PHOL3904 Laboratory Research Project in Physiology
Information for Supervisors and Students
Supervisors and Projects (Word)
Project Registration Form (Word)
Guidelines for preparing Dissertation (Word)
Guidelines for preparing Posters (Word)
Marking Scheme (PDF)
Second Markers' Report Form (Word)
Supervisors' Report Form (Word)
Poster Markers' Report Forms (Word)
General Information
This is research based project which allows final year students to conduct some original physiological research in the laboratory of a member of academic staff. The aim of the course is to introduce students to contemporary research methods in a specific area of physiology, to develop the ability to evaluate critically both theories and evidence and to produce graduates well equipped for advanced study.
Students wishing to take this module are required to have achieved an overall mark of at least 55% in their second year exams and to have completed and passed PHOL2002 Animal And Human Physiology or a similar module containing appropriate laboratory experience.
Students have 9 weeks in which to complete their PHOL3904 projects; this includes the period for analysing data and writing up. The 9 weeks can be spread throughout the academic year so long as this fits into the supervisor’s schedule and does not interfere with any other modules that the student is taking. Students wishing to take the course are asked to contact supervisors via email or telephone to discuss what projects are currently available. A list of supervisors and projects is regularly updated, but this is by no means comprehensive and other supervisors may be considered so long as the proposed project has significant physiological relevance and content. The dynamic nature of research means that the titles on the list are often quite general or out of date and therefore it is up to the student to negotiate with the supervisor what is possible in the period of the project.
After choosing a project you and your supervisor must fill in and sign the project registration form and take it to the Biosciences Teaching Office, Room G10, Medawar Building by the end of the 2nd week of Term 1 in order to have it approved. You will then be enrolled on the module and given access to the Moodle site for further information.
Project Dissertation and Poster
Students are expected to produce both a dissertation of between 8,000-10,000 words in the style of a paper published in the Journal of Physiology and an A2 poster. Two sets of guidance notes, “guidelines for preparing the dissertation” and “guidelines for preparing the poster” give essential information on how these should be assembled. Additional information will be announced later through the Moodle site. Failure to follow these guidelines will be considered when the marks are awarded. Poster presentations will be scheduled during the 1st week of Term 3.
Deadline
Dissertations and posters must be submitted to the Biosciences Teaching Office, Room G10, Medawar Building and an exact copy of the dissertation submitted to Turnitin via Moodle. The deadline will be during the last week of Term 2 and given precisely on the Moodle site. Extensions to this deadline will only be given in truly exceptional circumstances. The module organiser and your supervisor will decide on such cases. Dissertations and posters handed in after the deadline without an extension will incur a penalty: The full allocated mark will be reduced by 5 percentage points for the first working day after the deadline and the mark will be reduced by a further 10 percentage points if the work is submitted during the following six days. If the work is submitted more than seven days late, the mark will be recorded as zero, but the assessment will be considered to be complete.
Over-Length Dissertations
Work should not be more than 10% longer than the prescribed word count. Work with a stated word count above this maximum will not be accepted for submission, but immediately returned to the student with instructions to reduce the word length. The work may then be resubmitted, except insofar as penalties for late submission may apply. If the dissertation is subsequently found to have an inaccurately stated word count, and to exceed the upper word limit by at least 10% and by less than 20%, the mark will be reduced by ten percentage marks, subject to a minimum mark of a minimum pass assuming that the work merited a pass. For work which exceeds the upper word limit by 20% or more, a mark of zero will be recorded.
How the project is marked
The supervisor gives two marks, one for the report (35%) and one for initiative/enthusiasm and the student's performance in the lab (15%). The report is also marked by another member of the Department (35%). The written comments of the markers are returned anonymously with the report to the student. A fourth mark is given for the poster (15%). Marks are awarded according to the marking scheme available through the link above.
Plagiarism
Please read the notes on plagiarism at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/current-students/guidelines/policies/plagiarism and in the Student Handbook 2010-2011. Plagiarism will not be tolerated, will be treated as cheating and the punishment will be severe. If you have any doubts about what plagiarism is then please discuss this matter with your supervisor, your Personal Tutor or the module organizer. All coursework is now scanned for plagiarism using a sophisticated detection system (Turnitin®); this system has access to billions of sources worldwide (websites, journals etc.) as well as work previously submitted to UCL and other universities.
Supervisors please note…
Students must hand you a draft copy of their project at least 2 weeks before the deadline and the students should be given ample time to incorporate corrections. You may comment constructively upon the draft but do not rewrite it!
If the student is being supervised by someone outside the Division then we may appoint an internal supervisor so that the student can easily find someone if they need help.
If you have 2 or more students please could you write a brief note indicating the extent to which the students had worked together, how many results they are sharing etc. This is to help the second marker in the marking of the report.
Dr Jonathan Fry (July, 2011)
Page last modified on 26 jul 11 09:44 by Nidhi P Bhatt
