Dear all,
A few things have come up over the past week or so that are worth commenting
on (please read, especially 1C which there has been some very odd comments
made to me lately):
Firstly, the Pro Gradu work and thesis.
A) You should have study plan approved BEFORE you start work. The study
plan should be submitted at least 1 week before and preferably 2 weeks
before you plan to start. It is a free format, but is typically 2 sides of
A4 and MUST include the name of your supervisor(s), location of the work and
start date
B) Under our rules you are only allowed to include in the main body of
your thesis work from the first 6 months after your start date. You are
allowed (if you want) to include an appendix that includes work after the 6
months, but it will not be considered by the examiners in marking the
thesis.
C) The final written thesis must be submitted with 1 year of the start
date of the lab work i.e. for most people within 6 months of finishing the
normal lab period. The current departmental rules are that there is a mark
penalty applied for any thesis submitted after the 1 year deadline. Do NOT
take longer "to make it better", you will get a worst mark.
D) Any extension to the lab work period granted automatically extends
the write up period by the same amount i.e. you still get "6 months" to
write up.
E) There has been a faculty change of rules such that the thesis work
is now graded 0-5, rather than the old latin names. The average mark in the
old system was (and should have been) Magna cum laude, the average mark in
the new system should be 3. If you look at the old and new marking schemes,
an average Magna grade = 3. Under the current university rules the thesis
grade is NOT included in the grades used to generate your average final
grade.
Secondly, there has been some confusion regarding courses which can be
accepted and what cannot. Please see me or Jari if you are unclear, but:
A) Students who join us at the MSc level cannot include our BSc level
courses as part of the 120op they need for their MSc. If you take BSc level
courses to increase your background knowledge they will appear on your
transcript, but do not count towards the 120op.
B) The 12op of optional courses from any university cannot include any
course which is too similar to one which we teach in our department. Please
check with Jari or me if in doubt.
C) There is very considerable overlap between "Protein production and
analysis" and "Protein Chemistry II" (they are timetabled against each other
so that people cannot do both) and you cannot claim both as part of your MSc
. Similarly there is considerable overlap between "Protein production and
analysis" and "Protein chemistry I" and you cannot claim PCI on your 180op
BSc and PPA on your 120op MSc.
If in doubt about things please ask.
Best wishes,
Lloyd