Research Projects

Your final year project has two components; a 10 credit Literature Review of the current bioscience related to your project topic conducted in the first semester of final year, plus a 30 credit Project that spans both semesters of final year. We offer a range of different types of project, and a link to these can be found in the next section.

Aims of research projects

To allow you to gain experience in:

  • the scientific method and a logical approach to problems, e.g. how to design experiments, or to develop strategies to test hypotheses or address bioscience questions.
  • working independently or as part of a group/team as required (research group, LSEP team etc.) to address a particular bioscience question or topic
  • scientific and other techniques appropriate to the investigation.
  • developing critical and creative thinking skills (develop ideas, data analysis and evaluation skills)
  • literature searching and critically reviewing the literature in a particular field, and relating your own research to that in the existing literature
  • the communication of scientific results by written and oral presentation.

Allocation

During Semester 4 of your second year, or during your placement year, you should have received details of how projects can be pre-arranged or allocated according to student preferences. Allocation of projects will be made at the start of the teaching period in your final year and will be based upon student preferences for project types and disciplines, and your second year examination results. However, we cannot guarantee to meet students’ aspirations in particularly popular areas.

Content, assessment and penalties

Detailed information on the content and assessment criteria for all the different types of projects can be found on the intranet page on ‘Undergraduate Research Projects’ https://app.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/education/cm/projects/default.aspx Your work will be marked by your supervisor and moderated by another member of staff.  Over-length submissions will be subject to a penalty of 20 marks per page (or part thereof) over the limit. Submission dates are given on the front page of this handbook. Late submission will be penalised; if you miss the deadline you will lose 10 marks per day (or part thereof). N.B. Printer or computer failures are NOT valid reasons for seeking an extension see section Submission below). The same applies to theft of pcs, laptops, discs, memory sticks, etc – always back up your files on the p-drive, in cloud storage, or keep back-up copies in a location distant from your computer.

Ethics Survey

ALL final year project students are required to complete a brief Ethics Survey to determine whether their project requires further ethical approval, which will be flagged up by the survey.

Failure to complete the Ethics Survey will be seen as a project performance issue.

Any project using human volunteers in a physical test (or possibly through completion of a questionnaire) MUST be covered by ethical approval. This takes time, and it is YOUR responsibility to ensure that the survey, and any subsequent application, is submitted in a timely fashion and that NO work on humans is carried out until approval has been given.  Further information and the relevant forms are available in Blackboard and the ‘Undergraduate Research Projects’ page of the intranet at https://app.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/education/cm/projects/ethicalapproval.aspx.

In other projects, you may need to undertake techniques that are covered by the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986. It is your responsibility, and that of your supervisor, to ensure that you have a Personal Licence under the Act and that all necessary techniques are detailed on that Licence.

If your project will generate a product that needs evaluation, it is YOUR responsibility to ensure, at an early stage, that members of the intended target audience will be available to do this. However, if the target group is the class of another member of staff (i.e. not belonging to your supervisor), you MUST NOT contact them directly; your supervisor should be able to liaise on your behalf. The Student Support office cannot supply contact details of students to other students or send out emails on your behalf.

Amount and timing of the work

This will depend on your particular Degree Programme and more details will be given to you by your Programme Director and/or supervisor. Note that 10 credits of project work should be equivalent to about 100 hours of work and that all work in University laboratories must be supervised, with the timing agreed by mutual consent with your supervisor.     N.B. All laboratory-based projects must be subject to a risk assessment, prior to starting work  – see section Health and Safety and also https://app.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/hs/coshh/default.aspx.

Suggested Stages in all projects

Please see the precise requirements for your particular type of project in Blackboard.

First semester of final year (Semester 5)

  1. Meet with your supervisor to discuss a topic for your Literature Review and identify a research question or area based on this for your project-proper. It is essential to think from the start about how your Literature Review relates to your Project.
  2. Attend supporting seminars depending on your project type. Ensure that you are aware of the dates of relevant seminars, workshops and/or lab meetings, plus submission deadlines, and attend seminars appropriate for your project type
  3. Perform a literature survey and write your Literature Review. Keep detailed records of all the sources you consult (see Section Plagiarism, collusion and other forms of academic malpractice). References are best stored using bibliographic software like Endnote. If you have not used this before, or have forgotten how, you can consult the archives for BIOL10741 Writing and Referencing Skills on Blackboard. You must be aware of copyright restrictions on the use of images in your project and reference images accordingly, or acknowledge the sources of images that are freely available under a Creative Commons copyright license. The deadline for the submission of the Lit Review is at the front of this handbook.
  4. Plan your project in detail with your supervisor (research question, initial experiments, target group and product specification, poster for Enterprise projects etc) and discuss with your supervisor an evaluation strategy (and statistical analysis where appropriate) before starting work. A Project Proposal providing an overview/outline of your project should be presented at the end of the Literature Review. Failure to submit a suitable plan in the Literature Review will be seen as a project performance issue. Complete Lab Induction (Lab projects) including reading and signing all risk assessment forms for work you will be undertaking before starting ANY work.
  5. Begin work on your project as appropriate in weeks 10-12; this may involve shadowing staff, learning how to use equipment or software, growing plants or culturing cells, making up solutions, analysing your target group, initial research etc

Second semester of final year (Semester 6)

  1. Review your plan and start work in earnest. Try to generate your own ideas for your research if appropriate (experiments/products/etc), but always discuss these with your supervisor before you do the work. Plan ahead especially if you have a number of concurrent tasks to deal with. NOTE: Lectures will start in week two of semester two to allow you to make a good start on your project .
  1. Seek support: at the outset of practical work you may need day-to-day help from post-docs, postgrads, your supervisor or other staff; eventually you should become more independent. eLearning students (and other Science Communication students as appropriate) must attend supporting workshops. Also, talk about your work to fellow students and think about what you are doing and why you are doing it.
  1. Record your progress daily in your eLab book (experimental details, product development, notes from meetings, ideas, to-do lists, progress, challenges etc). Write critical comments on your results. Draw conclusions and plan future work. Your supervisor may want to see your eLab book and discuss your progress and results. Analysing data as you go along, where appropriate, will help you to plan the next stage of the project.
  1. Meet with your supervisor regularly. Make appointments to discuss your ideas, progress and results with your supervisor at regular intervals. Use your eLab book as a starting point for discussions.
  1. Finish your project work before the Easter break if possible in order to allow sufficient time for report writing, obtaining feedback on a full draft of the report, and revision for exams. Evaluation of any resources created is a key part of Science Communication Projects (see item 3), so make sure this is completed in a timely fashion.

If, for reasons beyond your control, your project fails to give adequate results or the product is not completely finished, you will not be penalised nor disadvantaged.

Feedback

All types of projects include an element of formative feedback – an opportunity for you to submit material, e.g., an outline, and get feedback from your supervisor that will allow you to improve on submissions for summative feedback (observations and marks which contribute towards your final marks). It is in your best interests that you seek an appointment specifically for this purpose and your responsibility to arrange it at a mutually convenient time.

Submission

Dates of submission of major pieces of written work are cited on the front page of this handbook. You will receive further information on the format of each submission nearer the time, via email; you will be required to submit your project report (and resource for EDU/ELP/PET/SMP) electronically.

The deadlines will be strictly enforced. Late submission will not be permitted without an approved extension accompanied by appropriate documentation. Your supervisor CANNOT grant an extension for submission of a literature review or project report – this can only be done by the Senior Advisor or the School’s Chief Examination Officer. It is your responsibility to familiarise yourself with any additional submission requirements of your particular type of project.

Oral presentations

All project students are required to give a 10 minute tutorial presentation about their project during semester 6. This is a formative component of the tutorial programme and is arranged and marked by the academic tutor.