Group project

In week 1, students will be introduced to the idea of the group project, supported by basic information provided online. We will dedicate one half of a lecture in week 2 to cover the group project and what we expect from the students. 

Students will be asked to sign up to a group project in week 3 and start the group project in week 4, giving them 6 weeks to complete the project before the deadline in week 10. We are happy to support multiple groups working on a similar subject.  

A teaching assistant (TA) will be assigned to each group to help them get started and provide support throughout the six weeks. We anticipate that TAs will spend at least one hour per week with each group. The weekly meeting will help the TAs to support all group members to establish their roles, contribute equally (avoid free-riding and dominating group members), and to minimize the risk of last-minute rushes toward the week 10 deadline.  

Each group will be provided with a project title, a brief abstract of the idea that needs to be explored, and 10 peer-review papers that outline the bigger picture of their chosen subject material. Working with the lecturers and the teaching assistants, the group members will identify some data that can be used to prepare some ideas for the group project.  

The assessment will be based on a UKRI NERC proposal with sections on a) Summary [300 words], b) Vision [1000 words], and c) Approach [1500 words]. We will closely follow the UKRI guidelines for each section, defined below.

The group-based UKRI application, including Summary and Approach, will be scored using guidance from NERC (20%). 

The Vision statement will be delivered on an individual basis (10%) .

Summary: This is an exercise in writing succinctly in a compelling way. 300 words will be used to summarise in plain English, so it is suitable for a variety of readers, for example: opinion-formers, policymakers, and the public. You will include the context for the work, the challenge the project addresses, aims and objectives, and potential applications and benefits.

Approach (1000 words): Explain how you have designed your work so that it

a)    is effective and appropriate to achieve your objectives

b)    identifies any risks to delivery and how they will be managed

c)    uses a clear and transparent methodology

d)    summarises the previous work and describes how this will be built upon, if relevant.

Images are worth 150 words so use them sparingly and only to convey important information that cannot easily be put into words. Insert each new image onto a new line. Provide a descriptive legend for each image immediately underneath it (this counts towards your word limit).

References may be included within this section. They are not included in your word limit.

Vision (1500 words): explain the importance of your proposed work and how it has the potential to advance current understanding, generates new knowledge, thinking or discovery within or beyond the field or area. Also explain how the proposed work is timely given current trends, context and needs.

Images are worth 150 words so use them sparingly and only to convey important information that cannot easily be put into words. Insert each new image onto a new line. Provide a descriptive legend for each image immediately underneath it (this counts towards your word limit).

References may be included within this section. They are not included in your word limit

Additional evaluation

We will also score individuals based on peer evaluation of the application [PP3] (10%), and process-based assessment (5%) :

Peer evaluation: group members will anonymously assess each other's contributions using a structured feedback form to identify individual effort and accountability. Ten percent should encourage all group members to actively participate in the project.