MSc Nanomedicine by Research / Course details

Advances in Nanomedicine Research is designed to provide students with the skills to synthesise the latest ground-breaking scientific achievements (not nanotechnology focussed) and formulate opinion as to how latest developments in science could be applied in order to advance research in the field of nanomedicine. Students will learn how to communicate their opinion through a brief (no longer than 4 pages or 2,000 words) written assignment in the form of an opinion/perspective article. It is a 15 credit unit that forms part of the taught element of the programme. 
Students will be expected to select a research paper from an issue of the journal that tutor/supervisor (academic staff member) will provide to each student in mid-October (different issue of a well-reputed scientific journal will be given to each student). Students will be expected to read all articles from the issue and select one research paper that they will focus on in order to develop the idea as to how the finding from this research article could advance nanomedicine research. This is quite extensive reading/writing/critical thinking exercise as students will have to dedicate at least 80h to reading articles and doing background research to support their idea. The 4-pages (2000 words) opinion/perspective article will focus on the student's opinion as to how the findings from this paper could help advance nanomedicine research. We expect students to spend at least 40h writing the perspective article. There will be four meetings, individually or as a group. In the first meeting, a member of staff will provide a journal for each student and clearly explain the unit and assessment (group session). Clear guidance on how to write an opinion/perspective article will also be provided. 
In the second and third meeting, tutor/supervisor will focus on discussing articles selected by the student and how this inspired the topic of the opinion/perspective article. This will be a group activity, where all students will be expected to read articles selected by other students and participate in the discussion about the article (offering their critical opinion about it and also about the idea proposed by the student). Discussion will be facilitated by tutor/supervisor. In the last tutorial feedback will be provided by a member of staff on a draft of the perspective/opinion article written by a student, focussing on the structure proposed by the student. 
The Unit will run in Semester 1, in mid-October a member of staff will provide an issue of a journal (Nature, Nature Medicine, Science, Science Advances or similar) and students will have 12 weeks to choose a topic from the selected journal, discuss it with their tutor and write an opinion/perspective article (submission in January).

The unit aims to: 
-    Equip students with the ability to understand the latest, ground-breaking scientific achievements through critical study of the published scientific research and apply them to the field of nanomedicine,  
-    Teach students how to formulate scientific opinion, present original and creative thought and communicate this accurately with a logically developed argument.

Knowledge and understanding

1.    Identify, debate and formulate opinion on a topic related to current scientific progress and apply this to discuss how it could advance the field of nanomedicine research, 
2.    Systematically synthesise the literature and other sources to provide the intellectual foundations for a full understanding of the topic,  
3.    Report on the current status of research in the selected topic through a brief opinion/perspective article. 
 

Intellectual skills 

Students should be able to:  
4.    Demonstrate critical thinking, including analysis and critical judgement on published research 
5.    Synthesise and analyse information presented in the 
scientific literature, 
6.    Critically evaluate published scientific reaserch 
7.    Make a reasoned argument for a particular point of view, 
8.    Be able to draw reasoned conclusions. 
 

Practical skills 

Students should be able to:  
  9.    Use library, electronic and online resources to conduct independent research,  
10.    Use reference manager software. 
 

Transferable skills and personal qualities 

Students should be able to:  
11.    Independently gather, synthesise and organise material from various sources (including library, electronic and online resources), and critically evaluate its significance, 
12.    Create a succinct written report, 
13.    Produce a written piece of work using language appropriate to a specialist readership. 
 

Also: 
14.    Schedule tasks in order of importance, 
15.    Use personal resources effectively to meet challenges, 
16.    Maintain independence of thought and be self-reliant, 
17.    Work independently and show capacity for self-discipline, motivation and diligence, 
18.    Show capacity for self-appraisal, reflection and time management.

In total, four tutorials (individually or as a group) will run in the period from mid-October until end of December. In the first tutorial, a member of staff will provide a journal for each student to choose a topic from. Journals proposed by tutors will not be nanotechnology focussed, but rather communicating latest ground-breaking scientific achievements (Nature, Science, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology or similar). Students should select an article or scientific communication with the finding that, in their opinion, can be applicable to advance nanomedicine field and elaborate this opinion. Clear guidance on how to write an opinion/perspective article will also be provided. 
In the second and third meeting, tutor/supervisor will focus on discussing articles selected by the student and how this inspired the topic of the opinion/perspective article. This will be a group activity, where all students will be expected to read articles selected by other students and participate in the discussion about the article (offering their critical opinion about it and also about the idea proposed by the student). Discussion will be facilitated by tutor/supervisor. In the last tutorial feedback will be provided by a member of staff on a draft of the perspective/opinion article written by a student, focussing on the structure proposed by the student. 
The remainder of the taught hours will be used for independent study for students to explore the literature to inform and write their opinion piece.

Written assignment (summative) in the form of opinion/perspective article, 2,000 words long on a topic selected by the student. Topic will be chosen from a journal proposed by a tutor. Clear guidance on the format of the article will be provided.

Formative feedback on the selection of the paper, draft/development of the assignment will be provided in tutorial sessions. Assignment will be marked and 
summative feedback (marking) will be provided in the end of January.

1.    Instructions for authors of editorial, focus, perspective, and commentary articles: 
https://www.sciencemag.org/journals/immunology/authors/editorial-focus-commentaryperspectives 
2.    Youn, Y.S. and Bae, Y.H. (2018). Perspectives on the past, present, and future of cancer nanomedicine. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 130, pp.3–11.  
3.    Hare, J.I., Lammers, T., Ashford, M.B., Puri, S., Storm, G. and Barry, S.T. (2017). Challenges and strategies in anti-cancer nanomedicine development: An industry perspective. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 108, pp.25–38.