NES8005 : MRes Research Project
- Offered for Year: 2025/26
- Module Leader(s): Professor Pip Moore
- Owning School: Natural and Environmental Sciences
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.
| Semester 1 Credit Value: | 10 |
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 50 |
| Semester 3 Credit Value: | 60 |
| ECTS Credits: | 60.0 |
| European Credit Transfer System | |
Aims
To give students a comprehensive and detailed understanding of the research environment; To develop the research skills, practices and knowledge required to address specific research objectives; To prepare for more effective participation in professional programmes involving research, including higher research degrees.
Outline Of Syllabus
The student will develop a research project that will involves;
• Identification of research topic
• Review of literature (at the outset and continuing until completion of the thesis)
• Timetabling of activities and achieving set milestones
• Preparation of budgets and justification of resources
• Relevant ethical considerations
• Experimental design; data collection; data analysis and interpretation
The research project introduces the student to research work under the close supervision of a
member of staff and requires that the student learns to think and work independently. Their critical analysis and interpretation and discussion of the results will be the student’s individual responsibility.
The students will develop their project proposal in consultation with their supervisor in semester 1. The proposal will involve background material to place the research into context, a methodology, a detailed Gantt chart outlining the timeline of the research, a risk assessment, ethics declaration and costings.
In semester 2 and 3 the student will undertake their individual research project under the supervision of the project supervisor, or supervisory team for group projects. This project will answer a specific research question and test the student’s ability to advance their knowledge and research skills in this subject.
The student will produce a research paper based on their research in the format of a high-quality journal article appropriate for their research.
The student will then deliver a 15-minute presentation at the end of their research to an audience of students and academics that demonstrates their ability to explain their research and its conclusions to an audience and to answer questions based upon their research.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 160:00 | 160:00 | Dissertation writing |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 1 | 1:00 | 1:00 | Module introduction |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 24:00 | 24:00 | Final assessed individual presentation (including preparation) |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 50:00 | 50:00 | Project proposal writing |
| Guided Independent Study | Project work | 1 | 915:00 | 915:00 | Research leading to dissertation |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 1 | 30:00 | 30:00 | Background reading on research topic |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Dissertation/project related supervision | 1 | 20:00 | 20:00 | Scheduled supervision across module |
| Total | 1200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
As a preparation for research and higher research degrees, the learning offers a well-structured balance between scheduled teaching, directed reading, preparation for assessment and actual project work (desk and/or lab and/or field). The teaching and learning structure reflects the main stages of project formulation and proposal, through planning, to initiation, data gathering, to data analysis and interpretation, and presentation of the results in oral and written forms, the latter to publication standard; both outputs essential to the delivery of research outcomes and impacts.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Exams
| Description | Length | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral Presentation | 15 | 3 | M | 15 | 10 minute presentation on the dissertation followed by 5 minutes of questions |
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dissertation | 3 | M | 70 | Approx. 7000 words, to be written in the style of the most appropriate high-quality journal for the subject |
| Research proposal | 2 | M | 15 | Project proposal approx. 3000 words (excluding Gantt chart, ethical assessment, COSHH and risk assessment) |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The aim of the assessment is to test the student’s ability to develop and design a research project (Project Proposal) to answer a specific research question, to undertake and report that investigation and to present the information both to an audience in the form of an oral presentation and as a journal paper.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- NES8005's Timetable