u/Dave__Fenner

Hi all,

I am in a kind of delicate situation regarding my MS thesis. Not going into the technical details specifically, I am implementing something using a framework with additional modifications to support our input.

I started this in August of 2025, and it has been nearly a year since then. Unfortunately, I have juggled with two different frameworks for implementing our networks, and I am finally gaining some traction with the second one. I am also working with a PhD student on this.

I just had a meeting with my advisor. He thinks it is better if I switch back to the non-thesis option, given the progress made in a year - apparently, my approach is not very "research-oriented", so to speak. Additionally, there is less collaboration with the PhD student, not in the way my advisor seems to expect, according to what was conveyed to me.

I am in a tough spot - I have given quite a bit of time, even delayed my graduation for this purpose. Upon my insistence, he asked me to make a timeline of sorts to show what I could do in the remaining months, from which he would determine whether it is even possible to finish the thesis. What he implied, or rather, directly said, was that whatever work I would do in the remaining months, considering I have till December, will not be enough for an MS thesis. I know I have not given much detail about what I am doing, but I feel I should not publicly discuss ongoing research - I apologize in advance if that might come off as wrong. Simply put, it is regarding deploying neural networks on FPGAs.

I am an international student, so this is especially disheartening to me, given how much time I have invested in this project. I just want to know what you guys think. I can make the timeline, but given how my advisor spoke, I feel quite demotivated. What is the "right" way to think and/or go about this? This might be relevant: I am not funded - I was hired as a TA, thankfully, but that is separate from this project.

PS: If anything should have been clarified, I can do so in the comments in response to questions.

Hi all,

I am in a kind of delicate situation regarding my MS thesis. Not going into the technical details specifically, I am implementing something using a framework with additional modifications to support our input.

I started this in August of 2025, and it has been nearly a year since then. Unfortunately, I have juggled with two different frameworks for implementing our networks, and I am finally gaining some traction with the second one. I am also working with a PhD student on this.

I just had a meeting with my advisor. He thinks it is better if I switch back to the non-thesis option, given the progress made in a year - apparently, my approach is not very "research-oriented", so to speak. Additionally, there is less collaboration with the PhD student, not in the way my advisor seems to expect, according to what was conveyed to me.

I am in a tough spot - I have given quite a bit of time, even delayed my graduation for this purpose. Upon my insistence, he asked me to make a timeline of sorts to show what I could do in the remaining months, from which he would determine whether it is even possible to finish the thesis. What he implied, or rather, directly said, was that whatever work I would do in the remaining months, considering I have till December, will not be enough for an MS thesis. I know I have not given much detail about what I am doing, but I feel I should not publicly discuss ongoing research - I apologize in advance if that might come off as wrong. Simply put, it is regarding deploying neural networks on FPGAs.

I am an international student, so this is especially disheartening to me, given how much time I have invested in this project. I just want to know what you guys think. I can make the timeline, but given how my advisor spoke, I feel quite demotivated. What is the "right" way to think and/or go about this? This might be relevant: I am not funded - I was hired as a TA, thankfully, but that is separate from this project.

PS: If anything should have been clarified, I can do so in the comments in response to questions.

Hi all,

I am in a kind of delicate situation regarding my MS thesis. Not going into the technical details specifically, I am implementing something using a framework with additional modifications to support our input.

I started this in August of 2025, and it has been nearly a year since then. Unfortunately, I have juggled with two different frameworks for implementing our networks, and I am finally gaining some traction with the second one. I am also working with a PhD student on this.

I just had a meeting with my advisor. He thinks it is better if I switch back to the non-thesis option, given the progress made in a year - apparently, my approach is not very "research-oriented", so to speak. Additionally, there is less collaboration with the PhD student, not in the way my advisor seems to expect, according to what was conveyed to me.

I am in a tough spot - I have given quite a bit of time, even delayed my graduation for this purpose. Upon my insistence, he asked me to make a timeline of sorts to show what I could do in the remaining months, from which he would determine whether it is even possible to finish the thesis. What he implied, or rather, directly said, was that whatever work I would do in the remaining months, considering I have till December, will not be enough for an MS thesis. I know I have not given much detail about what I am doing, but I feel I should not publicly discuss ongoing research - I apologize in advance if that might come off as wrong. Simply put, it is regarding deploying neural networks on FPGAs.

I am an international student, so this is especially disheartening to me, given how much time I have invested in this project. I just want to know what you guys think. I can make the timeline, but given how my advisor spoke, I feel quite demotivated. What is the "right" way to think and/or go about this? This might be relevant: I am not funded - I was hired as a TA, thankfully, but that is separate from this project.

PS: If anything should have been clarified, I can do so in the comments in response to questions.

Hi all,

I am in a kind of delicate situation regarding my MS thesis. Not going into the technical details specifically, I am implementing something using a framework with additional modifications to support our input.

I started this in August of 2025, and it has been nearly a year since then. Unfortunately, I have juggled with two different frameworks for implementing our networks, and I am finally gaining some traction with the second one. I am also working with a PhD student on this.

I just had a meeting with my advisor. He thinks it is better if I switch back to the non-thesis option, given the progress made in a year - apparently, my approach is not very "research-oriented", so to speak. Additionally, there is less collaboration with the PhD student, not in the way my advisor seems to expect, according to what was conveyed to me.

I am in a tough spot - I have given quite a bit of time, even delayed my graduation for this purpose. Upon my insistence, he asked me to make a timeline of sorts to show what I could do in the remaining months, from which he would determine whether it is even possible to finish the thesis. What he implied, or rather, directly said, was that whatever work I would do in the remaining months, considering I have till December, will not be enough for an MS thesis. I know I have not given much detail about what I am doing, but I feel I should not publicly discuss ongoing research - I apologize in advance if that might come off as wrong. Simply put, it is regarding deploying neural networks on FPGAs.

I am an international student, so this is especially disheartening to me, given how much time I have invested in this project. I just want to know what you guys think. I can make the timeline, but given how my advisor spoke, I feel quite demotivated. What is the "right" way to think and/or go about this? This might be relevant: I am not funded - I was hired as a TA, thankfully, but that is separate from this project.

PS: If anything should have been clarified, I can do so in the comments in response to questions.