Summary

Early on in the programme, you will choose a topic from a range that reflects the research strengths of the Institute of Child Health and the hospitals and services associated with the programme. Your projects could be laboratory-based or clinical; projects that will investigate a health-based topic with children in the hospital, community, or a voluntary organisation. The supervisor will usually have obtained ethical approval for the work, but you will be expected to write a research plan pointing out ethical and statistical issues. You will receive training as follows: induction into the ISU and Library at the GOS Institute of Child Health; basic software packages and data presentation; searching the literature and Reference Manager; Powerpoint presentations; interactive workshops on statistics, preparing your data and analysis. We expect your supervisors to help you with practical methods in laboratory-based projects, analysis and presentation of data, research design and drafting and writing the final dissertation. You will be expected to adhere to a series of deadlines for plan, draft and completion of final dissertation. You should start project work on your free days in term 1, but you will carry out the bulk of the research during term 2. The dissertation is usually due around the start of May.

Learning Outcomes and Objectives

After this module, you will be able to:

Plan and execute under supervision, an experiment or investigation, analyse critically the results and draw valid conclusions.
	Evaluate the level of uncertainty in your results, understand the significance of error analysis and compare these results with expected outcomes, theoretical predictions or published data.
	Communicate both orally and in writing complex scientific ideas and the conclusions of an experiment, investigation or project concisely, accurately and informatively.
	Manage your own learning and make use of appropriate texts, research articles and other primary sources.
Who is this module for?

This module is compulsory for all iBSc Paediatrics and Child Health students. For the laboratory-based projects, we advise you to take the optional module "Health Research Methods”.

Teaching and Learning Methods

Teaching and learning will be through online sessions, one-to-one discussions with allocated supervisor(s) and self-directed learning.