| Unit name | Research and Professional Skills |
|---|---|
| Unit code | CENGM0077 |
| Credit points | 30 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Agarwal |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Civil Engineering |
| Faculty | Faculty of Engineering |
The aim of this unit is to enable students to develop their research and professional skills in the domain of earthquake engineering and infrastructure resilience.
Students will be exposed to scientific presentations, research outputs and earthquake damage scenarios and prepared to reflect on these and critically analyse the findings before they do the same on a topic of their choice.
Students will visit an earthquake prone area within Europe. In case that the visit follows a major earthquake event it will focus on the study of the effects of the specific earthquake on structures and infrastructure. In case the visit is not associated with a recent earthquake event the schedule shall include major centres for earthquake engineering research and/or challenging seismically designed projects. In case international travel is not feasible, the visit will be organised in a virtual form including online presentations and talks by international experts as well as access to field data and external databases from previous trips and earthquakes. During the visit the students are expected to work in groups to identify interesting cases for study and gather data related to both the associated earthquakes and structures. Upon their return the students are expected to write a report summarizing the processed data and the lessons learnt.
On successful completion of the course, the students will:
ILO 1. Be able to write a reflective essay to promote self learning
ILO 2. Be adept at critiquing a scientific paper
ILO 3. Be able to structure and write an essay
ILO 4. Have an advanced understanding of academic referencing
ILO 5. Be able to source literature efficiently on a particular technical topic
ILO 6. Synthesize literature sources and produce a comprehensive literature review report
ILO 7. Have an appreciation for advanced methods of scientific data presentation
ILO 8. Have developed advanced oral presentation skills
ILO 9. Understand to relate the characteristics of earthquake ground motion to structural performance and damage pathology
ILO 10. Understand the key parameters for designing earthquake-resistant structures in earthquake regions
ILO 11. Gather information and field data
ILO 12. Summarize, process and interpret the data gathered to draw meaningful conclusions as per the response of structures and infrastructures to earthquake loading.
Teaching programme will consist of research seminars (8 hours), paper discussions (4 hours), research and data analysis techniques (10 hours) using a mix of synchronous and asynchronous teaching.
A 3-day field visit to an earthquake affected area will be organised if circumstances allow. In particular, students will spend three days in the field in an earthquake prone European country at the end of TB2 and work in group sessions to process and evaluate the data acquired. In case international travel is not feasible, the visit will be organised in a virtual form including online presentations and talks by international experts as well as access to field data and external databases from previous trips and earthquakes.
Coursework portfolio (single submission) 90%
Oral presentation 10%
Varies from year to year and depends on the project work
