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PX30PS: PROFESSIONAL SKILLS FOR PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY (2018-2019)

Last modified: 22 May 2019 17:07


Course Overview

This course will give students opportunities to develop technical and professional skills necessary for success in Honours level Chemistry/Physics and beyond. The course will include working with scientific literature, computer programming and the use of software tools in research and activities to enhance employability. Students will develop an appreciation of the power of state of the art computer programs to assist the user to understand complex data sets. Students will also become more confident in communicating and assessing scientific ideas. By considering their own skills development, students will feel more able to identify and compete for exciting graduate employment opportunities.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 3
Term First Term Credit Points 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits)
Campus Old Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Mark Law

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • Any Undergraduate Programme
  • Either Programme Level 3 or Programme Level 4
  • Physics (PX)

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

This course will give students opportunities to develop technical and professional skills necessary for success in Honours level Chemistry/Physics and beyond. The course will include working with scientific literature, computer programming and the use of software tools in research and activities to enhance employability. Students will develop an appreciation of the power of state of the art computer programs to assist the user to understand complex data sets. Students will also become more confident in communicating and assessing scientific ideas. By considering their own skills development, students will feel more able to identify and compete for exciting graduate employment opportunities.

Further Information & Notes

Lectures, workshops, directed reading and self-study projects will introduce a range of computer software important in modern physical sciences research and afford opportunities to develop technical skills in using these programmes and in computer programming. The classes and other activities will also explain issues relevant to reporting, citing and critical assessment of scientific results. Finally, the course will include topics to enhance employability.

Content will include: hands-on experience with specialised software for data processing and visualisation (two of MatLab, Excel, Mathematica, Discovery Studio Visualiser, electronic structure calculation); problem solving using a high-level programming language (one of Python, Fortran, MatLab ...); scientific literature searching and critical appraisal; writing and presentation skills; employability training, including one-to-one discussion with a Careers Adviser and assessing and presenting personal skills set and graduate attributes.


Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 30 August 2024 for 1st term courses and 20 December 2024 for 2nd term courses.

Summative Assessments

Data analysis project report (30%), programming project electronic submissions (30%), essay (20%), application (10%), reflective journal (10%).

Formative Assessment

Draft assessments, CV writing, and Careers Service appointments.

Feedback

Students will receive feedback (formal and informal) on formative exercises and in literature searching/programming/data analysis practical classes. They will also receive feedback on each of their in-course components of summative assessment.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.

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