Dear all,
Orientations:
For us and for you it is good to show how well your studies are progressing and a “magic” number is 45op completed studies per academic year (1st August to 31st July). Many people do not complete the forms to get the orientation credits until they have all 12 or 18op, but this often means that the records show less than 45op of studies in a year despite them having done more. This impacts on our funding and (this year especially) study rates are being carefully monitored to make certain (important) university level decisions. It is essential we show real credit completion rates including all orientations that have been done.
If you have not yet claimed orientation credits please do so and claim any credits earned before 31st July. Jari will accept credits this week, Tuula will accept them for the following two weeks and during July there will be forms and a place to return them by Jari’s office and he will come in from time to time to put them into the system.
Pro Gradu:
There are a couple of issues arising:
1) When you hand in your Pro Gradu thesis please CHECK the hard copy carefully. In the past couple of months we have had several that have had printing problems such that parts of figures or figure legends are missing, which has impacted on grades. With Microsoft especially what is on the screen is not always what prints out.
2) There seems to be some confusion about the timetabling for Pro Gradu projects. The timetabling is:
i) At least 2 weeks before you plan to start you need to submit a study plan to me for approval. I judge scientific merit (99.9% pass on this) and whether proper planning has been done (around 1/3rd fail on this) – 6 months is a short time and advance planning is essential. The plan is free format, but must include a start date, where you will do the work and the name and position of the supervisor(s).
ii) You can include 6 months of research work in the main body of your thesis e. g. if you start 3rd June your last day is 2nd December. There is nothing to stop you continuing to work in the lab, but you cannot include it in the main body of your thesis i.e. it does not count for assessment.
iii) You have 1 year from the start date to submit the thesis i.e. if you take the full 6 months in lab you have 6 months to write up and submit. Late submissions have a reduction in grades.
iv) If, for whatever reason e.g. sickness, you are unable to work through no fault of your own you can apply for an extension. The request should be sent to me. It should say why and when you were unable to work and how long extension you are requesting. It should be signed by you and your supervisor.
Best wishes,
Lloyd