Consultations and questions
on topics can be done by email or in
my office by arrangement. Note that I will be likely be out of contact from
April 6-10, and only contactable by email from April 11-24.
I intend to run these two courses jointly, with the same
requirements (described below) for both.
The aim of these courses is to provide you with an opportunity
to learn in more depth about a topic in physics or a physics-related field
that interests you, and at the same time gain experience in doing
literature research, preparing a scientific presentation, and writing
a scientific article.
My role as instructor will be to help you choose an appropriate topic,
help answer questions that come up as you research this topic,
and provide feedback on the drafts of your paper and your presentation.
My intention is to provide detailed feedback
on not only the scientific content of your paper, but also its style
and use of language. I will give you comments on your initial draft and
then reread the revised version (the latter being
what the grade will be based on).
The paper should be submitted as either a PDF file
or put up as a web page. It should be "scientific" in style,
probably with
an abstract, introduction, the body, and then a conclusion
and references. But what matters to me more than the precise style is
the clarity and accuracy of the presentation.
Presentations should be created on the
computer (e.g. in powerpoint or whatever other software you want).
They will probably be 15-20 minutes long, with 10 minutes for discussion.
You should practice your talk beforehand
(on friends or, failing that, on a blank wall!).
My present idea is that
the final papers, as well as presentations,
will be posted on the class web page as they are completed,
although each student needs to agree with the posting of his or her
material beforehand.
You may either work individually or in pairs. The paper for an individual
should contain at least 5 "normal" pages of text (excluding figures and references); that for a pair should be twice as long.
Please make sure to write all the text yourselves. Of course,
links to web pages or other information are good as appropriate.
First week: choice of topics and assignment of times for presentations.
This must be completed by Tuesday, April 5th.
Available dates are 4/28, 5/3, 5/5, 5/10, 5/12, 5/17, 5/19, 5/24, 5/26,
5/31 and 6/2 (with 6/9 at 4:20 being a backup).
Weeks 2-4: students do research into topics, corresponding with instructor
by email as needed, and begin draft of paper and presentation.
I will be out of contact from April 6-10 (due to surgery), and only
contactable by email during the subsequent two weeks.
There will be no class sessions on 4/7, 4/12, 4/14, 4/19, 4/21 and
4/26.
First draft of paper must be received at least a week before
the presentation to allow time for feedback. Thus the students giving
the first talks (on 4/28) will have to mainly correspond with me
by email. I hope to be available for in person office hours starting
Monday 4/25---these will need to be set up in advance by email.
Weeks 5: talks begin on 4/28.
I expect 2 or 3 talks per session.
Weeks 6-10: talks continue on both Tuesdays and Thursday sessions.
Students prepare final version of paper after feedback on draft
and on presentation.
Finals weeks: If needed, our exam "slot" is Thursday June 9th
from 4:30-6:20pm. This might be used for scheduling talks
if needed (I hope not).
Please keep this time open until the schedule has finalized.
Your course grade will be based on attendance and participation
in class sessions (approximately 20%),
your paper (approximately 40-50%)
and your presentation (approximately 40-30%).
A grade of 0.0 will given to anyone not completing their
paper and/or presentation.