Biological Data Analysis and Research Design

Teaching semester

Autumn.

The registration deadline for enrollment in the course is Thursday in week 33 for the autumn semester. You will receive confirmation of whether you received a spot in Studentweb no later than Tuesday the week after the deadline.

This is a course with limited capacity and will only be offered to Master's programme students at the Department of Biological Sciences.

The time of the first lecture/orientation meeting can be found in the schedule on the course website or on the Mitt UiB learning platform.

Objectives and Content

The course aims to give students the knowledge needed to plan a basic scientific study, carry out appropriate statistical analyses, interpret results and report these in written and oral formats. The course is an introduction to the formulation of hypotheses, design of research projects, and scientific writing. Students will get practice with scientific reporting through keeping a record of methods and results based on their own field project data sets.

The course contains two modules:

• Module 1: Project report and presentation
• Module 2: Ethics, scientific writing and speaking, critical reading

The lectures will cover formal genre requirements including text structure, language, tables and figures, citations etc., as well as practical tips. The students will also be given practical experience through evaluating the writing handicraft in published articles, and through presenting their findings orally in various formats. Ethical challenges of doing science and the role of being a scientist will be addressed in group discussions.

Learning Outcomes

Module 1:
In this module, the students will get first-hand practical experience with all stages of a research project, from planning and experimental/sampling design via field work, data analysis, statistics, report writing and communication with relevant audiences through reports and presentations.  

After having completed this module the students should be able to plan and carry out all stages of their own MSc research project.

Module 2:
In this module, the students will be introduced to the basics of writing scientific theses and articles, and of giving oral presentations of research results. The lectures will cover formal genre requirements including text structure, language, tables and figures, citations etc., as well as practical tips. The students will also be given practical experience through evaluating the writing handicraft in published articles, and through presenting their findings orally. Ethical challenges of doing science and being a scientist will be addressed in group discussions.

After having completed this module the students should be able to write up their own research projects in a thesis or article format, and they should be able to present their research results effectively in an oral presentation.

Required Previous Knowledge

Bachelor's degree in biology or equivalent. The course is limited to master programme students at the Department of Biological Sciences.

Forms of Assessment

Portfolio assessment.

Grading Scale

The grading scale used is A to F. Grade A is the highest passing grade, grade F is a fail.

Course Evaluation

Students will evaluate the course in accordance with the quality assurance system at UiB and the Department. You can find courseevaluations in the Quality Assurance Reports.