Honours Requirements

Summary of the Requirements for Honours Year Students in the Discipline of Pathology

Objectives Entry Requirements Candidate Requirements Additional Information PDF Version

PREAMBLE
The Discipline of Pathology offers undergraduate research degree candidature to students from the Faculty of Science. These courses are undertaken either within the Discipline of Pathology or externally in one of the Clinical Schools or research institutes associated with the Discipline. Each project is under the supervision of a member of academic staff from the Discipline and, in the case of external candidates, in association with a supervisor from the laboratory where the work will be performed. The Roles and Responsibilities laid down by The University of Sydney for students and supervisors are available to students and staff at "Code of practice for supervision of postgraduate research students" Website: http://www.usyd.edu.au/ab/policies/Supervision_PG_Rsch_Students.pdf

OBJECTIVES

To train undergraduate research students in the methodologies, skills, conventions and ethics of science.
To promote links between basic science, the discipline of pathology, and clinical medicine.
To prepare students for postgraduate studies.
To foster a broadly based interest in science among graduates of the University.
To conduct high quality research in an environment of intellectual freedom and equal opportunity.
To encourage research students to publish their results in high quality journals.
To provide a safe working environment for students and to ensure that they learn safe laboratory practices.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Students must meet the following criteria before being allowed to enrol in a BSc Honours or equivalent degree:

Have obtained a WAM of 65 or greater*
Have approached a supervisor who has agreed to undertake supervision of the nominated project.
Have suitable Associate Supervisor/s nominated by the Discipline in consultation with the primary Supervisor.

(N.B. Students planning to be located in a laboratory associated with the Discipline and NOT LOCATED in the Discipline MUST be interviewed by their Discipline Associate Supervisor before acceptance into Honours.).

*Students not meeting this criterion may consult the Head of Discipline to discuss the possibility of entry.

(N.B. Students whose WAM is less than 68 may have difficulty in achieving a mark in the range of Class 1 Honours, since the Discipline is constrained by a requirement of the Faculty of Science that the average Honours mark for all the students in a Discipline must not exceed the average WAM + 10. The minimum score for Hons 1 is 80).

Note. For Science students it is not necessary to have completed Cell Pathology 3.

REQUIREMENTS OF CANDIDATES
General

To optimise time available during the year it is strongly recommended that students start by February 1st.
Students who handle animals during Honours must complete an Animal Handling Course early in the year.
Students who will be handling radioactive substances or may be exposed to other sources of radiation (e.g. X-ray, radioisotopes) are required to undertake a Radiation Safety Course.

Literature Review and Thesis

The maximum length of the thesis is 25,000 words (excluding references and figure legends). This will usually equate to approximately 85 pages for the main text, at the rate of approximately 300 words per page (assuming TImes font, 1.5 line spacing and reasonable margins). Normally, the entire thesis will be approximately 120 pages, including all parts of the thesis.
The Literature Review (Introduction) is due on first week in May and should be submitted in both pdf and hardcopy. The Introduction should be approximately 7,500 words (excluding references and figure legends), equivalent to approximately 25 pages for the main text. The Literature Review is expected to be formatted in a similar style to the final thesis Chapter 1, and should include a list of references cited, and appropriate figures and tables.
The completed thesis is due at first week in November. This submission date is required to meet Faculty of Science deadlines and APA Award deadlines.
Short extensions (less than 1 week) without penalty will only be granted in extraordinary circumstances with the approval of the Head of Discipline. Longer extension requires approval of the Head of Discipline and the Dean of the Faculty concerned.

Procedure for submission of Literature Review and Final Thesis:
These documents should be handed in to the Front Office of the Discipline in hardcopy form, and also submitted electronically as an Adobe Acrobat pdf document, with the file being submitted directly on disck, or sent by email to Lorraine Rhind (lorraine@pathology.usyd.edu.au). For students located off campus, the submission time and date will be taken as the time the email pdf copy is sent to the Discipline, although the identical hardcopy MUST be submitted within 24 hours to the Discipline.

Theses are examined by 3 examiners: members of the Pathology Discipline and external examiner/s. Each examiner is asked to submit a report based on the following criteria:

Content	Introduction Material and methods Results Discussion
Scientific Merit	Is the work properly controlled? Are the conclusions justified? Are alternative conclusions canvassed?
Style	Overall presentation Accuracy (typographical errors, text-table correlation, figures & captions)

The Discipline Board of Examiners meeting (Head of Discipline (or representative), the Honours Coordinator and other Academic Staff) allocates an overall mark for Honours. The results are confirmed at the Faculty of Science examiner's meeting, at which marks can be adjusted in accordinace with the Faculty's requirements.

Seminars

Students will present a short overview and research plan to the Discipline on first week in March (10 min presentation, 5 min question).
Students present a full seminar (20 min presentation, 10 min question), reporting their data, after submission of their thesis. The final seminar is expected to be on second week of November.
Introduction to Discipline morning tea: Students and supervisors are invited. First week in February.
Compulsory Research Techniques Seminars: Fortnightly Research Techniques seminars are held Thursday 4 pm in the first semester which cover practical and theoretical aspects of a variety of commonly used research tools. A logbook will record attendance.
Compulsory Journal Club: On alternate weeks in the first semester a Journal Club is held. Students present a journal article for discussion. A Research scientist from the Discipline is on hand to "guide" the discussion. They will commence on first week in March (after the introductory seminars).
Additionally, all students are required to attend four formal research seminars during the year. For internal students this may be the Discipline seminar series, and for external students the seminar series run by their own department. Similarly, any formal research institute seminar series would be suitable. Students are required to write a 200 work synopsis of each seminar in their log books, to be reviewed by and commented on by their supervisor.

Assessment

Mark Breakdown:
Introductory Chapter Thesis	5% 75%	Coursework (Including all aspects of seminar participation) Final Seminar	10% 10%

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Postgraduate Scholarship Application
Students considering applying for Commonwealth Scholarships for postgraduate study are advised to ensure that they inform their supervisors and discuss their options in adequate time for applications to be completed correctly and submitted.

Problems
A number of avenues exist to assist students who are experiencing problems with their candidature. In the first instance students are encouraged to speak with their supervisor/s. If this is unsatisfactory or inappropriate a number of other options are available. (Honours Coordinator, Postgraduate Student Representative, EEO Officer, Head of Discipline).