RESEARCH YEAR DISSERTATION - 2023/4

Module Overview

The work for this module takes place in semester 1 of the student’s fourth academic year, i.e. in the second half of their Research Year placement. During this time, students work under the supervision of a supervisor, using their developed research skills and implementing their project through practical, theoretical or modelling work, along with analysis and presentation of results.

 

The exact programme of study will depend on the nature of the project and the environment in which it is carried out. The environment will normally be at a University Laboratory but may equally be at a major international government laboratory such as the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory or at regional hospital, or a company with a physics-based research programme.

Module provider

Mathematics & Physics

Module Leader

SHENTON-TAYLOR Caroline (Maths & Phys)

Number of Credits: 60

ECTS Credits: 30

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

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

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

PHY3051 Research Year Skills and PHY3058 Literature Review and Interim Report

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• 
  either an experimental or theoretical research project, carried out independently by the student under the direct supervision of a local project supervisor. The work is anticipated to cover approximately 600 hours over semester 1 of Year 4 (FHEQ Level 7).
  
   
  

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate

core competencies in an advanced research topic, with evidence of good scientific communication skills

 

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• 
  An oral presentation of 15 minutes length (12m speaking, 3m for questions) at the MPhys Symposium.
  


• 
  A substantial final dissertation (of up to 100 pages, including the literature review from PHY3052 which should be included to make a standalone document) to demonstrate research-level physics work.This is due at 4pm on Tuesday of week 12.
  

Module aims

• To provide the student with an opportunity to develop and demonstrate research practice at an advanced level in a graduate research environment, including detailed use of equipment, software, and/or theoretical techniques. In addition, a strong emphasis will also be placed on the communication of research carried out during the project, the analysis of research data, and the presentation of the research outcomes via a written dissertation.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to  increase students’ critical understanding of a specialist area of physics, and throughout this module students are encouraged to learn through independent study.

 

The learning and teaching methods include:

 

• 
  independent study
  


• 
  working, under the supervision of a research supervisor, both individually and in a team
  

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: PHYM051

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 2023/4 academic year.