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MODULE AIMS

This module aims to give students a rich experience in using scientific databases and online literature searches to find relevant literature relating to a research topic in modern-day chemical research. Students are assigned a research project in the first part of Term 1, and this will form the topic for their literature review. Students will write a 6,000-7,000 word literature review describing references from the primary literature. This module aims to teach students to critically select appropriate scientific articles, find answers to scientific questions in the literature and to communicate the relevant details. In addition, they will research and understand the area in which they will go on to perform their research project. This module is supported by the literature searching and scientific writing sections of CHEM0072 Transferable Skills for Scientists.

By the end of this module students will be able to:
•ÌýÌý ÌýEffectively use appropriate databases and search terms to look up chemical literature describing a specific research topic.
•ÌýÌý ÌýCritically assess the available literature and identify papers that best describe significant advances in a given area of research.
•ÌýÌý ÌýFind answers to scientific questions in the literature.
•ÌýÌý ÌýWrite a fully-referenced review describing their research topic.

TEACHING AND LEARNING METHODS

As well as a briefing session there will be lectures providing advice on how to structure and write a literature review. Students work under the supervision of their research project academic supervisor to identify key papers in their research area and choose the most relevant to include in the literature review. In addition to timetabled hours it is expected that students engage in significant self-study in order to write their final report. They will need to invest a significant amount of time in carrying out literature searches, reading papers, making notes and writing drafts.Ìý