MOLS8902 Molecular Sciences Research Experience unit outline

MOLS8902 is a self-organised unit of independent study aimed at providing postgraduate students with substantial experience in a working research laboratory. This can be completed individually or in small groups of up to 3 students. Students need to be self-directed and independent in order to get the most out of this unit, including optimising their own timetable since there are no timetabled learning activities involved.

Students are expected to spend at least 150 hours completing the unit across the 13 weeks of semester. This equates to about 1.5 days a week in a laboratory.

Students can organise a research project ahead of time by approaching academic supervisors directly, but this is not essential. The unit convenor and program directors will help students organise for specific research projects which are available for completion, in various areas of interest to different students.

Most projects will be entirely laboratory-based, but it is possible for students and supervisors to agree on a project where there is some reading and research component.

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MOLS8902 Research Experience Report Guidelines – 12th July 2021

In order to complete MOLS8902, you are required to write a major research report at the end of semester. This is similar to a practical report in other units, but substantially larger. It should be presented in the style of a manuscript suitable for submission to an appropriate peer reviewed journal in the field. You must state on the title page which journal you are preparing your report for submission to, and referencing must be in the format required by that journal.

The report should be prepared and submitted as a single PDF file, typed in 12-point font, double line spaced, with minimum 2 cm margins. The maximum allowable length for the entirety of sections 1 to 10 below is 40 pages; anything beyond that will not be marked. Page numbering must start at page 1 for the title page, and continue consecutively throughout.

An appendix is allowed if necessary, up to a maximum of 10 additional pages, for results and data tables, chemical structures, spectra, or other results. Anything larger than that should be stored in a publicly accessible online repository, and the reader should be referred to that via a link in the text.

References must be formatted consistently throughout. Tables and figures should be placed in the text where appropriate. Figures must have a legend, tables must have a title and can have footnotes if required.

The report will be submitted via a Turnitin link on the unit iLearn site.

The report must contain the following sections. Note that sections 2 and 3 would usually not be required when submitting a manuscript, but they should be included in this report. See the following sections below for explanatory notes on each.

1. Title page
2. Declaration
3. Table of contents
4. Abstract
5. Introduction
6. Materials and Methods
7. Results
8. Discussion
9. Conclusions and future directions
10. References

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     11. Personal Reflection statement

     12. Data Appendix (if necessary)

     13. Instructions to Authors

Additional Explanation:

1. Title Page

Must include the title of the project, the author’s name, affiliations and student number, and a clear statement of which journal your report is formatted for submission to. For example, “This report is formatted for submission to Journal of Irreproducible Results”.

The declaration can be included on the title page if necessary for space reasons.

2. Declaration

Include a declaration that the work is original and has not been copied from other sources except where acknowledged appropriately. If the work has been completed as a group research project, include the names of the other students involved. Include the name of the project academic supervisor and insert your hand-written signature which means you are signing that all of the above is true and correct.

3. Table of Contents

Include an accurate table of contents with subheadings and page numbers.

4. Abstract

The abstract must be on a separate page, 300 words maximum.

5. Introduction

Explain the background behind the research project, and explain why you chose to pursue this line of research. Include appropriate peer reviewed literature references. Typically, the last paragraph of the introduction makes a statement about what will be presented in the current study.

6. Materials and Methods

All materials and methods used must be described in sufficient detail to allow others to replicate your experiments.

7. Results

Include the results of the experiments performed as part of the research project.  This may not necessarily include everything you did, because there might be unsuccessful experiments involved which do not add anything to the report. Tables are a useful way to present data.

8. Discussion

Discuss what the results you have presented actually mean in the wider context of the research field. This would typically include plenty of references to previous studies and how your results compare with those. The results and discussion sections can be combined, but it is usually easier for a student to write them separately.

9. Conclusions and Future directions

Summarise what conclusions can be drawn from the results you have presented. Include some suggestions for future research projects which could be undertaken by subsequent students.

10. References

Include an accurate, consistently formatted list of all the references referred to in the text. Focus on peer reviewed scientific literature, and avoid citing websites and textbooks wherever possible.

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11. Personal Reflection Statement

In addition to the sections above, the student is required to submit a personal reflection statement on the research project as an appendix to the report. This should be a maximum of two pages and must cover areas including:

• What did you learn from the project?
• If you worked in a group, what did you learn specifically from research within the group context?
• What did you find most different about laboratory research as compared to other units?
• What do you think are the next logical steps to take to continue the work you have started?
• What other research skills do you think you still need to develop further?

12. Data Appendix

If necessary, the report can include an appendix of up to ten additional pages of data tables, chemical structures, spectra, or other relevant materials. This should not be used for figures which are integral to the text; it is intended for additional supporting material.

13. Instructions to Authors

The report must also include a copy of the ‘Instructions to Authors’ guidelines for the Journal that the submission is prepared for. This should typically only be a few pages long, and is required so that the markers can see that the report complies as much as possible with the formatting instructions and guidelines of the Journal.

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The final report submission date will be at the end of week 13, the last day of the teaching semester, or early the following week. This is necessary to allow time for report marking. This means that students will need to complete the research tasks several weeks before the end of semester, to allow enough time to write a major report. This needs to be planned well in advance, in consultation with the supervisor.

For second semester of 2021, in order to comply with government mandated restrictions in place due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the departmental seminar presentation task will be waived. Students are encouraged to present a summary of their work at the end of semester at a research laboratory group meeting instead.