PROFESSIONAL AND RESEARCH SKILLS - 2020/1

Module Overview

This module introduces the student to the philosophy and practice underpinning the undertaking of research, enabling them to develop a programme of research in cognisance of the research context, availability of information and planning tools, and an understanding of ethical and commercial decisions.

Module provider

Mechanical Engineering Sciences

Module Leader

HUGHES Michael (Mech Eng Sci)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

Normal entry requirements for the Biomedical Engineering MSc degree programme.

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• The philosophy of science and the history of the scientific method [3h]


• An introduction to scientific literature; understanding the function of, and writing  or, a literature review; understanding the role and composition of a scientific paper; publication and refereeing processes. [3h]


• The application of ethics in biomedical engineering and the process of seeking ethical approval [3h]


• Introduction to the University Library, including tutorial sessions on electronic databases and on-line journals. [3h]


• Review of good practice in preparing research grants and applications for research funding. [3h]


• Introduction to techniques available for project planning and review, e.g. PERT and GANTT chart. [3h]


• The concept of safety; safety legislation, the COSHH process, biological safety. [3h]


• Presentation skills, for both oral and poster presentations. [3h]


• An introduction to intellectual property [3h]


• Basic statistic and experimental design [3h]

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Not applicable.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate understanding of the process of acquisition of knowledge and design of experiments, taking into account multiple contributing factors such as safety, ethics and intellectual property considerations.  The assessments allow the student the opportunity to demonstrate this learning though tackling real-world problems that tie together all strands of the course material, so that for the first piece of work, students will be issued with two research papers in order to review them as is for a scientific journal, and compare and contrast the research.  For the second piece of work application students will use the principles learned to develop a research proposal.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

·         Coursework 1: paper review  {50%}

·         Coursework 2: Research proposal  {50%}

Formative assessment and feedback

Tutorials are used to provide formative feedback on progress in the coursework items, tied in with specific lecture material as the course progresses, using the coursework to guide learning development through the course

Module aims

• A systematic understanding of the theory behind research and the origin of the scientific method
• Practical skills required to acquire information, and to analyse, compare and submit scientific research
• Knowledge of the processes and requirements for applying for funding, including a knowledge of ethics and intellectual property
• A set of skills to assess a project with regards to legislative and practical aspects of safety.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

introduce a broad range of concepts and skills required of a professional biomedical engineer in a research context, though the skill set is highly transferrable.  This is delivered principally through lectures and tutorial classes running in parallel with two elements of coursework designed to test the student in the application of these skills in a realistic setting.

The learning and teaching methods include:

• 3 hours lecture per week x 10 weeks


• 1 hour tutorials x 10 weeks


• Two semester-long projects as coursework

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ENGM195

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2020/1 academic year.