BIOT1010 Biotechnology Research Project Module Handbook | UOG

BIOT1010 Aims

The aim of this module is to develop students with critical skills and capabilities that will enable them to make an innovative contribution to applied research within the broad discipline of science. To assess the candidate’s ability to work independently and as a part of a team in the pursuit of the analysis of a novel problem and develop skills necessary for self-managed and life-long learning (e.g. time management and organisation skills).

On successful completion of this module a student will be able to:

1. Develop and plan the execution of a research project which demonstrates suitable time management skills.
2. Search, reflect and interpret key information from technical procedures and published works using suitable scientific data management tools.
3. Critically evaluate the results obtained and produce a scientific interpretation of the data gathered during execution of the project.
4. Take ownership of the project and be able to identify individual learning needs and map and track the progress of the project.
5. Critically reflect on their work and involve in discussions with supervisor and other students to suggest possible progress.
6. Apply theoretical principles of various concepts learnt in taught modules in order to enhance problem-solving in a structured and logical manner
7. Develop high level communication skills, written, oral and visual
8. Produce a substantial, well organised written scientific report and defend it under poster presentation.

Glossary:

• A pre-requisite module is one that must have been completed successfully before taking this module.
• A co-requisite module is one that must be taken alongside this module.
• A learning outcome is a subject-specific statement that defines the learning to be achieved through completing this module.

BIOT1010 Employability

By engaging with this module and completing the necessary work following employability skills will be developed:

• The critical application of specialist knowledge skills to a wide variety of research and development issues that arise in the biotechnology industry.
• Demonstrating awareness of the provisional nature of stated facts in the published literature and being able to analyse data critically.
• Integration of theory with practice.
• Collecting and analysing evidence in an unbiased manner and drawing appropriate conclusions.
• Data acquisition, collation and critical appraisal.
• Experimental Design and interpretation of complex statistical information.
• Plan, conduct, evaluate and report the results of investigations, including the use of secondary data in this process
• Apply appropriate practical techniques to the solution of research questions
• Use and develop advanced theories and develop novel concepts to explain experimental data
• Apply appropriate practical techniques for the analysis and quantification of pharmaceutical formulations
• Apply Good House Keeping (GHK) and Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) criteria in practical sessions
• Work safely and understand risks associated to all practical work.
• Demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems.
• Act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks.
• Develop, value and apply computer based and other IT-based analysis tools.
• Undertake, manage, make decisions and interpret research data and its application with confidence.
• Effective written and verbal communication
• Ability to plan projects and use appropriate time management skills
• Taking a responsible attitude to academic and personal career development

BIOT1010 Schedule of teaching and learning activities

There will be a series of workshops led by specific members of staff to emphasise valid statistical analysis, literature searching methods, reference management systems, experimental design, the nature of risk and risk assessments, critical evaluation of experimental results and research integrity, how to write a high-quality scientific paper and produce and present a scientific poster.

BIOT1010 Summative Assessment schedule:

BIOT1010 Formative Assessment schedule

BIOT1010 Your assessment brief:

Guidance: This module has several formative assessments and two summative assessments. The formative assessments are designed to help students progress towards the project report which is the main summative assessments. The other summative assessment is a poster presentation that will provide students with the opportunity to clearly communicate the research they have done, defend data interpretation and demonstrate critical thinking.

Formative assessments: There is a serious of formative assessments scheduled to help you to prepare your final project and get it checked prior to your final submission. The deadlines for the formative assessment are set in such way that you demonstrate monthly advancement in your project. However, as all projects are not the same, the deadlines for formative assessments can be set in the discussion with the project supervisor.

Feedback for summative coursework: For formative assignments feedback will be provided to students either verbally during the meeting with project supervisor and/or written on the submitted document.

During laboratory work students will often get a lot of feedback from supervisors and other colleagues. That feedback is very relevant for development of necessary skills and summative assignments. The feedback on formative assignments should directly help with summative assessment. For summative assessment, you will receive feedback from your project supervisor after the result letter is issued.

Student will need to get in touch with project supervisor who will then access the submitted document and provide the feedback.

Marking schemes: There are different marking schemes for different types of projects and summative assessments. Detailed marking schemes are located on Moodle module shell. They are further explained in introduction to the module.

Important note: Coursework is marked on the understanding that it is the student’s own work on the module and that it has not, in whole or part, been presented elsewhere for assessment. Where material has been used from other sources, this must be properly acknowledged in accordance with the University’s regulations regarding Assessment Misconduct.

BIOT1010 Resit assessments

Assessment schedule:

BIOT1010 Resource recommendations

The following are suggested readings for the module. Additional, more detailed reading recommendations will be provided for the module topics.