Undergraduate Course: Immunology Research Project (IMMU10014)

Course Outline
School	School of Biological Sciences	College	College of Science and Engineering
Credit level (Normal year taken)	SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate)
Course type	Dissertation	Availability	Not available to visiting students
SCQF Credits	60	ECTS Credits	30
Summary	Laboratory project preparation work begins in Semester 1, with a series of lectures and hands-on sessions dealing with practical skills in Immunology, (Experimental Immunology, a 10-point component of the 60-point project) taught on one day per week. This project component covers methods and techniques that are crucial to modern experimental immunology and will be examined by an open-book paper analysis assessment in January. Students will be allocated projects early in Semester 1 and will prepare a 2,000-word project literature review, to be handed in by the end of January. The majority of time during Semester 2 will be occupied by the individual lab-based research project (a wide variety of topics are on offer). The project provides a real flavour of how research is carried out, as the projects are all embedded in active research labs, contributing to the lab's research programme. The work will be written up as a project report, and this together with the project literature review, the experimental immunology test, and a project presentation will make up 50% of the 4th year mark.
Course description	This is part of the Immunology Honours project. It takes the form of lectures, demonstrations and discussion sessions on commonly used immunological techniques, such as ELISA, in vivo adoptive transfer, flow cytometry and cell sorting (FACS), plus lectures on experimental design, statistics, bioinformatics and computational immunology.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites		Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations		Other requirements	None

Course Delivery Information

Academic year 2019/20, Not available to visiting students (SS1)		Quota: None
Course Start	Full Year
Timetable	Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info)	Total Hours: 600 ( Lecture Hours 24, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 12, Dissertation/Project Supervision Hours 250, Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 21, Fieldwork Hours 48, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 3, Formative Assessment Hours 3, Summative Assessment Hours 4.5, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 12, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 222 )
Additional Information (Learning and Teaching)	Fieldwork Hours are for Firbush trip at beginning of year
Assessment (Further Info)	Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 75 %, Practical Exam 25 %
Additional Information (Assessment)	Project component (Experimental Immunology) 10 credits - open book paper analysis test in mid January. Project component (Critical analysis and presentation skills) 10 credits - literature review of 2,000 words (80%) and oral project presentation (20%). Laboratory or library project 40 credits - written dissertation.
Feedback	Not entered
No Exam Information

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to: The research project carried out over 11 weeks provides an opportunity to work in a laboratory to investigate a problem and to attempt to answer specific questions that will advance understanding in a specific area of immunology. Key to this is the technical and practical skills acquired from the research group to which the student is assigned Solving technical problems and designing good experiments develops personal effectiveness and enquiry skills. Working in a laboratory alongside PhD students and postdoctoral fellows and under a senior supervisor develops skills in personal effectiveness and working in a group. The final stages of the project in which results are collated and the project written up involves intellectual autonomy, knowledge and understanding and communication. The writing and presentation skills acquired during the compilation of the project dissertation will improve communication skills.