Postgraduate Course: Research Practice and Project Planning (PGGE11138)
This course will be closed from 31 July 2026
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course aims to equip participants with skills in research methods and project management useful to the Earth Observation and Geoinformation Management (EOGM) or Geographical Information Science (GIS) professional in the work environment or as a research scientist. These include writing, presenting, organising, managing projects and time, and conducting field work. In Semester One emphasis is given to developing core skills and an integrated group project which runs across various of the core courses. The course introduces the GIS / EOGM dissertation and leads into our annual mini-conference, where students contribute talks on their chosen field of research.
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| Course description |
The RPPP course comprises these core activities:
A series of lectures and workshops on key topics
A research project run in the Edinburgh area in conjunction with the Spatial Modelling and Analysis and Technological Infrastructures for GIS courses;
A field week in the Scottish Highlands, to learn various survey-related techniques and focus project work;
The AGI/EEO professional seminar series, comprising presentations from researchers and professionals in GIS and EO. The students will explore a variety of debates relating to the profession, and gain a clear sense of career opportunities. The seminar programme provides an excellent networking opportunity, which you should take advantage of.
There are no formal classes in Semester 2, although there are dissertation-related requirements and the AGI/EEO seminars continue on Friday afternoons.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None. |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- acquire a set of skills relating to problem-solving in the class-room and the field
- become familiar with the use of field equipment and tech-niques for the acquisition, management and presentation of geospatial information
- demonstrate project management capability and adaptability in relation to working individually and in a group
- show an ability to undertake research to a professional standard, ensuring you can formulate an argument, locate and reference literature, plan a project, write a proposal, de-termine necessary resources, manage your time and orally present results
- understand the use and limitations of EO and GI methods in research and real-world applications
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Reading List
Allen, D. (2011) Getting Things Done: How to Achieve Stress-free Productivity, Piatkus
Bigham, J. (2011) Succeeding with Your Master's Dissertation: A Step-by-Step Handbook, Open University Press
Evans, C. (2008) Time Management for Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, London
Fitzpatrick, J., J. Secrist and D. Wright (1998) Secrets for a Successful Dissertation Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California. [ Largely focussed on undertaking a PhD; but still some useful advice ]
Hennessay, B. (2007) Writing an Essay: Simple Techniques to Transform Your Coursework and Examinations. How To Books, Oxford.
Hennessay, B. (2010) How to Write Coursework and Exam Essays. How To Books, Oxford.
Swetnam, D. and R. Swetnam (2010) Writing Your Dissertation: The bestselling guide to planning, preparing and presenting first-class work. How To Books, Oxford. [ written by one of our former GIS graduates !! ]
Copies of lectures are here:
http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/~bmg/teaching/rppp/
(updated immediately prior to the lecture being given) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
Course only available to students on the taught or research MSc GIS programmes. |
| Keywords | PGGE11138 GIS,professional research,project management,research design,presentation skills,effi |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Iain Woodhouse
Tel: (0131 6)50 2527
Email: i.h.woodhouse@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Felicity Smail
Tel:
Email: Felicity.Smail@ed.ac.uk |
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