Students

MOLS3003 – PACE: Molecular Sciences Project

2025 – Session 2, In person-scheduled-infrequent, On location

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convenor
Koushik Venkatesan
koushik.venkatesan@mq.edu.au
Contact via 02 9850 8296
4WW123
By appointment (please email)
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
Corequisites Corequisites
30cp from CHEM or BMOL units at 3000 level
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

This PACE unit offers students specialising in Chemistry, Advanced Chemistry, Biomolecular Science, and Chemical and Biomolecular Sciences work experience in the Molecular Sciences. Students engage in research projects with industry or community partners, supervised by Macquarie staff and external experts. Projects must be relevant to Molecular Sciences and approved by the Unit Convenor. Students, either individually or in small teams, will undertake research in chemistry or biomolecular science, with project design and direction shaped by collaboration between students, internal advisors, and external partners. All projects are research-based and aligned with partner needs. Visit Employability Connect for important information on this unit.

Learning in this unit enhances student understanding of global challenges identified by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) Good Health and Well Being; Quality Education; Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; Responsible Consumption and Production; Clean Water and Sanitation

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Design a research project in the context of a PACE activity with active engagement with a relevant partner
  • ULO2: Produce a professional report of the size and complexity required of workers in the field
  • ULO3: Create and maintain a group for the duration of the PACE activity, including delegating tasks and accepting tasks from colleagues/group members and taking some responsibility for aspects of group management
  • ULO4: Present information to a diverse audience in a confident and professional manner.
  • ULO5: Reflect on the PACE activity, including the ethical, social, personal and intellectual aspects of the activity.
  • ULO6: Demonstrate a sense of social, environmental and ethical awareness.

General Assessment Information

Requirements to Pass this Unit

To pass this unit you must:

• Must do a project research work or internship in companies for a minimum of 40h.

• Achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50% through submission of different assessments.

Late Assessment Submission Penalty

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark of the task) will be applied for each day a written report or presentation 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.

The submission time for all uploaded assessments is 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period will be provided to students who experience a technical concern. For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, please apply for Special Consideration.

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted

Assessment items: Detailed project proposal and Project report – YES, Standard Late Penalty applies

Assessment project presentation: NO, unless Special Consideration is Granted

• Assessment Criteria - It will be based on the use of rubrics for all assessments.

• Submission of Assessments - Submission of detailed project proposal and project report will be through Turnitin.

• Marking of Assessments - Marks and feedback for each assessment will be provided individually by email within two-weeks after the submission deadline.

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.

Written Assessments: If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the written assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special Consideration request through https://connect.mq.edu.au.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Detailed project proposal 30% No 09/09/2025
Project Presentation 30% No Week 11 and Week 12
Project report 40% No 27/10/2025

Detailed project proposal

Assessment Type 1: Plan
Indicative Time on Task 2: 16 hours
Due: 09/09/2025
Weighting: 30%

 

The detailed project proposal assessment is a key component of the unit. The purpose of this assessment is to require students to actively interact with the partner to agree on a project and write a proposal that can be executed within the context of the PACE experience.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Design a research project in the context of a PACE activity with active engagement with a relevant partner
  • Demonstrate a sense of social, environmental and ethical awareness.

Project Presentation

Assessment Type 1: Presentation
Indicative Time on Task 2: 18 hours
Due: Week 11 and Week 12
Weighting: 30%

 

This assessment is an example of communicating science in action. You can use creative media (e.g. Prezi, Powerpoints with animation) to showcase your research project and the way in which this relates to their discipline. The duration of the presentation is 10 minutes and is a component of the wrap up/debrief at the end of semester.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Present information to a diverse audience in a confident and professional manner.

Project report

Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 27/10/2025
Weighting: 40%

 

The project report encompasses the practical aspects of communicating and analyzing your project in the context of real world research encompassing the scientific disciplines of chemistry and biomolecular sciences.  You will be challenged to think in different ways as you come to grips what it means to work in these scientific disciplines and also reflect on the your work and findings.

 
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Produce a professional report of the size and complexity required of workers in the field
  • Create and maintain a group for the duration of the PACE activity, including delegating tasks and accepting tasks from colleagues/group members and taking some responsibility for aspects of group management
  • Present information to a diverse audience in a confident and professional manner.
  • Reflect on the PACE activity, including the ethical, social, personal and intellectual aspects of the activity.

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

• The project will take place either in the research laboratories of the project supervisors at MQ or at organisations where the students will be hosted. In the case where no space is available in research laboratories, the projects can be carried out in the teaching laboratories

• The SGTA's will be delivered face to face on thursday 12 pm - 1pm.

A number of online resources will be provided on the iLearn site to help the students carry out the task and fulfil the learning objectives of the unit.

Week 1 classes

The SGTA and the project actvities will commence in Week 1.

Methods of communication

We will communicate with you via your university email and through announcements on iLearn.

Queries to convenors can either be place on the iLearn discussion board ot sent to the unit convenor via the contact email on iLearn.

Unit Schedule

Please chek the iLearn site for the most up-to-date Unit schedule

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit connect.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Academic Success

Academic Success provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via the Service Connect Portal, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Changes from Previous Offering

To align the unit with the recently revised Macquarie University Assessment Policy, we have modified the unit assessments as follows:

Private blog posts (20%) have been deleted

Reflective praxis (10%) has been deleted

Project Proposal (20%) has been changed to Project Proposal (30%)

Project Presentation (10%) has been changed to Project Presentation (30%)

Final Project Report (40%) remains unchanged

Unit information based on version 2025.03 of the Handbook