Institute of Medical Physics

Institute of Nuclear Science

Institute of Photonics & Optical Science
School of Physics

PHYS 5019 Research Project & Methodology

Unit Description

This unit constitutes a research project carried out in a hospital, research

organisation or similar environment as well as a short library information session
where you will learn how to efficiently access research databases relevant to your
Masters degree program. You will need to consult your Postgraduate Coursework
Coordinator to confirm specific details and arrangements for the research project you
will be undertaking for PHYS 5019. This will include title, outline of project and
supervisor(s).

Report Requirements
The research project report should be written so that it can be understood by a
physicist who is not a specialist in the subject area of the project. Such a person
should be able to acquire a good understanding of the research project from your
report. As the ability to write clearly and concisely is an important skill for a scientist,
it is desirable that you devote considerable effort to the clarity of your expression and
to the organisation of your report. Hence, you must not wait until the second half of
the semester to start thinking about it.
Note: the report should not be written in the format or style of a research journal
publication.
Guidelines for preparation are provided below. Reports that do not comply with these
guidelines will be returned for rewriting.
Format
The report must not exceed a maximum of 40 pages in total length and must not
be less than 30 pages in length. Mark penalties may be imposed for reports that
exceed the page limit. Similarly, reports may be returned for improvement if they are
substandard and less than the minimum required length. If absolutely necessary,
additional material may be included in appendices. However, appendices will not be
read in detail by the examiners. The typeface used must be 12 pt in font size and the
font style should be either Times, Times New Roman or Arial. The margins must be
at least 20 mm wide on all sides of the page. The page number, which must be
included, may be placed in the margin area, as long as it is at least 8 mm from the
edge of the page. A high standard of presentation is required, using a word
processor which can produce scientific notation. LaTeX (pronounced lay-tek) or
Microsoft Word are strongly recommended. Please contact your Postgraduate
Coursework Coordinator if you wish to use LaTeX and require assistance.
A summary of the overall report format is given below. You are also strongly advised
to consult previously submitted reports, which are available for viewing from your
Postgraduate Coursework Coordinator.

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 Report Section Page number/count and comments

Title page Page 1 (use template with logo and green cover)

Abstract Page 2 (200 words or less)

Statement of originality Page 3 (with student signature)

Acknowledegements Page 3 (general statement)

Statement of student Page 3 (excluded from page limit)

contribution
Table of Contents Page 4 (subsequent pages included in page
count}
Introduction Approx. 1-2 pages – present background,
motivation and rationale of the project.
Literature Survey Approx. 8 pages – a comprehensive review of the
relevant literature.
Main Body Use sections such as theory, methodology, results
and discussion/conclusion.
References Only 1 page will count towards the page limit.

• Preamble: The main body of text should be preceded by a Title Page (page 1),
a page with an Abstract 100 - 200 words long (page 2), a page containing a
Statement of Originality (see below) together with Acknowledgments and a
Statement of Contribution of the Student, which explains exactly what parts of
the work are yours and what roles were played by others (page 3). You may
place the Statement of Contribution of the Student on a separate page, but it
will not be counted as an extra page in the 40-page limit. The last part of your
preamble should be a Table of Contents (page 4), and if this takes more than
one page, only one page counts toward the limit. These 4 initial pages are
included in the 40-page limit.
• Acknowledgements and originality statement: You must acknowledge all
assistance from staff and others under the heading Acknowledgements and
Statement of Contribution of the Student on page 3 of the report (in the
preamble), explaining their role briefly but precisely. You may give a general
statement thanking people in the Acknowledgements, but the Statement of
Contribution of the Student must be more explicit. You must give details of
contributors to the project. For example: Were you part of a team who
performed the experiment? Did someone write parts of the computer code, or
take measurements, build some of the apparatus, or do some of the analytic
work? The reason for this Statement is to assist the assessors of the reports.
You are also required to provide on page 3 a signed and dated statement of
originality of the form: I certify that this report contains work carried out by
myself except where otherwise acknowledged.

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• Main body and literature review: The text itself should be divided into sections
with appropriate headings. After a brief Introduction, you are asked to present a
section of about 8 pages (approximately 2000 words) which surveys the subject
of your project and explains how the topic of your work fits in to the bigger
picture (this section could be given the heading Survey of the Subject, Literature
Review, or similar). To prepare this you will need to consult the literature, a task
you are advised to undertake early in the semester.
• Figures, tables and equations should be inserted in the text at the appropriate
locations with appropriate captions and/or numbering. Figures, tables and
equations should be referred to in the text.
• References within the text should be cited either by numbers in square
brackets (in which case the list of references at the end of the report should be
in order of reference number) or by authors' names and year (in which case the
list of references should be ordered alphabetically by name of first author). If the
references, which should be listed at the end of the report, take more than one
page then only one page will count towards the 40-page limit. You may wish to
consult a relevant physics journal as a guide to formatting and citing references.

Submission of Report

You are required to submit your project to the Student Support Office (SSO) in the
School of Physics by the last day of Week 13 of the semester in which you are
enrolled for PHYS 5019. For 2011, the relevant dates are:

Semester 1 Semester 2
Friday 3 June Friday 28 October

Report submission requirements

• printed on A4 paper, double-sided
• bound in School of Physics green covers (available from the SSO)
• 3 hard copies submitted to the SSO
• 1 pdf copy emailed to the PGC Coordinator

Assessment of Project

Your overall assessment for PHYS 5019 will be based on the following components:

• Oral presentation – 10%

This will be a 30 minute talk on your project presented at a research group
seminar in the School of Physics, to be given the week before submission of
the project report. The talk will be assessed by academic staff and external
supervisors who are expected to attend.

• Report – 90%
The report will be read and assessed by 2 external experts and by the primary
supervisor, who may also seek input from co-supervisors. Assessment criteria
and marking guidelines are given below.

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Assessment Criteria
The assement of your report by your supervisor and external examiners will be based
on the following:
1. Understanding and Comprehension
• Perception of problem, interpretation of results, highlighting relevant physics.
• Applicability of the method used, or critical discussion of limitations thereof.
• Experimental or theoretical insight.
• Critical analysis/evaluation of data/results and their significance.
2. Originality
• New ideas and novel methods used and/or hypotheses tested.
• Modifications and adaptations of existing approaches/techniques.
• Scope for future follow-up research in new directions.
3. Effort and Independence (supervisor only)
• Evidence of diligence, self-motivation and competence.
• Evidence of student initiative in report content.
• Evidence of substantial amount of work carried out by the student.
4. Presentation and Professionalism
• Readability, clarity, organisation and overall structure.
• Appropriate use of figures, tables, equations, references.
• Informative Introduction, thorough Literature Review and interpretive
Conclusion, with an integrated framework.

Faculty Marking Guidelines

Assessors will be requested to give a final mark that is consistent with the Faculty of
Science guidelines for Masters coursework project marking:

• HD (85-100) –The project is rated highly on all the assessment criteria and is of
exceptional quality overall.
• D (75-84) – The project presents a sound and thorough treatment of all aspects of
the problem and generally has no serious flaws in knowledge or comprehension.
The project is rated at least moderately well on all assessment criteria. There is,
however, less evidence of originality or independence than required for an HD, or
evidence of originality or independence is undermined by some other flaw.
• CR (65-74) - The project meets the basic requirements for the conduct and
reporting of research but there are one or more serious flaws; e.g. critical
misconceptions, inconsistencies, or omissions; poor organization;
misinterpretation of results; failure to recognize limitations of the methodology.
• P (50-64) - The project may demonstrate some competence but contains
omissions, misconceptions, inconsistencies, or unrecognised deficiencies in
methodology, or misinterpreted analysis, or lack of integration with the framework.
The literature review may be simplistic or limited. It may be written in a way that it
is difficult for the marker to ascertain the nature or significance of the problem.
• F (< 50) - The project does not demonstrate competence in the research topic and
is rated poorly on all the assessment criteria.

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Any Questions?

If at any stage of undertaking PHYS 5019 Research Project & Methodology you have
questions or are encounering problems you should consult your respective
Postgraduate Coursework Coordinator:

Medical Physics
A/Prof Zdenka Kuncic, [email protected], rm. 415, School of Physics,
A28, 9351-3162

Applied Nuclear Science

A/Prof Reza Hashemi-Nezhad, [email protected], rm. 209,
School of Physics, A28, 9351-5964

Photonics and Optical Science

Dr Peter Domachuk, [email protected], rm. 226D, School of Physics,
A28, 9351-3958

Last modified
Feb. 2011

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