Project and Dissertation - 2024 entry

Students will work on a project linked to one of the existing main research groups in the Department. Over the period of the project, they will learn how to work as part of a research group. The students will not only develop research skills and communication skills but also gain valuable experience in team work. Typically, between two and four students will work on a particular research topic, and within a group the students will normally work in pairs.

A major distinguishing feature of the MPhys degree is its substantial project which requires students to apply the knowledge they have acquired to a real problem in a research environment. The aim is to foster the skills in open-ended problem solving necessary for the practising physicist. PHY3122 constitutes the first part of a two-part 75-credit project extending over Stages 3 and 4 of MPhys programmes. PHYM009 forms the second part.

 

A student who has passed this module should be able to:

 

Module Specific Skills and Knowledge:

1. perform a literature search and successfully discern the relevant from the irrelevant, and the reliable from the unreliable;

2. give a scientific talk which conforms to conventional standards for a presentation;

3. demonstrate an awareness of the general requirements of safety regulations;

4. identify any specific hazards associated with their particular project and/or its environment, describe the associated procedures for safe working, and explain the rationale for such procedures;

5. appropriately complete risk assessment forms (such as those published by the Department or the University Safety Office) as applicable to their particular project;

6. include consideration of safety aspects in the design of experiments;

 

Discipline Specific Skills and Knowledge:

7. undertake independent background research;

8. write scientific reports;

9. keep a contemporaneous research notebook that is neat, accurate and objective;

 

Personal and Key Transferable / Employment Skills and Knowledge:

10. communicate by means of oral and written presentations;

11. make appropriate use of information technology.

12. work productively and co-operatively in with others;

13. communicate clearly using a variety of methods;

14. meet deadlines for completion of work and apply appropriate time-management strategies.

Note: All students should refer to the detailed description of the MPhys projects and assessment criteria in the Physics Handbook. The hours of work specified below are the core hours for groups to work together; the additional hours needed to correspond to 30 credits are spent individually analysing results, writing reports, etc.

 

I. Background Report and Project Planning

In weeks T2:01-05 of Term 2 students will spend 1.5 days per week in background reading, team discussions

 

II. Project Proposal

In weeks T2:06-09 each student will be engaging in team discussions of the project work. Again, 1.5 days per week will be assigned to this work. Each student will prepare an individual introductory report on the project, to be submitted by the deadline in the table of assessments.

 

III. Project Work 1

During weeks T2:10 and T2:11 students spend 1.5 days per week preparing for project work, e.g. by completing any training needed to use equipment/software.

 

IV. Project Work 2

In Term 3 of Stage  3 the students will work full-time on their project during the the final three weeks of term T3:05-07, i.e. a further 14 days.

 

Throughout the work each student will be responsible for keeping a record of his or her work in a research notebook (in the form of a detailed diary). The student will also produce (in the log book) a brief (one-page) weekly summary of the work completed in the previous week and a list of the tasks intended to be completed in the coming week. (A photocopy of this summary should be provided each week to the main supervisor.) This part of the project will be assessed by examination of the student's lab books, and an oral examination.

Re-assessment is not available except when required by referral or deferral.

 

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