Postgraduate Course: Research Project Proposal (Biochemistry and Drug Discovery) (PGBI11139)
Course Outline
| School | School of Biological Sciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | Preparation for the MSc Research Project will take to the form of a 3-year grant proposal, with extensive literature review, on an expanded topic related to, but distinct from, the actual research project to be undertaken in the later part of the programme.
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| Course description |
This course simulates the production of a funding application for a medium term (36 Month) research project. This is coupled with the student's research project topic and requires them to perform a thorough literature review as well as research into experimental/data collection skills that are current within their topic, personnel and experimental resources, as well as ethical and data safety/IP considerations. Sessions on data processing, data presentation and production of appropriate publication quality figures/images are incorporated into the course.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 2,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 6,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
90 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
ICA 1: 10% Two short oral presentations (worth 5% each); one summarising the background to the scientific question in the proposal and the second outlining the proposed methodology to be applied/used in the project to address that scientific question of their actual project, within the wider 3-year proposal . Wks-7, 8, 9 and 10.
ICA 2: 90% One written Research Project Proposal, in the form of a grant proposal for a 3-year research project, with background literature summary, scheme of work, costings/consideration for consumables, staffing and access to required platforms as well as ethical and data management issues. |
| Feedback |
Lecturers will give formative feedback in lectures and tutorials. Individual, in-person verbal and written feedback on one draft, and written feedback for final submission, of the written Research Project Proposal. Written feedback for the oral presentations. Usual process for assessment marks released on LEARN and EUCLID, along with BoE ratified marks at later date. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Describe the core processes of obtaining funding for academic research, having been able to search, identify and critically evaluate the relevant literature to gain a thorough and current knowledge of a biochemistry/drug discovery-related topic.
- Design the appropriate experiments to build on current biochemical knowledge and identify the resources required to investigate a biochemical/drug discovery question.
- Prepare and orally present short summaries of both the current knowledge of, and proposed experiments to address, the biochemical/drug discovery question.
- Prepare a relevant, coherent and acceptable grant application, integrating relevant, coherent and acceptable figures/images for both the application and in preparation for the final dissertation.
- Presentation skills, with a focus on the technical aspects of a research project.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Knowledge/understanding: lectures provide the frame-work for development of core ideas around the generation of an extended (36 months) basic biochemical/translational research proposal/plan.
Research communication and understanding: skills enhancement with a view to development of own experimental/scheme of work design and data interpretation, by further reading; exemplar proposals, papers, appropriate reviews, best practice leading-edge approached to addressing the problems being studied. Opportunity for development of effective written communication skills around clear and concise summary of a complex, mutli-faceted basic research problem. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Iain McNae
Tel: (0131 6)50 7048
Email: Iain.McNae@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Louise Robertson
Tel: (0131 6)50 5988
Email: Louise.K.M.Robertson@ed.ac.uk |
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