2018/19 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

MEDM5201M Preparing for the Research Project

15 creditsClass Size: 40

Module manager: Dr Milene Volpato
Email: m.volpato@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2018/19

Pre-requisite qualifications

As per programme entry qualifications

Co-requisites

MEDM5302M

Research Project

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

This module will prepare students for their research projects, giving awareness of all necessary Health and Safety procedures, experience of a range of basic laboratory techniques and development of a work plan and proposal for a specific programme of research.

Objectives

- To enable the students to gain knowledge and a variety of basic laboratory skills essential for carrying out a laboratory research project
- To plan and write a proposal for a laboratory research project

Learning outcomes
By the end of this module students will be able to:
- demonstrate a sound knowledge of Health and Safety procedures relevant to the execution of laboratory research in the field of Molecular Medicine
- use a range of laboratory techniques appropriate to the study of Molecular Medicine
- demonstrate detailed knowledge of the background to a Molecular Medicine research question
- formulate a specific research question as a testable hypothesis which will relate to the aim of their research project
- define specific objectives for their research project
- describe the protocols to be used and experiments needed for their research project
- assess the ethical considerations relevant to their research project
- evaluate the types of data that will be generated by the experiments planned for their project and how these data will be analysed
- analyse potential problems in a planned series of experiments and how these problems could be addressed
- construct a work plan for their project in the form of a Gantt chart

Skills outcomes
This is a separate module from the main research project module, and is the only module for which it is necessary to pass for progression onto the research project module. It is designed to ensure students from diverse backgrounds have achieved a good level of preparation in the basic laboratory skills and relevant background essential for execution of the project.

Syllabus

Includes:
Workshops on Health and Safety
Development of a project proposal with named supervisor

Wet lab practicals are designed as research questions to solve using:
- Assessment of DNA concentration
- Plasmid DNA preparation
- PCR followed by restriction enzyme digestion and agarose gel electrophoresis
- Analysis of DNA sequencing
- RT-PCR using cDNA samples
- Cloning PCR products into plasmid vectors and transformation into E.coli
- Western blotting
- ELISA
- Bioinformatics tasks

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Lecture	4	1.00	4.00
Practical	6	3.00	18.00
Seminar	2	2.00	4.00
Tutorial	4	1.00	4.00
Private study hours			120.00
Total Contact hours			30.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			150.00

Private study

Write up of wet laboratory practicals 24 hours.
The majority of private study time will be spent preparing for the project by researching the literature, developing a research plan with the identified project supervisor, completing health and safety requirements and producing a proposal. The module is pass for progression to the research project.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

The write-up for the first practical class will be used as a formative exercise and individual feedback provided. Progress with the development of the project proposal will be monitored informally and feedback given to students during the course of the tutorials.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Practical	Write-ups x 5	30.00
Research Proposal	.	70.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

The programme does not follow standard University teaching dates and so the teaching on this module run over 6 weeks will commence 2 weeks prior to the formal start of Semester 2, ie corresponding to the start of term 2 teaching.

Reading list

There is no reading list for this module

Last updated: 12/12/2018 10:48:53

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