Research Project Success: The Essential Guide for Science and Engineering Students
140
Research Project Success: The Essential Guide for Science and Engineering Students
140eBook
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| ISBN-13: | 9781782625643 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Royal Society of Chemistry |
| Publication date: | 10/20/2015 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 140 |
| File size: | 5 MB |
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Research Project Success
The Essential Guide for Science and Engineering Students
By Cliodhna McCormac, James Davis, Pagona Papakonstantinou, Neil I Ward
The Royal Society of Chemistry
Copyright © 2012 Cliodhna McCormac, James Davis, Pagona Papakonstantinou and Neil I WardAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-84973-382-3
CHAPTER 1
First Steps in an Epic Journey
1.0 THE RESEARCH PROJECT
Picture the scene: Christopher Columbus poised on the deck of the Santa Maria, about to set sail on a voyage to forge a daring new trade route to the East Indies. His fingers tap absentmindedly on the bow of the ship as he contemplates the journey ahead. He feels both excitement and trepidation, in equal measure – after all, this will be the first time he has led such an expedition. Unlike previous sailings – where he was simply one crew member among many following established trading routes – he now has the resources at his disposal to pursue something new and potentially magical – effectively, to pursue his own dream – but, its success lies on his shoulders. He possesses the basic seamanship training along with a working knowledge of the sea and the requisite navigatory skill. He also has a rough idea which way to go – at least he thought he did (maybe navigation wasn't his strongest subject). As he looks around the ship, he sees a crew of able-bodied men who will help him make this voyage happen. Granted, this is a somewhat romanticised picture, but it embodies the very essence of a research project and, irrespective of your specific discipline, there is little doubt that you will experience similar feelings to Columbus – minus the fear of shipwreck or death by sea monster, of course.
The research project is undoubtedly the most exciting part of the degree programme as it is where you get to put into practice the skills and knowledge that you have acquired through countless lectures, labs and tutorials. As with Columbus, you are about to embark on a journey with the assistance of a dedicated research team, a journey that aims to pave new ground that could help to confirm a hypothesis and may even lead to some startlingly unexpected discovery. It makes no difference as to the research area you are about to become a key part of, the project is very much an expedition into the unknown and one that needs careful planning as it can also be the most fraught part of the degree programme. The voyage undertaken by Columbus was far from plain sailing and there would have been many times where things weren't going quite to plan. This book will help you plan your expedition so that the hard times can be weathered and also provide you with a toolbox that will enable you to tackle the ups and downs that can arise on the way.
1.1 WHICH DIRECTION TO TAKE?
First, you have to choose a project – but which one? The procedures for allocating projects will vary from one university to another but, in general, most tend to involve the circulation of a list of project titles and then it is up to you to choose your favoured three or four. Depending on the organisation of the particular degree programme, this could either be at the end of the second year or upon returning to your final year. The list itself will reflect the various research interests within the department and will be associated with one or more supervisors. There is an increasing trend toward interdisciplinary projects (Box 1.1) and it is not uncommon to find that the supervisory team is made up of two academics – sometimes from different departments or even from different institutions or commercial organisations.
The involvement of another branch of science, even if it is one that you are not familiar with or have previously shied away from, shouldn't be viewed as a bad thing and should not be needlessly discounted as it can broaden both your outlook and, importantly, your employability. As you go through the degree programme you will be aware of where your strengths lie and equally those subjects in which you are weak. It would be wise to avoid projects that are predominantly composed of the latter. When selecting possible projects it is best to play to your strengths. It is important to remember that you only have a very limited amount of time to conduct the practical work and you should be aiming to give yourself a greater chance of picking up marks rather than using the time to master a subject that has hitherto been a struggle.
While the mechanics of the project allocation will vary, most institutions employ a practice where you select a number of titles and rank them in order of preference as there will be an almost inevitable tendency for some titles to prove more popular than others. Obviously, not everyone can do the same project so there must be some careful management to allocate students evenly across the department whilst still attempting to cater for at least one of your preferred choices. Therefore the project list you submit becomes crucial and is not something that should be done on a whim (Box 1.2).
1.2 LECTURER/SUPERVISOR PERCEPTIONS AND MISCONCEPTIONS
Columbus didn't sail alone. He had a crew whom he picked to help him on the voyage – people in whom he could confide, ask for advice and who were more familiar with the sea and its ways than he was. He was surrounded by people who possessed the key skills needed for the day to day rigors of ensuring everything was shipshape for the journey. This mirrors any science lab – where you have academics, technicians, administrators and a host of postgraduate and postdoctoral staff all working to ensure that the research activities run as smoothly as possible. Given the duration and significance of Columbus' expedition, it would have been unwise to randomly pick the crew. Likewise, it would have been incredibly silly to simply invite all his friends on the basis that they were nice and could tell a good joke. You must now take a critical look at the projects on offer, but also the people that advocate and support them.
Throughout your studies you will have come across many different lecturers – each with their own quirks. It is very tempting to think that because a particular lecturer is nice, friendly, etc. that they would be good to work for and therefore their project title is automatically the one to go for. This could easily lead to disaster as you may end up doing work that you don't actually like – or even worse – detest. There is no doubt that the working relationship between you and the supervisor is an important consideration, but it is only one of many (Box 1.3). The gruff lecturer whom you might not have liked that much in lectures, may be doing much more interesting and rewarding research and it would be extremely unwise to simply discount their value based on previous encounters.
It is important to appreciate the difference between an academic's role as a lecturer and that of a project supervisor. Admittedly some may see or express little difference between the two but most academics come alive when conducting research and, increasingly, it is the outputs from the latter that are used by the universities to gauge their performance and indeed success. You may find that the attitude of a lecturer can change quite dramatically when considering research as opposed to supervising labs that have run unchanged for decades. You should find that they have a passion for their particular subject and especially for the projects they are offering. In many cases, they will be desperate to have someone share in their enthusiasm and help them take the work forward. This should be an early indicator of a potentially good supervisor. Someone who conveys little or a vague interest in the subject is unlikely to motivate you or provide the time when things may not be going so well.
1.3 RESEARCH GROUPS: LARGE AND SMALL
The general attitude of the proposed supervisor is clearly important, but it is also vital that you gauge the level of support that they can give you in terms of time and resources – contact time, access to equipment and mentoring in terms of developing the key skills needed for the project. It can be tempting to look at large research groups and think that they are successful, as they are doing cutting edge work and that you will get to use the latest equipment. This is perfectly plausible, but there is an inherent danger that after being integrated within a large team you may become disillusioned and feel as if you have become little more than a small cog in a much larger machine. That may well be the truth, however, it is not true to assume that the contribution you will make will be meaningless. Most projects, especially those for which the supervisor has external funding, will have goals that may take many years to realise and every bit of work will count. It is easy to get caught up in the glamour of the title and lofty end goals, but be prepared for a diet of routine hard work punctuated with moments of glee when something has worked out rather than a daily whirlwind of glamour and Eureka moments as peddled by Hollywood.
A core advantage of opting to work within a large group, however, is that there will often be an extensive support network through the postgraduates or postdoctoral researchers within the lab and it is likely (almost inevitable, in fact) that one of them would be given the express instruction to 'look after' you. While this is quite a traditional approach and often a management necessity for supervisors with very large groups, it is important to ensure that the researcher is not your sole source of support and that you still have regular contact with the supervisor.
It is also important that you should not discount those supervisors who have more modest groups or even those who appear to be 'lone rangers'. It would be extremely unwise to assume that they have little to offer and that by doing a project with them you would be at a disadvantage when compared with students pursuing their projects in large teams. An argument can be made where there is the potential for greater student–supervisor interaction within smaller groupings – it can be much more focused and, if driven by an enthusiastic supervisor, the projects could have more direct relevance or impact than one within the larger teams where there may be a tendency towards following a more prescriptive project/approach with only an incremental (though no less valuable) contribution.
1.4 WHAT RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE?
The provision of adequate resources is another critical question that needs to be considered before selecting your project and embarking on your expedition. It would be a foolish explorer who sets sail without the appropriate equipment, equipment that is in working order or sufficient rations to see them through the journey. This is very much true of your situation. It is vital that you discover what the situation is with respect to access to equipment and whether or not the reagents, materials or samples are available. The latter is particularly pertinent where the project involves the examination of biological, environmental or industrial materials from sources outwith the university. It is imperative to check what arrangements have been made – are they already in place or do they still need to be collected? Is there a backup plan should the samples fail to arrive? Is ethics approval necessary and, if so, has it been granted? These issues affect research groups irrespective of size.
Access to equipment and facilities (such as fume hood and bench space, etc.) can be a source of contention within many labs and it is important that you establish where you will be working and what equipment you will be expected to use and your 'right of access' to it. The situation gets more complicated as the expense of the equipment increases and where they are utilised as a central resource for an entire department. This is not so much an issue if, in your project, such equipment is likely to be used sparingly (i.e. for the one-off characterisation of a sample you may have prepared), but it does become problematic if it is core to your project and where other people have equal or greater rights of access. The sharing of resources is an inevitable consequence of the high cost of equipment and is not to be taken as something that automatically precludes the selection of a particular project. In many cases there will a booking regime or rota. Providing the equipment is well maintained then there will seldom be an issue and all that will be required is a little compromise. One situation to be wary of, however, is the reliance of a project on antiquated equipment that has a history of downtime – whether age related or due to the absence of appropriate technicians or consumables to allow it to function. If it fails for any reason and is out of action – is there a viable alternative?
In some cases, such as a literature survey or computational projects, consumables and materials may be less of an issue, but the provision of resources remains a key determinant that must always be considered before selecting the project. In such cases computer access and the availability of the appropriate software or licenses may well be the crucial issue. Is there off-campus access or is the software restricted to a dedicated lab or computer system within the university? If the latter, who else uses it?
1.5 PROJECT TITLE LIST – THE SUPERVISOR'S SALES PITCH
In some cases the list may simply contain the title of the proposed project and the supervisor associated with it. In others, there may be a small paragraph explaining the aims of the project and perhaps some brief background. It is likely that even before casting your eye over the titles you will have an idea of who you would like to work with – the previous sections should have made you think twice and you should look at each project on its merits. There are still some things to be wary of with respect to the projects themselves. You should NOT simply select a project on the basis that you think it is going to be easy and therefore your life in the last year of the programme will be plain sailing. You have to remember that the project is one of the key discussion points in any job interview and it can often be a selling point. It is also likely, that the 'easy' looking project may well be anything but easy and involve long tedious hours trying to get data that has real-world meaning.
This brings to the fore another issue – projects that have changed little year on year. Again, there is a temptation to draw comfort from the fact that previous students have done it and passed and therefore you will too. The question you have to ask is how does the project you are about to embark on differ from theirs? Few people would have been impressed if Columbus had suggested an epic voyage round Gibraltar.
At the other extreme is the project title that implies cutting edge and sounds incredibly complicated. Are you up to the task? The answer to that question is yes. That is providing you have checked out the issues noted in the previous sections of this chapter. In all honesty, the trendy title is usually put forward as an attempt to capture your imagination and, if it has, then it may well have the same effect on a prospective employer. However, you may find that behind the façade of the fancy jargon, the actual work is routine.
Consequently, the project title should only be used as a gauge as to the general area in which you wish to participate. The crucial step involves you doing the forensic investigation into what it actually entails. You have to question everything about the project and have no fear about approaching the supervisor or other members within their team to find out the actual facts. The project may paint a picture of pursuing a goal that is going to lead to a major scientific breakthrough but, in reality, it is unlikely that you will be able to accomplish that within the timescale allocated to your project and the work may be a small but nevertheless important step forward for the research team. Therefore, no matter how the title is dressed up – whether to make it sound easy or enthralling or your doorway to the next Nobel Prize – you actually need to do some serious legwork to find out exactly what is involved before you make the final decisions and commit your selection to that all important form.
1.6 INTERVIEWING YOUR TEAM
We have established that the worst thing you can do is sit down with the list and simply pick those projects that you think sound nice or easy or where you merely like the style of the lecturer. So what do you do? The answer is simple. You have to be proactive and effectively interview the supervisors of the projects that you are interested in. It is unlikely that Columbus would have simply hired sailors on the basis of them proclaiming to have seafaring skills. He would have demanded more details and the same is true for you. This may sound a bit intimidating, especially if you are not confident in approaching staff members. However, it is important to remember the significance of choosing the correct project and that must drive you to overcome any reticence.
The project will invariably count for a large chunk of your final mark. You will spend a fair amount of time completing it and, at the end of the day, you need to have a dissertation that you would want to show to prospective employers. It is therefore essential that you do everything within your power to make sure you have the best possible start. Getting that start means that you have to put in the effort to find out as much as you possibly can prior to making that all-important decision. If you just pick willy-nilly, there is a good chance you will end up with a project that you don't like, that wasn't what you thought it would be and where there may be little or no support to guide you through.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Research Project Success by Cliodhna McCormac, James Davis, Pagona Papakonstantinou, Neil I Ward. Copyright © 2012 Cliodhna McCormac, James Davis, Pagona Papakonstantinou and Neil I Ward. Excerpted by permission of The Royal Society of Chemistry.
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