Feasibility Study

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Principles of responsible research and innovation
• Theoretical and application of research techniques at the frontier of chosen field of study
• Principles of data security and Intellectual Property as appropriate to the chosen field of study
• Conducting a literature review

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Communicate the value of research contributions to a technical audience
• Conduct and apply interdisciplinary research strategies and skills
• Communicate complex information to a non-technical audience

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Formulate research questions appropriate to the chosen field of study
• Critically appraise a body of literature
• Define research questions, objectives and/or hypotheses

Provisional student-supervisory teams will form during the induction week at the start of semester 1. The topic(s) covered will be agreed by negotiation between the student and the supervisory team who are allocated to support the student with their project. It is anticipated that some projects will be clearly defined by industry and some will be self-proposed by the student (or academics) and refined with academic/industrial support. All projects will be subject to approval by the CDT management team. By the end of week 2, semester 1, students will be required to submit a one-page project proposal document detailing provisional title, names and contact details of academic and industrial supervisors, and a 300 word (maximum) overview of the idea. During the induction week, the module lead will provide the module briefing to students about the nature, purpose, and requirements of the module, including an overall of the self-directed parallel training to be conducted via the Doctoral College. An ideas generation workshop will be attended by all students and their supervisory teams in the first half of semester 1. The purpose of this session will be for students to provide an ‘elevator pitch’ of their idea/topic area, and group-based brainstorming sessions will occur to get feedback from peers, academics, and industrial supervisors to help refine the ideas and make use of the wealth of experience involved in the CDT. Project supervision will occur on a weekly basis between students and their supervisory teams, during which students will be required to update the team on their progress, discuss ideas, and define actions for the following week. The module lead will provide an assignment briefing session at the start of semester 2 to introduce students to the requirements of their formative report. The feasibility study will conclude with a report and presentation to the cohort. Formative feedback on the report will be provided by the supervisory team within two months of submission and the project, together with this feedback, will form part of the first progression review. As the student will not receive credit or a numerical mark for the Feasibility Study, they may elect to include it (or where appropriate, a modified version) in the PhD thesis that is submitted for examination.

Teaching and learning methods

Project supervision and guidance.

Assessment strategy

Each student will be supervised by two or more academic supervisors who are relevant to the chosen field of study. Supervisors, in conjunction with the CDT management board, will be responsible for ensuring that all examination procedures are correctly followed.

Formative assessment:

1.300-word project proposal (10%), to include:

• Working title
• Supervisory team (academics and industrial partner)
• Overview of project idea

To be submitted to the supervisory team end of week 2, semester 1.

Verbal feedback will be provided to the student in supervision following submission.

2.8,000-word feasibility study – 90%, to include:

• background,
• literature reviews,
• aim/objectives/research questions,
• overview of research phase of project,
• considerations of responsible research and innovation,
• considerations of data security and intellectual property
• training log book and training needs analysis,
• risk analysis and mitigations

Submission will be at the end of the summer period, as detailed in the iPhD framework, and students will be required to present/demonstrate the results of their feasibility study to their supervisory team, peers, and other members of the CDT management board.

Verbal feedback will be provided at the end of the presentation and written feedback will be provided to the student within two months of report submission. If the supervisory team raise any concerns about student attainment then this will be reviewed with relevant members of the CDT Management Board (e.g., Training Lead, Theme Lead, Director(s)) and/or Doctoral College and a plan of action implemented.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal