This module will enable students to develop and acquire:

A range of personal and inter-personal skills relating to effective self-management and working relationships with others;

Enhanced ability to communicate effectively in academic and professional settings;

Skills and knowledge required for enhanced employability;

At the end of this module, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate improved self-awareness and personal effectiveness;

2. Work effectively as a team member to achieve a scientific goal;

3. Communicate effectively, using in a variety of contexts to scientific and non-scientific audiences;

4. Access and critically evaluate appropriate bibliographic resources and databases;

5. Evaluate relevant health and safety issues and demonstrate responsible working practices;

6. Demonstrate improved awareness of career opportunities and employability prospects.

Students will also develop independent learning and self-evaluation skills

Group Project -

This refers to scheduled groupwork sessions to prepare a poster

Workshop -

This refers to scheduled workshops (2 h each) This refers to scheduled workshops (2 h each) This refers to scheduled workshops (2 h each) This refers to scheduled time for assessments of the posters and oral presentations.

Assessment -

This refers to scheduled time for assessments of the posters and oral presentations. This refers to scheduled time for assessments of the posters and oral presentations.

Other -

This refers to attendance at poster/oral presentations

1. Studying at Masters Level

Developing work and study skills at M level; Learning/Reflective Logs, and Record of Skills using GoogleDocs; Communication and Team-Working Skills

2. Health and Safety

Understanding and applying University and Departmental safety requirements. Risk assessments, handling hazardous chemicals, COSSH, first aid. Personal responsibility. (requires proven attendance at all University/Department safety sessions for new research members).

3. Information Retrieval and Databases/Bibliographic databases for Informatics Students attend a session given by the Science Librarian where they consider methods of accessing a variety of on-line and web-based scientific and bibliographic databases.

4. Endnote

Exercise in use of Endnote

5. Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

Web-based exercise using material provided by University Graduate School via Vital. (self-directed learning)

6. Preparing a CV and Letter of Application; applying for a PhD/job

7. Preparing for a viva/interview

8. Reviewing scientific literature

9. Writing a research grant proposal

10. Writing a scientific paper

11. Preparing and delivering a presentation

12. Presenting research in context

Understanding the relevance and underlying motivations of your research. Presenting your research for different situations e.g. in specialist conferences, for grant applications, for wider audiences. Use of appropriate information technology.

13. Science on the Read/Write Web

Recent years have seen scientists increasingly engage with their peers and the public via the World-Wide Web. This workshop will look at some of the reasons for doing this (communication and advocacy, data sharing and curation, reduction in travel costs and impact) and try to identify good practice that participants can translate into action via their own blogs, wikis, etc. We will also be looking at issues associated with collaborative authoring and, in particular, synchronous editing of documents.

14. Collaborative working in virtual worlds

Although virtual worlds are in their infancy compared to the web, universities and companies are beginning to look at their potential for project management involving people in different locations, for delivering training and education opportunities, and for providing a space for social interaction and informal learning. In this workshop students will be inducted into the virtual world Second Life, shown how to manage the movement and appearance of their avatar and conducted on a virtual tour illustrating some of the scientific applications of Second Life. Students will learn how to communicate and special emphasis will be placed on reputation management in the workplace.

15. Employability and Educational Opportunities in Biological Sciences

Talk from the Career s Service and workshop on career opportunities