MSc Infection Biology

The initial part of Research Project 1 is a supervised literature review on an important current research topic in the field. The second part of the unit will involve students formulating a research proposal that arises from their literature studies and describes their future experimental work.  

The aims of Research Project 1 are to train students in strategies

• for literature searches and information management with the aim of identifying relevant literature and data sources.
• of critical resource analysis.
• to identify important questions, formulate respective hypotheses and design experiments to address them.
• to plan and organise written reports.
• to plan and generate appropriate illustrations and their legends.
• of appropriate scientific referencing.
• of effective communication with other researchers (here your supervisor).
• of effective time management. 

Students should be able to...

• Participation in training sessions on relevant strategies of literature review and report organisation provided by unit coordinators
• Regular consultations and email exchanges with supervisor(s) starting with a project orientation meeting and starter references.  
• Regular informal contacts with research staff with overlapping interests.
• How to distinguish 'I don't understand this' from 'the answer is not known', leading to the identification of an important unsolved problem.  
• Constructive feedback to improve your scientific writing. 

• Grasp the scientific context of their future experimental project.
• undertake background work to provide themselves with the intellectual foundations for a full understanding of their chosen area, especially where interdisciplinarity demands a wider frame of reference than former training might have required.  
• report on the current state of research in a chosen area.  

Identify and isolate basic scientific and translational concepts of the area of their chosen MSc programme.

• extract gaps in scientific fields and formulate questions to address them which can be turned into scientific strategies.  
• report on the current state of research in a chosen area. 

• use library, electronic and online resources  
• use reference managing software  
• develop appropriate illustrative materials for a report

• synthesise, analyse and store data and information including the application of statistics and the use of relevant software.
• demonstrate the ability of critical thinking, including abstraction, analysis, critical judgement and the ability to formulate testable hypotheses.
• pose a problem and frame it in a fashion that is amenable to solution.
• apply communication skills in written and spoken form, including the use of illustrations, electronic media and constructive dialogue with peers and supervisors.
• use software and/or online applications for word processing, to generate illustrations, manage references, databases, spreadsheets and presentations.
• make efficient use of library, electronic and online resources.
• plan time effectively, apportioning efforts to literature research and writing in a well-balanced way, while undertaking other essential course activities
• meet agreed informal and formal deadlines for written assignments.
• use effective word processing  
• improve their own learning through planning, monitoring, critical reflection, evaluation and altering strategies  
• manage obtained data, samples and resource materials.
• make a written presentation using language appropriate to a specialist readership
• collect and integrate evidence to formulate a research hypothesis  

• Combined literature review & project proposal (≤ 6000 words; 50% of mark; assessed by supervisor / 2nd marker); submitted by end of January  
• Upload of 7 min recorded presentation followed by a 20 min viva (50% of mark; assessed by supervisor / 2nd marker); before end of January  

• Formative feedback is provided by a supervisor for the written assignment:  
  • a detailed plan of the written assignment for organisation
  • a few-page excerpt of the written assignment for academic writing style  
• Further feedback through comments and discussions during the viva  

Students will receive starter references relevant to their research projects from their Supervisor(s).