch with companies to finalize projects

Completed by 3rd September

Semester opening
Research Methodology Classes for finalization of Research
project proposal
Students report to companies with finalized proposals
Midterm review for the progress of the projects
(5th week after commencement of RP)
Completion of the GP
(18 week after commencement of RP)
4 weeks before mid term
1.5 week of mid term
7.5 weeks post mid term
2 weeks of documentation (during placement )
3Weeks of internal external end term jury evaluation
Explore placement possibilities with the companies they are
doing their RPs
End Term Internal Jury
End Term External Jury

4th Jan 2016

4th Jan - 15th Jan 2016

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Completed by end September

Initiating end September
October end
Nov-Dec

18th Jan 2016

15th 23 rd February, 2016
21st April 2016
(Target completion of research work by
16th April 2016 and documentation by
21st April .Placement starts from 22nd
April 2016)

Before 15th April 2016

2nd to 6th May 2016
16th- 20th May 2016

Research Project Guidelines

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6. Word of advice
It is the responsibility of the department and mentor to see that the area of research is in line with the
objective of the department and that student implement the class room learning in real life situation of
apparel manufacturing.

7. Logistics of approving appropriate topics

The CC of the department with the faculty members of the department should deliberate on the topic
with the students before the topic is finalized. These discussions can start from Oct 2014 onwards so
that the proposals can be drafted which can be presented to the industry.

8. Format for documenting final topics with sponsor details

To be documented and sent to CP in 2nd week of Jan 2016 (08.01.2016)
National Institute of Fashion Technology
Department of Fashion Technology
Research Project Details: BFT / MFT
Programme:
S. No Student Name RP Topic

Name of the
Mentor from the
Department

Campus:
Name of the
Sponsoring
Company

Name &
Designation of
Industry Mentor

9. Expected student learning from the Research Project

1) It gives the students the capabilities to independently plan and execute projects.
2) Students will be able to put into practice some of the learning that has been taught
throughout the course.
3) The students will be able to use their creative skills towards problem solving.
4) The project will help students develop skills of analysis and integration along with develop
an awareness of existing literature and communicate the same in written and oral modes.
5) It will provide the student with a transition experience from managing exam based tasks to
more project based tasks.

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10.Expected outcomes/benefits
1) Results of the projects will have practical value and significance for industry and the
institute as a whole.
2) It will help create a bank of knowledge that will add value to teaching and classroom
learning.
3) The outcomes of the projects will aid in developing teaching material, publish papers and
case studies.
4) it should be encouraged that the research work is converted in to publishable article or
research paper for the conferences/ seminar/ journals / magazines etc .

11.Sponsorship of Project
The students sh o u l d undertake project that are sponsored by interested organizations. The
interested organizations could be any one from among the following; export organizations,
domestic manufacturers, consultants, retail organization, Information Technology enabled solutions
and services, government institutions, financial institutions, trade bodies, etc. Sponsorship of the
project entails that the sponsor will cooperate to provide all necessary formalities to the student(s) to
carry out the project work in the premises, will nominate a suitable executive to function as an
external/ industry guide to the student and will incur the costs of the project.

12. Number of students taking Research Projects - Individual or team projects

Students may execute the research project individually or in team at bachelors level however teams
may not exceed two students. The department reserves the right to change/ alter team
composition on merits. The department also reserves the right to direct students to work on the
project individually as per merits. Students should not be encouraged to work in larger groups as
it makes the evaluation of such projects difficult.
At Masters level students have to essentially undertake RP individually.

13.Guides
Faculty Guide
He/ She will be a member of the department and be overall supervisor of the students work. The
guide shall only act as sounding-board to the student and will guide the students in the technical
aspects of the project. Faculty guides will be allotted to each group on the basis of project area,
expertise and interest area of the faculty. Students shall report to the faculty guide at least once every
week during the several stages of project work. THE GUIDE WILL BE RESPONSIBLE TO GIVE WRITTEN
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FEEDBACK TO THE STUDENT ESSENTIALLY.

Industry Guide
He /She shall be a nominee of the sponsoring organization. He /She shall be a person sufficiently
senior in the organization and facilitate or co-ordinate the students obligations in the project
within the organization. The industry facilitator may not have any responsibilities for
technical guidance to the student. It is the responsibility of the faculty guide to coordinate with
industry guide so that the student is given clear direction of work

Expert Guide- Co Guide

If deemed necessary by the Department an expert guide in the field may be nominated to provide
additional technical support to the student. He/ She shall function in close liaison with the faculty
guide. The student will have to report to him as frequently as deemed necessary by the faculty
guide. The expert guide shall not have any obligation to discharge the main supervisory role which is
vested only in the faculty guide.
The expert guide may be from the sponsoring organization or any freelance subject matter
expert/academics mutually identified by the student and faculty guide.

14.Evaluation matrix
Evaluation matrix
Internal Guide / Mentor
Internal Jury
Mid Semester 10 Marks
End Semester 10 Marks
Industry Feedback / external Mentor
External Jury
TOTAL

Marks
20 Marks
20 Marks
20 Marks
40 Marks
100 Marks.

15.Criteria for evaluation

Internal Guide / Mentor- 20 Marks to be evaluated on the following parameters for 5
marks each

Timely Report,
Synopsis & Literature study / Methodology,
Documentation and
Work content & Efforts Taken

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Internal Jury
Mid semester- 10 Marks to be evaluated on the following parameters for 2.5 marks each
Comprehension
Extent of Review of Literature
Understanding of subject matter / Clarity of Research work
Research Plan / Approach to problem solving

End Term - 10 Marks to be evaluated on the following parameters for 2.5 marks each

Documentation & Presentation

Achieving Objectives & Project Approach
Analysis & Conclusion
Innovation / Implementation / Depth Research / Originality of work done

Industry Feedback / external Mentor*- 20 Marks to be evaluated on the following

parameters for 5 marks each

Professional Approach for the project & Punctuality

Innovation / Implementation / Depth of Research / Originality of Work
Technical Understanding / Knowledge Application
Overall Project Impact

External Jury- 40 Marks to be evaluated on the following parameters for 5 marks each

Presentation / Communication
Comprehension
Innovation / Implementation/ Research Depth
Subject Clarity
Project Approach
Relevance to Industry / Overall impact of the project
Quantum of work carried out
Analysis & Conclusion

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*Format of Industry Feedback Form of 20 marks

Students feedback from industry

Research Project Industry Feedback: BFT/MFT
Name of Student
Department & Semester
NIFT Campus

:
: ......
: ..

Evaluation Criteria
S. No. Evaluation Criteria

Excellent
5

1.
2.
3.
4.
TOTAL

Very
Good
4

Good

Fair

Poor

Total

Professional Approach for the Project &

Punctuality
Innovation / Implementation / Depth of
Research / Originality of Work
Technical Understanding / Knowledge
Application
Overall Project Impact
Note: 5 is the highest, 1 is the lowest

Name of Industry Mentor

Designation
Signature
Company Seal

:
:
:
:

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16.Details on Jury
Jury composition
Internal jury
-2-4 Internal Faculty Members from same department (DFT)
External Jury
-2 Professional Experts/faculty from recognized institute/industry experts
-1 Faculty from same department (DFT )of other Campus
-1 Faculty from same department(DFT) same Campus(other than Mentor)

Format of documentation of End semester internal and external jury composition

research project
S.
N
o.

Campu
s

Internal Jury
External Jury
Internal 2-4 Internal External 2-3 Professional
1 Faculty 1-2 Faculty from
Jury
Faculty
Jury Date Experts/faculty
from same
same
Date
Members
from recognized department department(DFT)
from same
institute/industry
(DFT )of
same Centre
department
experts
other
(other than
(DFT )
Campus
Mentor)

Pre requisite for Jury

Pre-requisite for end term internal jury :
i. Completion of the entire project to gather with the project report documentation
ii. Satisfactory certificate from the faculty guide
iii. Satisfactory certificate from the sponsoring company OR Satisfactory certificate from External
Mentor in case of Research Project is not carried out at specific industry / RP is an Academic
Research Project.
Pre-requisite for End Term External Jury
i)
Satisfactory certificate from internal jury

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Role and Function of Jury

There will be a mid-term internal jury to monitor the progress for the students collectively for
department. There will be another internal jury as par t of end-term evaluation to access the completion
of the project prior to the end-term jury.
The internal jury as par t of end-term evaluation should decide whether the project work is
satisfactory and the student can go to external jury or not.
If the internal jury finds the work not complete and acceptable, a follow up with the specified time
period may be given to student subject to condition that such extension shall not be beyond the date
fixed for the external jury and shall apply only for making improvement in work submitted No new work
shall be permitted.
At the end of specified time frame the follow-up work is presented by student to the internal jury
again. If the re-jury finds the work acceptable, student goes for external jury on scheduled date, else the
student fails and does the RP / RP next year with next batch.

Methodology of Conducting the Jury

i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

The Centre Coordinator of the respective discipline shall co-ordinate the jury.
The senior most expert in the case of external jury and senior most faculty in case of internal
jury shall chair the jury to the jury proceedings.
The chair would be responsible for giving the overall direction and guidelines to the
proceedings of the jury.
The jury members would be oriented towards the objective, methodology and significance of
the projects.

Written Feedback
Written feedback will be given to the students clearly stating the shortcoming in the project and the
direction the project has to take.
written feedback will be given during
-The project approval stage
-Mid -term Jury review
- Weekly interaction with Guide
- End term Internal jury review
- End term external jury review

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Compilation of Jury Evaluation

Compilation of Jury Evaluation (Internal)
i.
ii.
iii.

All jury members shall assign marks independently and confidentiality for each student.
All marks given by various jury members would be interpolated and an average would be
taken out for various criteria of the evaluation.
The internal Jury should decide whether the project work is satisfactory and can go to
External Jury. If the work is not found satisfactory, the Internal Jury would
suggest FOLLOW UP work
and
recommend
a Re-Jury.Internal Re-Jury to
assess
thefollow up work will be held any time before the last week of July of the same Calendar
year. In case the work is still not found satisfactory by the Internal Jury or subsequent
External jury, student(s) will have to repeat the graduation project with the next batch.

Compilation of Jury Evaluation (External)

i.
ii.
iii.
iv.

All jury members shall assign marks independently and confidentially for each student.
All marks given by various jury members would be interpolated and an average would be
taken out for various criteria of the evaluation and documented.
All comments given by various jury members will be compiled and formally briefed as a
feedback to the students at the end of jury session.
After the jury evaluation, the respective student's grade sheet would have to be prepared.

17.Award Categories :
DFT award categories
Best Research Project/ Best Graduating Project
Most Innovative Project
Most Commercially viable Project.
Evaluation Guidelines :
Best Research Project/ Best Graduating Project
Awarded to the top student/s scoring the maximum marks in their Mentor, Internal Jury, External Jury
and Industry feedback Marks assessment
Most Innovative Project & Most Commercially viable Project
Most Innovative Project & Most Commercially viable Project, will be adjudged separately both by
internal and external jury members for the creativity/newness and commercial/financial viability.
Logistic of implementation and guiding parameters for evaluation is given underneath
Logistic of implementation:
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Most Innovative Project & Most Commercially viable Project, will be adjudged separately both by
internal and external jury members by creating two columns in the evaluation sheet for Most
commercially viable and Most Innovative Project. The marks of these columns will not be added to the
total mark of the student. These columns will only be used to identify the awardees in the mentioned
categories. The marking will be done by both internal and external jury on scale of 0- 10 and average of
the scores of the internal and external jury members will indicate the award winner. In case of a tie the
student having the higher overall score (Combine scores of all juries, mentor and industry feedback)
will get the award. In case there is a tie in overall grade also then both the students will get the award.
Guiding parameters for evaluation
Most Innovative Project:
The project has to have innovation / newness in terms of innovative/ creative
1Approach to problem solving
2Product
3System
4Solution
The projects can be classified as per the following cases and evaluation has to be done
accordingly. Guideline for the same is mentioned below
CASE
Classification /Description
CASE 1 Invention/ creation of new ideas. Concepts and products
CASE 2 Innovativeness suggested in research project is not existent in apparel
sector or any other industry
CASE 3 Innovativeness suggested is not existent in apparel sector but exists in
other industry
CASE4 No innovativeness in the research project

Marks Range
8-10
5-7
2-4
0 -1

Most commercially viable:

The project has to have commercially/ financially viable
1Approach to problem solving
2Product
3System
4Solution
The projects can be classified as per the following cases and evaluation has to be done
accordingly. Guideline for the same is mentioned below
CASE
CASE 1
CASE 2

Classification /Description
Marks Range
Commercially / financially viable with payback period clearly 8-10
calculated
Potential commercially / financially viable with indicative/ suggested 5-7
payback period
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CASE 3
CASE4

potential commercially / financially viable with NO payback period

No commercial / financial viability in the research project

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2-4
0 -1

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