Life Science Final Year Research

Project (C7127)
Course convener: Dr Michelle West
m.j.west@sussex.ac.uk

• All students in the School of Life Sciences

(excluding Chemistry) carry out a final year
research project.
• Human Sciences students may choose a project as
an option.
• You will have the opportunity to:
– undertake an individual piece of original
research.
– work independently (with guidance and support).
 Life Science Final Year Research
Project (C7127)

• The project is a core course and will

appear on your final year options form
already- you must fill in the options form to
choose your other courses and submit as
normal.
• You then choose a specific project through
a separate procedure (see later slides) and
submit your project choice form next term.
 Project Assessment

• Oral presentation of approx 10-15 mins

at the end of the autumn term (10%).

• Project report of approximately 6000

words due in at the start of the spring
term (90%).
 How Much Time Will I
Spend On My Project?
• 30 credit course (1/4 of final year).
• 1 credit roughly equates to 10 hours of study
time.
• You will therefore be expected to spend
approx 300 hours working on your project.
• A rough guide:
– 50 hours writing report / talk.
– 250 hours doing research work and analysing data.
• Assuming a 7 hour day this is roughly
– 3.5 days a week for 10 weeks
 Is Project Time
Timetabled?

• You are expected to manage your own time

spent on research- lab/research time will not
be on your timetable.
• Your project must be completed in the
autumn term.
• You need to fit your project work around your
lectures and course reading.
• Your project should NOT require you to skip
lectures and neglect course reading!
What kinds of projects are
available?

• In general a research project involves testing

a hypothesis or analysing a research
question. Projects can include:
– Experimental work e.g. field work, data collection,
lab-based research.
– Analysis of existing data e.g. bioinformatics, data
mining, population/behaviour analysis.
– Extraction and analysis of data and information
from published literature.
 Where can I find project
details ?
• Teaching and research faculty will provide
project titles and descriptions.
• These are displayed on the school website as
PDF files covering the main research subject
areas of the school (excluding chemistry)
– Evolution behaviour and environment
– Genome damage and stability
– Biochemistry and molecular biology (including
Drug Discovery and BSMS projects)
– Neuroscience
What type of project shall I
choose?

• You are free to choose a project from any of the

subject areas proving you meet any course
requirements indicated by the supervisor.
• If you are considering a career in Medicine or a non-
experimental science-based career, then a critical
review or data analysis project may be a good choice.
• If you are considering a career in academic/ lab-
based research then a lab-based or data analysis
project would be a good choice.
 Choosing projects
• You are expected to contact supervisors to discuss
projects you are interested in (arrange an
appointment by e-mail do not just turn up!).
• Please obtain their signatures on the form available
on the school website.
• After discussions with supervisors please rank your
choices (1-6).
• DO NOT indicate different projects by the same
supervisor, projects are allocated by supervisor and
the supervisor will then discuss your preference with
you.
 Choosing projects-tips!
• Do not leave it until the day forms are due in (week 3
of summer term) to approach supervisors.
– They may not have time to talk to you.
– This doesn’t give them a very good impression of your
organisational skills.
• Think outside of the box!
– Try not to only pick supervisors you know- many
research faculty that you may not know offer very good
projects.
– Try to be open-minded about the area of research-
many projects offer training in widely applicable
techniques.