The key achievement of students enrolled in this course is the preparation of a document that details a research project they have carried out over the semester. The work is lightly guided by the Course Convenor and individually assigned research project supervisors from the staff of the Crawford School. The choice of the topic investigated is shared between the student, course convenor and supervisor. The course is an important lead into further research studies students may wish to undertake and offers the opportunity for students to explore in-depth, particular issues of environmental management that are of specific interest.

The Research Project is designed to introduce students to the practice of independent research.

The course will be assessed on the basis of student performance in two modes of assessment:

1.      Poster or PowerPoint presentation   10%

2.      Final Report                                 90%

16 hours per week

EMDV8008 Research Proposal, which must be completed with at least a Distinction grade.

Academic journal papers

The course will be taught using a combination of lectures and discussion sessions. It begins with a lecture on the basic principles of the research process followed by another class on the development of a research topic. Following these more formal sessions, the course continues through a sequence of informal discussion sessions in which research ideas, methods and then results are mooted. A formal presentation of results session concludes the course.