--- trunk/chrisDissertation/dissertation.tex	2006/09/21 23:21:37	3016
+++ trunk/chrisDissertation/dissertation.tex	2006/09/22 13:45:24	3019
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 \frontmatter
 
 \title{APPLICATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MOLECULAR DYNAMICS TECHNIQUES FOR THE 
-STUDY OF WATER}     
+STUDY OF WATER AND OTHER BIOCHEMICAL SYSTEMS}     
 \author{Christopher Joseph Fennell} 
 \work{Dissertation}
 \degprior{B.Sc.}
@@ -28,6 +28,35 @@ STUDY OF WATER}     
 \maketitle
 
 \begin{abstract}
+
+The following dissertation lays out research that I have performed
+over the last several years. All of the work relies on the technique of
+molecular dynamics, and in this dissertation I start by outlining many
+of the considerations that go into molecular dynamics
+simulations. This is followed by an introduction to {\sc oopse}, the
+object oriented parallel simulation engine, which is a program for
+performing molecular simulations developed and maintained in our
+lab. Most of the research was performed either using {\sc oopse} or
+earlier code that predated {\sc oopse}.
+
+This introduction is followed by three chapters that discuss in detail
+the primary research projects for which I am responsible. The first
+project discusses my work on electrostatic interaction correction
+techniques, with applications to water and biologically relevant
+molecular systems. This leads into work on improving the depiction of
+water in molecular simulations by refining simple and highly
+computationally efficient single point water models. The final project
+discussed in this body of research involves free energy calculations
+of ice polymorphs, and includes investigations of a new ice polymorph
+that we discovered while performing simulations involving the single
+point water models.
+
+I end this dissertation with some concluding remarks and
+appendices. The conclusion simply sums up the previous sections and
+comments on the research findings.  The appendices include supporting
+information and a more detailed look at systems that were treated in a
+more general form in the earlier sections.
+
 \end{abstract}
 
 \begin{dedication}