Dear all,

A catch-all email, with various issues. Please read all carefully.

1) There seems to be some confusion regarding the email I sent on 29th January.

To clarify:

It IS possible to do ANY other MSc level courses from our department to count towards your MSc, even if they appear on the other MSc degree strand. If you do these as options they DO NOT count towards either your 12op free choice AND they do not count towards your compulsory at least 4 courses from the list (if they are not on the list from your degree).

I gave as examples:

e.g. Structural enzymology appears on the Protein Science and Biotechnology degree strand as one of the 4 from 7 choices. However you CAN do it if you are doing the Molecular and Cellular Biology strand and it will count towards the final 120op.

Another example: Neurobiology is listed on the Molecular and Cellular Biology strand but you CAN do it if you are doing the Protein Science and Biotechnology strand and it will count towards the final 120op.

These are EXAMPLES. ANY MSc course (one exception below) that we offer can be taken by EITHER degree strand.

The net outcome of this is that it is NOT compulsory to do the dissertation to get the final 120op as some people seem to think. There really is a lot of flexibility in the MSc (as I keep saying)

The ONE EXCEPTION to this is that the international MSc course "Protein Production and Analysis" CANNOT be taken if you have taken Protein chemistry I - they are essentially the same course, just with different timetables and teaching methods.

Also note that the "Biochemical Methods II" for the international MSc is the same as that offered for our BSc students. You cannot do it twice and count it twice.

2) Just to remind all students, plagarism is NOT tolerated in the department or this university. If you cite somebody else you MUST give the source and if the material is taken verbatum you must put the whole in quote marks. Similarly all figures used must either be your own or properly cited. Your work should be your own work.

3) The dissertation is also causing lots of questions.

It is a MAJOR piece of work (18op = 3 months full time work). Only do it if you are going to do 3 months worth of work on it.

You should do it in a subject that excites / interests you - if you don't you willl be fed up with it by the end of week 3 and probably do it badly and get a bad mark.

It is a very useful exercise for "real life" if you plan to do academic research (or certain other jobs).

It is a quite difficult exercise and if your future career directions do not need the skills perhaps think about other courses (is anyone ever going to take the final examination? What is so bad about locked in a room with me asking questions for an hour and a half?)

It looks best on your CV if it is in a different topic from your Pro Gradu - but this is MUCH more work

It looks next best if it is a related (but still distinct) topic from your Pro Gradu. This is slightly easier.

The easiest option is to do it in exactly the same topic as the Pro gradu, but this looks weak on your CV.

It CAN be spread over a long period of time e.g. 6-12 months to fit around other courses, but this takes discipline and the ability to swap between topics i.e. the dissertation to other taught courses and back again.

Please see me if you have questions.

4) Protein Folding. The timetable is now posted on Moodle. Lots of people (names in black) haven't arranged a time yet to see me for the first "chat", please do so soon. I would like to see everyone at least twice (once to make sure it is going the right way at the start and once to make sure it went the right way). I am happy to see people much more often. If you don't come to see me before your presentation it does not impact on your marks, but if you haven't seen me are you sure you will have the right information presented in the right way?

5) I am off next week (week 10). I will try to reply to any emails I get (and study plans etc) as soon as possible when I return, but there will probably be at least a 1000 emails waiting for me so it might take me a day or two…..

6) On the subject of emails, please remember that 1-2% of emails never get to their destination, if you didn't get a reply it might be that I never got it.

VBW,

Lloyd