Postgraduate Course: Research Methods for Sensing, Processing and AI Systems (SCEE11019)
Course Outline
| School | School of Engineering |
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 students with essential skills for engineering research and comprises three parts:
Research Methods: through lectures delivered in the first 10 week of Semester 1, students will study essential topics for the completion of a research project such as literature surveying, project planning & reporting, time management, Gantt charts, plagiarism & Intellectual Property issues, presentation of research outcomes, and ethical aspects of research into sensing, processing, and AI for defence and security etc.
Grand Challenge Project: During week 2 of Semester 1, students are given a grand challenge related to their PhD project in sensing, processing, and AI for defence and security, and are asked to do a literature review, identify a specific problem and propose/design solutions to the problem. The project requires them to use all the skills and tools they learned in this course. While the projects are individual, the students form forums where they discuss aspects of the challenge and exchange ideas. The final deliverable, which also forms the coursework assessment, is a 6-page report formatted as a journal paper to be submitted in week 11.
The course will run for a full academic year, and in semester 2 and beyond, students will undertake a portfolio of key training which supports research skills, trusted research and RRI.
This will include training in areas such as:
defence ethics
partner presentation training;
defence innovation;
export control training;
external site visits and stakeholder engagement;
partner training supporting industrial collaboration.
This list of training is not exhaustive and will evolve as the programme further develops, but keeping to the indicative hours available for a 20-credit course.
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| Course description |
Indicative list of topics covered in the lectures in Semester 1:
Literature surveys: methods and sources of information
Project planning & Gantt charts
Project management & reporting
Time management
Plagiarism & Intellectual Property
Quantitative & qualitative methods in research
Scientific writing
Presenting research outcomes
Indicative list of topics covered in the training portfolio:
Defence ethics
Export control
Data management planning
Innovation
Site visits
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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 2026/27, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Full Year |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 12,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Dissertation/Project Supervision Hours 2,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 40,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 4,
Formative Assessment Hours 2,
Summative Assessment Hours 60,
Other Study Hours 66,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
0 )
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| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
other training
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework %: 100 |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Research the literature databases to find, assimilate, formulate and communicate new information from diverse sources
- Gain technical understanding of research in their field of engineering through a study and solution design for a particular problem
- Demonstrate an understanding of research in a wider societal context and an ability to prepare reports with technical information for specialist audience
- Use software tools to carry out engineering research
- Have practical experience of key training which supports research skills, trusted research, and responsible research and innovation
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Reading List
D. V. Thiel, Research Methods for Engineers, Cambridge University Press, 2014, ISBN: 9781139542326
G. Tomas, How to Do Your Research Project: A Guide for Students 3rd ed., SAGE Publications, 2017, ISBN: 147394886X
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
SPADS Students only |
| Keywords | Research Methods,Project planning,Project management,Research Skills,Trusted Research,RRI |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof James Hopgood
Tel: (0131 6)50 5571
Email: James.Hopgood@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Jacqueline Narendran
Tel:
Email: jackie.narendran@ed.ac.uk |
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