2023/24 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue

CAPE5000M Research Project (MSc)

60 creditsClass Size: 180

Module manager: Dr O Cayre
Email: o.j.cayre@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: 1 Oct to 30 Sep (12mth) View Timetable

Year running 2023/24

This module is not approved as an Elective

Module summary

Students receive training to enable them to carry out experimental/computational research work over two semesters and to report on the results of their experiments. Planning and performing experiments is supported by academic and technical staff. Critical analysis of the data obtained in these experiments is also supported by an academic supervisor of each project. However, success in this module is highly dependent on on the student's engagement and initiative to drive progress in the project.

Objectives

- To provide students with knowledge of the school’s research so that they can choose a research project of interest to them;
- To provide students with key basic research skills, including advice on scientific writing, to enable them to drive their research project forward from the beginning of semester 2;
- To enable students to demonstrate their research ability and their initiative in driving a research project;
- To provide students with an opportunity to gain experience of planning, executing and reporting a research project of the type they will undertake in an industry/academic environment in their future career;
- To provide students with opportunities to present their research data both orally and in the form of scientific reports;
- To assess the health and safety issues associated with their research topic in general and the specific experiments they conduct in particular;
- To enable students to assess (positive and negative) ethical implications of research projects towards the general society.

Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students will understand and be able to practice the following key aspects of running a research-based project:
- Critically reviewing literature data;
- Developing innovative research plans;
- Designing and systematically planning lab-based or computational (or both) experiments;
- Interpreting and critically analysing data obtained from experiments with respect to both project objectives and published literature data;
- Concisely reporting experimental data and project outcomes orally and in written form.

Skills outcomes
On completion of this module, students should have the following skills:
- formulation of ideas and hypothesis and to develop, implement and execute plans by which to evaluate these;
- project management, team work and decision making;
- literature review - critical assessment and utilisation of information obtained from other sources;
- preparation of research plan, identification of milestones and targets, creation of records including progress reports;
- oral presentation and written report preparation.

Syllabus

Project activities include:
- Critical literature review and background reading (to develop a clear understanding of the research topic);
- Layman’s description of project aim and objectives, including ethical aspects of the research project;
- Development of research methodology (i.e. laboratory equipment, computer software, etc), using in particular, experiment design;
- Planning for experimental and/or computational work and implementation of a research plan;
- Carrying out experimental/computational work;
- Analysis and interpretation of results;
- Oral presentation;
- Final report writing;
- Training in good health and safety practice.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
On-line Learning	20	1.00	20.00
Meetings	32	1.00	32.00
Small Group Learning	14	1.00	14.00
Individual Support	10	1.00	10.00
Practical	50	7.00	350.00
Private study hours			174.00
Total Contact hours			426.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			600.00

Private study

- Literature reading: 60 hours
- Data analysis: 40 hours
- Interim report writing: 20 hours
- Oral presentation (including preparation): 6 hours
- Final report writing: 48 hours

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Semester 1:
- Guidance offered to all students at the start of the semester with respect to their research interest.
- Opportunities to interact with other students in the cohort, PhD students and teaching staff about research interests and developing research skills.
Semester 2:
- Feedback on research directions and project understanding during weekly meetings with supervisors.
- Interim report feedback.
Summer term:
- Feedback on research directions, experiment planning and results analysis during weekly meetings with supervisor.
- Feedback on final report outline submitted to supervisors.
- Oral presentations feedback.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Report	Final project report	55.00
Presentation	Oral presentation	15.00
In-course Assessment	Continuous assessment by Supervisor – assessing performance of the student throughout the project (initiative/engagement/drive)	15.00
Report	Interim report	15.00
Report	Final report outline (formative assignment submitted for supervisor feedback on final report plans)	0.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated. However, in this module, resitting of the interim report cannot be allowed on its own. i.e. it is only possible if the rest of the module components are also being resat.

Reading list

There is no reading list for this module

Last updated: 28/04/2023 14:55:29

Disclaimer

Browse Other Catalogues

• Undergraduate module catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate module catalogue
• Undergraduate programme catalogue
• Taught Postgraduate programme catalogue

Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team.PROD