| Unit name | Thesis (Volcanology) |
|---|---|
| Unit code | EASCM0043 |
| Credit points | 60 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
| Unit director | Professor. Matthew Watson |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Earth Sciences |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
The unit develops the student's capability in independent research. The unit will be an opportunity for students to engage in active research questions alongside academic staff and postgraduate students. With the support of a supervisor, who will provide specialist guidance and training, the student will design and execute a research activity, using research tools and numerical models and /or geophysical data. The student will produce a scientific report for the final assessment, which contributes 60 credit points. The research will build on the broad context-setting literature review of the Phase I project, refining and extending its scientific analysis and arguments with the goal of delivering publication-quality research. We recognise that research activities at this level are often exploratory in nature, and may not yield stand-alone publishable results. A successful project is one where a learning experience has been demonstrated, and of course “negative” results can be as instructive and important as “positive” ones.
On successful completion of the unit students will be able to: determine a theme to research through analysis of the current state of knowledge in a subject field identify, access and assess appropriate library- or archive-based information relevant to the project design and plan a research project that it is feasible within the available time maintain high professional standards (use adequate sample size, address bias, consider errors in data, limitations to models etc) critically appraise the strengths and weaknesses of the research project, evaluating the findings against those of others demonstrate practical and analytical skills relevant to the project collect, record and manage information and/or findings, and decide when it is sufficient to meet the aims of the project communicate the outcomes of the project to different audiences in an appropriate manner produce a final project report presented to the standard expected for submission of a manuscript to a leading international journal
Postgraduate supervision through scientific and progress meetings
This unit constitutes 60 credit points. The final dissertation will be assessed against the following assessment criteria: Presentation Scientific understanding of topic context Quality and depth of research activity Scientific reporting of research Originality, merit and independence. All written work submitted for this project must be word-processed and submitted on A4 paper of laser print quality. Students should identify (in discussion with their supervisor) an international journal appropriate to their field of study, and then adhere to the style guidelines given in the instructions to authors for that journal. Pages should be numbered and in single column format. Numbered figures and tables should have informative captions. The report should also contain: title page (name, project title, programme of study, date of submission) one page abstract table of contents figures and tables with captions references The use of well-presented and well-organised printed appendices or attachment of data on CD or DVD format is allowed. However, note that appendices are for archiving data or detailed descriptions of methods etc. for future users of the report, and will not contribute to the dissertation mark. All illustrations, data, tables and method descriptions that are needed to support your project must be in the main text.
Important papers will be identified in discussion with the supervisor.
