Final Year Project (FYP) is often a year-long project which is normally compulsory for people who are in their final year of the Bachelor's Degree. It normally requires you to complete a thesis (which can be varying in length depending on your supervisor/department) which you will be writing it based on a selected project. For myself, I had to produce a 30-page thesis and complete a final presentation to explain my findings throughout the project. The presentation is in place of the usual poster presentation which is arranged as a showcase session where we are suppose to present our findings to professors and anyone who might be interested. It's a pity that I didn't get to experience this due to the COVID situation. Along the way, there are also preliminary submissions and presentations which is arranged by the departments in order to ensure that you are still on track with your projects and it's in a way guiding you through the project to make sure your final thesis is coherent.

In most cases, you will get to select your own projects from the list of projects that the departments have collated. This is the usual way that most people get their FYPs. So the cohort who will be doing their FYP together will put up their ranking of choices of projects and the department/system will allocate the project according to their algorithm. For my case, I had the opportunity to 'self-initiate' my project. This is another option for students who would like to find their own projects that they are interested in and this is usually done before the list of projects is released. So if you are very interested in a project or would love to work with a certain prof or in a certain lab, it will be good to reach out to the profs during your holidays and have a discussion with them on how you can contribute to their lab or start up a project. Most profs will be glad to discuss with you and offer a position if you are very interested in the field of research, so don't be afraid to reach out to the profs. 

Another question that most people have in mind is "What should I take note of when selecting my FYP?". There are 3 main rules that I follow when going about picking projects (this is nor limited to FYP, it can also be applied for UROPS or independent studies that might require you to make your own decisions).

Firstly, find out what you are interested in. Read up on the various topics, and look into whether you are truly interested in that project. This is very important as this is a commitment you are making for the next year. In my opinion, if you pick a project that is something that you enjoy, it will a breeze for you and even if you face problems, it would be easier for you to find motivation to carry on with the project. So interest in the research topic is very important. Next, knowing what is the technical requirements for the project. As much as we want to pick something that we are very interested in, it's important to pick something that we are able to do. 量力而为, it's important to pick something that you know that you can do. For example, it's not the best decision to choose a project that is programming-heavy when you are unable to code very well although you are very interested in the project. Essentially, it's important to look at what you can do, what you like to do and what you want to do. Finally, the last point when deciding on a project is look at the profs. This is a very minor point yet it can make a lot of difference in your grades as your prof in charge will be the one grading you. It's important to understand the working style of the prof if possible and how the lab functions. Of course, this should not be the main point when deciding on the project because most of the time, you will be working with a supervisor in the lab instead of directly with the prof and this supervisor is normally a Research Assistant in the lab or a post-grad student. 

TL;DR Know your strengths and what you like so that you can select a project that meets your interests and needs. 

To share a bit about my FYP experience. As previously mentioned, I did a self-initiated project which was a continuation of my pseudo-UROP at MBI under Prof Tony. I call it a pseudo-UROP as I wasn't able to take a UROP since I missed the deadline, yet I was given the opportunity to continue working in the lab to learn more about the project. Working on the project for 1 semester, I realized that I enjoy working on molecular biology and decided to continue with the project as part of my FYP. 

The project that I worked on was CRISPR gene editing in MDCK cells mainly focusing on beta-catenin which is a structural protein found in epithelial cells. Throughout my time in the lab, I acquired many new skills such as cell culturing in 2D and 3D, PCR, CRISPR plasmid designing etc. These skills are very niche but useful in the research field as CRISPR is a very powerful tool for gene editing. 

I think most people are very concerned with getting results for their FYP, but I think this should not be your main concern because a negative result is still results so as long as you are learn from it. What does this mean? Essentially, even if you are unable to produce the intended results for the project, if you are able to show how your experiments are able to eventually lead to the final product, it's still contributing to the overall project. 

For myself, at the end of 1 year, I was unable to generate the intended knockout of the target protein in for my project. As such, I focused my presentation and thesis on the various troubleshooting process that was done throughout and explain how these steps might have caused problems along the way. In the end, it's the learning process that is most important for research especially. 

Hope that this late post will be useful for anyone who is having trouble with your FYP or selecting a project to work on. 

Cheers, 

Sam

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