Project guidelines

From the Final-year Handbook P. 30-32

----------------------------------------------------------------------

2.2 CONDUCT OF THE PROJECT AND WRITING IT UP

Your supervisor will monitor the progress of your project and will report to the Assessors on its difficulty and on your conduct while carrying it out. It is in your interest to keep your supervisor up-to-date with your progress and with any difficulties you encounter while carrying it out (failure of experiments, inaccessibility of key references, failure of arrangements for getting materials) so that he can include them in the report to the marker and assessor. Distinguish clearly between reporting progress and asking for information and advice.

You will find that writing up the report takes longer than you think. Allow at least a week, but start writing drafts of the different sections in spare moments while you are carrying out the project. If you are writing a critical review you should start writing almost as soon as the project starts. You will probably wish to map out the structure of your report and prepare drafts of the various sections before compiling the final version for submission. The section on research methodology is usually the most straightforward to write and is where many students start. Please keep at least two copies of your project report on separate floppy discs, CDs/USB bars, and maintain hard copy print-outs of your drafts which could be handed-in if necessary. This will avoid last minute panics due to computer crashes.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

2.3 THE PROJECT REPORT

The format of the report will depend to some extent on the nature of the project but should, in all cases, contain an abstract, introduction, discussion/conclusions and references, be written on A4 paper and presented in a simple binding (ring file or similar). It should be written in a style, which will inform and deepen the understanding of a professional biologist, not necessarily a specialist in the subject area you have investigated.

Contents Page - Number all pages of the project report and give the page numbers of each section of the report on the Contents Page.

Abstract - This should summarise the purpose of your research, your results and conclusions. It should be approximately 150 - 250 words long. In the Introduction/abstract a statement of the hypothesis to be investigated in the project could be stated, how the hypothesis was to be tested and how successful the testing had been.

Glossary (optional) - You should avoid jargon at all costs. However, it is permissible to abbreviate frequently-used technical terms provided (a) you include the abbreviation in brackets after first using the term, and (b) you include a glossary of abbreviations.

Introduction - This should give sufficient background to the subject area to establish the relevance of the aims of the project. It may consist of a short review of relevant scientific literature (for a laboratory or field-based project), a historical perspective or delineation of subject area (in the case of a critical review), or a background briefing (for a policy review). You may find it useful to read the Introduction sections of a number of scientific papers or reviews in your subject area and analyse them critically for content and construction. The aims of the project should be stated explicitly at the end of the Introduction. Materials and

Methods - This section describes the research techniques you used and should be included for any type of project other than a critical review of scientific literature. It should be possible for another scientist to set up and repeat your work on the basis of your description of how you carried it out. The design and use of procedures to obtain information (structured interviews, survey work, data bases etc) form an important part of some projects. Wellestablished scientific procedures do not have to be written up in detail, but a reference should be provided. You should describe your experimental design and explain your use of any statistical or numerical methods of data analysis (with references).

Results - You should decide on the most appropriate method of presenting and summarising your results (tables, line graphs, histograms, figures, maps, photographs). Extensive sets of raw data should be put in one or more appendices at the end of the report. All data summaries must be properly labelled - take particular care to provide explanatory legends or titles to tables, figures, graphs etc, and check that all the information has been properly presented.

• Graphs and histograms: numbered, self-explanatory title; axes labelled with variable and units; standard errors or confidence intervals included where possible; not too cluttered; different types of data points clearly indicated by different symbols on multi-line graphs or shading on multi-histograms.
  
• Figures and photographs: numbered; self-explanatory title; relevant features clearly labelled.
  
• Tables: numbered; self-explanatory title; laid out for easy reference (headings, columns, footnotes); entries consistently presented to an appropriate number of significant figures.
  
• Results of statistical tests (e.g. t test, ANOVA): make clear the hypothesis tested, the result of the test, your interpretation of that result, and any assumptions underlying the use of the test.

The text of your Results section should draw attention to the salient features of each experiment and its results. Do not simply state in words the information already presented in tables etc. Methods and Results sections are not appropriate to critical reviews of literature and their format may need to be adapted for some other types of report. For these types of project report make sure there is a logical exposition of your material, broken down as appropriate into numbered and titled sections and sub-sections.

Discussion - Critically discuss your results in relation to the conclusions that can be drawn from them, (and any limitations to those conclusions) and how these conclusions relate to the aims of the project and to the broader subject area. If your results conflict with (or support) those of other researchers, discuss them critically and bring out any limitations imposed by your methodology. Remember that it is as important to discuss experiments that didn't work as the ones that produced clear-cut results. If you had particular difficulties that were beyond your control, make them clear. You may suggest further lines of research or experimentation, which would clarify issues raised by your project. Phrases in the examiners' minds when reading your Discussion might be "a critical analysis", "an ability to synthesise", "knows the literature and how his/her work fits into it", "a clear, logical development", "interesting ideas", "well-written"... If you have any doubts about what should be included in the Discussion, read plenty of papers and reports and analyse the corresponding sections.

References - This section should list all the references quoted in your thesis, in order of first author. Check your references as the last item on your list before presenting your report; it is common to drop or include references in the text of drafts and forget to up-date the reference list. Each reference should include all authors (not et al.) and the full title of the book, paper, article or report. Journal titles should be unabbreviated; book and report publishers should be given with an abbreviated address (e.g. town). The precise format of presentation is not specified, but must be consistent, and should follow accepted practice. Note that examiners normally check that references quoted in the text are included in your reference list and vice versa. See Appendix 1 for details of referencing system required.

Presentation - We would prefer the report to be typed but you will not be penalised for a handwritten text provided it is clearly laid-out and legible. Hand-drawn figures, graphs and diagrams are acceptable.

The word limit for ALL projects is 8000 words and this is a strict limit i.e. 8001 words will be penalised. For every 500 words over the limit or portion thereof a penalty of 5% of the awarded mark will be enforced. The word limit EXCLUDES references and figure legends BUT includes appendices. In accordance with this you should give the word count of your project on the front page of the project. As a guide, present your project in 1.5 spacing using a 12 point font such as Arial or Times New Roman.

Do not attempt to pad the report out, and do leave enough time at the end to review all sections and edit them ruthlessly. You may irritate your examiners if they feel that your project report is unnecessarily long. On the other hand, the report must be intelligible to a non-specialist, so don't use jargon or abbreviated notes. Whenever you can, and whenever you are in doubt, CONSULT YOUR SUPERVISOR.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

2.4 SUBMITTING THE PROJECT REPORT FOR ASSESSMENT

Three copies of the completed, bound report must be handed in by NOON on Thursday 15 June either to the Biology Undergraduate Office (SAFB) or to Reception (Silwood Park, Manor House).

Two percent of the agreed final mark for the project will be deducted for each hour's delay in submission after the deadline. A project submission must be handed in by 5.00 pm on Thursday 15 June whether the report is complete or not. Assessment will then be based on any notes, floppy discs and other material submitted in lieu of a report. Three years ago, two students had hefty deductions for late submissions during Friday afternoon.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

2.5 ASSESSMENT OF THE PROJECT

Your project report will be assessed independently by a marker nominated by your supervisor as being knowledgeable in the subject area, and by an assessor with interests in the same general area of biology. Their agreed mark will form one component (75%) of the project assessment. The second component (15%) will be provided by your supervisor, who will give an appraisal of your performance during the course of the project and also mark the project report, and the third will be based on your ability to present your work and answer questions in a viva voce (10%). Your supervisor’s appraisal is seen by the nominated marker and by the assessor after they have both read the report and given it an initial mark but prior to their agreeing a final mark.

Whatever its form, the project will be assessed according to a common set of criteria, made available to the examiners and assessors. You should pay particular attention to the following aspects of your report write-up:

Scientific rigor - your report must be objective and logical in its analysis of the problem and your data;
Understanding - your report should make clear that you understand the implications of your project and how your results and conclusions fit into a broader framework of knowledge;
Originality - the project must indicate some originality of thought and an ability to synthesize and develop ideas. Paraphrasing other people's work, whether published or unpublished, is not enough, and straightforward copying without a proper attribution and acknowledgement will be severely penalised.

Your viva voce will be held 7 days after project report submission. A timetable will be pinned up outside the Undergraduate Office. The examination will consist of a 20 minute discussion with the project marker and assessor and will test your understanding of your project and your report. You may be asked specific questions arising from your project report and more general questions relating your project work to wider issues in biology.