This two-semester research project course forms the central activity of your Honours program. You will complete a research project under the supervision of academic staff. Activities will include but are not limited to: project design and management, literature review, data collection, data analysis and evaluation, and communication of results. This course provides the training necessary for future studies such as a PhD, and develops advanced knowledge and skills that will give you an advantage when applying for professional work in your disciplinary area.
If your research project involves a risk of exposure to vaccine preventable diseases, you may be required to provide evidence of immunity or vaccination. Risk of exposure will be identified during the course enrolment process and a request to provide evidence will be issued via my.UQ. Refer to UQ Student Immunisation Requirements for more information: https://my.uq.edu.au/information-and-services/manage-my-program/immunisation-and-disease-screening/hdr-other-research
Student must submit the Research Project Contract by the first Thursday of February for students commencing in semester 1 to agriculture@enquire.uq.edu.au for permission to enrol into the course. Students commencing their projects in Semester 2 should refer to the course SCIE4020 Honours Research Project .
This year-long research project course forms part of your Honours program and is a companion course to the other Honours research project courses (please ensure you also enrol in SCIE4040 & SCIE4000). This course is commenced during the first semester of your honours program and completed in the second semester of your honours program. You will undertake a research project report and presentation under the supervision of an academic supervisor.
The content of the course will depend on the area of study selected and the format of the study negotiated with the Honours advisors. You can expect to study a number of issues as core content to support the development of your literature review and proposal. Content will be presented using one or more teaching methods including but not limited to, lectures, seminars, group discussions, case studies, collating and reviewing the literature and other self-directed learning.
It is assumed that you have completed a plan in a relevant discipline; have a sound working knowledge of the major technical areas of that discipline, and a desire to develop your knowledge of one of these in more depth; possess a curiosity for discovery through scholarly research; have good written and oral communication skills, and the ability to use contemporary software tools to undertake analysis and to prepare reports; and are able to manage your time effectively, to set priorities, to meet deadlines and to act in an ethical and professional manner.
You'll need to complete the following courses at the same time:
SCIE4000 and SCIE4040
This course is restricted. Please contact the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability for enrolment requirements. Email: agriculture@enquire.uq.edu.au
This course is jointly-taught with:
This courses shares content and activities with SCIE4010 In Person Gatton and there are minimal differences between offerings.
Consultation with me is by appointment only. To make an appointment to see me, please email.
Students may also contact the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability Student Administration team for general enquiries via agriculture@enquire.uq.edu.au.
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
This course delivers an authentic research experience that develops both research skills and in-depth disciplinary knowledge. It will assist your transition to becoming a responsible professional scientist through requiring you to integrate scientific skills and knowledge acquired throughout your undergraduate program, develop advanced knowledge in a specific area, and develop problem solving and creative thinking abilities by exposing you to an open-ended research-oriented problem.
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Contribute to the advancement of relevant scientific fields through original research
LO2.
Critically evaluate existing research and identify gaps in knowledge relevant to your project
LO3.
Conduct an independent research project including: documenting project progress, generating appropriate evidence through a reproducible method, objectively analysing data, developing evidence-based arguments to support conclusions, and critically evaluating the impact and limitations your research
LO4.
Explain your ideas effectively to a general audience by using effective audio-visual means
LO5.
Report the rationale and findings in a written document
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thesis |
Thesis
|
70% |
24/10/2025 2:00 pm |
| Presentation |
Presentation
|
20% |
27/10/2025 - 31/10/2025
Week 13 of Sem 2 - Date, time and venue to be confirmed |
| Notebook/ Logbook, Performance |
Supervisor report
|
10% |
31/10/2025 2:00 pm
Completed by your supervisor |
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.
24/10/2025 2:00 pm
A substantial research report in a scientific format, not exceeding 8000 words (excl abstract, references, captions, appendices). Marks will be deducted for reports containing more than 8,800 words.
Further details can be found in the Course Blackboard site.
This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.
A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI and MT tools.
Turnitin submission details:
You must submit your Assessment task, in Blackboard, via the Turnitin link by the submission deadline. You should also retain an electronic copy of every piece of assessment you submit.
Legal Declaration:
By submitting your work via this website, you formally declare that (1) it is your own original work, and no part of the work has been copied from any other source or person except where due acknowledgement is made; (2) no part of the work has been previously submitted for assessment in this or any other institution; and (3) you have read the Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy (https://policies.uq.edu.au/document/view-current.php?id=149) and understand its implications.
You may be able to apply for an extension.
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.
Assessment deadlines are firm and must be met. Late submission without permission or non-submission of assessable work will result in penalties being applied. Late submission of assessment will only be granted for documented medical reasons, accident, bereavement, jury service and other circumstances allowed in the UQ Policies and Procedures Library (PPL).
Submission of an Extension of Assessment Due Date (EADD) should be completed online through your My Requests tab via my.UQ Dashboard before the due date of the assessment item.
27/10/2025 - 31/10/2025
Week 13 of Sem 2 - Date, time and venue to be confirmed
Present short, informative oral presentation of your research project. The Presentation will occur over a live Zoom meeting session, with invitations to Supervisors and examiners to listen to students. This Presentation will be recorded.
Presentation and attendance of presentation of other students is compulsory. Presentation on this date is NOT negotiable. If for some reason, you have not completed your research by this date, then you must report on what has been achieved to date, and your provisional results. Exemption from presentation and participation will only be granted in the most exceptional circumstances.
You should work with your supervisor who will coach you to present an effective seminar. The seminars are 15 minutes each, consisting of 10 minutes for your presentation and 5 minutes question time. You are limited to 10 slides, so please think carefully about the important points you want to present in your talk. The time is not negotiable and you will be cut off if you do not keep to this time.
The presentations will be marked by two staff members. Further, marks will be allocated for participation - you need to both attend the presentations of all other students in the course, and participate in the question time at the end of each presentation.
This assessment task is to be completed in-person. The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT) tools will not be permitted. Any attempted use of AI or MT may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Completed during a live Zoom presentation.
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Given the format, late submission of this assessment is not possible. However, extensions may be possible for approved cases.
31/10/2025 2:00 pm
Completed by your supervisor
The advisor's mark is an objective assessment by the student's advisor(s) as to the overall quality of the student in terms of their scholarship, practical competence and potential for independent post-graduate research. This assessment will be guided by adherence to the scientific practice of maintaining a laboratory/field record by means of regular entries into an honours lab book; the labbook can either be written or digital but must be in a format that can be submitted to the supervisor, the format should be agreed upon with the supervisor. Each student is required to submit their honours lab book directly to the supervisor by the due date.
This submission is completed by your Supervisor, and the Supervisor will be responsible for submitting this assessment.
You may be able to apply for an extension.
Students will not receive late penalties if their Supervisor submits this assessment past the due date and time. The Course staff will follow up with relevant Supervisors.
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 0 - 34% |
| 2 (Fail) |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 35 - 46% |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes Course grade description: 47 - 49% or non-submission of any assessment items for this course. |
| 4 (Pass) |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 50 - 64% |
| 5 (Credit) |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 65 - 74% |
| 6 (Distinction) |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 75 - 84% |
| 7 (High Distinction) |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: 85 - 100% |
Students must submit the Thesis Report and Presentation assessment to pass this course. If you achieve 50% on the cumulative results for the course, BUT fail to submit the Thesis Report and Presentation, you will achieve a grade of 3.
Honours Class
Honours classes are calculated in accordance to theﾠprogram rules for the year that you commenced the Honours program, in conjunction with University of Queensland standards.ﾠ
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.
Please note the following when writing your assignments
You must not re-use past work from previous assessments in your assignments.
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
All reported work must be done by the individual student. Assignments that look and sound alike will be reported as plagiarism – a serious offence at UQ. Please note the university’s policy on academic integrity and plagiarism which can be accessed at Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy / Document / Policy and Procedure Library
Turnitin
Assignments that are required to be submitted through Turnitin, must only be uploaded to the assessment specific Turnitin link on the relevant course Blackboard site. If you submit any version of your assessment item to any alternative Turnitin link, this is considered cheating, and you will be held liable for this action.
Results:
Unless specifically indicated by the course coordinator, every attempt will be made to have the results for progressive assessment available within 3 weeks of submission. For items of assessment submitted in the last 2 weeks of the semester, the results will not be available until grades release day. Results and feedback availability will be advised to you by email or announced via the course Blackboard site.
Feedback in this course
Feedback is welcome in this course as any information on how students find this learning experience is constructive.
Please use the evaluation form provided to you at the end of semester - or if you are enrolled internally, a course evaluation process will occur in the last few weeks of semester.
Re-mark Applications – refer to the University's Re-mark Policy to check your eligibility
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 are available on the UQ Library website.
If we've listed something under further requirement, you'll need to provide your own.
| Item | Description | Further Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| SCIE4010 Course Blackboard site | Blackboard is the main method of communication for this course. | |
| SCIE4040 Course Profile | Provides details of specifications, rationale, aims and structure of the course. It also informs you of the assessment for this course, including weighting and due dates. | |
| AGFS Honours Handbook | Available on the Course Blackboard site, this Handbook provides an overview of Honours expectations for AGFS enrolled students. | |
| EndNote or similar reference software | The UQ Library provides a licence and support for EndNote for current UQ students and staff. |
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Multiple weeks From Week 1 To Week 26 |
Workshop |
Research Project Writing Workshops The School provides students a series of optional academic and project writing workshops throughout the semester. Students are strongly encouraged to attend these sessions, which are designed to assist in research project writing. Please consult your timetables for more details on this activity. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05 |
Week 1 (24 Feb - 02 Mar) |
Lecture |
Introduction to SCIE4010 Introduction to the course. During this session you will be given information about what is expected of you to achieve a good grade in the course. Tips and tricks to avoid stress and make the most of your time and effort investment. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05 |
Week 14 (28 Jul - 03 Aug) |
Tutorial |
Check-in and questions - the research project focused semester We will check how are you going on your research project and discuss any issues related to it, this semester will be dedicated to research. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03 |
Week 20 (08 Sep - 14 Sep) |
Tutorial |
Check-in and questions about 1st assessment - writing your thesis We will check how are you going with preparing to write your thesis and discuss any issues related to it. Learning outcomes: L03, L05 |
Week 23 (06 Oct - 12 Oct) |
Tutorial |
Check-in and questions about 2nd assessment – seminar We will check how are you doing with your Seminar preparation and discuss any issues related to it. Learning outcomes: L04 |
This is a self-directed literature review course, with check in contact sessions throughout the semester and the course runs in parallel to companion course SCIE4040. In this course students will be working on their Honours research project (while in SCIE4040 students will otherwise be working on a project proposal and literature review), in conjunction with their Supervisor.
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:
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.
You'll also need to be aware of the following policies and procedures while completing this course:
Immunisation requirements as per individual project requirements.