Project Structure
The project will normally be a piece of original research which is expected
to occupy much of your time throughout the course. It is presented as a written
report which will be marked by one of the internal examiners and also
by one of the external examiners. Normally the examiner's questions during the viva
will be concerned with the project rather than the written exam, however external examiners may explore written exam questions. If the work
is suitable, it may be published in a scientific journal (possibly combined
with the results of other BSc projects) and/or be presented, orally or in
the form of a poster, at a scientific meeting. However, publication or presentation
of the work you do is not guaranteed.
The project will normally involve experimental work or measurements on patients undergoing clinical investigation. You will be expected to learn the data and word processing skills, necessary to interpret and report the results of your investigations.
Structure of the project report
There are few formal requirements about the layout or organisation of the
project report although it should not exceed 8000 words excluding appendices.
It must start with an abstract that explains the reason for doing the experiments,
the methods used, the results and conclusions. The main body of the report
is often divided into sections like a journal paper: introduction, materials,
results, discussion, appendices, references etc. The introduction would normally
consist of sufficient historical and theoretical background to justify the
experiments to be done and or the hypothesis to be tested. The methods section
should provide an overview of all techniques used, including statistical analysis
if any, and sufficient explanation of unusual or novel methods to justify
their use. Additional information, in enough detail to allow the work to be
repeated, should be included in one or more appendices. The results section
should provide a detailed record of all work carried out during the course
of the project including pilot experiments and all failures. Raw data should
be included in one or more appendices. The discussion would normally contain
a critical analysis of the methodology and should include explanations of
any failed experiments. A careful analysis of accuracy and estimation of the
size of errors is essential. The second part of the discussion should be concerned
with the results and would normally include a critical comparison with those
of other studies, an analysis of their repercussions and, if appropriate,
of the extent to which they confirm the original hypothesis.
Timing
During the first week of term you will have the opportunity to talk to potential project
supervisors and by the end of the first few weeks should have chosen a project.
The project work proper will then begin usually with a literature search and
other background reading. The experimental work will start soon after. The
report must be completed and two bound copies, handed in to the course organiser
on the last Monday of April, no later than 5 PM. It is important that the experimental work
is essentialy complete by the beginning of April, allowing three to four weeks
for the report to be written, and all editorial work to be completed. Your
supervisor may wish to see drafts of the project report well before the deadline.
Extensions to the deadline are not negotiable.
Health and Safety
At the start of the course you will attend an introductory talk on safety in the laboratory and codes of practice
for laboratory work, and you will be given documents about these issues. It is very important that you read these
carefully before starting any experimental work