KJM2030 – Undergraduate Research III

Course description

Course content
Learning outcome
Admission
Prerequisites

Overlapping courses
Teaching
Examination
Evaluation

Schedule, syllabus and examination date

Spring 2014

Course content

This course is a research based project assignment in chemistry. The project includes literature studies, compiling information and data and presenting research based findings in a project report. You will also be involved in practical laboratory work and/or theoretical calculations within a specific research project. A project assignment of 30 credits is most suitable for exchange students and students who intend to finish their studies after bachelor. For student who intend to start master studies, we recommend a 10- or 20 credits research assignment so that the project assignment will not go on behalf of the need for a strong theoretical foundation.

Learning outcome

When you have completed this course:

you have basic skills in searching for and familiarizing yourself with the contents of scientific literature.
you know the theoretical foundation for your research project.
you master the experimental and/or theoretical techniques relevant for your project.
you have experience in carrying out a research project according to scientific standards.
you can present your results in a scientific form.

For a 30 credits project assignment, the laboratory work or calculations will be a large part of the project, and you will get experience in adapting and presenting results as part of the project report.

Admission

To be admitted to the course, you are required to have passed at least 30 credits of chemistry courses, and to have documented laboratory experience. For detailed information about the requirements, see under "Prerequisites".

Admission to the course requires that you, before the beginning of the semester, find a supervisor with capacity to offer you a project assignment. The supervisor will normally be one of the Scientific staff members at The Department of Chemistry. If you have an external assignment, you will need a contact person who is a member of the scientific staff. The research groups with capacity to offer project assignements may vary between semesters. Admittance to the course is not complete until you have an agreement with your supervisor.

Prerequisites

Formal prerequisite knowledge

To be admitted to the course, you are required have passed at least 30 credits of chemistry courses, and to have completed a laboratory course in KJM1100 – General chemistry (continued), KJM1110 – Organic chemistry I (continued), MENA1000 – Materials, energy and nanotechnology (continued), or equivalent courses from other universities. You must also have passed the MN-faculty's HES-courses MNHMS0015 – Introduction to Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) (discontinued) and MNHMS0010LS – Innf?ring i laboratoriesikkerhet (discontinued). For project assignments where such a background is relevant, the courses MBV1050 – Biochemistry I: Structure and function of biomolecules (discontinued), MBV2020 – Laboratory course (discontinued), and MENA-courses taught at The Department of Chemistry, may count among the 30 credits. Students with a different background may apply to the study council (submit application to student administration) in agreement with their supervisor.

The following courses must be taken in the same semester or earlier than KJM2030:

For students taking KJM2030 Autumn 2014 or later, you must first pass the two HSE courses MNHMS0015 and MNHMS0010LS before you may include KJM2030 as part of a degree.

Overlapping courses

10 credits overlap with KJM3010 – Undergraduate Research I
20 credits overlap with KJM3020 – Undergraduate Research II

Teaching

At the start of the semester, you will have a mandatory introduction to HES-regulations at The Department of Chemistry. You will also have 6 hours of teaching in literature search and the use of references.

The remaining teaching will be individual supervision on your project. You will normally receive up to 80 hours of supervision.

You will write a project report that will be the basis for your examination in the course. Please read the guidelines for the project report.

You and your supervisor will make a project description that should be signed by both of you and submitted to the student administration for approval. Please read the guidelines for the project description.

The 30 credits project assignment can be taken over two consecutive semesters.

As the teaching involves laboratory and/or field work, you should consider taking out a separate travel and personal risk insurance. Read about your insurance cover as a student.

Examination

You will write a project report that will be the basis for your examination in the course. Please read the guidelines for the project report.

Your supervisor's evaluation of your efforts and level of Independence will influence your final grade. In addition there will normally be an oral exam where you present and will be examinated in the topic of your project. The oral examination will also influence your final grade.

If there are special circumstances that make an oral exam difficult, you can apply to studieinfo@kjemi.uio.no to have an alternative exam form. In these cases, sensor will instead write an extensive evaluation of your assignment.

The student administration has to be notified of the exam result before July 1st for the course to be registered as taken in the Spring semester and before January 1st for the course to be registered as taken in the Autumn semester.

Language of examination

You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English. If you would prefer to have the exam text in English, you may apply to the course administrators.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

Explanations and appeals

Explanation of grades and appeals

Resit an examination

If you can document that you were ill or had other valid reasons for absence, you have the right to a deferred exam according to the normal regulations.

If you fail, you may be given the opportunity to hand in a revised project reportwithin 6 weeks, if your supervisor and sensor agree that the scientific raw material is sufficient.

Special examination arrangements

Application form, deadline and requirements for special examination arrangements.

Evaluation

The course is subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students to participate in a more comprehensive evaluation.