coordinator: Dennis Hore
office: ELL 318
e-mail: dkhore@uvic.ca
committee members: Dennis Hore, Irina Paci, Dave Berg
CHEM 298 or 398: Research Experience
This is intended for students who wish to
gain some experience in chemical research under the direction of
regular chemistry faculty, adjunct faculty, or senior laboratory
instructors. It is offered only with permission of the
co-ordinator.
Application Procedure
After you have made suitable arrangments with a faculty research
advisor, email the course coordinator (contacts above) with a brief
description of the project. The chemistry
website is a good place to start looking for projects. If you
would like some advice regarding the selection of a research advisor,
contact the coordinator (listed above).
Note about deadlines: Students interested in taking this
courses should email the course coordinator as soon as the term
starts or - preferably - prior to the beginning of term.
Registration
CHEM298 or 398 is a one-term course worth 0 units. You
should be able to register yourself online.
Grading
This is a pass/fail course (complete/incomplete), based largely on the
recommendation of your research advisor.
CHEM 498: Research Project
This project course is intended for chemistry major students who
wish to gain some experience in chemical research under the direction
of regular chemistry faculty, adjunct faculty, or senior laboratory
instructors. It is offered only with permission of the co-ordinator. Credit
cannot
be obtained for both CHEM498 and CHEM499
Application Procedure
Students interested in this course should print out the application form.
E-mail three faculty members to make an appointment to hear about a
potential project. Bring this form with you to the meetings; there is a
place where you have to doument the proposed projects. When you have
finished hearing about three projects, rank your choices and submit
your completed form to the course coordinator. This should be done
before the end of the first week of the semester in which the project
is to start.
The chemistry
website is a good place to start looking for projects. If you
would like some advice regarding the selection of a research advisor,
contact the coordinator (listed above).
Note about deadlines: Students interested in taking this
courses should consult with the course coordinator as soon as the term
starts or - preferably - prior to the beginning of term. All of the
deadlines listed below are approximate guidelines only. You will
receive a personalized detailed schedule upon final approval of your
project assignment.
Registration
CHEM498 is a one-term course worth 1.5 units. It is recommended
that you email the course coordinator for registration.
Research Project
Students interested in taking this course should consult with the
course coordinator as soon as the term starts or - preferably - prior
to the beginning of term. Students are advised to meet with regular
chemistry faculty, adjunct faculty, or senior laboratory instructors
for possible CHEM498 research projects.
Not all projects are suitable for CHEM498. Suitable projects should
have exposure to research techniques, have a defined goal, and a very
good chance for completion within the timeframe allowed. A one-page
proposal of the research project, written by the student with the input
of the research supervisor, must be approved by the course coordinator
before the beginning of experimental work.
During the first 1-2 weeks of the term, students should select a
research advisor and decide on a project. Begin research work as soon
as a one-page research proposal has been approved by the course
co-ordinator. The number of hours per week of work expected in this
course is approximately 6-8. All experimental work must end on the
Friday of the 10th week of the term.
Final Presentation
Sometime during week 12, the student will give a 10-minute
oral presentation of the proposal and results. This will be
followed by a ~10-minute question and answer session with the
committee. Using a computer to project slides during your talk is
the normal style. You will probably find it useful to arrange a
practice talk with your research advisor prior to your CHEM498
presentation.
Grading
The CHEM498 committee will consider research results, presentation, the
ability to orally present and defend the work, and the research
advisor's evaluation.
CHEM 499: Senior Thesis Research Project
This is an intensive research project required by all chemistry
honours students. Chemistry major students may take this course with
the permission of the course coordinator. Credit cannot be obtained
for both CHEM498 and CHEM499
Application Procedure
Students interested in this course should print out the application form.
E-mail three faculty members to make an appointment to hear about a
potential project. Bring this form with you to the meetings; there is a
place where you have to doument the proposed projects. When you have
finished hearing about three projects, rank your choices and submit
your completed form to the course coordinator. This should be done
before the end of the first week of the semester in which the project
is to start. The chemistry
website is a good place to start looking for projects. If you
would like some advice regarding the selection of a research advisor,
contact the coordinator (listed above).
Note about deadlines: Students interested in taking this
courses should consult with the course coordinator as soon as the term
starts or - preferably - prior to the beginning of term. All of the
deadlines listed below are approximate guidelines only. You will
receive a personalized detailed schedule upon final approval of your
project assignment.
Registration
CHEM499a followed by CHEM499b is a two-term course worth a total of
3 units. You should be able to register yourself online for both
parts of this course. Note that you will receive a grade of 'INP'
(in progress) following completion of CHEM499a. After CHEM499b is
complete, the same letter grade will be given for both parts (replacing
the INP on your transcript).
Research Project
CHEM499 consists of a research project carried out over two terms
under the supervision of a regular faculty member. In addition to the
library research, there are four phases of the course, outlined in
detail below. Two of these require completion of a written report. For
each report, the student will normally require a total of 5 copies
(student, research advisor, 3 members of the 499 committee).
For non-coop students, the course must be completed over two consecutive
terms. If the student is in co-op, it is optional to have the course
interrupted by one co-op work term. Interruptions for any other reason
are not permitted.
Deadlines for each phase of the project will be supplied by the
coordinator at the start of the project. Strict adherence to these
deadlines is manditory.
Phases
- Project Selection. Students are encouraged to discuss
their research interests with the coordinator so that they may be
directed to the appropriate faculty member(s). In addition, students
are encouraged to make appointments with individual faculty members to
discuss potential projects.
- Literature Survey and Project Plan. The student should
begin by making an appropriate survey of the literature and summarizing
the findings in a written report (3-5 pages) which also outlines the
research proposal and gives an estimated time schedule for experimental
work. The committee will schedule an opportunity for the student to
make a 10-15 minute presentation of this proposal, to be followed by up
to 30 minutes of questions.
- Final Report. The exact format should be decided upon
through consultation with the student's advisor. A suggested format
includes a title page, table of contents, abstract (200 words),
introduction (purpose, review and description of the research problem,
review and discussion of pertinent literature), experimental, results,
discussion, conclusions, bibliography.
sample cover page in PDF format is available for download here.
(For LaTeX users, the source file is available here.)
- Final Oral Examination. The student will give a 15-minute
presentation of the proposal and results. This will be followed by a
30-minute question and answer session with the committee. Using a
computer to project slides during your talk is the normal
style. You will probably find it useful to arrange a practice
talk
with your research advisor prior to your CHEM 499 presentation.
Grading
Grades for the course will be based on the committee's evaluation of
the student's performance in the various components of the course,
together with a brief assessment written by the student's supervisor
prior to the final oral. Normally, this assessment will weigh heavily
in the final grade awarded by the committee. However, the committee's
assessment has to reflect its judgement of a student's performance
relative to his or her peers in all components of the course, and must
maintain fairness among students. Consequently, the committee's final
grade may differ from that recommended by the supervisor.
Generalized Deadlines
Each student registered in the course will be given an individualized
list of specific deadlines. In general, they are:
- Project Selection will occur during the first week of classes.
Final assignments may be made by the committee early the following
week.
- Literature Report will be given to the CHEM499 committee by the
third week of classes.
- Project Presentation and Questions will be scheduled during the
fourth or fifth week.
- Experimental ends generally the last Friday of the second month
of the second term.
- Report submitted to the committee (typed), generally by the third
Friday of the third month of the second term.
- Oral Examination will be held within ten days of submission of
the report.