Seminar 2: What is research? How do I get to do it?
Summary:- The aim of this Seminar
is to continue the pathway from undergraduate years 1-3 on into
honours. A short talk on Honours and Graduate Diplomas is given
including what is required to get into honours. Students talk about
their pathways to honours and their research projects.
What are Honours and Graduate Diploma courses?
Honours and Graduate Diploma courses are identical in content
and expectation, but differ slightly in entry requirements. They
can both be started at the beginning of semester 1 or semester 2.
- Honours: One-year, full-time course including a research
project and course work.
- Graduate Diploma: One-year full-time OR two-year part-time
course including a research project and course work.
The content and assessment for both is the same and consists of:
- Research project (80%)
- Design and Analysis of Biological Experiments (5%)
- Two Course work units (15%) - see list below
- Two presentations (not assessed)
The Research Project
- Is decided in consultation with a supervisor or supervisors
- Can be laboratory and/or field-based
- Can be jointly supervised by scientist(s) from other institutions
- Offers students independent work on some novel aspect of biology
Examples of past projects:
- Interactions between fungal endophytes and pathogenic stem rust
in wheat
- Impacts of agricultural insecticides on crustacean zooplankton:
a field and toxicity study
- Effects of food quality on offspring of viviparous skinks
- Interactions between tadpoles and mosquito larvae
- Partial inhibition of algal starch synthesis by low molecular
weight fractions of homogenised Plesiastrea versipora tissue
- Resource and habitat use of the Eastern Pygmy Possum in Royal
and Heathcote National Parks, New South Wales
- The ecology of insectivorous bats in the Simpson Desert, south-western
Queensland
Course work units available
- Techniques of Analysis of Variance
- Contemporary ethical issues in biology
- Survival of fungi in a host
- The process of evolution
- Charles Darwin: The Man, the Myth and the Message
- The Molecular Genetics of Circadian Behaviours
- Microscopy, structure and function: Can one technique give you
all?
- Behaviour and evolution
- Digestive Strategies in Mammalian Herbivores
Presentations
A preliminary seminar to present the project in order to gain feedback
and guidance on the proposed research, and a final assessment to
present the completed research to the staff and students in the
School of Biological Sciences.
Qualification for entry
You must have:
- satisfied all the requirements for a pass degree in the Faculty
of Science
- completed at least 48 credit points of Senior units of study
in Biological Sciences
- an average grade of at least a Credit in 24 credit points of
Senior Biology
- a WAM (weighted average mark) of at least 68 for all Intermediate
and Senior units of study attempted
- obtained acceptance for project supervision by at least one
academic supervisor
Entry requirements for the Graduate Diploma
program are similar to those for entry
into Honours, with the exception that
students may have a WAM below 68.
Current honours students describe their
experiences
In order to listen
to these sound files, the Macromedia Flash
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To download the latest Flash player please
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Some of these sound files were recorded
at low volume, so please ensure that the
volume level is set at medium to high.
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Pru discusses her experience as
an Honours student.
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(762 Kb)
streamed
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Ian talks about his personal pathway
which includes participation in
a cadetship offered by the university.
He is a Graduate Diploma student.
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(1.14 Mb)
streamed
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Related Links
More information about Honours and Graduate Diploma courses:
Volunteering: A link
to possible volunteering opportunities.
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