AS4103 Astrophysics Project (BSc)

2025 to 2026 Full Year

Curricular information may be subject to change

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

Available only to BSc Astrophysics students, and normally only in their final year.

Module coordinator

Dr M Dominik

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

The project aims to develop students' skills in searching the physics literature and in research, the evaluation and interpretation of data, and in the presentation of results. There is no specific syllabus for this module. Students taking the BSc degree select a project from a list offered, and are supervised by a member of staff. Project choice and some preparatory work is undertaken in semester one, but normally most of the 30 credits' worth of work is undertaken in semester two. The aim is that students provide the intellectual drive for the project work, and should take on a role similar to that of a research student in the School. Support will be offered by the academic staff member(s) supervising the project and often also by other members of a research team. A pre-project review precedes the research component of the project.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS PH3061

Anti-requisites

YOU CANNOT TAKE THIS MODULE IF YOU TAKE AS5101 OR TAKE PH4111 OR TAKE PH5101 OR TAKE PH5103

Assessment pattern

Coursework (Review Article, Project Report, Presentation and Oral Examination) = 100%

Re-assessment

No Re-assessment available - Final year project

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

Project students work 'half-time' on their project through semester 2. It is expected that this component of the project work will correspond to ca. 20 hours per week. All students must meet weekly with their project supervisor and attend fortnightly meetings with their peer-support group. Most projects are based in research groups in the School, where members of research teams will provide additional supervision which could range from safety cover to assistance with equipment, computation or analysis, and discussion and interpretation of results.

Scheduled learning hours

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

282

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

Develop a level of confidence to plan and work independently in a research/development environment.
Develop their literature review skills to effectively emphasise the relevance and context of a research topic.
Acquire technical skills to record and/or analyse data appropriately or perform appropriate calculations or simulations.
Develop critical thinking skills in order to progress their own work through reasoned evaluation
Gain experience of the collaborative exchange of ideas in an active research environment.
Further enhance their communication and presentation skills to enable them to emphasise the key outcomes of their work effectively and to support their conclusions when questioned.

Additional information from school

The topic of the project is normally chosen from a list provided by academic staff in semester one. The project often involves working on a topic that is relevant to one of our research groups, exploring or developing new materials for our teaching or investigating pedagogical questions, or developing and trialling new outreach activities. There is some work in semester one liaising with the supervisor to plan ahead to ensure that work can start promptly near the start of semester two. The first week of second semester is spent doing literature research and writing a short pre-project review that is intended to help prepare for the main project work. This document will focus on questions such as “Why am I going to do this project?”, “What am I going to do?”, and “What evidence/science is there that will help get me there?”. Thus whilst a review of the relevant literature is required, there is also a strong forward-look towards the main part of the project. This pre-project review will have a deadline for submission near to the start of semester two.«/p» «p»The main part of the project module is intended to allow the student to use their knowledge and skills to explore some aspect of physics/astrophysics and/or its application, as appropriate to the degree programme. The work may include elements which are experimental, computational, observational, or theoretical. For an astronomy project (AS4103), the majority of the project should be based in the area of astronomy, which may include aspects of pedagogy in astronomy or astronomy-based public engagement.