Welcome to the Physics Review Project (PHY-913) Home Page

The purpose of this module is to allow a student to examine a specialised area of physics by directed reading and independent study. He or she will learn to use scientific research literature and databases, and will develop the skill of writing a scientific review summarising current knowledge in a field of physics MSci students take this module in Semester 5. An MSci student who, for any reason, does not take the course in the third year may, with the permission of the Module Organiser, take it in the final semester of his or her final year.

The topic should be an area of physics or related disciplines which has undergone recent development, or is otherwise topical. It may (but does not have to) relate closely to the Independent Project the student proposes to carry out in the final year. Students should discuss interesting projects with the potential supervisors and may select projects from the list giving their order of preference, although you will only do one of these. In addition to selecting projects from a list students may propose a project title of their own.

The Report

It is crucial for students to complete their projects on time and to meet the deadline for the reports. This is mainly in order to avoid disrupting other modules or examinations.

The project report will be between 8,000 and 12,000 words, it should include:

i. Title and abstract page
ii. Contents list
iii. References should be included at the end in the standard way having been referred to in the text
where they are relevant.
iv. Figures should appear in the text close to where they are first referred to and not collected at the back
of the report.
v. The pages should be numbered.

Length of report in itself is of no merit. The report should be written for a scientist who is not an expert in the area of your project.

One of the best ways of ensuring that you meet the deadline for your report is to begin writing it in the first few weeks. It is almost certainly the case that you should have completed, by the end of the Reading Week, a first draft of project content.

Submission of Project Reports

Two copies of your report are required by the deadline. The procedure is as follows:

Please provide two copies of your report to Pete or Saquib in Room 205a and obtain a receipt (dated and signed) and sign an assignment submission form.

The copies will be bound free of charge.

Plagiarism

Upon handing in your report you will be asked to sign a declaration on the assignment submission form which reads as follows:

"I understand that plagiarism is the use or presentation of the work of another person including another student, without acknowledging the source, and that plagiarism is ground for disciplinary action as laid down in the regulations in the College Student Guide governing Examination Offences. I declare that the attached assignment is my own unaided work and that where I have used, quoted or referred to the work of others it has been fully and clearly acknowledged as required in the Guidelines for Writing Essays and Reports in the Student Handbook.”

If electronically scanned figures are used the source must be acknowledged in the figure caption.

Project Seminars

Physics project students will be split into 2 groups and each group will meet once a week in a timetabled slot where opportunity will be given to present progress reports on the project to date in front of an audience of peers and one staff member. This will involve each student giving a 15 minute talk typically three times during the semester (in rotation).

The aim is help you to:

a. learn to prepare a presentation

b. develop communications skills

c. gain self confidence in front of an audience. Learn to talk about a specialised area of physics (your project topic) to an audience who are not expert, placing the subject in a broader physics context

d. practice assimilating information as a mutual learning exercise. You should be prepared to offer constructive criticism of each others

There will be two parallel seminars run by Dr. Baxendale and Dr. Kreouzis. You will be allocated to one of the two seminars by Dr. Baxendale. They will be on Fridays, details to be announced. On the first day everyone will be expected to give a three minute talk explaining their project in simple terms. Thereafter, there will be at least three talks per week on a rota basis. Early in the semester the talks may be quite short but later may last up to 15 minutes each with 5 minutes for discussion afterward. Each person will be expected to give several talks, the subject to be a progress report on the state of their project at that point. Following a sensible routine you will be drafting your report week by week as you progress. This will aid you in preparation for the seminars and also ensure that you meet the deadline. The seminar is a lot of work but can be fun and will certainly develop abilities that you will be using for the rest of your working life.

Skills Objectives:

To give a good presentation requires both preparation skills and psychological skills in dealing with an audience.

Some things to work on are:

1. Using the whiteboard: it always helps to explain physics ideas if you can quickly sketch apparatus, graphs or write suitable mathematical expressions on the whiteboard. It is particularly helpful to use the whiteboard in answering questions from an audience.

2. Using a data projector plus laptop for PowerPoint presentation. If you want to present your oral as a PowerPoint presentation you should get it to Dr Baxendale or Dr Kreouzis the morning beforehand to be put on a flash memory ready for the afternoon talk.

3. Using computer demos: if you are doing a computer project of some kind, consider demonstrating your work by projecting the computer screen (to do this see Dr Baxendale in the first instance and givesome days warning).

4. Controlling the time a talk takes: this can best be done by rehearsal. Even seasoned speakers try out their talks beforehand to check timing and manipulation of overheads, slides and other visual aids.

5. Working your audience: an audience is like a person, look at it and address yourself to it. Judge its mood, be aware if it is understanding what you are saying or is lost or bored. Be careful to avoid talking to the whiteboard or screen and maintain eye contact with individuals in the audience.

Submission of written report: 17:00: Friday 11 January

Submission of oral presentations by 17:00 Monday 22 April

Oral examination period: Monday 29 April - Friday 3 May

Deadlines

Please note and take seriously the submission deadlines. The hand-in date is on the first Friday of Semester B so you must ensure that your reports are finished and bound prior to that day.

Final report: Friday 11th January 2013 (before 17:00)

Marking

The project will be assessed by coursework, report, and oral examination. A second examiner will be involved in the latter two aspects of assessment. The marks are allotted as follows:

20% allocated by the supervisor for performance during execution of the project

50% allocated jointly by the supervisor and a second marker for the written report

30% allocated for performance during the oral examination

A 20-minute oral examination will be held during the Examination Period. Both markers will be present along with one of the seminar supervisors. During this oral the student will give a 15-minute presentation of the project and will then answer questions for 5-minutes. The Module Organiser is there to ensure fair treatment across projects and will not ask questions unless s/he is also one of the markers. The penalty for non-attendance at the oral will be a loss of 10 marks or the lower of the 2 report marks in the case that the difference between the two markers in their initial marking is greater than 10 marks. Once again it is to be stressed that original experiments do not always proceed to a predefined plan (as in lab classes) and you are not assessed on simple criteria of success or failure but on the degree to which you applied yourself to the project and the understanding of any problems that may arise. Originality and independence are important qualities that go into the supervisors assessment of your coursework. The importance of written English cannot be over-stressed. You will be marked in part on the quality of your writing (including spelling).

The categories on the assessment sheets used by markers are shown below.

Performance during project. (Marked by project supervisor):

Independence /20

Competence /20

Industry /30

Understanding /20

Innovation/originality /10

Assessment of written report:

Scientific rating (including content and comprehension) /50

Presentation (including diagrams, spellings and references) /50

Assessment of oral report:

Quality of the presentation (e.g. powerpoint working correctly, diagrams clear) /5

Quality of the delivery (e.g. clear delivery, correct timing) /5

Scientific content (e.g. was the physics explained rather than simply described) /5

Response to simple questions (has the student grasped the fundamental principles behind the project?) /5

Response to advanced questions (can the student appreciate the more advanced/subtle aspects of their project e.g. dealing with derivations/hypothetical situations) /5

Independence in responding/ general quality of responses (e.g. did the student require much prompting, were they taciturn, detailed, etc.) /5

Selecting a Project

All students are expected to select a supervisor before the end of the Examination Period, (7 June 2013) using this form. The provisional list of project abstracts will be circulated at about the same time.

The abstacts are for the projects that are most likely to be offered in 2013-14. Some projects may be withdrawn and others offred before Autumn but the general themes offered by each supervisor will not change. The exact allocation of student to project will occur about two weeks before the start of session.

Project selection requires:

a. Reading of the abstracts on this web page

b. Discussing projects with potential supervisors and /or Dr Baxendale

c. Completing the supervisor selection form by expressing your 1-8 preferences

d. Please then return the completed form to Susan Benedict (s.benedict@qmul.ac.uk) by 7 June 2013 .

You will be informed of the outcome at about that same time as you receive exam results.

N.B. The abstracts may contain one or two technical terms. The Project Supervisor should be consulted for clarification. It is not a reason to be concerned or put off of a project. Clarification will almost certainly reveal the "jargon" to be less intimidating when reduced to its actual meaning!

Further advice on the projects in general may be obtained from Dr Baxendale. In exceptional circumstances a student may have an idea of a project he or she would like to carry out. In such a circumstance it is necessary for the student to find a member of staff willing to act as supervisor for that project. In doing this availability of resources and the interests of staff members should be considered before putting a suggestion to members of staff. Dr Baxendale may act as a "go between" in helping to locate an appropriate member of staff who could act as supervisor.

Project Abstracts

Abstracts 2013-14