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Physics Research Project - PH700
| Location | Term | Level | Credits (ECTS) | Convenor | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury | Autumn and Spring |
Masters
Undergraduate or postgraduate masters level module
|
60 (30) | Newport Professor R J |
|
|
|
The information below applies to the 2013-14 session
Synopsis
Aims:
a) To provide an experience of open-ended research work.
b) To begin to prepare students for postgraduate work towards degrees by research or for careers in R&D in industrial or government/national laboratories.
c) To deepen knowledge in a specialised field and be able to communicate that knowledge orally and in writing.
SYLLABUS
All MPhys students undertake a laboratory/computationally-based project related to their degree specialism. These projects may also be undertaken by Diploma students. A list of available project areas is made available during Stage 3, but may be augmented/revised at any time up to and including Week 1 of Stage 4. As far as possible, projects will be assigned on the basis of students’ preferences – but this is not always possible: however, the project abstracts are regarded as ‘flexible’ in the sense that significant modification is possible (subject only to mutual consent between student and supervisor). The projects involve a combination of some or all of: literature search and critique, laboratory work, theoretical work, computational physics and data reduction/analysis. The majority of the projects are directly related to the research conducted in the department and are undertaken within the various SPS research teams. Some students’ work has led to publication in scientific journals.
a) To provide an experience of open-ended research work.
b) To begin to prepare students for postgraduate work towards degrees by research or for careers in R&D in industrial or government/national laboratories.
c) To deepen knowledge in a specialised field and be able to communicate that knowledge orally and in writing.
SYLLABUS
All MPhys students undertake a laboratory/computationally-based project related to their degree specialism. These projects may also be undertaken by Diploma students. A list of available project areas is made available during Stage 3, but may be augmented/revised at any time up to and including Week 1 of Stage 4. As far as possible, projects will be assigned on the basis of students’ preferences – but this is not always possible: however, the project abstracts are regarded as ‘flexible’ in the sense that significant modification is possible (subject only to mutual consent between student and supervisor). The projects involve a combination of some or all of: literature search and critique, laboratory work, theoretical work, computational physics and data reduction/analysis. The majority of the projects are directly related to the research conducted in the department and are undertaken within the various SPS research teams. Some students’ work has led to publication in scientific journals.
Details
Restrictions
School of Physical Sciences
Procedures for Projects Involving Human Participation
It is a University requirement that any final year project undergraduate, postgraduate or staff research project involving human participants should be subject to a procedure to determine whether ethics approval is needed. The procedure employed by SPS and the Faculty of Science are described here: http://www.kent.ac.uk/stms/faculty/adminprocedures/research-ethics/index.html
Undergraduate projects PH600, PH603, PS620, CH620, PS720, PS740 and PH700
Each project proposal collected from academics will include an ethics approval checklist designed to determine if ethical approval is required from the faculty i.e. does the project involve human participants. It is the responsibility of convenors to ask supervisors to fill in these checklists with students. If the answer to any of the questions on the checklist is yes please see below;
The following text will be introduced into the information pack or the handbooks of the module:
“Before you commence any work, it is important that the ethics of that work be considered; for example, taking fingerprints or collecting images of faces of your colleagues etc. Your supervisor will discuss any ethics issues with you and you should keep a copy of the documentation”
For projects involving human participants other than those conducting the project itself, students and their supervisors are required to read, note and act upon the guidelines available at http://www.kent.ac.uk/stms/faculty/adminprocedures/research-ethics/index.html to obtain approval from the Sciences Research Ethics (Human Participation) Advisory Group.
Further information on Ethics can be obtained from Dr Donna Arnold, SPS representative on the Sciences Research Ethics Advisory Group.
Contact hours
Two days per week for 20 weeks; 600 hours.
Method of assessment
Coursework 100%. Students are required both to write a formal report of the work and to present their findings as a talk, such as would be contributed to a scientific conference. The conference-style presentation is filmed, and the resulting DVD used to provide detailed feedback. The work is also subject to an oral examination. The quality of the work undertaken, the project report, the oral examination and the talk will all contribute towards the final mark with approximate weightings of 30% : 40% : 20% : 10% respectively. There may be an element of peer assessment within this module: each student given the opportunity to assess the talks presented by the other students.
Preliminary reading
- None; appropriate background reading will be suggested by individual project supervisors
Learning outcomes
- An ability to identify relevant principles and laws when dealing with problems, and to make approximations necessary to obtain solutions.
- An ability to plan an experiment or investigation under supervision and to understand the significance of error analysis.
- Competent use of appropriate C&IT packages/systems for the analysis of data and the retrieval of appropriate information.
- An ability to present and interpret information graphically.
- An ability to communicate scientific information, in particular to produce clear and accurate scientific reports.
- An ability to make use of appropriate texts, research-based materials or other learning resources as part of managing their own learning.
- An ability to communicate complex scientific ideas, the conclusion of an experiment, investigation or project concisely, accurately and informatively.
- An ability to make use of research articles and other primary sources.
- Investigative skills in the context of independent investigation including the use of textbooks and other available literature, databases, and the interaction with colleagues to extract important information.
- Communication skills in the area of dealing with surprising ideas and difficult concepts, including listening carefully, reading demanding texts and presenting complex information in a clear and concise manner. C&IT skills are an important element to this.
- Analytical skills – associated with the need to pay attention to detail and to develop an ability to manipulate precise and intricate ideas, to construct logical arguments and to use technical language correctly.
- Personal skills – the ability to work independently, to use initiative, to organise oneself to meet deadlines and to interact constructively with other people.
- Learning & teaching methods Seminars (3h) – provide the opportunity to discuss and understand the nature and the requirements of a research project; Lecture (1h) – to provide an outline of what is expected and required in the context of the project presentation; Presentation and feedback (~5h) – to provide the opportunity to present the project work, and subsequently to replay the recording of the project presentation in order to provide the opportunity for self-appraisal and the sharing of best practice; Personal support from individual supervisors and/or their research team colleagues (~20-40h) – to provide advice on all pertinent aspects of the research being undertaken and on its presentation; Private study – to provide the opportunity for the individual student to generate material towards the work of the project (~550-570h)
Pre-requisites
Progression from Stage 3 of an MPhys programme.