NES8813 : Research Dissertation Project in Drug Chemistry
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Dr Agnieszka Bronowska
- Lecturer: Dr Michael Carroll
- Owning School: Natural and Environmental Sciences
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 20 |
| Semester 3 Credit Value: | 60 |
| ECTS Credits: | 35.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
To provide students with practical research experience and interdisciplinary skills training, aligned to early-stage modern drug discovery pipeline.
Outline Of Syllabus
Every research project will encompass training in computational, synthetic and analytical chemistry, as well as biomolecular interactions and binding assays. All projects will be aligned with three distinct themes, encompasing unmet clinical need: antimicrobial drug discovery, neurodegeneration, and cancer research. Every student will be allocated to the individual academic supervisor/Principal Investigator and will become part of their research team.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 100:00 | 100:00 | Writing of the dissertation |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 6 | 1:00 | 6:00 | Introduction to the module and briefing for every task |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Practical | 45 | 8:00 | 360:00 | Synthetic lab |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Practical | 1 | 40:00 | 40:00 | Dry Labs (Task 1 practical sessions) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 4 | 1:00 | 4:00 | Workshops / Problem-solving seminars |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 254 | 1:00 | 254:00 | Background reading, project planning and preparing reports |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Dissertation/project related supervision | 18 | 2:00 | 36:00 | Weekly supervisor meeting |
| Total | 800:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Most of the module involves practical work within the research laboratories (dry and wet labs), but also includes time for experimental design and some background work. Guided independent study includes time for background reading, project planning and writing and preparing reports, including the final dissertation.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Research proposal | 2 | M | 10 | Project Plan |
| Oral Presentation | 3 | M | 10 | Presentation |
| Dissertation | 3 | M | 50 | Research dissertation. |
| Practical/lab report | 3 | M | 30 | Project work, including lab safety and quality of experimental data |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
Assessment of the project plan and the practical work performed during the project will be carried out by the project supervisor. The supervisor will provide the appropriate guidance throughout the project, offering advice and constructive criticism. The students will also be assessed by other members of academic staff: research reports of each stage-task will be formatively assessed, and the project presentation will be summatively assessed by the end of the module. This final dissertation, which will be double-marked, will provide an introduction to the research topic, results and discussion sections for each of the project tasks/stages, followed by their experimental write-up, conclusions and references.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- NES8813's Timetable