Research Projects Practical Issues and Information Research Master Brain and Cognitive Sciences

Marie Announcements Students interested in the educational committee??? Round table data -> check in which group you are. ABC lecture coming Monday at 4pm MPP evaluations).

3 Programme Practical information how to find a project supervision approval the project itself assessment tips and tricks

4 Research project All students conduct two research projects. Research Project 1 – Credits: 26 or 32 EC January – Half June (32 EC) – full time February – Half June (26 EC) – full time Research Project 2 – Credits: 36 or 42 EC Total EC maximum: 68 EC This means you can only choose to extend one of the two projects 1 EC = 28 hrs 26 EC = 728 hrs = 18 weeks32 EC = 896 hrs = 22 weeks Research project

5 In the time frame of the research project you have to explore, conduct, report and present the study. You need to work on all stages of the research: Development of a research question Designing the experiment Selection of the research methods to address the question Data collection, analyses of the data, literature used Interpretation of the data Development of the argument and discussion Research project

6 Find it yourself: Subject Technique Lab Package deal: Internship advertisements Internquest (7 October) How to find a research project? Courses Lectures Books Advice Journal articles Lab websites Second year students Academic mentors

7 Research project database

8 How to find a research project? What has your interest -> What do you want to research! Google! Talk to second year students Talk to academic mentors Talk to your lecturers research groups Keep an eye on abc.uva.nl Have a global idea of what you would like to do (e.g. which techniques, what kind of study, which subjects, which institute, second project abroad?) Also very important: Know what they do… Inform yourself about the research they conduct Always be polite and respectful when initiating contact

9 Good Internship YOUR INPUT PLANNING PROJECT SUPERVISOR LUCK Beware: you might get offered a different project than you orignially were interested in Realize: an internship is good for you and your supervisor can also benefit from it

10 Research project supervision Inform us on where you will do your research and who will be your supervisor! -> Supervisor ‘daily’ guidance during the project assesses and grades experimental work, presentation and report Co-assessor reads and grades the report co-assessor and examiner can be the same person UvA representative can mediate between student and supervisor if necessary doesn’t grade, unless the roles of examiner and co-assessor are combined makes sure UvA standards are realised in the project Research project

11 Research project supervision Supervisor Permanent member of staff, PhD student or post doc at the research institute Co-assessor permanent member of staff at the UvA (preferably from a different discipline than the supervisor, not a PhD student). UvA Representative permanent member of staff at the UvA (not a PhD student)

12 Research project supervision Supervision: agree on guidance How often per week? Agree on certain day and time Are daily informal discussions? Back up supervision? What techniques will you learn? Supervision: agree on time planning Discuss time planning concerning research and courses Deadline for project, keep study plan in mind Plan enough time for data-analysis and writing Provide your supervisor with the supervisor manual! Don’t forget to discuss these themes in advance: Time schedule Research subject & question Techniques Meetings Your work station Courses Holidays Appointments Work Publication

13 First meeting Plan project Read & study Learn Techniques Do experiments Data analysis Presentation Writing First meeting Plan project Read & study Learn Techniques Do experiments Data analysis Writing Presentation Start Internship Finish Internship

14 Approval procedure Hand in your proposal within a month after the start date of your project! N.B. Submitting it later can lead to deduction of credits since the board does not acknowledge more than 6 EC for preparing the research proposal Research Project Agreement Form Master Study Plan form Without approval students will not be credited for their research project! Research project

15 Research proposal research project agreement form 1.Data of participant and supervisor 2.Title 3.Description (e.g. key questions) 4.Procedure (operationalisation, materials, data analyses etc.) 5.Work plan (time schedule, task distribution etc.) 6.References The Board of Examiners needs to approve, without approval your grade can not be registered! Make sure your proposal is compete and submitted in the first phase of your research Hand in your proposal within a month after the start date of your project! Research project

16 Mid-evaluation Evaluation of the project halfway through Student is responsible for setting the meeting Important meeting to discuss progress, planning and expectations Mid-evaluation form to be filled out independently by supervisor and student and to be discussed in the meeting Final mid-evaluation form has to be sent to Research project

17 Research report The research project report: in English scientific article set up depends on the project itself and on the editorial guidelines of the intended journal for which it is written. In general: The report should be an account of: the researched (sub)questions arising from the project used methods and techniques discussion of all discovered results Research project

18 Colloquium public presentation of research project part of the final grading supervisor and/or co-assessor needs to be present ≈30 minutes presentation and ≈ 30 minutes Q&A final stage of the research at the research lab or at the university, but must be public

19 Research project assessment The assessment of the research project is based on three components: 50% Research Report (scientific article) 40% Experimental work 10 % Colloquium (presentation) The relative weight of the three parts is determined by the board of examiners Weight factors are stated on the Research Agreement Form

20 Research project: in short Select a supervisor / UvA representative / co-assessor after internship agreement: inform us who your supervisor is Write your research proposal agreement form with help from your supervisor. N.B. make solid plans concerning your time planning with your supervisor! Submit approval forms to the Board of Examiners within the first month of starting with the research project without approval your grade can not be registered no more then 6EC is aknowledged for working on agreement form if BoE decided changes need to be made these can still be implemented Results should be reported in a scientific journal article format, the editorial guidelines of the intended journal should therefore be followed The results of the thesis should be presented and defended in public (colloquium) Research project

21 Tips from second year students Don’t be too ambitious for your first project If you take on too much for your first project, you might take a lot longer than planned and lack time to learn the basics Read up on the research your supervisor has done before going to the first meeting Come prepared and ask questions Connect with your supervisor This is a person you will be spending a lot of time with. Make sure you get to know your supervisor/ find the right person Keep a journal /Start writing your report the day you start your internship Write down what you do, when and why from the start. This saves you a lot of time when you have to write your report Research project

22 Set your own deadlines, even if the supervisor doesn’t seem to care that much Projects can go on and on if you don’t set deadlines. Agree on them beforehand and make sure you stick to them. Plan a mid-evaluation meeting with your supervisor If you plan your mid-evaluation already when you start your project, you know you have a fixed moment to discuss progress and expectations Be ready for your project to change Take a summer break Don’t continue on to your second study year without taking some time off

23 Follow up meetings Tuesday 24 February 2015Study Abroad Meeting location tba Tuesday 7 October 2014Cognitio presents: Internquest REC JKB

24 Questions Any questions concerning the given information? Research project

25 Academic mentors Guido Meijer Wouter Boekel Kasper Kok Marlies Vissers Berno Bucker Esther van Duin