Note from June 29, 2020
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
2 credits
0 h + 30.0 h
Q1 and Q2
Teacher(s)
Fichefet Thierry;
Language
French
Prerequisites
LPHYS1213 and LPHYS1221 and LPHYS1231 and LPHYS1241 and (LMAT1261 or LPHYS1201 or LPHYS1202).
The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.
The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.
Main themes
The objective of this teaching unit is to enable the student to have a first contact with the research in physical sciences through the realization of a project of limited scope (e.g., conduction of a small experiment and analysis of its results, realization of a theoretical calculation, development of a simple numerical model and analysis of its results, analysis and interpretation of data coming from an experiment or a numerical simulation, bibliographical study of a current problematic of physics, ...) within a research team under the supervision of a project leader.
Aims
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| 1 | a. Contribution of the teaching unit to the learning outcomes of the programme AA1: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.7 AA2: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 AA3: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.6 AA4 : 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 AA5 : 5.1, 5.3, 5.4 AA6: 6.1, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5 b. Specific learning outcomes of the teaching unit At the end of this teaching unit, the student will be able to: 1. appropriate a scientific question and implement a research methodology to answer it; 2. select the existing relevant bibliography on the subject under study and correctly cite the sources of information; 3. critically read and summarize a scientific article; 4. interact with members of a research team; 5. evaluate and argue the validity of a physical result; 6. represent complex physical results in graphical form; 7. write a small scientific report respecting the structure and style of the relevant field of physics; 8. orally present a research subject in physical sciences respecting time constraints and using adequate visual aids; 9. answer questions in a precise and concise manner. |
The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
This teaching unit consists in the realization by the student of a small research project in physical sciences supervised by a project leader, who guides him in the resolution of the proposed problem. This project is carried out within one of the UCLouvain research institutes in which the academic members of the School of Physics are affiliated (ELI, IMCN, iMMC and IRMP), in one of the federal scientific institutes in which academic members of the School of Physics are working (Royal Observatory of Belgium and Institute of Space Aeronomy of Belgium), in a private company or in the hospital environment. In the first two cases, the project leader is an academic member of the School of Physics. In the other two, it is a member of the host institution; an academic member of the School of Physics must, however, vouch for the quality of the project.
The various possible subjects are communicated to the students during an information session organized during the month of October. They all require thirty hours of work from the student and are adapted to his.her knowledge. The choice of the student must be made and communicated to the project leader he.she selected and to the teaching unit holder by mid-November. The realization of the project takes place mainly in the second semester. The precise schedule is established by the project leader in concertation with the student.
The various possible subjects are communicated to the students during an information session organized during the month of October. They all require thirty hours of work from the student and are adapted to his.her knowledge. The choice of the student must be made and communicated to the project leader he.she selected and to the teaching unit holder by mid-November. The realization of the project takes place mainly in the second semester. The precise schedule is established by the project leader in concertation with the student.
Teaching methods
Realization by the student of a research project of limited scope in physical sciences under the guidance of a project leader. The different stages are: creation of a relevant bibliography on the subject, reading and understanding of the selected articles, implementation and execution of the project, analysis and interpretation of the results obtained, writing of a summary report and oral presentation of the report. To carry out this project, the student is immersed in a research group with which he can interact.
Evaluation methods
A written report of ten pages describing the project and its results must be submitted to the holder of the teaching unit and to the project leader during week 11 of the second semester. This report is orally defended by the student in front of the holder of the teaching unit, the project leader and several academic members of the School of Physics during week 13.
An interim mark is provided by the project leader to the holder of the teaching unit prior to the defense. This mark takes into account (1) the scientific quality of the work done, (2) the degree of investment, initiative and critical thinking of the student, (3) the degree of immersion of the student in the research team of the project leader, (4) the student's discussions with the project leader and (5) the quality of the written report. At the end of the defense, the mark is modulated according to the quality of the presentation and the answers to the questions asked by the audience.
Bibliography
Un portefeuille de lecture minimum est communiqué à l'étudiant.e en début de projet.
Faculty or entity
PHYS
