NES8814 : Research Skills and Development
- Offered for Year: 2024/25
- Module Leader(s): Dr Simon Doherty
- Lecturer: Dr Lee Higham, Dr Hanno Kossen, Dr Julian Knight
- Other Staff: Mr Ryan Woodward
- 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 1 Credit Value: | 10 |
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 10 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
To provide students with skills in research necessary for their project. Specifically:
scientific information retrieval from a variety of sources, searching for chemical, biochemical and biophysical data from databases, employing good academic practice and referencing principles to avoid plagiarism.
developing key literacy and communication skills by producing a short presentation on a topic related to their project, developing skills in key experimental techniques and the use of spectroscopic data for structure determination.
Outline Of Syllabus
Lectures and Workshops will cover the following topics:
Research seminars: a selection of invited speakers presenting current research topics Scientific literature: searching, curating and citing the scientific literature.
Scientific databases: Reaxys, SciFinder-n, Scopus, Web of Science, EMBASE and others relevant to the research task.
Scientific writing skills.
Preparation of visual material for presentation and reports, including data and molecular structures. Presentation skills.
Analytical techniques (1H, 13C NMR, MS, IR, chromatography).
Structure determination using spectroscopic data
A dry laboratory course on experimental techniques and multi-step syntheses.
A schedule of the delivery of the different workshops will be provided at the beginning of the course on Canvas.
Up to date details on times and locations of the research seminars can be found on http://www.ncl.ac.uk/chemistry/about/seminars/
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 25:00 | 25:00 | Reaxys exercise |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 9 | 1:00 | 9:00 | Lectures covering, presentation & graphics, scientific literature and associated skills, scientific databases and referencing |
| Structured Guided Learning | Lecture materials | 5 | 3:00 | 15:00 | Pre-recorded: graphics, sci databases/ref, spectr/exper data and reference management software. |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 10 | 5:00 | 50:00 | Presentation of the literature presentation |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 14:00 | 14:00 | Dry lab report |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 12 | 5:00 | 60:00 | Research and literature presentation |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Small group teaching | 10 | 1:00 | 10:00 | Research seminars from visiting speakers (online and PiP) |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 3 | 2:00 | 6:00 | Computer workshops covering molecular graphics and NMR analysis |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 3 | 2:00 | 6:00 | Workshops covering NMR spectroscopy |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Workshops | 1 | 3:00 | 3:00 | Computer dry labs |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Dissertation/project related supervision | 2 | 1:00 | 2:00 | Meetings with project supervisor to discuss the content and preparation of the project presentation |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
Lectures provide necessary information and tools for the academic preparation with workshops consolidating the work through practical applications of taught material. Meetings between the student and project supervisor will provide guidance for the preparation of the presentation. Independent study for literature research and background reading are required for the completion of all assessed components. Students will develop and demonstrate their digital and information literacies at postgraduate level, in readiness for further research or future employment. They will learn strategies for finding, evaluating and managing information in line with their current needs, and how they might adapt these to future research tasks.
The extensive set of REAXYS practise exercises illustrates all of the main database features and search strategies and enables students to gain competence at their own pace
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral Presentation | 1 | M | 30 | Prepare and deliver a 10 min presentation on a literature topic related to their project |
| Written exercise | 1 | M | 20 | Chemical database searching - Reaxys Exercise |
| Practical/lab report | 2 | M | 50 | Summary Laboratory Report on an allocated experiment and NMR interpretation. (1600 word count) |
Formative Assessments
Formative Assessment is an assessment which develops your skills in being assessed, allows for you to receive feedback, and prepares you for being assessed. However, it does not count to your final mark.
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written exercise | 2 | M | Practice NMR exercise |
| Written exercise | 1 | M | Practice searching, collating and summarizing information from the primary literature |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The project presentation will provide the students with a detailed knowledge of their CHY8002 project or a related topic and an opportunity to develop their presentation skills.
The Research Seminar Report contextualises the wider research activity in a critical fashion.
The Lab Report test the student’s ability to accurately record data and observations and to make reasoned structural assignments based on data.
Formative assessments are provided to reinforce taught material and give an opportunity for practice and feedback
Coursework assessments cover research and presentation skills (project presentation and Database exercises) and theoretical laboratory (laboratory report).
Each component assesses a different area of skills and knowledge so different assessments are required
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- NES8814's Timetable