CHEM 495 (Fall term), 496 (Winter term), or 497 (Spring term) are each a full-time research course. It is open to exchange students only and needs coordinator approval.
Final reports
Final reports are due to the course coordinator one week after Seminar Day.
Seminar Day
Seminar Day is held on a day close to the end-of-course date.
General information
Introduction
CHEM 495, 496, or 497 are each a one-term, full-time research project laboratory (35 hours per week) worth 2.5 full credits and opened to exchange students only.
Students taking CHEM 495, 496, or 497 are required to select a research supervisor and project and make arrangements with them for laboratory space, equipment, chemicals, etc. Upon completion of the project, a detailed written report will be required, as well as a short oral presentation (Seminar) sometime toward the end of the Fall term.
Informing yourself about a project and supervisor
The Department of Chemistry website of your selected university provides a list of faculty members and their research interests. You should select a few faculty members whose research interests match yours and contact them via email to inquire about possible projects and whether they would be able to supervise the research for your project. It is preferable that these contacts be made before leaving on your exchange.
Selecting a project and supervisor
After those informal exchanges, a match should be established between you and a supervisor with an agreement about a research project to be completed during the Fall term.
The final written report
The final written report will be read and graded by your supervisor and by another faculty member. The following comments are meant to serve as a guide – no attempt is made here to make them all-inclusive. Your best guide for help with suggestions regarding style, format, how much material to include, and in what detail, is still your research supervisor. They will have available, for inspection, copies of previous submissions, journal articles, graduate student theses, etc. – all of which can be helpful as a guide. Your research supervisor may prefer a particular style or format based on experience, and you should consider such advice carefully.
The following general comments should be noted:
- Laboratory work must be finished before the end of the Fall term lecture period, and the report should be submitted as soon as possible thereafter, so plan accordingly.
- The report should be typed and bound with the pages fastened securely and with the title and author clearly shown on the cover.
- The first page should list the title of the project, the author, the date of submission, and that it is being submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements of CHEM 495, 496, or 497.
- The next page should be Acknowledgements, and should acknowledge the assistance of the research supervisor and any other faculty members, graduate students, departmental members, and others who have been especially helpful with any aspect of the project.
- The next page should be a Summary, not normally more than half a page, concisely summarizing what is being presented in the report. The Summary will highlight any important features discovered or determined.
- Then a Table of Contents, a List of Tables (if any), and a List of Figures (if any) should be included. These items 3–6 should be numbered as pages (i), (ii), (iii), etc., and item 7 should begin with regular page numbers 1, 2, 3.
- The body of the report will usually be discussed under main headings such as:
- Introduction: A brief outline of what the project is about and why it was started.
- Historical: A brief outline of previous work in the areas before you started. (These above two areas (a and b) may be combined if desired.)
- Experimental: As much of the actual experimental details, especially of any new experiments, should be written down, so someone else could repeat the work or continue it.
- Results and Discussion: With equations, tables, illustrations etc., as long or as short as necessary to describe and evaluate what was accomplished. (Note that d. may come before c. in some kinds of projects; for example, organic chemical projects often are written up with the experimental details at the end.
- References: The last page should list all previous work to which reference was made. References are best made chronologically throughout the report and listed here in that order – authors, publication, and date should be shown in each case. Consult recent journals or theses in your research area for appropriate style and format.
- The length of the report will vary with the project and its details, but normally the main body of the report will range from 15–30 pages. Neatness, logical order of thought, and clarity of expression are important – an overly long report is not necessarily a good one. If in doubt, get your supervisor's advice.
Assessment of the report and the CHEM 495, 496, or 497 final grade
The CHEM 495, 496, or 497 final grade is based on your research work, effort in the laboratory that went into it, your seminar, and on the written report that concludes the project. This written report should be a careful exposition of what you have done and why you have done it. Your supervisor will undoubtedly have some subjective judgment of the quality and quantity of your day-to-day work, and this will influence their assessment of your report. How well you have written your report will also be a very important factor. Also note that a well written report cannot be used to hide a less than satisfactory amount and quality of laboratory work.
The CHEM 495, 496, or 497 final grade will be derived as follows: Term effort: 40 percent; Seminar: 30 percent; Final report: 30 percent (two markers, 15 marks each) for a maximum total of 100 percent. It is to your advantage to get off to a good early start in the laboratory and to maintain it.
If you put in a good solid steady term's work and present an organized seminar and a good write-up, you can expect to receive a fair grade, even if your experimental results did not turn out exactly as you hoped. The faculty are realistic and do not expect miracles – they do expect effort, reasonable enthusiasm, and reasonable experimental competence. Most students enjoy this project laboratory and learn a lot from it.
Marks from CHEM 495, 496, or 497 are due at the Registrar's Office one week after the last official day of examinations. This requirement cannot be changed by you or by your supervisor. Therefore, you must see that your report is submitted in time to be graded before that deadline. If you submit too late, and the deadline is missed, your averages which are examined at the promotion meetings will be incorrect, and the computer-generated default decision on your status will be incorrect. This makes additional work, and additional room for possible errors, in deciding your case. If the delay is substantial, you may graduate, but your name will not be listed in the convocation program, which may disappoint both you and your family and friends.
Oral presentation (seminar)
This is a departmental requirement. It consists of a short (approximately 12–15 minutes) presentation of what you started out to do and the success you achieved. It will usually be presented on a day close to the end-of-term date. Even if the project is not complete, you will be able to describe what you had hoped to learn and what has been achieved up to this point. Even negative results, showing that something does not work, can often be scientifically interesting. Such oral presentations are good training for the future; also, the organization of the presentation will be useful in writing the final report which will be done shortly thereafter.
Exact details regarding times, locations, etc., of the seminars will be announced early in the term so that individuals can plan accordingly. If you need some advice regarding your seminar, your research supervisor will be happy to offer suggestions, criticisms, etc.
Seminar grading
All of the audience attending a given seminar session will be asked to participate by rating the seminar A, B, C, D, or F. Both content and delivery will be considered. The seminar chair will collect all the rating sheets (using one colour for faculty and a different colour for students and others, and with a 2:1 weighting for faculty vs student ratings). The letter grades and comments will be assessed to produce a final numerical mark out of 30 (the portion allotted to the seminar).