Aims 

The MSc project gives you the opportunity to conduct research in the area of Disability Innovation under the supervision of a member of the Global Disability Innovation Hub staff and GDI partners in industry and academic. The aim of the dissertation module is to enable students to develop their research, design and innovation skills through conducting an independent project.

Learning outcomes 

Research skills:

On successful completion of the module, a student will be able to:

Critically analyse and discuss literature.
	Discover and define research issues and questions.
	Use appropriate research, design and innovation methods.
	Develop materials which report in a clear manner the contribution to the field that their project has achieved.
Subject-specific skills:

On successful completion of the module, a student will be able to:

Develop detailed working knowledge of their chosen subject.
	Develop their own ideas and understanding of a topic.
	Use this knowledge to create a unique contribution to the field.
Transferable skills:

On successful completion of the module, a student will be able to:

Deliver concise, informative presentations.
	Develop clear project plans.
	Develop self-reflection.
	Communicate in and to a cross-disciplinary team.
	Communicate and advocate with disabled people.
	Develop problem-solving skills.
Content:

Students will choose a project from a list or proposals put forward by supervisors, and then work intensely on these during term 3 before submitting a final version.

The dissertation process is outlined here:

Start of term 2: projects released to students.
	Students meet with potential supervisors to decide on a project. When a supervisor has agreed to supervise a student, they send a notification to this effect to the project coordinator. stating the title of the project and the student.
	Mid-Feb: Final deadline for matching students and projects and the official start of project.
	Students should have two first project meetings with supervisors to decide on the scope and weighting of contributions; these are then submitted for review and approval. Once approved these cannot be changed.
	May: short project pitch presentations
	June - August: Students to meet with supervisors ~ 10 times over the 12 weeks of full-time project work.
	August: submission deadline
	September: dissertation showcase and (optional) individual preparation for conference/ journal publications with supervisors
Study material on topics such as:

How to conduct a literature review.
	Referencing & plagiarism.
	Time management.
	Getting the most out of supervisors.
	will all be made available online for self-study.
Requisites:

To be eligible to select this module, a student must be registered on a programme and year of study for which it is formally available.