All research students must complete the Core Training described elsewhere. A set of problems and exercises are part of the Data Analysis and Statistics course. A record of the marks, and of student attendance, will be kept. Students will be required to repeat this course if their attendance or marks are unsatisfactory. There will not normally be formal assessment of the other Generic Skills Training Courses, or of the Colloquia, but attendance records of these will be kept by the lecturers or supervisors, and students may be asked to complete written exercises in some cases. Students are reminded that PhD vivas may include questions on general physics and one of the purposes of the courses is to prepare the student for such questions.
Prior written apologies for absence must be made to the lecturer concerned, or in the case of colloquia to the colloquium organiser.
Each student will have an Individual Physics Postgraduate Package (IPSP) designed by their supervisor, in consultation with the student, and a 1-page summary must be submitted to and approved by the Director of Research (submission deadline: Friday of week M2). The following guidelines should be observed:
Satisfactory completion will be required for progression.
This package represents the School's minimum requirement. Supervisors will normally require their students to attend addtional training and/or courses relevant to their research.
See also: Guidelines for Individual Postgraduate Study Packages.
All PGR students starting their programme in 2010 and thereafter must maintain a portfolio (in a ring binder) containing evidence that they have complied with the requirements of IPSP. The portfolio will normally contain photocopies of notes on background reading, papers they studied and annotated, module notes if relevant, test data, etc.
The portfolio is to be inspected periodically during the year by the supervisor. The periodic supervisor meeting forms include a additional checkbox asking whether or not the IPSP and portfolio is progressing as expected. The form for the final meeting has a checkbox to indicate whether the portfolio has been finished and a comment box for additional work that needs to be performed before the Director of Research approves progression to the Stage 2 year.
Where further specialist physics courses are deemed necessary, these are available from three sources: 3rd/4th year undergraduate modules, seminars within research groups, and external courses, for which supervisors have suitable funds available. It is the student's responsibility to discuss with his/her supervisor the need for such courses. In the case of external courses (e.g. those run by the Institute of Physics), the School requests that any student attending such a course to write a short (1/2 a page of A4) report stating what material was covered, whether the course was useful, and how it could be improved. In this way we can build up a file which will enable us to decide whether to send students on future courses.
All research student are required to participate in the Graduate School Generic Skills Development Programme which includes generic skills workshops. Stage 1 students must attend at least four of these workshops, including:
Stage 2 students must attend a further two workshops. Stage 3 students also attend at least two workshops including:
All Graduate School workshops are open to all postgraduates, so students may enroll on more than the minimum numbers above. Places are limited so book early using the form on the Graduate School webserver.
During Stage 1 of their programme, research students are also required to write two formal reports, and to give a research talk. Both reports should be word-processed. The deadlines for these reports are given in the timetable detailed elsewhere in this handbook.
The written reports will be assessed. The assessors will complete the standard report form [available in PDF or RTF formats] which will indicate the progress of the student. Even in the case of students making excellent progress, this report may contain constructive criticisms of the student's performance. These are intended to be of help to the student. The reports are:
A critical literature survey of the student's research area which could form the basis of the background chapter of a PhD thesis. The purpose of this is to make sure that the student has grasped the necessary physics background.
The literature survey should, in either case, be no more than 5000 words in length. It will be the subject of a 3/4 hour discussion with two members of staff other than the student's supervisor. The supervisor may also be present as an observer.
The two staff assessors will normally be the student's mentor and a member of staff appointed by the Chair of the School of Physics Research Committee.
The second report is a summary of progress, or a paper written and submitted to a journal, and a description of future plans (not more than 2000 words). This summary ensures that the research is progressing satisfactorily.
The same two members of staff who assessed the literature review will assess this report. They will read the report itself and debrief the student informally afterwards.
These lectures will take normally place on the Wednesdays of Weeks T1:02 and T1:03 from 1400 to 1700. All post-graduate students should attend.
All staff are invited but first- and second-supervisors, and the staff who have read the Year 1 reports are asked to make particular efforts to attend their students' lectures, the timetable can be adjusted if necessary. It may be difficult for supervisors and assessors to attend the talks. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the student find out from those people (when the Autumn term timetable becomes available) times during that Friday when they will be available, and let the Postgraduate Training Programme Co-ordinator know of any restrictions by the beginning of that term. In the absence of such information the talks will be in alphabetical order.
The 15 minute talks must keep strictly to time. Talks should be divided into three clearly delineated five-minute sections illustrated by two or three coloured OHP transparencies. A final coloured transparency should show a graphical work plan indicating with milestones what has been achieved and what remains to be done. There will be 5 minutes for questions after each talk.
The three sections of each talk will be:
Marks will be awarded by the Supervisor, the two assessors of the previous written reports, and the Postgraduate Programme Co-ordinator on the basis of:
Assessors should complete the assessment form (a PDF version available) for each talk, and further informal feedback should be provided by the supervisors.
Two informal feedback sessions will be held, one in the Autumn term, and one towards the end of the course. Students are welcome to discuss the course with staff at any time either directly or through the Postgraduate Representative on the Student Staff Liaison Committee.
During Stage 2 of their programme, students must participate in one of the five-day residential workshops of the Research-Councils-run Graduate Schools Programme. Attendance at these is free for Research-Council-funded students; other students will need their fees paid for by the School using money in the appropriate RTSG account. [Note. Early in the Stage 2 year seems to be the optimum time to attend.]
EPSRC requires all students it sponsors to attend a Research Councils' Graduate School, or an equivlent training programme, during the second or third year of a 3-year PhD.