Astronomy Project Database - Student
This page links through to the School's astronomy and astrophyics project database. You will be required to enter your LIS (e-mail) username and password. The admin notes below contain guidance for using the system.
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| FINAL-YEAR PROJECTS: PHYSICS (PH4111, PH5101) ASTROPHYSICS (AS4103, AS5101) To help you plan your project work for the year, I hope you will find the week-by-week diary information below useful. Donatella Cassettari Final-year projects coordinator October 2012 SEMESTER 1: Week 0: Meeting to introduce all BSc and MPhys (Physics, Astronomy, Theory) students to arrangements for final-year projects. Weeks 5: Check database for essay and project descriptions. Discuss projects on offer with relevant supervisors. Set first, second and third choice; adjust choices during ensuing horse-trading to avoid logjams. Week 7: Contact supervisor to schedule kickoff meeting. Contact peer review group to schedule meeting slot in Week 11 (e.g. using Doodle). Week 11: Inaugural 1-hour meeting of peer review group. 10 minute talks (4 – 6 slides) to introduce research topic and key references to peer group. Week 12: Make appointment with supervisor for project kickoff meeting on the Thursday or Friday of Week 1, Semester 2. Agree a slot for weekly progress meetings. Arrange a date in late January for your Supervisor to provide verbal or email feedback on an early draft of your essay. SEMESTER 2: Week 1: Essay submission deadline is noon, Wednesday 30 January. Project kickoff meeting with supervisor on Thursday or Friday. Throughout semester 2 you are expected to be working full-time (40 hrs/week, MPhys Phys/Astro, 30 hrs/week MPhys Theory) or half-time (20 hrs/week, BSc) on your project. Unless alternative arrangements are stipulated by your supervisor, you are expected to be present in the School and working on your project from 09:00 - 09:30 to 17:00 - 17:30 Monday through Friday, or pro rata for MPhys Theory and BSc projects. Meet weekly with supervisor in the agreed slot. Use lab notebook to review progress and set milestones for coming week. (a) What have you done and learnt? What difficulties have you encountered? (b) What will you work on in the coming week? Why must it be looked at? (c) What is the key point to be addressed during the meeting? (d) Bring hard copies of any relevant graphs or associated material to be discussed. Email your supervisor afterwards, and submit a copy to Moodle, with a brief minute covering points a-d above, and recording what was agreed. (This minute could be prepared as an agenda before the meeting and updated after.) Meet fortnightly for one-hour meeting with peer group. Other research group members may attend at student’s invitation. Give 10-minute review of progress, giving candid outline of techniques attempted, milestones achieved, difficulties yet to be overcome, next steps to be taken. Use checklist to assess your own and other group members’ progress. Submit minutes to Moodle for review after the meeting. Week 4: Feedback on essays released to students. Invite your supervisor to your Week 9 peer support-group meeting. The idea is for you to discover the sort of questions you may be asked in the orals at the end of the semester, in particular those concerning your understanding of the broader context of, and motivation for, your project. This should also be useful as you begin to write the introduction to your project report. Week 9: Mock orals with supervisors invited to peer-support group meetings to help students consider their science in a wider context while writing up. Week 10 (BSc): Lab work completed by end of week (recommended). Week 11 (BSc): Project report submission deadline at end of week = noon Friday 26th April. Electronic copies should also be submitted via Moodle/Turnitin. Week 11 (MPhys Phys/Astro): Lab work completed by end of week (recommended). Week 12 (MPhys Phys/Astro/Theory): Project report submission deadline = noon Friday 3rd May for 3 paper copies, to School Office. Electronic copies should also be submitted via Moodle/Turnitin. *** In addition to the report you will be required to submit a CD or DVD containing all raw data direct from the instruments used, together with any analysis software, spreadsheets, Mathematica notebooks etc written for the project together with reduced data. Please discuss what should be archived in this way, with your supervisor. *** Week 13 (BSc): Project orals during week starting 6 May. B.Sc Candidates should give a short PowerPoint presentation (10-15 minutes) describing the aims of the project and the main achievements. Candidates will then be asked questions about their work (10 minutes). The total duration of the exam is 30 minutes for BSc students. May exam diet (MPhys Phys/Astro): Project orals during week starting 13 May. M.Phys Candidates should give a PowerPoint presentation (10-15 minutes) describing the aims of the project and the main achievements. Candidates will then be asked questions about their work (15 minutes). The total duration of the exam is 40 minutes for MPhys students. May exam diet (MPhys Theory): Project orals after QFT examination. DC, October 2012 |
