Research projects and scientific communication

Duration

5h Th, 30h Internship

Number of credits

Lecturer

Caroline Collette, Jean-Christophe Monbaliu

Coordinator

Caroline Collette

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the second semester

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

The activities related to this course are focused on a personal research work: the student performs a 4-day internship in one of the research units of the Department of Chemistry, under the supervision of a skilled researcher.
As an upstream preparation work, the student performs a bibliographic search in order to understand the scientific background in which the internship is organized. A short oral presentation about the context of research is finally asked.
As a downstream final work, a poster session is organized in order to present the research results in front of the members of the Department. As a conclusion, an internship report will be written like a scientific article.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

This is an introduction into scientific research in chemistry. It allows to experience for the first time the whole research approach within a specific experimental context.
The course focuses on the pivotal links between proper information literacy, experimental work and results communication. These three aspects will be evaluated.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Main notions in information literacy
Basic scientific English
Basic scientific knowledge from bachelor blocks 1 and 2

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Learning of experimental research by the mean of an internship in a chemistry lab. Prior to the internship some discussions will take place concerning:
> research ethics (in collaboration with the English course)
> how to fill in a lab notebook (in collaboration with inorganic chemistry practicals)
> information literacy
> scientific communication

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Classes (face-to-face) introducing the internship, as well as the experimental work itself, take place in February and March. The poster session is in April, after spring holidays. The lab book is delivered to the internship mentor on that day.

Recommended or required readings

The final grade is an average of three different evaluations:
By the mentor: lab work (1/6) and lab book (1/6).
By the members of the Department of Chemistry (collectively): poster presentation, under the aspects of communication and clarity (1/6) and accuracy and answers to questions (1/6).
By the teachers of this course: internship report (1/3).

Work placement(s)

Twice two days in a research laboratory. Additional moments are available in the program if the work could not be completed within these four days.

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

The choice of internship topics is communicated in February.

Contacts

Caroline Collette (PhD), Scientific Librarian
Phone: 04 366 34 39
Email: c.collette@ulg.ac.be
 
Jean-Christophe Monbaliu (PhD), Lecturer
Téléphone : 04 366 35 10
E-mail : jc.monbaliu@ulg.ac.be

Association of one or more MOOCs

Items online