RESEARCH PROJECT - 2025/6

Module Overview

This module allows the student to engage in an in-depth major project in an area relevant for nutritional science in the 21st Century. Projects may involve direct data collection, analysis of pre-existing datasets or “big-data”, systematic reviews/meta-analysis or involve writing a research grant application to answer a pertinent nutritional question. Students may be attached to NHS units, to staff or research teams within the Department of Nutritional Sciences, but also in other areas in the wider University, including psychology. Students will be guided to undertake a project in an area of interest or in an area proposed by a University supervisor(s).

Module provider

School of Biosciences

Module Leader

JOHNSTON Jonathan (Biosciences)

Number of Credits: 60

ECTS Credits: 30

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

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

Module Availability

Crosses academic years

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

This module is an independent piece of work although there is the option of working as a pair/group of students on a data collection project, but with independent assessment. A list of potential project areas and supervisors will be released in semester 1 (during module MHUM005 Research Methods) with a project choice form submitted by the student and allocation occurring early in semester 2.

The supervisor will guide the student through the planning and execution of their research project. There will be regular progress meetings between supervisor and student for formative feedback on both progress and written work. This will be re-enforced by captured content available on SurreyLearn on aspects such as study design, the use of statistics, literature searching and critical reading. Additional sessions are also provided by the department of languages designed for those for whom English is a second language.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

None.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate a variety of research skills: advanced subject knowledge in a topical area; engagement and initiative in managing a research project; taking on and responding to feedback; independent thought and initiative; oral presentation and defense of research ideas and advanced writing skills.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

•    A supervisor mark based on engagement with the process, initiative and independence.


•    A poster presentation to fellow students and staff


•    A 6000 word written research paper


•    An oral defense of the work and research performance with two academics

 Formative assessment:  Written and verbal feedback on the dissertation and poster content will also be provided by the supervisor prior to the final submission.

 Feedback on the assessment will be provided after the awarding exam board. This can not be provided earlier due to this being the final assessment in the MSc and University regulations preventing the student from calculating their final degree classification prior to ratification by SPACE.

 

Module aims

• To build on experience in information retrieval relevant to a specific topic of research
• To acquire and develop specific practical research skills
• To develop and expand the student's capacity for independent investigation
• To develop written and oral presentation skills applicable to dissemination of original research findings in the research setting.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to facilitate all parts of the research process from inception/planning through the development, execution and dissemination of a piece of novel nutritional research. Engagement and research discussion with the supervisor is therefore a key element in the process, and they will facilitate the student to develop independent thought and demonstrate initiative in the direction of the work. If appropriate the student will be guided through the process of good laboratory and clinical practice; data collection, storage and analysis.

 

Pre-Requisites/Co-Requisites - 15 credits passed from the 60 taken in semester one AND an average mark >= 50%

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: MHUM009

Other information

Employability: In this module, students are mentored and encouraged to employ their knowledge of nutrition and research methodology and apply to a current knowledge gap relevant to nutritional medicine. Students have  a choice of research topic, and this may be relevant to  their previous degree/employment or future career aspirations within the nutrition field.  The skills involved in the design, execution and dissemination of research and/or ideas are highly applicable to any workplace.

Resourcefulness and Resilience:   The teaching/mentorship of this module provides a scaffold around which students need to apply their knowledge and resourcefulness to problem solve and demonstrate innovation in answering a topical research question. 

Digital Capabilities: Students will utilise collaborative tools (Teams, Zoom) to communicate with their supervisor and receive and respond to feedback. Depending on the project design, digital tools may be used collect data (for example Qualtrics) and to establish nutritional requirements and create nutritional recommendations.

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 2025/6 academic year.