Perspectives in Physics Research (PHYS3900)

Course overview

Perspectives in Physics Research is the Capstone course to be taken by all students completing a Major in Physics or Biophysics. This course will include elements of scientific communication, ethics in research and research experience.

This course will provide all Physics/Biophysics students with a capstone experience introducing them to work in a research environment. Students will be provided with instruction and training to develop their scientific communication skills and guided on ethics in research. Students will complete a research or development project in conjunction with a staff member associated with Physics and be expected to present this material in both written and oral forms.

Course requirements

Assumed background

Students are expected to have a general background with experience in theoretical and experimental aspects of Physics/Biophysics. Students should have some introductory experience with scientific communication including report writing and oral presentations. Students will be expected to further develop these skills during this course.

Prerequisites

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

(PHYS2020 + PHYS2041 + PHYS2055) or BIPH2000

Incompatible

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

BIPH3000, PHYS7900 (co-taught).

Jointly taught details

This course is jointly-taught with:

• PHYS7900

PHYS3900 and PHYS7900 are co-badged courses and will share learning activities. PHYS7900 will have some differences in assessment to evaluate students at Level 9

(Masters) of the Australian Qualifications Framework.

Course staff

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Additional timetable information

Our schedule for class contact will vary during the semester. Consult the course schedule on Blackboard.

Students are expected to attend these sessions in person unless they have a valid reason for being unable to attend (such as illness).ﾠ

Aims and outcomes

The aims of this course are to:

• Acquire independent research skills in physics and related areas

•ﾠDevelop professional written and oral scientific communication skills.

• Prepare for further study or employment in scientific related areas

ﾠ

ﾠ

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

Project proposal

• Hurdle

Mode

Written

Category

Project

Weight

Pass/fail/resubmit (hurdle)

Due date

13/08/2024 1:00 pm

If resubmission is required this will be due before 13:00, 26 Aug 24

Learning outcomes

L01

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Submission guidelines

Submit this assessment item through the link in Blackboard.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 14 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

See ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENT INFORMATION for the extension information relating to this assessment item.

Late submission

A penalty of 1 grade for each 24 hour period from time submission is due will apply 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 the listed penalty will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point any submission will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each 24-hour block is recorded from the time the submission is due.

Project presentation

Mode

Activity/ Performance, Oral

Category

Presentation

Weight

30% Project presentation

Due date

3/10/2024 - 24/10/2024

Refer to detailed instructions on Blackboard

Learning outcomes

L03, L05

Task description

Submission guidelines

You will present an oral summary of your project in the style of the 3 minute thesis competition. The presentation is to be aimed at a non-expert audience of your fellow students.

These will be in class time. 

Refer to detailed instructions on Blackboard.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 14 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

See ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENT INFORMATION for the extension information relating to this assessment item.

Late submission

A penalty of 1 grade for each 24 hour period from time submission is due will apply 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 the listed penalty will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point any submission will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each 24-hour block is recorded from the time the submission is due.

Report plan

Mode

Written

Category

Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Project

Weight

30% Report Plan

Due date

3/10/2024 1:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Task description

Submission guidelines

Submit this assessment item through the link in Blackboard.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 14 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

See ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENT INFORMATION for the extension and deferred examination information relating to this assessment item

Late submission

A penalty of 1 grade for each 24 hour period from time submission is due will apply 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 the listed penalty will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point any submission will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each 24-hour block is recorded from the time the submission is due.

Project Report

Mode

Written

Category

Paper/ Report/ Annotation, Project

Weight

40% Project Report

Due date

24/10/2024 1:00 pm

Learning outcomes

L01, L02, L03, L04, L05

Task description

Submission guidelines

Submit this assessment item through the link in Blackboard.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 21 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

See ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENT INFORMATION for the extension and deferred examination information relating to this assessment item

Late submission

A penalty of 1 grade for each 24 hour period from time submission is due will apply 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 the listed penalty will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point any submission will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each 24-hour block is recorded from the time the submission is due.

Course grading

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

Additional course grading information

Each piece of assessment will be assigned a grade mark (i.e., out of 7). The weighted average of these will determine your grade for the course.ﾠ

Hurdle: Note that the "Project Plan" assessment item is a hurdle. You must get a grade of pass (equivalent to 4-7) on this assessment to obtain a grade above 2 in the course.

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 in this course will take the same form as the original assessment item/s.

Additional assessment information

All assessment in the course is individual. Where multiple students work on similar research projects, they should ensure that they each have an individual focus.

All work submitted for assessment may be subjected to a plagiarism detection process. If this process is used, then copies of this work would be retained and used as source material for conducting future plagiarism checks.

Examples of plagiarism include:

• Direct copying of paragraphs, sentences, a single sentence or significant parts of a sentence;
• Direct copying of paragraphs, sentences, a single sentence or significant parts of a sentence with an end reference but without quotation marks around the copied text;
• Copying ideas, concepts, research results, computer codes, statistical tables, designs, images, sounds or text or any combination of these;
• Paraphrasing, summarising or simply rearranging another person's words, ideas, etc without changing the basic structure and/or meaning of the text;
• Offering an idea or interpretation that is not one's own without identifying whose idea or interpretation it is; A 'cut and paste' of statements from multiple sources;
• Presenting as independent, work done in collaboration with others;
• Copying or adapting another student's original work into a submitted assessment item.

Deliberate plagiarism will be prosecuted in accordance with university policy. This could mean a misconduct hearing - plagiarism is a very serious offence.

Artificial Intelligence

The assessment tasks in this course evaluate students’ abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Students are advised that the use of AI technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

Applications for Extensions to Assessment Due Dates

Extension requests are submitted online via my.UQ – applying for an extension. Extension requests received in any other way will not be approved. Additional details associated with extension requests, including acceptable and unacceptable reasons, may be found at my.UQ.

Please note:

• Requests for an extension to an assessment due date must be submitted through your my.UQ portal and you must provide documentation of your circumstances, as soon as it becomes evident that an extension is needed. Your application must be submitted on or before the assessment item's due date and time.
• Applications for extension can take time to be processed so you should continue to work on your assessment item while awaiting a decision. We recommend that you submit any completed work by the due date, and this will be marked if your application is not approved. Should your application be approved, then you will be able to resubmit by the agreed revised due date.
• If an extension is approved, you will be notified via your my.UQ portal and the new date and time for submission provided. It is important that you check the revised date as it may differ from the date that you requested.
• If the basis of the application is a medical condition, applications should be accompanied by a medical certificate dated prior to the assignment due date. 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 written statement (Word document) outlining why you cannot provide the documentation. You must then upload the documentation to the portal within 24 hours.
• If an extension is being sought on the basis of exceptional circumstances, it must be accompanied by supporting documentation (eg. Statutory declaration).
• For extensions based on a SAP you may be granted a maximum of 7 days (if no earlier maximum timeframe applies). See the Extension or Deferral availability section of each assessment for details. Your SAP is all that is required as documentation to support your application. However, additional extension requests for the assessment item will require the submission of additional supporting documentation e.g., a medical certificate. All extension requests must be received by the assessment due date and time.
• An extension for an assessment item due within the teaching period in which the course is offered, must not exceed four weeks in total. If you are incapacitated for a period exceeding four weeks of the teaching period, you are advised to apply for Removal of Course.
• If you have been ill or unable to attend class for more than 14 days, you are advised to carefully consider whether you are capable of successfully completing your courses this semester. You might be eligible to withdraw without academic penalty - seek advice from the Faculty that administers your program.
• Students may be asked to submit evidence of work completed to date. Lack of adequate progress on your assessment item may result in an extension being denied.
• There are no provisions for exemption from an assessment item within UQ rules. If you are unable to submit an assessment piece then, under special circumstances, you may be granted an exemption, but may be required to submit alternative assessment to ensure all learning outcomes are met.

Applications to defer an exam

In certain circumstances you can apply to take a deferred examination for in-semester and end-of-semester exams. You'll need to demonstrate through supporting documentation how unavoidable circumstances prevented you from sitting your exam. If you can’t, you can apply for a one-off discretionary deferred exam.

Deferred Exam requests are submitted online via mySi-net. Requests received in any other way will not be approved. Additional details associated with deferred examinations, including acceptable and unacceptable reasons may be found at my.UQ.

Please note:

• Applications can be submitted no later than 5 calendar days after the date of the original exam.
• There are no provisions to defer a deferred exam. You need to be available to sit your deferred examination.
• Your deferred examination request(s) must have a status of "submitted" in mySI-net to be assessed.
• All applications for deferred in-semester examinations are assessed by the relevant school. Applications for deferred end-of-semester examinations are assessed by the Academic Services Division.
• You’ll receive an email to your student email account when the status of your application is updated.
• If you have a medical condition, mental health condition or disability and require alternative arrangements for your deferred exam you’ll need to complete the online alternative exam arrangements through my.UQ. This is in addition to your deferred examinations request. You need to submit this request on the same day as your request for a deferred exam or supplementary assessment. Contact Student Services if you need assistance completing your alternative exam arrangements request.

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

Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.

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.