Dr David Madden and Dr Dena Qaddumi

This course is compulsory on the MSc in City Design and Social Science. This course is not available as an outside option.

The independent project enables students to develop an original and extended piece of work on any approved topic within the field of the MSc programme. Students may develop work on themes or sites introduced in their Studio or core courses, or on other relevant topics. The project may focus on an analysis of an urban issue or on a practical proposal for urban intervention. Projects may be oriented towards urban design, urban policy, urban social science, or some combination thereof. Approval for the topic must be obtained from your academic advisor.

In WT students attend project workshops and submit a provisional project abstract; academic advisors for the independent project are assigned on the basis of the abstract. In ST, each student has regular supervisory meetings with their academic mentor, and final reviews with members of faculty. Students are also encouraged to consult with other members of faculty during regular office hours.

There will be two sessions during AT for ALL MSc students based in the Sociology department. These will be offered in conjunction with LSE Life and LSE Library and provide basic guidance about planning your dissertation, such as selecting a suitable topic, designing the research and reviewing the existing literature.

Students are required to submit a project outline in Winter Term.

Project (100%, 10000 words) in August.

An electronic copy of the dissertation, to be uploaded to Moodle, no later than 4.00pm on Thursday 14th of August 2025.

Dissertations may be up to and no more than 10,000 words, must be word-processed and be fully referenced using a recognised citation system.

Attendance at all classes and submission of all set coursework is required.