MRes Evolution: From the Galapagos to the 21st Century Project

Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Identity novel research areas.
• Plan and complete a research project within a fixed time period.
• Produce a thorough but concise scientific report.
• Assess the wider significance of these results, including any commercial applications.
• Analyse and interpret new scientific results.
• Critically review the literature in an area of science that is new to you.

In semester 1 you will attend small group tutorials, which will cover research skills including: science communication – posters, seminars, scientific papers; critical evaluation; employability skills; online presence, including blogs and social media; grant applications.

In semester 2, you will write a detailed research proposal, reviewing the field and defining your project within it, for submission at the beginning of February; example proposals in a variety of fields will be available for guidance. The research project will then run from February to September.

The project will be linked to Evolutionary biology Research, and may involve the acquisition of new data, the analysis of existing data in a novel way, or the development and testing of a new method. The project is expected to lead to results that are publishable in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.

Study time allocation [Contact time includes: Lectures, seminars, tutorials, project supervision, demonstration, practicals/workshops/fieldwork/external visits/work based learning]

Contact time: 12 hours of small group tutorials in semester 1; regular meetings with project supervisors throughout the year (88).

Private study hours: 1100 (this includes: writing the research proposal, data collection and analysing, writing the report)

Total study time: 1200

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.