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The projects are carried out, either in a laboratory at the Institute of Psychiatry or, subject to approval by the Programme Leader, in another institution. Part-time students may, subject to approval, carry out their project at their place of work. Students first view and select their preferred projects online. Students then arrange to meet supervisors of their preferred projects after which the supervisors offer their project to their chosen student, again online.
The project module as a whole, carries a total of 60 credits and therefore comprises 33% of the total number of credits for the Programme. The project module is divided into a written report, laboratory notebook and poster. The written report represents 60% of the project module (36 credits). The laboratory notebook, which includes as assessment of the student's behaviour in the laboratory, represents 20% the project module (12 credits)and the poster represents a further 20% of the project module (12 credits). The project supervisor acts as first marker for the report and laboratory notebook. A member of the Examination Board acts as second marker of the project report to ensure comparability across report marking. The poster is marked by two local members of the examination board and by an intercollegiate or external examiner.(12 credits)
Full-time students begin their projects in late March/early April and continue until the submission date in August. Part-time students are expected to carry out their projects on a one-day per week basis over one year, submitting at the same time as the full-time students.
By the deadline please submit one copy to your Project Supervisor (in whatever format is agreed with the Supervisor), and email one electronic copy in pdf file format to MSc Neuroscience; It is important that the deadline is adhered to in order for the Supervisor to read and mark the report before the deadline imposed by the Examination Board.
The purpose of the report is to train the student to write in a concise manner which is appropriate to a scientific publication in a journal such as the Journal of Neuroscience, to develop experimental skills, to undertake a literature review and to critically analyse and discuss the results.
The report should be typed in a font not smaller that 11 point and double spaced on one side only. Figures and tables should, preferably, be inserted at the appropriate positions in the text (appendices should be reserved for presenting supplementary data). The overall length should be between 7,500 and 10,000 words and should consist of: a Title page (see below), Abstract, Table of Contents, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, References and, if necessary, Appendices (the word limit excludes figure legends, references and appendices).
Title Page: This should include the title of the project, the names of the student and supervisor, the department and university affiliation in which the research was carried out (e.g., Department of Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, University of London) and the following statement:
Project report in partial fulfilment for the degree of MSc in Neuroscience August 201*.
This should provide a concise summary of the objectives, methodology, key results, and major conclusions of the study in not more than 350 words on one-side of A4.
This should include a concise but thorough review of the relevant literature This should be sufficient to explain the background to the project, what hypotheses are being tested and why the particular methods have been chosen to investigate the question. It should be about 1500 words.
The detail should be sufficient to allow a qualified investigator to repeat the research. Reference should be made to published procedures and modifications wherever possible. The sources of all materials used should be given. The length should not exceed 1500 words.
This section should present clearly but succinctly only those experimental findings which are discussed further in the Discussion and which are essential to establish the main conclusions of the work. Tables, figures and photographs should be numbered and inserted, with their legends, at the appropriate place in the text. The legends should include sufficient detail to make them intelligible without reference to the text. The text should not simply repeat the data in figures but draw attention to the main findings.
Remember that negative results are as valuable as positive results, provided that the experiments have been designed and carried out properly. With the same proviso, you will not be penalised if experiments have not worked and if it can be shown that sensible strategies have been adopted to achieve success. The results should not be discussed in this section.
It is important that statistics are used correctly. The Biostatistics Department offers statistical advice. You can also book a 20 min or 40 min appointment. Some advice is also available at the following excellent websites:
Rice Virtual Lab in Statistics
Vassar Stats. Web site for statistical computation
The Really Easy Statistics Site. Unfortunately, this site is no longer maintained.
The discussion should commence with a brief statement of the principal findings. This should be followed by a discussion of the validity of the observations (e.g., a consideration of methodological limitations). Interpretation of the results should then be discussed in the light of other published research dealing with the same or closely related subjects. The section should conclude with a statement of the possible significance of the work, any future work that might arise out of the project, and a final brief summary paragraph. The ideas expressed in the conclusion must be warranted by the data obtained and presented in the Results section.
Students should double check that all in-text citations are in the reference list and that all references on the reference list have at least one corresponding in-text citation. References should be given in the style used by the Journal of Neuroscience and listed in alphabetical order. That is:
Only published and "in press" references should appear in the reference list at the end of the report. Manuscripts submitted for publication and personal communications should be cited only in text and in the following form: A. B. Smith, C. D. Johnson, and E. Greene, unpublished observations; F. G. Jackson, personal communication.
References should be cited in the text as follows: "The procedure used has been described elsewhere (Green, 1978)," or "Our observations are in agreement with those of Brown and Black (1979) and of White et al. (1980)," or with multiple references, in chronological order: "Earlier reports (Brown and Black, 1979, 1981; White et al., 1980; Smith, 1982, 1984).... "
In the reference list, papers should be given in alphabetical order according to the surname of the first author. In two-author papers with the same first author, the order is alphabetical by the second author's name. In three-or-more-author papers with the same first author, the order is chronological. The name of the author(s) should be followed by the date in parentheses, the full title of the paper as it appeared in the original together with the source of the reference, the volume number, and the first and last pages. The following illustrate the form to be used:
Journal article
Hamill OP, Marty A, Neher E, Sakmann B, Sigworth F (1981) Improved patch-clamp techniques for high resolution current recordings from cells and cell free membrane patches. Pflugers Arch 391:85-100.
Hodgkin AL, Huxley AF (1952a) The components of membrane conductance in the giant axon of Loligo. J Physiol (Lond) 116:473-496.
Hodgkin AL, Huxley AF (1952b) The dual effect of membranepotential on sodium conductance in the giant axon of Loligo. J Physiol (Lond) 116:497-506.
Book
Hille B (1984) Ionic channels of excitable membranes. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer.
Chapter in a book
Stent GS (1981) Strength and weakness of the genetic approach to the development of the nervous system. In: Studies in developmental neurobiology: essays in honor of Viktor Hamburger (Cowan WM, ed), pp 288-321. New York: Oxford UP.
Students should discuss their results and how to present them with their supervisor before beginning to write their report. The supervisor should then see a draft of the report before it is finalised. The final form and the Discussion and Conclusions are your responsibility and reflect the way you have carried out the work, the reading and your understanding and appraisal of the results found. Statistical advice should have been sought from the Department of Biometrics and Computing on either project design or analysis.
By the deadline please submit one copy to your Project Supervisor (in whatever format is agreed with the Supervisor), and email one electronic copy in pdf file format to MSc Neuroscience; It is important that the deadline is adhered to in order for the Supervisor to read and mark the report before the deadline imposed by the Examination Board.
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