Research Veterinary Elective (VETS5017)

Course overview

Implementation and presentation of a research project in an area of veterinary science, with emphasis on defining the research issue, undertaking research techniques, undertaking appropriate analysis of data and drawing defensible conclusions, writing up results in a format suitable for submission for publication, and presentation as an oral abstract.

VETS5017 enables you to undertake a small research project and gain skills in designing research projects, collecting and analysing data, and preparing results for publication and as an oral abstract presentation. This course gives you the freedom to investigate a subject area that interests you, working closely with an academic staff member experienced in research. These skills will equip you for an active veterinary career, in which you can professionally contribute new veterinary knowledge, participate in veterinary conferences, and provide the foundation for evidence-based medicine.

Benefits of developing research skills;

• Can be used in practice to design and publish a study in an area of interest.
• Enables better critical assessment of other studies on the efficacy of drugs or other therapies.
• Helps make you more competitive if you are interested in a career in research.
• Having a research publication increases your competitiveness for internships and residency positions in Australia and overseas. There is often strong demand for these positions, and if you submit your manuscript for publication and get it accepted, this can be a substantial advantage.
• One-on-one training with staff in research skills
• Personal satisfaction

Course requirements

Assumed background

Students are expected to have knowledge of the biological, veterinary and/or public health problems that form the basis of the Research Project undertaken in this course. It is anticipated that students also have a basic knowledge of scientific design and statistics. VETS5017 intends to offer training in biological or veterinary research to students after they have gained some clinical perspective and training in evidence-based medicine in the BVSc(Hons).

No credit will be given for the research elective. This elective is designed to develop research skills by applying skills and knowledge developed throughout the BVSc(Hons) program, particularly during the final year, to a Research Project. Students who have prior research experience and who do not wish to further develop their research skills by undertakingﾠthe research elective should instead choose the Clinical Elective.

Prerequisites

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

VETS4010, VETS4022, VETS4035, VETS4034, VETS4040.

Restrictions

Enrolment restricted to Bachelor of Veterinary Science (Honours) students.

Course contact

Course staff

Timetable

Additional timetable information

Although VETS5017 is formally timetabled only for the last few weeks of 5th year, students MUST NOT leave commencing their projects until then. Students are expected to start work on their projects early in 5th year and do much of the work in parallel with other rotations. By the time of the formal rotation, students should be in a position where all their data collection is complete, and most data analysis and much of the writing of the report is done. Note that EXTENSIONS ARE NOT GRANTED AT THE END OF THE YEAR FOR STUDENTS WHO HAVE NOT COMPLETED THEIR PROJECT unless there are outstanding medical or other compelling reasons.

The research project and consultation times will be conducted at a time that is agreed upon between the supervisor and the student. Students are expected to keep in regular contact with their supervisor and to attend any arranged meetings or project activities.

Students are also expected to check the Blackboard website regularly for any announcements and to actively participate in discussions on Blackboard.

Research reports and seminar presentations will both be due towards the end of the last week of the VETS5017 4week rotation block, so that all assessment for VETS5017 is completed before the week of your Capstone Exam.

Aims and outcomes

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the principles and practice of research in the field of veterinary science through the implementation and presentation of a research project, including data collection, analysis and interpretation, preparation of results in a format suitable for submission for publication and as an oral abstract presentation.

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

• Online

Mode

Written

Category

Essay/ Critique

Weight

10%

Due date

31/03/2025 10:00 am

The Project Proposal will be submitted via a Turnitin portal on the VETS5017 Blackboard site (located in the Assessments folder).

Other conditions

Student specific, Longitudinal.

See the conditions definitions

Task description

Submission guidelines

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.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

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.

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.

Complete Journal Article

• Hurdle

Mode

Written

Category

Thesis

Weight

55%

Due date

10/11/2025 12:00 pm

The project is to start following a discussion between the Student and Supervisor. Please schedule this discussion as early as possible. Projects cannot commence before enrolling in the course.

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Submission guidelines

This Research report will be submitted electronically as a Word document via Turnitin on the VETS5017 Blackboard (see Assessment Folder).

Submission

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

All students must ensure they receive their Turnitin receipt on submission of any assessments. A valid Turnitin receipt will be the only evidence accepted if your submission is missing. Without evidence, the assessment will receive the standard late penalty, and will receive zero. In the case of a Blackboard outage, please contact the Course Coordinator as soon as possible to confirm the outage with ITS.

Turnitin

By submitting work through Turnitin you are deemed to have accepted the following declaration “I certify that this assignment is my own work and has not been submitted, either previously or concurrently, in whole or in part, to this University or any other educational institution, for marking or assessment”.

Plagiarism

Turnitin is used 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 are encouraged to read the UQ Academic Integrity and Plagiarism policy at: ppl.app.uq.edu.au/content/3.60.04-student-integrity-and-misconduct

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

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.

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.

Oral Presentation of Research Project

• In-person

Mode

Oral

Category

Presentation

Weight

20%

Due date

The date will be confirmed later in 2nd semester. Check Blackboard for updates.

Task description

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.

Performance Assessment

Mode

Activity/ Performance

Category

Participation/ Student contribution, Practical/ Demonstration

Weight

15%

Due date

14/11/2025 2:00 pm

Assessed by your Supervisor throughout the duration of your Research Project. The marking criteria and evaluation form can be viewed, downloaded and submitted in the Assessments folder on the VETS5017 Blackboard site.

Supervisors: please be aware that you MUST submit the evaluation by the deadline.

Other conditions

Longitudinal.

See the conditions definitions

Task description

Submission guidelines

Submitted by the Supervisor on the day of the final oral presentation of the student's work.

Deferral or extension

You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.

Course grading

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

Additional course grading information

To receive a passing grade for VETS5017, students must score at least 50% overall and;

• achieve a PASS in the Journal Article assessment task

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

If an unsatisfactory grade is obtained for the final manuscript, the student will be offered the opportunity to resubmit up to one week before the final grades are to be uploaded (prior to graduation in the current year).

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.

Additional learning resources information

Some learning resources may be specific to the subject area of your chosen research topic. Your supervisor will be able to provide you with further details upon request.

TIPS FOR SUCCESS IN THIS COURSE

• Select a supervisor who clearly understands the timelines for the elective and the assessment tasks and has the time to help you.
• It is critically important that your project is the type of project that is guaranteed to get some results, whether they support the hypothesis or not.
• The design of the project should be of sufficient quality that if you complete it successfully, the written report will be submissible and acceptable for publication (with some extra editing after submission for marking). The quality of the design of the project should not preclude publication. For example, a pilot study with too small a number of subjects to provide adequate power would not be considered suitable, if it would likely be rejected by journal reviewers on this basis. One outcome is that you would have the opportunity at some later stage to get a publication for your CV from this work.
• Do not choose something too big; it should be similar or smaller in magnitude than a part-time honours project. Most 2# courses assume about 150 hours of work.
• Projects that involve developing or utilising a test, assay or methodology that may or may not work, are generally not suitable unless it would be expected that whatever the outcome, it could be written up as a publishable manuscript.
• Analysis of an existing unpublished data set is acceptable, as long as you can write up knowledgeably the materials and methods analyse the data and discuss the limitations of the study design.
• Organiseﾠat least monthly meetings with your supervisor. Face-to-face is best, but phone, Zoom or Teams may also work if more convenient.
• Communicate clearly what your availability for data collection is (remember clinical rotations).
• If substantial obstacles arise and cannot be resolved with your supervisor, then contact the course coordinator. Don't leave it too late!
• Once youﾠare past the cut-off date for withdrawing, you cannot simply swap to a clinical elective if things are not going right.
• You must get data that can be written up to meet the learning outcomes of the elective in time to meet assessment deadlines.
• Send written material through regularly (every 1-2 weeks) to your supervisor for input; writing skills take time to develop.
• Discuss with the supervisor the themes for each paragraph in the manuscript eg. the Introduction is generally 500-700 words or 4-7 paragraphs, decide on the theme of each paragraph after discussion with the supervisor and write succinctly on that theme.
• Write 1-3 paragraphs and send them to get frequent feedback to develop your writing skills.
• If you require animal ethics clearance, you need to consider that this may take 2-3 months to get, and you cannot start data collection until the project is approved. Projects involving questionnaires interviewing people or projects with a client consent form need human ethics approval, which takes a few weeks generally. Check with your supervisor about ethics clearance requirements for your project.
• You need to be working on your literature review before the Christmas break, so you can fine-tune the design of the project early in the semester. Data collection must occur early because the analysis of the data and writing up for publication standards takes longer than you think. The best outcomes occur when you schedule at least monthly face-to-face or phone conference meetings with your supervisor, and more frequently in the planning stage.
• For those research projects that are not already funded by a larger grant, small amounts of money may be available from the School.

SWS + UQU 

Maintaining a work-life balance and seeking help early is crucial for successful university studies. UQ Student Support and Wellbeing Services (SSWS) and the Student Union (UQU) offer numerous resources for UQ students. Student Services provides various mindfulness programs and counselling services to boost confidence and improve overall physical and mental wellbeing. UQU also offers a range of support, welfare, and wellbeing resources. 

For immediate assistance, please call the 24/7 UQ Counselling and Crisis Line at 1300 851 998. 

The Hub 

The Student Clinical Skills Hub is a purpose-built, state-of-the-art self-directed learning facility located centrally in the School (John Mahon (8105), Room 101) with two main areas and an online resource community available for all veterinary students. 

The Hub has a lab where students can practice their clinical skills using standard veterinary equipment, on simulators and/or models in conjunction with supporting audio-visual resources and a smaller communications suite with two working consult rooms, a viewing room and a debriefing space. 

The Hub aims to provide a safe, authentic, self-directed learning environment where students can practice their clinical skills according to their competence, beyond the scheduled contact hours of their programs and further enhance their capacity for self-directed, lifelong learning. As BVSc5 students, you will have swipe card access to the Hub from 6am-10pm, 7 days a week from December of BVSc4. See the Hub's Blackboard organisation for induction and OH&S requirements for access. 

If you cannot access the community or have other questions, please get in touch with the Hub Coordinator via svs-hub@uq.edu.au or ext 15046. 

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 for Students Policy and Procedure

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:

• Occupational Health and Safety in the Laboratory Guideline