Final year projects

Introduction
During the three years at the University, the final year project or dissertation is the only experience that may come close to real research in the lab. This is your chance to test if you are likely to enjoy research, or if your future lies elsewhere. It is also the first time you have to work from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m., apply what you have learned in theory, make own decisions, discuss unexpected results, experience troubleshooting and improvising, taking pride in getting things to work after a while and by all means celebrating new exciting results. Of course, all this only applies to proper 40 credit laboratory- or field projects. If you choose a 20 credit literature project, you will merely write a review, just like any other essay, just longer and with more references to cite.

A 40 credit project offers more than just a hands-on experience. Since you will have worked with a scientist for 10 weeks, followed by supervised writing of the dissertation during another 10 weeks, you will gain a personal referee who can really comment on your abilities and whose testimony will be taken seriously. Often, the reference from the third year project supervisor is the decisive element during job applications, because everyone knows that personal tutors only see you from time to time. Participation in active research also brings you in contact with international collaborators, and you will be made aware of many job-opportunities that you would otherwise never hear about. For all these reasons, a proper 40 credit research project is one of the best assets of your University course, regardless of your future aspirations, because it is the closest simulation of a real job you can get, whether in science, industry, education or self-employment.
The bad news is that it is very difficult to predict from lectures and practicals which research topic and which project is likely to offer an interesting learning experience for your own purpose. Students generally choose their projects last minute and often based just on how cool the title of the project sounds. Science is a difficult discipline, often based on being in the right place, doing the right experiment at the right time. There is no easy way out, you may be very smart, but if your project is not delivering interesting results, your career does not progress. This is particularly bad when you find out after 3 years of PhD work. Don’t let that happen. Choose your third year project with care, talk to as many academics as possible, get to know the demonstrators from the practicals (they are usually PhD students in the Faculty), and above all, don’t leave it to the last minute.

For a selection of possible research projects available in our team, click here.