CME8097 : Chemical Engineering Dissertation
- Offered for Year: 2025/26
- Module Leader(s): Miss Sharon Joyce
- Lecturer: Professor Adam Harvey, Dr Sharon Velasquez Orta, Dr Jonathan McDonough, Dr Wenting Hu, Professor Mohamed Mamlouk, Dr Chris O'Malley, Professor Jonathan Lee, Professor Kamelia Boodhoo, Dr Evangelos Papaioannou, Professor Mark Geoghegan, Dr Richard Law, Dr Anjali Jayakumar, Dr Maria Vicevic, Dr Mark Willis, Dr Vladimir Zivkovic, Professor Marc Secanell Gallart, Dr Colin Hare, Dr Eni Oko, Dr Jie Zhang, Professor Anh Phan, Dr Stevin Pramana
- Owning School: Engineering
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 3 Credit Value: | 60 |
| ECTS Credits: | 30.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
The aim of this module is to allow students to gain first hand experience of an academic or industrial or research environment and enable them to put their specialist skills, knowledge, and understanding into practice through the medium of a significant individual research project and written dissertation.
1. To develop research skills by undertaking original investigative work via experiments and/or modelling.
2. To develop scientific communication skills via writing a scientific journal paper.
3. To introduce students to research techniques.
4. To complete a literature review assignment, which will involve developing and improving skills in information gathering and analysis.
Outline Of Syllabus
1. The nature of research.
2. Resources for research.
3. Guidance on gathering information form literature, and using software such as Scopus for literature searching and analysis.
4. Writing a literature survey.
5. Writing a research paper: layout; key chapters; style; citing references; being critical; making arguments.
This provides an opportunity to deepen technical understanding through the application of theory to a project relevant to Chemical Engineering Practice. It also enables students to demonstrate their ability to focus on a solution in the context of often open ended problems.
Students carry out a unique project in a University environment which enables them to put into practice much of their theoretical and practical knowledge gained through the MSc programme. In addition it will enable additional skills acquired through first degree programmes to be extended into a sustainability.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 150:00 | 150:00 | Write up research article. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 22 | 2:00 | 44:00 | Social sessions and guest lectures. |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 50:00 | 50:00 | Methodology and Planning - Project plan and design report. |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 20:00 | 20:00 | Presentation preparation and completion. |
| Guided Independent Study | Directed research and reading | 1 | 316:00 | 316:00 | Background reading, data collection and analysis. Writing up of final project. |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Dissertation/project related supervision | 20 | 1:00 | 20:00 | TBA between supervisor and student. |
| Total | 600:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
The research project is worth 60 credits and allows students to build upon the skills and knowledge gained during the taught part of the programme.
The project may involve working within one of the School's established research groups, or students may work elsewhere in collaboration with industry typically through an industrial sponsor. The supervisor will provide advice on the approaches and methods that are best suited to the industrial or lab based research problem. They gain the skills and knowledge delivered by the module by “learning through doing” as they undertake the project.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dissertation | 3 | M | 45 | Approx. 8000 words, to be written in the style of the most appropriate high quality journal article for the subject/or technical report. |
| Oral Presentation | 3 | M | 30 | Oral defence or project to date. 20 minutes plus questions. |
| Oral Presentation | 3 | M | 25 | Methodology and planning presentation (including risk assessment, COSHH, ethical assessment and timeline). 20 minutes plus questions. |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The literature review and methodology report underpins the project allowing the student to develop sufficient knowledge in the area to plan and undertake the research project (AHEP4 M2-5,7,17).
The research project is written up as a scientific journal paper will allow students to undertake in depth research and communicate their findings in a succinct and focused manner and in the form in which research is usually communicated (AHEP4 M1-5,7,17). Assessment of students understanding and communication skills is supplemented by oral presentations both of the literature review and methodology report and the overall Project (AHEP4, M1-5,7,17).
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- CME8097's Timetable