Course Catalogue

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The course will provide students with the opportunity to carry out an independent research project in the field of Stratified Medicine relevant to their Masters degree. The students will gain experience in laboratory research techniques, report writing and presentation skills

There are no fixed teaching sessions. The project will involve regular interaction and meetings with the project supervisor and attendance at laboratory meetings and seminars. The project will take place over the summer term, full time.

Mandatory Entry Requirements

As stated in the generic regulations for Taught Masters courses, students will be permitted to progress to the research project only if they have obtained a grade point average of 12 (equivalent to C3) or above in the taught courses with at least 75% of the credits at grade D3 or better and all credits at grade F and above.

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Assessment

The project assessment will consist of the following components:

Supervisor's report (20%)

• An assessment of the student's overall performance in the laboratory will be provided by the project supervisor for specified criteria, using a written form with marking descriptors.

Student's written report (60%)

• A written report of 3,000- 5,000 words formatted in appropriate scientific style, in the style of a scientific journal appropriate to the project research topic, to be submitted in the penultimate week of the project period.

• The report will be assessed by the Supervisor and an independent marker and the grade awarded will be an "agreed" mark.

Oral presentation (20%)

• A short presentation of the project (followed by questions) to an audience consisting of fellow students and project supervisors in the final week of the course. The presentation will be assessed by two assessors (neither of whom will be the supervisor).

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. 

It is not possible for students to repeat any of the project work on which the supervisor's assessment is based.

The course aims to provide students with an opportunity to perform a piece of original research to investigate a hypothesis or research questions within the subject area of the Masters programme. The project work will provide an opportunity for students to develop practical and/or technical skills, analyse data critically and draw conclusions, and suggest avenues for future research to expand their research findings

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ Critically assess and summarise the literature in the area of the research project

■ Identify an appropriate research question, demonstrating an understanding of the ethical and regulatory issues involved, and taking in to account resources (expertise, time, equipment, budget) available

■ Choose appropriate methods for data collection and/or analysis

■ Plan and carry out a research project

■ Carry out a defined group of practical skills. In laboratory projects these may include the use of certain apparatus and the appropriate handling of human subjects or tissues, or of animal preparations: in dry projects, the skills will be of information retrieval and handling

■ Analyse and interpret research data

■ Organise and submit a written project report, critically assessing the limitations of the project and the contribution it makes to current knowledge

■ Present research to peers, programme directors and supervisors in a concise, critical and clear talk

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.