Reference no: EM134026357

Research Dissertation - Evidence-Based Practice and Career Development

Topic name : Garlic ( Allium sativum)
Disease : hypertension

Applicants:

This core module will provide students with a framework of subject-specific professional skills relevant to R&D or clinical practice in Biomedical or Pharmaceutical Science. Additionally, it supports a student's development of abilities to work independently and collaboratively to deliver a dissertation relevant to sector standards. Students undertaking similar project help activities are expected to demonstrate independent research and professional practice.

On-site:

In consultation with a member of academic staff, appointed as supervisor or mentor of their dissertation project, students will engage in subject-specific activities in the laboratory as well as in the community to support their professional and career development. These include: advanced academic writing, communication and presentation of technical materials and experimental data using different media, like posters, bite-sized, short and long oral presentations and pitches. Students may also benefit from essay writing and report writing help to strengthen their academic communication skills.

Off-site:

Within the module students may incorporate opportunities to develop professional skills, networks and experiences as a Biomedical or Pharmaceutical scientist within a workplace they identify outside of the University. The student will work with an employer for a period of 4-6 weeks, completing a research program agreed between a nominated faculty mentor, the hosting organisation and the student.

Activities would include experiential learning involving supervised practice and research culminating in the completion of their dissertation.

Learning Outcomes for the module

UEL core competencies

Digital Proficiency - Code = (DP)
Industry Connections - Code = (IC)
Social & Emotional Intelligence - Code = (SEI)
Physical Intelligence - Code = (PI)
Cultural Intelligence - Code = (CI)
Community Connections & UEL Give Back - Code = (CC)
Cognitive Intelligence - Code = (COI)
Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (EE)

At the end of this module, students will be able to:

Knowledge

Demonstrate detailed knowledge and understanding of the topic under investigation.

Judge the appropriateness of subject-specific experimental designs and methodologies (DP, PI).

Thinking skills

Select appropriate data from a range of sources and critically reflect on that material.

Take critical account of previous work and extend it in a relevant direction.

Subject-based practical skills

Analyse and critically review data from a variety of sources to develop or advance a research or professional project (PI, SEI).

Demonstrate the capacity to act autonomously to produce detailed and coherent project/reports.

Skills for life and work (general skills)

Show the ability to present scientific information in a variety of ways (both written and verbally) (CC, SEI), including effective oral presentation skills.

Demonstrate and make use of the range of professional contacts established during the period of the dissertation project (IC).

Teaching/ learning methods/strategies used to enable the achievement of learning outcomes: For on campus students:

Independent work in library and/or laboratory
Weekly workshops in support of communication skills both written and oral
Self-directed and mentored study
One to one meetings with faculty supervisor or mentor
Online discussions

Guidance for MSc Dissertations

Essential Facts

Maximum number of words: 8,000 (5000 dissertation, 3000 diary)
Quality is more important than quantity!

Structure

Guidance on how to structure your essay:

Title
Abstract (300 words)
Acknowledgements (optional - not included in the word count)
Table of content
Introduction (800-1000 words)
Method (500-700 words)
Results (1200-1500 words)
Discussion/Conclusion (1200-1500 words)
Diary (3000 words)
References (not included in the words count)
Appendices (not included in the words count)

General guidance on what to include in your essay:

Title

The title should reflect the scientific of the project described in the report. It should be as succinct as possible and include essential key words.

Abstract (maximum 300 words)

Summarize your findings, and their importance - potential readers will use this to decide if the rest of your article is of interest. The abstract should be structured with four sub-headings:

Introduction (which should include the aim of the study)
Methods (materials used, methodology)
Results
Discussion/Conclusions.

Acknowledgements (optional - not included in the word count)

- You may wish to express your gratitude to someone J

Tables of content

Text sections (with page numbers)

List of figures (with page numbers)
List of abbreviations used (in alphabetical order)

Introduction (800-1000 words)

"A good introduction is a clear statement of the problem or project and why you are studying it." (Dodd, J. S., Ed. The ACS Style Guide; 2nd, American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1997, pg 20).

The introduction should contain all the necessary information that would allow a reader to understand the rationale of the project and the potential significance of the results. The introduction should also give confidence to the reader that you are knowledgeable of the current literature.

The Introduction must contain a short description of the background, the aim of the experiment and a brief description of the methodology. The opening paragraphs should illustrate the nature of the problem and why it is of in the problem, what has been done before (with proper literature citations), and the objectives of the current project. A clear association between the current experiment and the scope and limitations of earlier work should be made so that the reasons for the experiment and the approach used will be understood.

It must contain a short description of the background, the aim of the experiment and a brief description of the methodology.

You should subdivide the introduction into subheadings. These should be numbered (1.1, 1.2 etc)

If you reproduce figures from published material, you must reference the source.

You cannot use the same introduction that you used in the research proposal. Please note that plagiarism, including self-plagiarism is not tolerate and will be reported as breach of regulation.

Material Methods (lab-based) or Methodology (non-lab-based) (500-700 words)

These should be clearly written so that anyone could reproduce your results.

Methods should not list the experiments you have carried out.

Each method should have a title and be numbered (2.1, 2.2 etc).

If you are doing a systematic review, you should describe:

your sources of material
your primary outcomes
your measurable outcomes
inclusion/exclusion criteria

For additional guidance on research methodology, ensure your methods section is written clearly and logically.

Results (1200-1500 words)

Results must be clearly presented.

In the results section the relevant data, observations, and findings are summarized. Tabulation of data, equations, charts, and figures can be used effectively to present results clearly and concisely.

Take particular care with figures, ensuring that they are properly labelled, and any statistical feature is explained.

Each figure should have a clear figure legend that should allow the reader to understand the experiment without having to refer to the text. It should also describe any statistical values and the number of samples used or repeats (if appropriate).

The result section should have a clear narrative that guides the reader through the experiments (just including figures and figure legends is NOT enough). There will be some repetition between the text of the results and the figure legends.

You can separate the results in subsections, each titled and numbered (3.1, 3.2 etc).

If you are doing a library-based dissertation, the result section will be where you are focussing on a more selected set of publication (as opposed to the introduction) which you are critically analysing to extract novel information or conclusions.

Where statistical analysis is included, refer to appropriate statistics principles when presenting and interpreting your findings.

Discussion/Conclusion (1200-1500 words)

The crux of the report is the analysis and interpretation of the results:

What do the results mean?
How do they relate to the objectives of the project?
To what extent have they resolved the problem presented in the introduction?
What are the merits and weaknesses of your data?

With respect to the results, you should comment on how they can be interpreted, their reliability, the reliability of the technique, their statistical significance (where relevant).

You should comment on how your results fit with previously published data (referring back to your introduction).

You should make suggestions for possible improvement in the technique or research design and for future experiments.

The style and length of the discussion will depend on the style of your results.

It is advisable to have a concluding paragraph.

Research Diary (3000 words, both lab and non-lab-based projects)

References (do not contribute to word count)

- These must be in Harvard Style. If you have any doubts about reference styles, please consult the extensive information on the UEL website.

Appendices (do not contribute to word count)

COSHH and RA (only for lab-based project)
Ethics (only if it applies to you)
Questionnaire (if you have conducted a survey)