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Work placement year involving a research project in industry or a research establishment.

The placement year is the fourth year of the Chemical physics with work placement MSci degree, and lasts between 10-12 months.

Normally grade C3 or above in all level 3 courses

Oral presentation (13%) and project report (40%, marked by both the Glasgow academic supervisor and a second Glasgow academic), distance learning (18%) and assessment of practical skills (29%). Assessment of the placement year contributes 20% towards final degree.

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

The placement year aims are to provide students with: Enhanced training in practical skills; Experience of alternative professional environments; Opportunities for enhancing communication skills; Opportunities for demonstrating initiative in a practical environment; First-hand experience of scientific research.

The intended learning outcomes of the placement year aims that students will be able to:
· Recover, evaluate and summarise the professional literature and material from other sources concerned with work placement project;
· Prepare a written analysis of the current position in the chosen area, which should include a critical comparison of the source material
· In consultation with the industrial supervisor, make a preliminary definition of goals to be achieved during the project; analyse what experimental / theoretical /computational methods might be necessary to achieve the goals of the project and hence decide how the practical phase of the project should be organised;
· Make an appropriate safety assessment for the work proposed;
Perform the practical part of the investigation, taking due account of experimental errors of measurement and possible assumptions and approximations in analytical and computational work as appropriate, and record the progress of the project in a comprehensive log;
· Revise the goals and strategies for completion of the project in the light of the results obtained by the student and any difficulties encountered;
· Evaluate the achievements of the whole project against the goals set at its beginning and revised during its progress.
· Write a report on an extended piece of project work, which should include a critical evaluation of the significance of the work, and how it compares with earlier work done in the same area;
· Prepare an abstract of the work performed of length around 250 words in the accepted scientific format.
· Prepare an oral presentation describing the work performed in the project, and defend the contents of this presentation before scientific colleagues.

Not applicable