Duration
6h Th, 6h Pr, 60h Proj.
Number of credits
| Master MSc. in Engineering Physics, research focus | 5 crédits |
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
All year long, with partial in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
This course gives the student a first practical experience in applied experimental research. The student joins a research group and becomes closely involved in its activities. The student is given a small, self-consistent experimental project, which he/she is responsible for carrying out to completion. The project includes experimental design, data acquisition and data processing. The student has to draw a research proposal, carry it out, and present his/her results verbally during a poster session.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
At the end of this project, the student will know how to carry out a small research project, given the scientific, technical, and practical constraints. He/she will be able to design and/or improve his/her own experiment. He/she will be able to identify which are the most relevant quantities to be measured and how to extract and analyze relevant results from his/her data. He/she will be able to present his results in a scientific way.
This course contributes to the learning outcomes I.1, I.2, II.1, II.2, II.3, III.1, III.2, III.2, III.4, IV.2, IV.3, VI.1, VII.1, VII.2, VII.3, VII.4, VII.5 of the MSc in engineering physics.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
No prerequisite. A short complementary bibliography may be associated with the project.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
The project represents approximately 100 hours of work and comprises 10 full days in the laboratory. The following steps are usually required (approximate duration in brackets):
(Before December)
- Bibliography: analysis of two references directly related to the experiment. Search for other relevant references.
- Design / building / improvement of the experimental setup
- Calibration, preliminary data: identify the limits of the setup
- Data processing, error analysis
- Design of Experiment: plan the experimental runs to be performed
- Research proposal
- Improvement of the setup if needed
- Data acquisition and processing
- Interpretation of experimental results and possible comparison to theoretical models
- Poster
Three half-day workshops will be organised in the Fall, on:
- Design of Experiment
- Data processing
- Scientific writing and presentation
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Face-to-face
Course materials and recommended or required readings
A short bibliography, to be determined with the project advisor.
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
oral exam
Written work / report
Additional information:
The student will be asked to submit two assessments :
- a short research proposal. This report will describe the goals of the experiment, the quantities to be measured, and the expectations about the final results. The proposal will be written in English and is limited to three pages (text + figures). It will be submitted directly to the project advisor and to the coordinator.
- a poster. This document will contain an introduction, a short description of the experimental setup, a discussion of the most relevant results and the main findings, a conclusion, and a bibliography. A PDF file in A0 format is recommended. The poster must be written in English and submitted to the advisor, the course coordinator, and the president of the Cycle Jury. The poster will be presented in English. It will be followed by a session of questions & answers.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
Research topics are proposed by a series of potential hosting labs in September. The project advisor will be a full-time academic member of the University of Liège, a FNRS permanent member associated with the University of Liège, or a scientific senior member of CSL teaching a regular course at the University of Liège. The advisor must be already involved in the Master in Engineering Physics. The student must choose a subject and get in contact with the corresponding advisor by the end of the third week of the first quadrimester. The research is carried between October and May (the exact schedule being arranged between the student and the hosting lab). The research proposal is due on the last Friday of November. Poster sessions will be scheduled in May-June.
The research proposals are coordinated by Prof. Tristan Gilet. The final exam is presided by the President of the Jury.
Contacts
Course coordinator:
Tristan Gilet
Assistant Professor
Microfluidics Lab
Office: B52 - 0/420
Email: Tristan.Gilet@uliege.be