Research Project A (BIOX7004)

Course overview

Prior to 2022, this course was titled: Research Project B.

An 4 unit Individual workplace- laboratory- or computer-based project & analysis of a specific topic in bioinformatics, biotechnology, or molecular biology. Projects can be undertaken within university laboratories or in an industry setting with co-supervision by an academic staff member. The project results will be presented via oral presentation and an appropriate report format. Students should enrol in BIOX7004. Students who have completed BIOX7004 may enrol in BIOX7005.

Practitioners in the disciplines of Biotechnology, Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics formulate their work around hypotheses, methods, experimentation and data gathering; while in some cases technologies and approaches require development, outcomes require evaluation and data are interpreted. It is difficult to interpret biological data unless one has had first hand experience of gaining reliable data. Of necessity therefore, a professional scientist must acquire experience in the development and application of techniques and experimental procedures, which may include computational techniques and literature research work. This course gives you hands-on experience in planning and executing experiments, tests, and interpreting research results.

Course requirements

Assumed background

In general students will be assumed to have completed at least one semester of a postgraduate coursework program in Biotechnology, Molecular Biology or Bioinformatics.

Prerequisites

You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:

With permission of the program director, BIOX7005 has a pre-req of BIOX7004. BIOX7004 has no additional pre-req.

Incompatible

You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:

BIOC7011, BIOT6011, BIOT7001, BIOT7011, BIOT7035.

Course contact

Course staff

Timetable

Additional timetable information

Your Program Director's permission is required to enrol in this course. Please complete and submit the SCMB Postgraduate Coursework Supervisor Approval Formﾠ via the submission link provided in the SCMB Postgraduate Coursework Community Blackboard site.

This course is delivered by directed study under academic supervision and there is no generic timetable. Student and supervisor will arrange to meet at regular intervals to monitor progress.

Students must meet with their supervisor and agree upon a topic BEFORE the end of week 2 of semester.

In week 1, students must meet with their supervisor to agree on a timetable for attendance in the laboratory. For a 4 unit project laboratory attendance should be a minimum of 20 hours per week. Students must also provide their supervisor with a hard copy of the Course Profile (CP) at this meeting.

Students should contact their individual supervisors directly for matters relating to their research project lab work and research report.

It is the student's responsibility to make contact and arrange meetings with their supervisor to discuss the progress of their work.

It is the supervisor's responsibility to supervise the research project and provide a mark for each of the following assessment items - project plan and laboratory performance. The research report will be marked by two independent examiners.

The supervisor may be asked to mark the research report of a student they do not supervise.

The supervisor should nominate two examiners to mark the research report and inform the Course Coordinator of the examiners' contact details.

Any questions on the assessment requirements should be directed to enquiries@scmb.uq.edu.au

Absences

It is the student’s responsibility to notify their supervisor if they will be absent from the lab for any period of time. Absences longer than three days must be supported by documentation e.g. a medical certificate.

It is the supervisor’s responsibility to notify the School if a student is absent for more than five days.

Project Progression

Refer to Assessment > Additional Information for important information on how to manage disruptions during your project.

Aims and outcomes

Practictioners in the disciplines of Biotechnology,ﾠMolecular Biology andﾠBioinformatics formulate their work aroundﾠhypotheses, methods,ﾠexperimentation and data gathering; while in some cases technologies and approaches require development,ﾠoutcomes require evaluation and data are interpreted.ﾠIt is difficult to interpret biological data unless one has had first hand experience of gaining reliable data. Of necessity therefore, a professional scientist must acquire experience in the development and application of techniques and experimental procedures, which may include computational techniquesﾠand literature research work.ﾠ This course gives you hands-on experience in planning and executing experiments, tests, and interpreting research results.

The course may be taken in an academic laboratory or as an industry internship/placement under the direct supervision of an industry-based supervisor in an company, government department or other suitable organisation.

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

Assessment

Assessment summary

A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.

Assessment details

Week 3 Checkpoint meeting

• Hurdle

Mode

Oral

Category

Participation/ Student contribution

Weight

Pass/Fail

Due date

17/03/2025 2:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Submission guidelines

Submit through the online portal in Blackboard. Before submitting your assessment item please name your file in the following way.

FAMILY NAME_GivenName_StudentID_CourseCode_AssignmentName For example: Bob Smith (ID: 54329876) would name his ABCD1234 essay 1 in the following way. SMITH_Bob_54329876_ABCD1234_Essay1

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Applications for Extensions

Information on applying for an extension can be found here - my.UQ Applying for an extension

Extension applications must be received by the assessment due date and time.

If you are unable to provide documentation to support your application by the due date and time you must still submit your application on time and attach a Word document outlining why you cannot provide the documentation and upload the documentation to the portal within 24 hours.

Please note: When an extension request has been submitted and is pending, students are expected to continue to work on the assessment item, with the aim of submitting the assessment item by the requested due date and time.

If you have been ill or unable to attend class for more than 14 days, we advise you to carefully consider whether you are capable of successfully completing your courses this semester. You might be eligible to withdraw without academic penalty. We strongly recommend you seek advice from the Faculty that administers your program.

Extensions with Student Access Plans (SAP)

For extensions up to 7 days, your SAP is all that is required as documentation to support your application. However, extension requests longer than 7 days (for any one assessment item) will require the submission of additional supporting documentation e.g., a medical certificate. A maximum of two applications may be submitted for any one assessment item, unless exceptional circumstances can be demonstrated. All extension requests must be received by the assessment due date and time.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

You are required to submit assessable items on time. If you fail to meet the submission deadline for any assessment item, then 10% of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item (assessment ‘marked from’ value) will be deducted as a late penalty for every day (or part day) late after the due date. For example, if you submit your assignment 1 hour late, you will be penalised 10%; if your assignment is 24.5 hours late, you will be penalised 20% (because it is late by one 24-hour period plus part of another 24-hour period). 10% will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point your submission will receive a mark of zero (0) unless an extension has been approved.

In most instances one or more hurdles will apply to your assessment item so you will need to submit it to fulfil the requirements of the course regardless of how late it is and the mark you are likely to be awarded.

Project Plan

• Hurdle

Mode

Written

Category

Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Project

Weight

Pass/Fail

Due date

26/03/2025 2:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Submission guidelines

Submit your plan through the course submission point in Blackboard. Before submitting your assessment item please name your file in the following way.

FAMILY NAME_GivenName_StudentID_CourseCode_AssignmentName For example: Bob Smith (ID: 54329876) would name his ABCD1234 essay 1 in the following way. SMITH_Bob_54329876_ABCD1234_Essay1

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Applications for Extensions

Information on applying for an extension can be found here - my.UQ Applying for an extension

Extension applications must be received by the assessment due date and time.

If you are unable to provide documentation to support your application by the due date and time you must still submit your application on time and attach a Word document outlining why you cannot provide the documentation and upload the documentation to the portal within 24 hours.

Please note: When an extension request has been submitted and is pending, students are expected to continue to work on the assessment item, with the aim of submitting the assessment item by the requested due date and time.

If you have been ill or unable to attend class for more than 14 days, we advise you to carefully consider whether you are capable of successfully completing your courses this semester. You might be eligible to withdraw without academic penalty. We strongly recommend you seek advice from the Faculty that administers your program.

Extensions with Student Access Plans (SAP)

For extensions up to 7 days, your SAP is all that is required as documentation to support your application. However, extension requests longer than 7 days (for any one assessment item) will require the submission of additional supporting documentation e.g., a medical certificate. A maximum of two applications may be submitted for any one assessment item, unless exceptional circumstances can be demonstrated. All extension requests must be received by the assessment due date and time.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

You are required to submit assessable items on time. If you fail to meet the submission deadline for any assessment item, then 10% of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item (assessment ‘marked from’ value) will be deducted as a late penalty for every day (or part day) late after the due date. For example, if you submit your assignment 1 hour late, you will be penalised 10%; if your assignment is 24.5 hours late, you will be penalised 20% (because it is late by one 24-hour period plus part of another 24-hour period). 10% will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point your submission will receive a mark of zero (0) unless an extension has been approved.

In most instances one or more hurdles will apply to your assessment item so you will need to submit it to fulfil the requirements of the course regardless of how late it is and the mark you are likely to be awarded.

Week 6 Checkpoint meeting

• Hurdle

Mode

Oral

Category

Participation/ Student contribution

Weight

Pass/Fail

Due date

7/04/2025 2:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Submission guidelines

Submit through the online portal in Blackboard. Before submitting your assessment item please name your file in the following way.

FAMILY NAME_GivenName_StudentID_CourseCode_AssignmentName For example: Bob Smith (ID: 54329876) would name his ABCD1234 essay 1 in the following way. SMITH_Bob_54329876_ABCD1234_Essay1

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Applications for Extensions

Information on applying for an extension can be found here - my.UQ Applying for an extension

Extension applications must be received by the assessment due date and time.

If you are unable to provide documentation to support your application by the due date and time you must still submit your application on time and attach a Word document outlining why you cannot provide the documentation and upload the documentation to the portal within 24 hours.

Please note: When an extension request has been submitted and is pending, students are expected to continue to work on the assessment item, with the aim of submitting the assessment item by the requested due date and time.

If you have been ill or unable to attend class for more than 14 days, we advise you to carefully consider whether you are capable of successfully completing your courses this semester. You might be eligible to withdraw without academic penalty. We strongly recommend you seek advice from the Faculty that administers your program.

Extensions with Student Access Plans (SAP)

For extensions up to 7 days, your SAP is all that is required as documentation to support your application. However, extension requests longer than 7 days (for any one assessment item) will require the submission of additional supporting documentation e.g., a medical certificate. A maximum of two applications may be submitted for any one assessment item, unless exceptional circumstances can be demonstrated. All extension requests must be received by the assessment due date and time.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

You are required to submit assessable items on time. If you fail to meet the submission deadline for any assessment item, then 10% of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item (assessment ‘marked from’ value) will be deducted as a late penalty for every day (or part day) late after the due date. For example, if you submit your assignment 1 hour late, you will be penalised 10%; if your assignment is 24.5 hours late, you will be penalised 20% (because it is late by one 24-hour period plus part of another 24-hour period). 10% will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point your submission will receive a mark of zero (0) unless an extension has been approved.

In most instances one or more hurdles will apply to your assessment item so you will need to submit it to fulfil the requirements of the course regardless of how late it is and the mark you are likely to be awarded.

Research seminar presentation

• Hurdle
• Identity Verified
• In-person

Mode

Activity/ Performance

Category

Presentation

Weight

10%

Due date

Completion of presentation 2/06/2025 - 6/06/2025

Submission of slides 2:00pm 9/06/2025

Learning outcomes

L03

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Submission guidelines

Submit your PowerPoint slides as PPTX through the online portal in Blackboard. Before submitting your assessment item please name your file in the following way.

FAMILY NAME_GivenName_StudentID_CourseCode_AssignmentName For example: Bob Smith (ID: 54329876) would name his ABCD1234 essay 1 in the following way. SMITH_Bob_54329876_ABCD1234_Essay1

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Applications for Extensions

Information on applying for an extension can be found here - my.UQ Applying for an extension

Extension applications must be received by the assessment due date and time.

If you are unable to provide documentation to support your application by the due date and time you must still submit your application on time and attach a Word document outlining why you cannot provide the documentation and upload the documentation to the portal within 24 hours.

Please note: When an extension request has been submitted and is pending, students are expected to continue to work on the assessment item, with the aim of submitting the assessment item by the requested due date and time.

If you have been ill or unable to attend class for more than 14 days, we advise you to carefully consider whether you are capable of successfully completing your courses this semester. You might be eligible to withdraw without academic penalty. We strongly recommend you seek advice from the Faculty that administers your program.

Extensions with Student Access Plans (SAP)

For extensions up to 7 days, your SAP is all that is required as documentation to support your application. However, extension requests longer than 7 days (for any one assessment item) will require the submission of additional supporting documentation e.g., a medical certificate. A maximum of two applications may be submitted for any one assessment item, unless exceptional circumstances can be demonstrated. All extension requests must be received by the assessment due date and time.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

You are required to submit assessable items on time. If you fail to meet the submission deadline for any assessment item, then 10% of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item (assessment ‘marked from’ value) will be deducted as a late penalty for every day (or part day) late after the due date. For example, if you submit your assignment 1 hour late, you will be penalised 10%; if your assignment is 24.5 hours late, you will be penalised 20% (because it is late by one 24-hour period plus part of another 24-hour period). 10% will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point your submission will receive a mark of zero (0) unless an extension has been approved.

In most instances one or more hurdles will apply to your assessment item so you will need to submit it to fulfil the requirements of the course regardless of how late it is and the mark you are likely to be awarded.

Assessment of research performance

• Hurdle

Mode

Activity/ Performance

Category

Notebook/ Logbook, Practical/ Demonstration

Weight

20%

Due date

9/06/2025 2:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L04

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Submission guidelines

Submit your laboratory notebook (or a record of your work) directly to your project supervisor by the due date and time.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Applications for Extensions

Information on applying for an extension can be found here - my.UQ Applying for an extension

Extension applications must be received by the assessment due date and time.

If you are unable to provide documentation to support your application by the due date and time you must still submit your application on time and attach a Word document outlining why you cannot provide the documentation and upload the documentation to the portal within 24 hours.

Please note: When an extension request has been submitted and is pending, students are expected to continue to work on the assessment item, with the aim of submitting the assessment item by the requested due date and time.

If you have been ill or unable to attend class for more than 14 days, we advise you to carefully consider whether you are capable of successfully completing your courses this semester. You might be eligible to withdraw without academic penalty. We strongly recommend you seek advice from the Faculty that administers your program.

Extensions with Student Access Plans (SAP)

For extensions up to 7 days, your SAP is all that is required as documentation to support your application. However, extension requests longer than 7 days (for any one assessment item) will require the submission of additional supporting documentation e.g., a medical certificate. A maximum of two applications may be submitted for any one assessment item, unless exceptional circumstances can be demonstrated. All extension requests must be received by the assessment due date and time.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

You are required to submit assessable items on time. If you fail to meet the submission deadline for any assessment item, then 10% of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item (assessment ‘marked from’ value) will be deducted as a late penalty for every day (or part day) late after the due date. For example, if you submit your assignment 1 hour late, you will be penalised 10%; if your assignment is 24.5 hours late, you will be penalised 20% (because it is late by one 24-hour period plus part of another 24-hour period). 10% will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point your submission will receive a mark of zero (0) unless an extension has been approved.

In most instances one or more hurdles will apply to your assessment item so you will need to submit it to fulfil the requirements of the course regardless of how late it is and the mark you are likely to be awarded.

Report assessment

• Hurdle

Mode

Written

Category

Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Project

Weight

70%

Due date

9/06/2025 2:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L04

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Submission guidelines

Submit your report through the course Turnitin submission point in Blackboard. Before submitting your assessment item to Turnitin please name your file in the following way.

FAMILY NAME_GivenName_StudentID_CourseCode_AssignmentName For example: Bob Smith (ID: 54329876) would name his ABCD1234 essay 1 in the following way. SMITH_Bob_54329876_ABCD1234_Essay1

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

Applications for Extensions

Information on applying for an extension can be found here - my.UQ Applying for an extension

Extension applications must be received by the assessment due date and time.

If you are unable to provide documentation to support your application by the due date and time you must still submit your application on time and attach a Word document outlining why you cannot provide the documentation and upload the documentation to the portal within 24 hours.

Please note: When an extension request has been submitted and is pending, students are expected to continue to work on the assessment item, with the aim of submitting the assessment item by the requested due date and time.

If you have been ill or unable to attend class for more than 14 days, we advise you to carefully consider whether you are capable of successfully completing your courses this semester. You might be eligible to withdraw without academic penalty. We strongly recommend you seek advice from the Faculty that administers your program.

Extensions with Student Access Plans (SAP)

For extensions up to 7 days, your SAP is all that is required as documentation to support your application. However, extension requests longer than 7 days (for any one assessment item) will require the submission of additional supporting documentation e.g., a medical certificate. A maximum of two applications may be submitted for any one assessment item, unless exceptional circumstances can be demonstrated. All extension requests must be received by the assessment due date and time.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

You are required to submit assessable items on time. If you fail to meet the submission deadline for any assessment item, then 10% of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item (assessment ‘marked from’ value) will be deducted as a late penalty for every day (or part day) late after the due date. For example, if you submit your assignment 1 hour late, you will be penalised 10%; if your assignment is 24.5 hours late, you will be penalised 20% (because it is late by one 24-hour period plus part of another 24-hour period). 10% will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point your submission will receive a mark of zero (0) unless an extension has been approved.

In most instances one or more hurdles will apply to your assessment item so you will need to submit it to fulfil the requirements of the course regardless of how late it is and the mark you are likely to be awarded.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Additional course grading information

Assessment Hurdles

In order to pass this course, you must meet ALL of the following requirements (if you do not meet these requirements, the maximum grade you will receive will be a 3):

1. Students must obtain an overall course mark of 50% or more; and

2. Students must complete and submit ALL course assessment items and learning tasks.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Should you fail a course with a grade of 3, you may be eligible for supplementary assessment. Refer to my.UQ for information on supplementary assessment and how to apply. 

Supplementary assessment provides an additional opportunity to demonstrate you have achieved all the required learning outcomes for a course.  

If you apply and are granted supplementary assessment, the type of supplementary assessment set will consider which learning outcome(s) have not been met.  

Supplementary assessment can take any form (such as a written report, oral presentation, examination or other appropriate assessment) and may test specific learning outcomes tailored to the individual student, or all learning outcomes. 

To receive a passing grade of 3S4, you must obtain a mark of 50% or more on the supplementary assessment. 

Additional assessment information

Assessment Submission

It is the responsibility of the student to ensure the on time, correct and complete submission of all assessment items.

Students are responsible for retaining evidence of submission by the due date for all assessment items, in the required form (for example, screenshot, email, photo, and an unaltered copy of submitted work).

In the case of a Blackboard outage, contact the Course Coordinator as soon as possible to confirm the outage with ITS.

Assessment/Attendance

Notify your Course Coordinator as soon as you become aware of any issue that may affect your ability to meet the assessment/attendance requirements of the course. The my.UQ website and the Course Profile (CP) for your course provide information about your course requirements, the rules associated with your courses and services offered by the University.

A note for repeating students in this course

Only learning activities and/or assessment items completed during the study period of enrolment, including any approved extensions, may contribute to your grade in this course. The whole or partial use of assessment items previously submitted for the same course, for a course at any institution, or for published material, is not permitted without written permission of the Course Coordinator.

Important Note

Turnitin is to be used for assignments/laboratory reports to check for plagiarism. Penalties can be severe for plagiarism.

The University has adopted the following definition of plagiarism: Plagiarism is the act of misrepresenting as one's own original work the ideas, interpretations, words or creative works of another either intentionally or unintentionally. These include published and unpublished documents, designs, music, sounds, images, photographs, computer codes and ideas gained through working in a group. These ideas, interpretations, words or works may be found in print and/or electronic media.

Students should read the UQ Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy.

Important Note - Project Progression

Please note that extensions are only rarely granted. Extensions will typically only be granted if you suffer from a significant illness, if a close family member develops a serious illness, or for family bereavement. Extensions will not routinely be granted at many weeks or months after an illness or other event, on the basis that such interruptions are part of life.

Research projects are not about completing a set body of work within an indefinite timeframe. Rather, you are given a period of time to learn about a topic, gain experience in practical research skills, analyse data, develop your own independent thoughts and conclusions based on this analysis, and write a report that communicates all of this to your examiners.

We expect that you will develop skills that allow you to adjust your plans “on the run” – everyone will experience things that do not go according to plan at some point, and it is a necessary skill in scientific research to be able to respond to change, whether it is an experiment that did not work because someone switched the incubator off over the weekend, or an event that prevented your attendance at the University or impacted your priorities.

What is important is that you adjust your plans appropriately, and in close consultation with your supervisor, so that you have sufficient time to analyse and write up what data you have obtained into a report that best demonstrates your knowledge and development as a scientist.

Note: If your application for extension is due to significant unforeseen circumstances in your laboratory a detailed written statement outlining the circumstances is required from your supervisor. This can be included in your application. Applications due to unforeseen circumstances will not be accepted without a supervisor's statement.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Library resources are available on the UQ Library website.

Additional learning resources information

Blackboard

Further information regarding this course can be found on the BIOX7004 Blackboard site at learn.uq.edu.au. Additional supplementary material may also be posted on the site.

Please check the Announcements section of the Blackboard site regularly for information updates.

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.