Unit Workload

For each of the four projects, students will be required to submit a written report that describes the research problem addressed, the techniques used, as well as the outcomes and conclusions. Each report should be submitted by the due date and time. Students will also be undergo an oral assessment for each project. Please note that the time listed against each assessment task is the estimated time required to complete the task in addition to the time spent on the project itself.

Requirements to Pass this Unit

To pass this unit you must achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%.

Late Assessment Submission Penalty

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a grade of '0' will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical concern.

For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, students need to submit an application for Special Consideration. 

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted

In this unit, late submissions will accepted as follows:

• Project 1-4 – Yes, standard late penalties apply.

Special Consideration

The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable and significantly disruptive, and which may affect their performance in assessment. If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special Consideration request through ask.mq.edu.au.  

Students will undertake four guided projects over the course of the semester, each coupled with an academic advisor. Students will be expected to spend one full day per week on their projects, and will consult with the academic advisor in the weekly 2-hour workshops for help with problem solving. The first workshop in Week 1 will involve an introduction to the unit. The four projects will be computational in nature, so students will require access to either a laptop or desktop computer. There is no required text, and appropriate reading material will be made available by the academic advisors.

COVID Information

For the latest information on the University’s response to COVID-19, please refer to the Coronavirus infection page on the Macquarie website: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/coronavirus-faqs. Remember to check this page regularly in case the information and requirements change during semester. If there are any changes to this unit in relation to COVID, these will be communicated via iLearn.

Students will complete 4 mini-projects throughout the semester (N.B. the below ordering and titles of the projects may change -- see iLearn for the latest):

1. Week 1: Unit overview and introduction to the projects (2hr workshop)
2. Weeks 2-4, Project 1: Resolving the sources of gas ionisation in galaxies using optical spectroscopy. (Mentor: Matt)
3. Weeks 5-7, Project 2: Exploring Stellar and Circumstellar Chemistry and Dynamics with High-Resolution Spectroscopy. (Mentor: Devika)
4. Weeks 8-10, Project 3: Kinematics of HII regions using radio interferometry. (Mentor: Jo)
5. Week 11-13, Project 4: Discovering Galactic substructure with Large spectroscopic survey data (Mentor: Gayandhi)

We have added two brand new projects to the unit thanks to Devika Kamath and Gayandhi De Silva. Gayandhi is new to the unit and replaces Orsola De Marco.