Unit information: Research and Communication Skills in 2020/21

Unit name	Research and Communication Skills
Unit code	BIOC30001
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Professor. Mike Jones
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	Molecular Cell Biology BIOC20001, Macromolecular Structure, Dynamics and Function BIOC20002, Recombinant DNA Technology MOLG22100 and Gene Expression and Rearrangement MOLG22200
Co-requisites	Advanced Cell Biology BIOC30601 The Dynamic Proteome BIOC30604 Cellular Information BIOC30602 Advanced Options in Biochemistry BIOC30600
School/department	School of Biochemistry
Faculty	Faculty of Life Sciences

Description including Unit Aims

This unit aims to develop the research and communication skills of students. Choosing from a range of topics, students will undertake an independent review of the primary scientific literature and will present their work as a written report. This library-based research project will be guided by a member of academic staff. In addition, students will be tested on their ability to understand and critique research papers and analyse and evaluate scientific data.

Students will:

• Develop independent working skills
• Be able to critically analyse and synthesize information presented in research publications
• Gain important data analysis and evaluation skills

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Research a topic using the primary scientific literature
• Review and critique the scientific data and literature and appraise competing theories
• Achieve an in-depth knowledge and understanding of their research topic and an ability to keep abreast with recent developments in the field.
• Work independently on their research project and manage their time
• Analyse and interpret biochemical data
• Solve unseen problems
• Write a scientific report for an expert audience

Teaching Information

Supervisor/student meetings

Data analysis workshops

Lectures

Assessment Information

For learning (formative)

Project supervisors will give feedback on a draft of the literature review

Students will undertake “mock” Data Handling and Literature Comprehension exercises

Of learning (summative)

Literature Review (40%) Maximum word count is 3,000 for the literature review. The project is marked independently by the project supervisor and a second marker. The mark awarded by the supervisor and the second marker each contributes 50% towards the overall project mark. An explicit marking scheme is used to mark the literature review.

Data Handling exam (35%) Timed assessment. Students will analyse and interpret novel biochemical data sets.(Intercalating students will have a separate Data Interpretation timed assessment as they will not have completed all of the unit prerequisites.)

Literature Comprehension exam (25%) Timed assessment. Students will be expected to read and critically evaluate a short, unseen research paper

Reading and References

Reviews and articles from the primary scientific Literature