Postgraduate Course: Sustainable Energy Systems Dissertation (PGEE11017)
Course Outline
| School | School of Engineering |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Dissertation |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 60 |
ECTS Credits | 30 |
| Summary | This course is the dissertation project element of the MSc programme in Sustainable Energy Systems. The student will contribute an original piece of research on a topic relevant to sustainable energy systems. He or she will report on the work, its results and a critical appraisal of these in his or her thesis. |
| Course description |
Dissertation work begins at the start of the second semester, when the general topic and area of research are selected and agreed with the allocated Supervisor. Student and Supervisor should meet in the second semester to discuss the dissertation topic. The Student is expected to take the time to start researching the literature and think about appropriate methods to carry out the research, following which he or she must submit a Dissertation Mission Statement by the end of the second semester after approval by the Supervisor. The main phase of the dissertation work starts immediately after the May examinations. By mid-June, a Dissertation Seminar will take place, during which students present their plans for Dissertation work and expected outcomes. By the first week of July, each student will have arranged and taken a one-to-one interview with their Dissertation Thesis Examiner. Around mid-August, the Dissertation Thesis must be submitted by the specified deadline. Finally, students are required to prepare a Dissertation Poster and present it at a dedicated session for the whole class a week after submitting their thesis, which is the final part of their Dissertation Project.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Pass minimum 80 credits of Level 11 taught courses with mark 50% or higher, with overall average mark for all 120 credits of 50% or higher |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2022/23, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Block 5 (Sem 2) and beyond |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
600
(
Dissertation/Project Supervision Hours 20,
Formative Assessment Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 60,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 12,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
507 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
65 %,
Practical Exam
35 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1. MSc Dissertation Project: Practical Work and Thesis (95%)
3. MSc Dissertation Project: Poster Presentation (5%)
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| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Applying knowledge and understanding from earlier studies, as well as increasing competence in particular areas of study or research related to sustainable energy systems.
- Delivering added value through the answer to one or several associated original (novel) research or design questions that are explicitly related to sustainable energy systems engineering. The scope of these questions may be of scientific, design or operational nature, or it may cover an economic or social science aspect of energy engineering. An application of a well-established method to a particular system is not in itself an original research topic, but an appropriate design of the research program would generate appropriate datasets and interpretations of these that answer a wider question of genuine general interest on such systems.
- Conducting systematic and targeted literature searches from relevant peer reviewed literature, technical reports, personal communications, patents, specification sheets, databases, company literature, etc., with the aims of: 1) checking the timeliness and relevance of a research or design question, and if appropriate modify that question or reformulate new questions accordingly; 2) establishing the prior history as well as the state-of-the-art in the field; 3) putting the question into its wider context outside engineering, e.g. current and prospective societal needs, public acceptance and policy, markets and economics, regulations etc.; 4) inform the methodology and metrics to be applied in the project; 5) establish benchmarks for comparing project results with prior ones.
- Demonstrating an ability not just to gather data, but also to interpret it, as well as to critically appraise the sources and contents and to compare between sources, and if necessary proposing appropriate metrics for comparison and attempting the recasting data from disparate sources into a common format. Being critical of one's own result, clearly establishing their range of validity and the uncertainties.
- Designing, planning and executing an original programme of work appropriate to answering the research or design questions that the project is asking, being mindful and observant of health and safety issues and procedures. Planning also includes the writing up of the thesis, and adjusting this programme of work as the project progresses to suit e.g. changing circumstances, setbacks, or new insights that are brought about by results.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Brian Sellar
Tel: (0131 6)51 3557
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr James Foster
Tel: (0131 6)51 3562
Email: |
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