Introduction

Introduction

Mission Statement

"We shall be excellent in delivering learning and teaching, in undertaking research and commercialisation, in promoting research and scholarship, and in governance and management. The University of Aberdeen will be accessible and inclusive."

PLEASE READ THIS CAREFULLY!

The Catalogue of Courses is a companion volume to the Aberdeen University Calendar. It contains details of all postgraduate courses taught in the University. These courses have been organised to fit a flexible, modular teaching structure which is arranged in half-sessions. Most courses are of one half-session's duration, involving twelve teaching weeks followed by an examination period, although some courses are shorter or longer. The Catalogue should be read in conjunction with the degree regulations and degree prescriptions which are published in the University Calendar.

Course Format:

In the Catalogue, all courses have been listed using a common format. Each course appears under the general heading of the department or subject group by which it is taught. The format used for each course is as follows:

Code – Course Title – Credit Points

Credit Point: the outcome of learning achieved by an average student through 10 notional hours of learning time.

Course co-ordinator: the member of staff responsible for organising the course.

Pre-requisite(s): for entry to the course.

Co-requisite(s): where appropriate.

Note: of particular circumstances or conditions attached to the course.

Course Description: an indication of the topics covered by the course.

Teaching Arrangements: the duration and nature of the teaching contact for the course.

Occasionally, times for some courses are given by Threads 1 and 11 or Slots A to F. These refer to the following divisions of the teaching week:

THREAD 1
Mon 9-1	Wed 11-1	SLOT A
Thu 9-1	Thu 4-6	SLOT E
Thu 2-4	Fri 9-1	SLOT F
THREAD 11
Mon 2-6	Wed 9-11	SLOT B
Tue 9-11	Tue 2-6	SLOT C
Tue 11-1	Fri 2-6	SLOT D

The fact that a course is shown as falling within a particular Thread or Slot does not necessarily mean that teaching for it will occupy all the hours within the period concerned. Further details on teaching arrangements and times may be obtained from the school/discipline concerned.

Method of Assessment: the arrangements for examinations and continuous or other assessment.

In this section information on the Degree Examination relating to the course is shown first, followed by details of any continuous assessment and/or other assessment methods which will be used in the formal assessment of student performance in the course. The weighting given to such methods in the overall assessment of the course is indicated in brackets e.g. 1 two hour examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%). Some courses may be assessed wholly by formal examination or wholly by continuous assessment.

The University Year

The University Year (53 weeks) runs from July to July. A copy of the University Term Dates can be found below. Normally, first half-session courses begin in Week 12 (week commencing 29 September 2008). Second half-session courses begin in Week 30 (week commencing 2 February 2009). For students beginning a taught Master’s programme in September, the project/dissertation part of the degree programme will normally be undertaken during the summer.

Guidance on Course Codes:

Each course is allocated a code which consists of two letters, two numbers and two further characters (usually two further numbers, although sometimes letters are used).

The first two letters represent the discipline or subject group responsible for teaching the course.

The first numerical digit indicates the level at which a course is normally taught.

The second digit indicates the point in the session at which a course starts, according to the following list:

Courses beginning in Timetable week:	Code digit:
12	0
15	2
18	3
21	4
30	5
33	7
36	8
38	9

Students should note that the codes 0 and 5 (weeks 12 and 30) represent the beginning of the first and second half-session respectively.. Unless otherwise stated, courses will conclude by the end of the half-session in which they begin. Where a course has two codes this will normally indicate that the course can be offered in either half-session e.g DR 5050/Dr 5550,..

The final two characters are normally only used to differentiate courses and have no particular meaning.

University Calendar of Dates

Week 1	14 July – 18 July 2008
Week 2	21 July – 25 July 2008
Week 3	28 July – 1 August 2008	4yr Medical Registration
Week 4	4 August – 8 August 2008
Week 5	11 August – 15 August 2008	August Resits
Week 6	18 August – 22 August 2008	August Resits
Week 7	25 August – 29 August 2008
Week 8	1 September – 5 September 2008	5yr Medical Registration/PGDE Registration
Week 9	08 September – 12 September 2008
Week 10	15 September – 19 September 2008	3yr Medical Registration
Week 11	22 September – 26 September 2008	Advising Week
Week 12	29 September – 3 October 2008	Commencement of Teaching 1ST HALF SESS
Week 13	6 October – 10 October 2008
Week 14	13 October – 17 October 2008
Week 15	20 October – 24 October 2008
Week 16	27 October – 31October 2008
Week 17	3 November – 07 November 2008
Week 18	10 November – 14 November 2008
Week 19	17 November – 21 November 2008
Week 20	24 November – 28 November 2008
Week 21	1 December – 5 December 2008
Week 22	8 December – 12 December 2008
Week 23	15 December – 19 December 2008
Week 24	22 December – 26 December 2008	Christmas Vacation
Week 25	29 December – 2 January 2009	Christmas Vacation
Week 26	5 January – 09 January 2009	Christmas Vacation
Week 27	12 January – 16 January 2009	Revision Week
Week 28	19 January – 23 January 2009	Exam Week
Week 29	26 January – 30 January 2009	Exam Week
Week 30	2 February – 06 February 2009	Commencement of Teaching 2ND HALF SESS
Week 31	9 February – 13 February 2009
Week 32	16 February – 20 February 2009
Week 33	23 February – 27 February2009
Week 34	2 March – 6 March 2009
Week 35	9 March – 13 March 2009
Week 36	16 March – 20 March 2009
Week 37	23 March – 27 March 2009
Week 38	30 March – 3 April 2009	Easter Vacation
Week 39	6 April – 10 April 2009	Easter Vacation
Week 40	13 April – 17 April 2009	Easter Vacation
Week 41	20 April – 24 April 2009
Week 42	27April – 1 May 2009
Week 43	4 May – 08 May 2009
Week 44	11 May – 15 May 2009
Week 45	18 May – 22 May 2009	Revision Week
Week 46	25 May – 29 May 2009	Exam Week
Week 47	1 June – 5 June 2009	Exam Week
Week 48	08 June – 12 June 2009	Exam Week / End of Session
Week 49	15 June – 19 June 2009
Week 50	22 June –26 June 2009
Week 51	29 June – 3 July 2009
Week 52	06 July – 10 July 2009	Graduation Week

Degree Structure

The University Calendar contains the regulations for all degrees and other awards and the schedule of prescribed courses that must be taken for each programme. In addition to studying these courses, students must also comply with the overall credit requirement for each programme.

A Postgraduate Certificate requires the accumulation of 60 credit points, including at least 40 at level 5; a Postgraduate Diploma requires the accumulation of 120 credit points, including at least 90 at level 5; a Master’s degree requires the accumulation of 180 credit points, including at least 150 at level 5.

Entry to a Course:

For entry to a course, students must possess the pre-requisite and satisfy the co-requisite (if any) as they are stated in the Catalogue of Courses. In some cases, students who do not satisfy the pre-requisite and/or co-requisite may be admitted to courses at the discretion of the Head of the School concerned.

Students who may wish to enter a course for which they do not have the stated pre-requisite (or for which they will not satisfy the co-requisite) are advised to seek the permission of the appropriate Head of School at the earliest opportunity and certainly before the commencement of teaching for that course.

Students will not be admitted to any course after 25% of teaching for that course has been completed, although some Schools may set earlier limits where in their academic judgement this is desirable.

European Credit Transfer System (ECTS):

The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credit weighting of courses is half the number of Aberdeen University Credit Points stated in the Catalogue.

Contact Details:

Any comments on the format and/or content of this Catalogue will be welcomed and may be directed to
Registry
University Office
King's College
Aberdeen
AB24 3FX
Email: postgraduate@abdn.ac.uk

Further information on taught postgraduate study at the University of Aberdeen can be found in the Code of Practice for Postgraduate Taught Students, which is available on the University’s website at the following address:

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/registry/quality/appendix5x3.pdf

Taught Postgraduate Students should also consult their School/Discipline website.