The students work independently on a research topic of the university for a total time of about 10 weeks. The topics depend on the actual research conducted in the various research groups.
However, topics should have an interdisciplinary character covering at least two different disciplines (e.g. chemistry and ecology, or physics and risk assessment). The students submit proposals for selected topics including a time and resource planning as well as an independently conducted literature search. The selected topics will be studied under the guidance of usually two teaching staff members representing the two science disciplines involved. Following an introductory discussion with the supervisor, the students perform the research work on their own and discuss the obtained results regularly with their supervisor. Following the practical work, the students write a report including the theoretical background, the methods used, the results obtained and a discussion of the results based on the relevant scientific literature. The students present and defend the outcome of their work at an oral presentation.
Following successful completion the students therefore are able to plan a scientific work package conduct the work, evaluate the results based on the relevant literature and present the outcomes. |