Department of Geology – 400-­‐level research projects Guidelines – 2014 GEOL 480 (PGDipSci) | GEOL 490 (BSc Hons) | GEOL 495 (MSc first year) Introduction Postgraduate research projects are often the highlight of a specific degree. They provide students with the opportunity to develop unique professional relationships with one or more academic supervisors and to make significant scholastic contributions. Many of our student projects end up as published papers in various scholarly bodies of work. The scope of individual research projects will vary widely, but success in your research will almost always involve developing good lines of communication with your supervisor(s) and other critical personnel (technicians, fellow students, landowners) at all stages of your project. The purpose of this document is not to tell you how to write a thesis. There are lots of references out there to help you with this. Primarily, this document is meant to establish a common set of expectations for research projects within the Geology Department so that students and staff are working towards the same goals and objectives. The three research papers offered in the Geology Department are outlined below. • GEOL 480 – Postgraduate Diploma in Science Research Project – 40 Points. The PGDipSci is a one-­‐year programme that builds on an undergraduate science degree. The diploma encompasses both papers and a research topic, and can be taken full-­‐time or part-­‐time. It provides entry to the Master of Science (MSc) degree by thesis only. • GEOL 490 – BSc Hons Thesis – 60 Points. A specific aim of the Bachelor of Science with Honours (BSc(Hons)) degree is to develop advanced theoretical and research skills and in so doing to provide a platform for an advanced professional or academic career. • GEOL 495 – Master of Science Thesis Preparation – 40 Points. The MSc is a two-­‐year degree which encompasses both coursework and research. The first year involves mainly coursework and preliminary research preparation. Students will have the opportunity to contribute to existing fields of research, or to begin to develop new areas. Project Submission Deadline Submission of projects: for in-­‐cycle students (those who started their study at the beginning of the academic year) your projects are due at the end of the penultimate week of lectures in Semester 2. In 2014, that will be Friday 3 October at 4:30 pm. For those who start their programme out of cycle, a submission date should be set with the student’s supervisor at the beginning of the research period. Projects will be submitted electronically to [email protected] as a single PDF formatted for two-­‐sided printing. GEOL 480 / 490 / 495 Guidelines – 2014 2 Workload Expectations The University has set expectations regarding the number of hours of work required to complete a degree. Of course, these will vary from person to person depending on the project undertaken and the skills and interests applied. However, as a guideline, here are some ideas on the length of time a project should take. GEOL 490 – BSc Hons dissertation days total hrs (@8 hrs/day) total pts (@ 12 hrs/pt) literature review 15 120 field and laboratory work 35 280 analysis 20 160 write-­‐up 20 160 total 90 720 60 GEOL 480 – PGDipSc thesis and GEOL 495 – MSc thesis preparation days total hrs (@8 hrs/day) total pts (@ 12 hrs/pt) literature review 15 120 field and laboratory work 15 120 analysis 15 120 write-­‐up 15 120 total 60 480 40 Possible layout for a 480 research project or 490 thesis “If I’d had more time, I’d have written less” There is no fixed length to aim for. Projects that will get the highest grades can range from short, focused documents laid out in the form of a scientific paper to more traditional and expansive chapter-­‐based dissertations. Discuss your desired approach with your supervisor(s). Good theses can have lengths between 5000 and 20 000 words (text including figure captions, references not counted). Good theses will be succinctly written and well illustrated. You are trying to convey complex research to an audience – so think of the project like a paper (or a novel) – it must have a clear beginning, middle and an end. Also like a book, it is very easy to turn off the reader with a dull monologue! Appendices can be used for extensive data sets and reference material, but do not make the mistake of burying key data in an appendix. For example, micro-­‐chemical data may be presented as summary graphs with some examples of full analyses in the text -­‐ and a table of all analyses in the appendix. You’ll see that the outline below is similar to that of geological paper. This outline focuses on a petrological example, but it could be readily modified for any geological or geophysical topic. At the beginning of each chapter include a short section (1 – 2 paragraphs) describing the aim or GEOL 480 / 490 / 495 Guidelines – 2014 3 contents of the chapter. This will give the reader an idea of what to expect; it will also get you to focus on whether you have told a concise story in the chapter. ABSTRACT – do this last! Keep it concise. No more than 1 page, or else the reader’s attention will wander. The reader needs to know… • What is the reasoning for the project? Or… What is the issue you are addressing? Or… What is the problem? • What did you do about it? • What did you find out? Avoid waffling on about the field area, rock descriptions, previous work, etc. Generally, 1-­‐2 sentences per chapter will be appropriate – or even better – aim for one paragraph for each of the bullet points above. Chapter 1: Introduction o The idea here is to convey to the reader, simply and effectively, what the study is about (imagine the reader as being completely unfamiliar with the topic). o Think: What’s the problem I am addressing, and why? o It can be useful to layout here also what the specific aims of the project are. 1) To test a specific hypothesis 2) To establish the extent of XY unit and describe units; 3) To determine the P-­‐T–t path of XY; etc. 4) To use the data to build an integrated on the origin of…. o Don’t be afraid to include diagrams. For example, a location diagram is critical, but others may be warranted. Chapter 2: Background o A thorough literature review on topic area is compulsory for a good project. o Work from big picture towards detail. For a tectonics-­‐type project you might work from the national scale to regional scale to local scale; e.g., terranes, geological suites, local geology. o Include diagrams to convey key concepts. There are plenty of geological papers out there, so there’s no excuse not to have any images in this section. Inclusion of diagrams is an effective method of breaking-­‐up dry text. o Google Scholar, searches within Elsevier, Wiley, Scopus, etc. mean that there is no excuse for missing key references. Chapter 3: (First main aspect of project) o Have a short introduction (i.e., a paragraph) that explains what this chapter is about. o If you have investigated geological units, this is where they should be described. You may like to include petrography of them too. o Make sure that if you describe an interesting feature, then you include a photograph of it! 1 picture tells 1000 words. Make pictures easy to see (i.e., at least half a page width and label salient features) and with appropriate captions that enable the reader to understand what the salient point of the diagram is. o Figure captions go below figures; table captions go above tables. GEOL 480 / 490 / 495 Guidelines – 2014 4 Chapter 4: (second main aspect of project) o Have a short introduction (i.e., a paragraph) that explains what this chapter is about. Perhaps you can tie it to the previous chapter; e.g., “Chapter 3 showed that….” o If you previously described units and petrography, it is time to go down to the next level. This might be microprobe analyses, or SEM images, or geochemistry, etc. o More pictures and diagrams where necessary. o Think of ways to convey large amounts of data simply. Tables are excellent. However, keep screeds of data to an appendix – it is not useful in a chapter and just bores the reader. Chapter 5, 6, etc.: (third, fourth, etc. main aspect of project) o See above but continue to work on the next scale down/ increasing complexity. Discussion & Conclusions o Discuss answers to questions laid out at beginning. o Keep conclusions brief! No need to discuss at length aspects already talked about. The conclusion is where you ram home your key points. These could be bullet pointed, and could be a bullet point/paragraph per chapter of thesis. o DO NOT add new data in the conclusions or discussion! All data should have come in previous chapters. Appendices o Include method details – no need to bore the reader in the text with the beam current and voltage of the microprobe, or the focal settings of the CL detector! o Include data and make it accessible; so if you have geochemical data it should be printed out (CDs can perish over time) o Ensure you have OU numbers for samples that you discuss and will catalogue. Rocks and minerals are catalogued in the OU catalogue and PETLAB; fossils are catalogued in the Geology Museum OU fossil catalogue, with localities put on FRED. This will save you time and will make it possible for future researchers to find your samples and further develop your ideas. (See comments on archiving below.) Formatting – there is no prescribed format, but at least 1.5 spacing of text is useful so that readers of hard copy versions can insert suggestions. There is NO excuse for spelling and grammar errors as all computers have a spell checker – this includes draft chapters. Citation Style: be consistent. If you are not using EndNote, BibTex or something similar by this stage, start now! There are automatic libraries included with such packages that will format your citations appropriately. We recommend using the RSNZ Journals format (e.g., the one that is used for the New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics.) If you use a lot of acronyms include a list of these in the beginning of the report (your project may concern geophysics yet a paleobotanist may be marking it). Numbers: in general write out numbers up to ten (e.g., seven rocks were analysed) unless you are using units (e.g., 7 km) or referring to time (e.g., 7 weeks). GEOL 480 / 490 / 495 Guidelines – 2014 5 Quantities and units: all units must be presented in the S.I. system. Always leave a space between quantities and units (e.g., 5.3 ms) with the exception of degrees or percentages (e.g. 8°C, 45°S, 99%). Do not allow the space between quantities and units to break across a line break (there are ways to force a non-­‐breaking space in all word processing packages. Figures: should be embedded in text. All figures should be numbered sequentially and require a descriptive caption that stands alone on its own merit. Figures must be cited in the text in a consistent fashion and numbering must be in the order that the figures appear in the text. Use a template such as NZJGG to determine how to format your figures. The 495 MSc thesis preparation report The points mentioned above are equally important for a 495 report. However, a few specific considerations are listed here. 1) Abstract – should summarise the research problem, the state of the project (preliminary results), and future plans. 2) Introduction – similar to a paper introduction, but longer and with multiple subsections. Narrowing down of scope to get to the fundamental research questions that will be addressed in the MSc thesis at the end of this section. a. Articulation of the big picture research problem and why it is important. b. A concise summary of what’s been done so far to address the problem (concise literature review that identifies gaps). c. Discuss your tools and/or study area and how they will be used to address this gap in understanding. d. Very clear articulation of research questions and research objectives that will be addressed by the MSc. 3) Study Area – Specifics on your particular core, outcrop, study area, etc. 4) Methods – Field, engineering, and analytical methods carried out so far. 5) Results – Discuss the results of this year’s work, including fieldwork, equipment building, ongoing monitoring, analytical results, etc. as they apply to the project. 6) Discussion – Early findings and implications for addressing overall research questions. 7) Work Plan and Timetable – A work plan for Year 2 outlining what will be done to complete the project and what methods will be used to get there. Be specific as possible and include sample numbers, resolution, etc. Outline the time that it will take to complete remaining work, write-­‐
up results, and submit MSc thesis. A graphic of this timeline should be included. 8) Summary – Summary of findings and next steps. 9) References GEOL 480 / 490 / 495 Guidelines – 2014 6 Students should make sure that all submitted work is their own. Plagiarism is a form of dishonest practice. Plagiarism is defined as copying or paraphrasing another's work, whether intentionally or otherwise, and presenting it as one's own (approved University Council, December 2004). In practice this means plagiarism includes any attempt in any piece of submitted work (e.g., an assignment or test) to present as one's own work the work of another (whether of another student or a published authority). Any student found responsible for plagiarism in any piece of work submitted for assessment shall be subject to the University's dishonest practice regulations which may result in various penalties, including forfeiture of marks for the piece of work submitted, a zero grade for the paper, or in extreme cases exclusion from the University. Assessment procedure Once projects are submitted, they are read and assessed by multiple examiners. Generally, the examiners come from the academic staff at the Department of Geology, but occasionally, staff from other departments or universities are asked to review submissions (this is particularly the case for BSc Hons theses.) Once individual readers have had a chance to assess the projects, a grading meeting is held for the examiners at which the theses are discussed and a mark and or grade is assigned by consensus. Occasionally, when consensus cannot be achieved, an additional examiner is asked to review the project in question, and the result is deferred to a later meeting. Marking descriptors % Description A+ Outstanding work of publishable or professional quality, displaying an exceptional degree of originality and creativity and/or exceptional analytical and problem-­‐solving skills. Shows critical understanding of current knowledge and strong evidence of reading/research outside the material presented in the programme. Dissertation could be published with only very trivial corrections. 95-­‐100 A+ 90-­‐94 Excellent work that displays originality and creativity and/or the ability to suggest realistic solutions to novel problems. Perceptive, focused treatment of all issues presented in a critical and scholarly way. Evidence of significant reading/research outside the material presented in the programme. Dissertation could be published with minor corrections, deletions and insertions. GEOL 480 / 490 / 495 Guidelines – 2014 A 85-­‐89 Very good work displaying a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the subject, and with the ability to put the work into context and to critically evaluate selected aspects of the work. Displays ability A-­‐ 80-­‐84 to analyse, interpret and organise information to produce coherent accounts or solve complex problems. Arguments (answers) will be clear, competently structured, and logical. The methods or arguments employed must be accurate. Evidence of reading/research outside the material presented in the programme. Dissertation clear and easy to read, but could only be published with significant corrections. B+ 75-­‐79 Good work showing a competent knowledge and understanding of the subject, with no major gaps or omissions, but with minor gaps or omissions. Displays ability to analyse, interpret and organise information B 70-­‐74 to produce coherent accounts or solve relatively complex problems. Arguments (answers) will be clear, competently structured, and mostly logical. The methods or arguments employed must be largely accurate. Displays some originality of thought, and some evidence of reading/research outside the material presented in the programme. Dissertation has a reasonable and logical presentation in a generally good style, but contains some errors, has some repetition, is a long way from being publishable. B-­‐ 65-­‐69 Adequate work showing a satisfactory basic knowledge and understanding of the essentials of the subject, and with an ability to integrate information into a clear, reasonably structured account, but lacking in C+ 60-­‐64 breadth or depth, or with some significant aspects omitted. Demonstrates an ability to solve limited, defined, problems. Arguments (answers) must be fairly clear, although they may not be well developed. Some errors and omissions are likely to be present. The methods employed are largely underdeveloped. Some small evidence of reading/research outside the material presented in the programme. Dissertation has significant flaws in science, structure and presentation. Work is not publishable. C 55-­‐59 Unsatisfactory work (pass) with very limited depth and breadth of general knowledge and understanding of the subject. Ability to solve basic familiar types of problems. Arguments/answers are likely to be C-­‐ 50-­‐54 deficient in structure. There are likely to be errors and omissions and the evidence provided to support arguments will be very limited. The methods employed will contain flaws. The work displays deficiencies -­‐ and omissions, but not serious enough to warrant a failure. No significant evidence of any reading/research outside the material presented in the programme. Dissertation has multiple flaws in science, structure and presentation. Work is not publishable. D 40-­‐49 Deficient knowledge, understanding of the subject, and dexterity are fragmentary, some aspects showing a very basic level of understanding but other aspects displaying fundamental errors and omissions. No evidence of any reading/research outside the material presented in the programme. Dissertation is broadly deficient with many inadequacies of science, structure and presentation. Work is not publishable. E 30-­‐39 Very deficient knowledge, understanding of the subject, and dexterity are fragmentary, with an insufficient number of aspects showing a very basic level of understanding and too many aspects displaying fundamental errors and omissions. Lacks readiness in the use of knowledge. Lacks evidence of any reading/research outside the material presented in the programme. Dissertation is very deficient with numerous inadequacies of science, structure and presentation. Work is not publishable. E 0-­‐30 Totally inadequate, virtually devoid of any evidence of knowledge or understanding of the subject. Work may not address the question or task set. Dissertation has no value, worthless document, as if the work had not been done. 7 GEOL 480 / 490 / 495 Guidelines – 2014 8 Archiving of project-­‐related data Hardcopies of all GEOL 480 research projects and GEOL 490 theses are lodged in the Geology Department thesis library. GEOL 495 projects are kept until they are replaced by the submission of a final thesis. Any digital data included with your project should also be archived. Data from geochemical analyses of samples can be uploaded to the national PETLAB database, which can be linked to your OU numbered samples. Fossils are normally housed in the Geology Museum collection, and entered on the OU Fossil Catalogue and on the national FRED database (Fossil Record Electronic Database). CATALOGUING SPECIMENS You are required to deposit fossil collections, a representative set of rock specimens, and thin sections, appropriately catalogued, in the Department collection. The set of rocks and minerals should include ALL specimens mentioned in the project report where specimens should be referred to specifically by an OU catalogue number. Please keep the size of samples small. The fossil collections must include duplicate samples of any matrix used for micropaleontology. Fossils must be catalogued in the fossil catalogue, not the rock catalogue. Fossil record forms must also be completed for representative fossil collections. You should discuss which samples to catalogue with your adviser and, in the case of fossils, with Ewan Fordyce. Your submitted project must be accompanied by the form at the end of this handout, signed as indicated. CATALOGUING PROCEDURE Fourth year and graduate students should lodge catalogued rock and mineral specimens with the curator, Claudio Tapia, well before their reports or theses are submitted. The number of specimens lodged should be limited to a representative set from the project and will generally comprise those that have been sectioned, analysed, dated, or specifically referred to in the report. When you are ready to catalogue, see Claudio Tapia for a block of numbers and general instructions. For fossils including microfossil matrix, see Ewan Fordyce for cataloguing and handling instructions. Rocks Specimens should generally be no larger than fist size. OU numbers should be written in black ink on white paint (not snopake) strips approximately 2 cm long. OU numbers, paint, and ink are available from Luke Easterbrook. Do not use the OU rock catalogue to number fossils. Slides Labelling should be done neatly in permanent black ink and remain consistent in form with the following example: GEOL 480 / 490 / 495 Guidelines – 2014 9 NB 30711 Rock analysis Geology Dept Otago University – OU number – special information Phonolite Mt Cargill NZTM E1234567 N5678912 Geology Dept Otago University – rock type – locality – coordinate system – Easting or Longitude – Northing or Latitude Labels to be placed with writing the same way up, as shown Microprobe slides, polished briquettes and crushed powders should also be handed in. Rocks, slides, polished sections etc. from the same specimen all get the same OU number. OU numbers are NOT to be subdivided into A, B, C, etc.; each specimen has a unique number. Description data are entered into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Three different spreadsheets are used according to whether the specimen is a New Zealand rock, an overseas rock or a mineral; the data type instructions for New Zealand rocks are listed below. Discs and instructions for the less commonly used overseas and mineral spreadsheets are available from the curator. Data type rules for New Zealand rocks Field Number unlimited alphanumeric (this field will not be loaded into the database) OU Number 6 digits Coordinate system used e.g., NZTM, NZMG, WGS84 (Must be recorded!) Easting or Longitude Number of digits to reflect precision Northing or Latitude Number of digits to reflect precision Collector 3 UPPERCASE alphanumeric: unique abbreviation allocated by the Curator Year 4 digits: (i.e., 20XX) GEOL 480 / 490 / 495 Guidelines – 2014 10 Slide types 1 to 4 UPPERCASE alphanumeric: a combination of T (thin section), G (grain mount), P (polished section), B (briquette) Analysis types 1 to 7 UPPERCASE alphanumeric: Analyses performed, a combination of D (X-­‐
ray diffraction), S(sedimentology), M (whole rock major element chemistry, T (whole rock trace element chemistry), G (geochronology), I (isotopic), P (microprobe), O (other). Location Proj. Stat. MA 1-­‐6 Spec. Name 1 digit: Specimen housing location: Usually 1, the Curator will inform you if it is to be different. 1 digit: Project status: 1: Exchange 2: Other 3: 3rd year thesis 4: 4th year thesis and DipSci 5: MSc thesis 6: PhD thesis 7: Staff research 2 UPPERCASE alphanumeric: mineral assemblage abbreviations, six possible entries. Use code lists supplied by the Curator. 4 digits: a coded name for the specimen. Use code lists supplied by the Curator. Other up to 255 alphanumeric: any other pertinent data such as formation, description of location, interesting features. Keep it brief and useful! Don't load the database up with trivia. Fossils Fossils collected as part of thesis research should be housed in the departmental fossil collection. This includes specimens or assemblages used to determine age and environment, or as a source of isotopic or other geochemical signal. It also includes samples taken for micropaleontology: small sample of matrix, vial of prepared sample, and microfossil slide(s). Fossil ASSEMBLAGES are normally stored in boxes in the bulk collection. A fossil record number (on the national Fossil Record File of the Geoscience Society of NZ) should be assigned to each bulk collection. * Bulk collections are stored in lidded cardboard specimen boxes (~38 x 24 x 9 cm) organised by metric map sheet in the South Basement. * Locality and horizon information should be recorded on the standard white sticky label on the front of each box. GEOL 480 / 490 / 495 Guidelines – 2014 * 11 Within a box, fossils should be stored in sealed plastic bags, and/or in trays covered with bags. Include locality/ horizon labels with all material. Several assemblages may be placed in one box, as long as the label on the end of the box is clear. Some specimens may be significant enough to be given individual numbers and catalogued in the departmental FOSSIL catalogue. (This is different from the ROCK catalogue -­‐ do not enter fossils into the rock catalogue.) Generally: * OU numbers will be assigned by Ewan Fordyce, using the OU fossil catalogue. The paper catalogue has spaces for number, identification, collector, locality, etc. You may also need to prepare catalogue information on a spreadsheet for entering in the electronic catalogue. * The OU number should be written in Indian ink directly on the specimen or onto a spot of white enamel paint on the specimen. Do not use white correcting fluid -­‐ it flakes off. * a label should also be completed for the specimen. * the labelled specimen should be placed in a tray and stored as directed in the appropriate part of the reference collection in the Geology Museum. GEOL 480 / 490 / 495 Guidelines – 2014 12 DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY
GEOLOGY 400-level
Research Projects
NAME: ..................................................................................
Date: .......................................
A representative set of rock specimens and thin sections has been satisfactorily catalogued and
lodged in the Department collection.
(signed) ...............................................................
Claudio Tapia
Date:.....................................................................
Fossil collections, including representative samples of matrix used for micropaleontology, have
been entered on the Fossil Record File, have been satisfactorily catalogued and have been lodged in
the Department collection.
(signed) ...............................................................
R E Fordyce
Date:.....................................................................