year 4 research project

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Grade 4 Research Projects Worksheets

Related ela standard: w.4.7.

This is the grade level where students begin to explore the research process. Students should be encouraged through this process to help make it manageable and making sure the students have interest in that they are doing. It is always best to explore topics that reflect your students' everyday lives. It is often helpful at this level to have students work in groups or pairs. The jury is still out on whether groups should be assigned or chosen by students. Below you will find a number of research projects students can engage with quickly.

Grade 4 Research Projects Worksheets:

You Are What You Eat – A really thought provoking worksheet for students.

Developing a Research Plan – Let's look at all the tools you have at your disposal.

Your Road Map to Successful Research! – I find a lot of students holding on to this one, even as they progress grades.

Horsing Around – Here is how to zero in on the perfect research topic set.

Animal Kingdom – We ask you a bunch of questions. Make sure to answer all of them.

Planning A Biography – Choose a famous person that interests you. Research that person's life.

Art and Government – Do you think that the government should give money to artists?

Fair Winds and Following Seas – The quotation above is a nautical phrase used to wish sailors good luck on a journey.

Brainstorms – On the back of this sheet, brainstorm a list of words and ideas related to your report. Which one interests you the most?

What's in a Profession? – Different careers require different temperaments and different levels of education.

Look Before You Leap! – Do you have a great idea for your report? Before you dive in, think through the questions below to set yourself up for success!

Navigating the Research Waters – Writing a report can be a long journey; use this checklist to make sure your project sails along smoothly.

Get Ready to Write! – On the back of this sheet, brainstorm a list of words and ideas related to your report.

Your Research Project! – Before beginning to write your report, you should have a firm understanding of your intended audience.

Research Checklist – Things you need to check before submitting any report you may have.

How to Approach Your First Research Project?

Here are some steps to follow for your first research project:

Choose A Topic

The first and foremost step towards doing your research project is to actually decide the topic. This is a very essential step that decides the future of your research project. You should choose a topic that you are passionate about. It should align with your interests. This is necessary because it will keep your interest alive throughout the project.

Write A Thesis Statement

The next step towards doing your first research project is to write the working thesis statement. The working thesis statement will help you throughout the project. It will keep you on track. There are three types of working thesis statements that include persuasive, expository, and analytical. Give yourself enough time to write the thesis statement. Try to make it as narrowed down and specific as possible.

Do Research

The next step is to conduct the actual research on your topic. You can do so by collecting information from credible sources. These sources could be primary or secondary. Make sure that you read your entire research thoroughly. Another tip is to always double-check the authenticity of your research. Your research project should not contain any false information. This could ruin your academic reputation.

Make an Outline

After you are done with the topic, thesis statement, and research, it is time to arrange all the information and ideas you have collected. Make a rough outline of how your article will be. You can decide what information will be in the introductory part and what ideas you will mention in the main body.

Write a Draft

When a clear image of your final article has been made, it is time to start writing the draft. Do not worry about perfection at this time as you can edit and rephrase later. After writing and editing many drafts, you will be left with one final draft.

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• Research Skills

50 Mini-Lessons For Teaching Students Research Skills

Please note, I am no longer blogging and this post hasn’t updated since April 2020.

For a number of years, Seth Godin has been talking about the need to “ connect the dots” rather than “collect the dots” . That is, rather than memorising information, students must be able to learn how to solve new problems, see patterns, and combine multiple perspectives.

Solid research skills underpin this. Having the fluency to find and use information successfully is an essential skill for life and work.

Today’s students have more information at their fingertips than ever before and this means the role of the teacher as a guide is more important than ever.

You might be wondering how you can fit teaching research skills into a busy curriculum? There aren’t enough hours in the day! The good news is, there are so many mini-lessons you can do to build students’ skills over time.

This post outlines 50 ideas for activities that could be done in just a few minutes (or stretched out to a longer lesson if you have the time!).

Learn More About The Research Process

I have a popular post called Teach Students How To Research Online In 5 Steps. It outlines a five-step approach to break down the research process into manageable chunks.

This post shares ideas for mini-lessons that could be carried out in the classroom throughout the year to help build students’ skills in the five areas of: clarify, search, delve, evaluate , and cite . It also includes ideas for learning about staying organised throughout the research process.

Notes about the 50 research activities:

• These ideas can be adapted for different age groups from middle primary/elementary to senior high school.
• Many of these ideas can be repeated throughout the year.
• Depending on the age of your students, you can decide whether the activity will be more teacher or student led. Some activities suggest coming up with a list of words, questions, or phrases. Teachers of younger students could generate these themselves.
• Depending on how much time you have, many of the activities can be either quickly modelled by the teacher, or extended to an hour-long lesson.
• Some of the activities could fit into more than one category.
• Looking for simple articles for younger students for some of the activities? Try DOGO News or Time for Kids . Newsela is also a great resource but you do need to sign up for free account.
• Why not try a few activities in a staff meeting? Everyone can always brush up on their own research skills!

• Choose a topic (e.g. koalas, basketball, Mount Everest) . Write as many questions as you can think of relating to that topic.
• Make a mindmap of a topic you’re currently learning about. This could be either on paper or using an online tool like Bubbl.us .
• Read a short book or article. Make a list of 5 words from the text that you don’t totally understand. Look up the meaning of the words in a dictionary (online or paper).
• Look at a printed or digital copy of a short article with the title removed. Come up with as many different titles as possible that would fit the article.
• Come up with a list of 5 different questions you could type into Google (e.g. Which country in Asia has the largest population?) Circle the keywords in each question.
• Write down 10 words to describe a person, place, or topic. Come up with synonyms for these words using a tool like  Thesaurus.com .
• Write pairs of synonyms on post-it notes (this could be done by the teacher or students). Each student in the class has one post-it note and walks around the classroom to find the person with the synonym to their word.

• Explore how to search Google using your voice (i.e. click/tap on the microphone in the Google search box or on your phone/tablet keyboard) . List the pros and cons of using voice and text to search.
• Open two different search engines in your browser such as Google and Bing. Type in a query and compare the results. Do all search engines work exactly the same?
• Have students work in pairs to try out a different search engine (there are 11 listed here ). Report back to the class on the pros and cons.
• Think of something you’re curious about, (e.g. What endangered animals live in the Amazon Rainforest?). Open Google in two tabs. In one search, type in one or two keywords ( e.g. Amazon Rainforest) . In the other search type in multiple relevant keywords (e.g. endangered animals Amazon rainforest).  Compare the results. Discuss the importance of being specific.
• Similar to above, try two different searches where one phrase is in quotation marks and the other is not. For example, Origin of “raining cats and dogs” and Origin of raining cats and dogs . Discuss the difference that using quotation marks makes (It tells Google to search for the precise keywords in order.)
• Try writing a question in Google with a few minor spelling mistakes. What happens? What happens if you add or leave out punctuation ?
• Try the AGoogleADay.com daily search challenges from Google. The questions help older students learn about choosing keywords, deconstructing questions, and altering keywords.
• Explore how Google uses autocomplete to suggest searches quickly. Try it out by typing in various queries (e.g. How to draw… or What is the tallest…). Discuss how these suggestions come about, how to use them, and whether they’re usually helpful.
• Watch this video  from Code.org to learn more about how search works .
• Take a look at  20 Instant Google Searches your Students Need to Know  by Eric Curts to learn about “ instant searches ”. Try one to try out. Perhaps each student could be assigned one to try and share with the class.
• Experiment with typing some questions into Google that have a clear answer (e.g. “What is a parallelogram?” or “What is the highest mountain in the world?” or “What is the population of Australia?”). Look at the different ways the answers are displayed instantly within the search results — dictionary definitions, image cards, graphs etc.

• Watch the video How Does Google Know Everything About Me?  by Scientific American. Discuss the PageRank algorithm and how Google uses your data to customise search results.
• Brainstorm a list of popular domains   (e.g. .com, .com.au, or your country’s domain) . Discuss if any domains might be more reliable than others and why (e.g. .gov or .edu) .
• Discuss (or research) ways to open Google search results in a new tab to save your original search results  (i.e. right-click > open link in new tab or press control/command and click the link).
• Try out a few Google searches (perhaps start with things like “car service” “cat food” or “fresh flowers”). A re there advertisements within the results? Discuss where these appear and how to spot them.
• Look at ways to filter search results by using the tabs at the top of the page in Google (i.e. news, images, shopping, maps, videos etc.). Do the same filters appear for all Google searches? Try out a few different searches and see.
• Type a question into Google and look for the “People also ask” and “Searches related to…” sections. Discuss how these could be useful. When should you use them or ignore them so you don’t go off on an irrelevant tangent? Is the information in the drop-down section under “People also ask” always the best?
• Often, more current search results are more useful. Click on “tools” under the Google search box and then “any time” and your time frame of choice such as “Past month” or “Past year”.
• Have students annotate their own “anatomy of a search result” example like the one I made below. Explore the different ways search results display; some have more details like sitelinks and some do not.

• Find two articles on a news topic from different publications. Or find a news article and an opinion piece on the same topic. Make a Venn diagram comparing the similarities and differences.
• Choose a graph, map, or chart from The New York Times’ What’s Going On In This Graph series . Have a whole class or small group discussion about the data.
• Look at images stripped of their captions on What’s Going On In This Picture? by The New York Times. Discuss the images in pairs or small groups. What can you tell?
• Explore a website together as a class or in pairs — perhaps a news website. Identify all the advertisements .
• Have a look at a fake website either as a whole class or in pairs/small groups. See if students can spot that these sites are not real. Discuss the fact that you can’t believe everything that’s online. Get started with these four examples of fake websites from Eric Curts.
• Give students a copy of my website evaluation flowchart to analyse and then discuss as a class. Read more about the flowchart in this post.
• As a class, look at a prompt from Mike Caulfield’s Four Moves . Either together or in small groups, have students fact check the prompts on the site. This resource explains more about the fact checking process. Note: some of these prompts are not suitable for younger students.
• Practice skim reading — give students one minute to read a short article. Ask them to discuss what stood out to them. Headings? Bold words? Quotes? Then give students ten minutes to read the same article and discuss deep reading.

All students can benefit from learning about plagiarism, copyright, how to write information in their own words, and how to acknowledge the source. However, the formality of this process will depend on your students’ age and your curriculum guidelines.

• Watch the video Citation for Beginners for an introduction to citation. Discuss the key points to remember.
• Look up the definition of plagiarism using a variety of sources (dictionary, video, Wikipedia etc.). Create a definition as a class.
• Find an interesting video on YouTube (perhaps a “life hack” video) and write a brief summary in your own words.
• Have students pair up and tell each other about their weekend. Then have the listener try to verbalise or write their friend’s recount in their own words. Discuss how accurate this was.
• Read the class a copy of a well known fairy tale. Have them write a short summary in their own words. Compare the versions that different students come up with.
• Try out MyBib — a handy free online tool without ads that helps you create citations quickly and easily.
• Give primary/elementary students a copy of Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Citation that matches their grade level (the guide covers grades 1 to 6). Choose one form of citation and create some examples as a class (e.g. a website or a book).
• Make a list of things that are okay and not okay to do when researching, e.g. copy text from a website, use any image from Google images, paraphrase in your own words and cite your source, add a short quote and cite the source. 
• Have students read a short article and then come up with a summary that would be considered plagiarism and one that would not be considered plagiarism. These could be shared with the class and the students asked to decide which one shows an example of plagiarism .
• Older students could investigate the difference between paraphrasing and summarising . They could create a Venn diagram that compares the two.
• Write a list of statements on the board that might be true or false ( e.g. The 1956 Olympics were held in Melbourne, Australia. The rhinoceros is the largest land animal in the world. The current marathon world record is 2 hours, 7 minutes). Have students research these statements and decide whether they’re true or false by sharing their citations.

Staying Organised

• Make a list of different ways you can take notes while researching — Google Docs, Google Keep, pen and paper etc. Discuss the pros and cons of each method.
• Learn the keyboard shortcuts to help manage tabs (e.g. open new tab, reopen closed tab, go to next tab etc.). Perhaps students could all try out the shortcuts and share their favourite one with the class.
• Find a collection of resources on a topic and add them to a Wakelet .
• Listen to a short podcast or watch a brief video on a certain topic and sketchnote ideas. Sylvia Duckworth has some great tips about live sketchnoting
• Learn how to use split screen to have one window open with your research, and another open with your notes (e.g. a Google spreadsheet, Google Doc, Microsoft Word or OneNote etc.) .

All teachers know it’s important to teach students to research well. Investing time in this process will also pay off throughout the year and the years to come. Students will be able to focus on analysing and synthesizing information, rather than the mechanics of the research process.

By trying out as many of these mini-lessons as possible throughout the year, you’ll be really helping your students to thrive in all areas of school, work, and life.

Also remember to model your own searches explicitly during class time. Talk out loud as you look things up and ask students for input. Learning together is the way to go!

You Might Also Enjoy Reading:

How To Evaluate Websites: A Guide For Teachers And Students

Five Tips for Teaching Students How to Research and Filter Information

Typing Tips: The How and Why of Teaching Students Keyboarding Skills

8 Ways Teachers And Schools Can Communicate With Parents

10 Replies to “50 Mini-Lessons For Teaching Students Research Skills”

Loving these ideas, thank you

This list is amazing. Thank you so much!

So glad it’s helpful, Alex! 🙂

Hi I am a student who really needed some help on how to reasearch thanks for the help.

So glad it helped! 🙂

seriously seriously grateful for your post. 🙂

So glad it’s helpful! Makes my day 🙂

How do you get the 50 mini lessons. I got the free one but am interested in the full version.

Hi Tracey, The link to the PDF with the 50 mini lessons is in the post. Here it is . Check out this post if you need more advice on teaching students how to research online. Hope that helps! Kathleen

Best wishes to you as you face your health battler. Hoping you’ve come out stronger and healthier from it. Your website is so helpful.

Comments are closed.

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Using research projects for end of the year engagement.

Two questions we are all asking ourselves at the end of the year are: 

• How can I keep my students engaged?
• What can I assign and GO?

Research projects are the answer! With the end of the school year quickly approaching, research projects are the perfect way to reflect on what your class has learned this year while still having fun! Here are four research project ideas to use with your class:

• Weather and Climate
• Environment

Ways to Use

 All of these projects have many uses! Each of these projects is on Google Slides, making it super easy to assign on your learning platform. Students will have FUN and will still be learning at the same time!

One way to use the projects is to wrap up a unit. You can use the projects to assess what your students learned on a particular topic or utilize it as an extension of learning. The projects can be used as an informational writing unit, a science/social studies unit, or a final project.  Students can put their skills to use and showcase all that they have learned this year.

Manage your students' work time using Class Slides with Timers . My students thrive when expectations are posted on the board, and they know how long they have to complete their tasks. Using the slides with timers helps keep my students motivated, moving, and meeting daily goals.

Animal Research Project

This animal research project is the perfect companion to an informational writing unit! Students can work individually or in groups. This digital project is in Google Slides. There are 25 animal research options with links & 65 research templates! Rubrics are provided to help you assess (editable ones provided, too).

Presentation Ideas

Another focus of the project could be practicing listening and speaking skills through presentations. After the students have completed their slides, you can hold a presentation day! Students will love sharing their discoveries with the class. You can assess their listening and speaking and help them learn valuable presenting techniques they will use for the rest of their life!

Have you ever used Flipgrid ? This is a great tool to pair with The Hero/Famous Person Research Project . Students can create their Flipgrid from the point of view of their hero/famous person. You could also have your students record their presentations with Flipgrid. This helps my shy students find their voice because it feels more private when presenting instead of being in front of the class. My outgoing students get super creative and love when their classmates watch their videos. You and your students will have so much fun watching the final products!

Differentiation and Collaboration

One thing I love about these projects is that they can be differentiated! You pick and choose what slides work best for your students. Each project has over 20 slides to choose from! Students can work individually or in groups. You can even have an in-person student work with a virtual student to foster classroom community and collaboration. At the end of the year, I love having students work on project-based learning collaboratively.

Weather Research Project

This weather and climate research project is perfect for your students to complete at the end of a Weather or Meteorology Unit! Students will research the weather and climate of a vacation location! Students can work individually or in groups.

Grading your research projects has never been easier! Rubrics are included that are pre-made or editable so you can do what is best for your class. There are many ways you can take it as a quick end of the year grade:

• Presentation
• The project as a whole
• Individual parts of the project

PROJECT IDEAS

• Summer vacation can't come soon enough? You and your students can visit your dream location and study its weather and climate in the   Weather and Climate Research Project.  
• Listen to your students apply new vocabulary when they talk about how organisms interact with their environments in the Environment Research Project .
• Wrap up an informational writing unit with the Animal Research Project .
• The Hero/Important Person Research Project can be used as an extension of a biography unit, a social studies unit, or both.

Project-based learning is a great way to wrap up your year. Listen to your students apply new vocabulary, use the project for assessment, or pair the project with an informational writing unit. All of the research projects include over 20 slides to choose from. Everything you need to get started is included. Just assign and GO! These research projects are perfect for the end of the year because your students will be engaged by the interactive slides included in the resources while having fun learning!

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The Essential Guide to Doing Your Research Project

Student resources.

Examples of Student Research Projects

Search form

• Important Information - MUST READ

Program Structure

• About the Medicine Program
• Styles of Learning and Teaching

Clinical Learning

• Clinical Skills

Graduate Capabilities

Assessment & progression.

• Progression
• Award of Pass with Distinction
• Enquiry Form

NSW Health Requirements

Learning resources.

• General Education & extra-Faculty Electives
• Assignments and Projects
• Peer Feedback
• Portfolio Examination

Medicine/Arts Program 3856

Newsletters.

• Assignments & Projects
• Year 4 Medicine Research Project

Phase Three

Elective term.

• Course Assessments
• Phase Assessments
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Investigative Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Exchange to Oslo in Phase 3

• Interface and Navigation Features
• My Preferences
• eMed Portfolio

The Project

Entry requirements, getting started, publications.

A Year 4 Medicine Research Project is a supervised project undertaken by a fourth-year medical student at UNSW. We have two research streams:

• MD Research (ILP; 30 Units of Credit) and
• BSc(Med) Honours (48 Units of Credit). The BSc(Med) Honours stream has entry requirements.

The research project is designed by the supervisor (that meets our criteria for supervision) whose responsibility is also to obtain the appropriate ethical approval, if applicable, for the project prior to data collection and no later than the end of the 4 th week of Term 1. The supervisor is also responsible for providing the student with the appropriate training and support for the project (including but not limited to health and safety, methodology, scientific/clinical knowledge and other relevant research skills). Such training could be provided to the student by the supervisor directly or by other resources such as the co-supervisor, other members of the research team or other resources available within the medicine program and the university. The supervisor is responsible for providing the student with an appropriate, safe and well-resourced research environment (if applicable).

It is required that the student attends the research environment where the project is conducted for at least 25 hours per week, for 30 weeks ( MD Research/ILP ) or 35 hours per week, for 34 weeks ( BSc(Med) Honours ). The student is not permitted to work from home for any significant length of time (maximum of 20%) and must be engaged with the research environment, attending research and supervisor meetings, seminars and other training opportunities negotiated with the supervisor(s). By the end of the ILP and/or BSc(Med) Honours the student is expected to:

• Demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills in clear and concise presentation of research information that is appropriately referenced.
• Demonstrate an understanding of relevant research methodologies by applying them appropriately to the research project.
• Collect, analyse and interpret qualitative and/or quantitative data, and reach appropriate conclusions that are supported by evidence.
• Interpret and critically evaluate research literature, to formulate hypotheses or research questions and then to justify discussion, comparisons or conclusions from the research performed.
• Demonstrate professional skills in planning, time management, teamwork and research integrity.

BSC(MED) HONOURS ONLY:

• Design future experiments and studies based on the knowledge and research skills development through the research project.

Year 4 Medcine Research Project is designed to be undertaken in one of UNSW Medicine's Schools or a UNSW affiliated research institute or centre . Interstate or Overseas research projects will not be considered.

The research must address research aim(s) and hypotheses or research question(s) using scientific inquiry. The research must generate and/or analyse primary or secondary data in a systematic manner. It is expected that the final research report would meet the criteria set for a manuscript to be published in an indexed peer reviewed academic journal in the field.

The study design of the Year 4 Medicine Research Project may vary across the program and disciplines and below is a non-exhaustive list of examples of what would be considered appropriate, or not, for a project.

A few examples of projects that could be considered appropriate:

• Preclinical (animal studies, tissue analysis) or clinical projects testing a hypothesis.
• A qualitative inquiry of documents addressing clear research questions and using an established qualitative research framework/theory.
• A case-control study involving a very small number of participants/subjects due to objective limitations of such a study.
• A secondary analysis of an existing dataset provided it addresses research questions not asked before for that particular (or very similar) data-set.
• A systematic review that included a meta-analysis of a relevant scientific topic, which follows the conventional method(s) in the field.  

Some additional considerations:

• An extension of a previous MD Research/BSc(Med) Honours project using an extended dataset (more participants/subjects and/or more variables) is acceptable provided the research questions /hypotheses already consider the findings of the previous project and aim to add some new knowledge. The new project must require new analysis and hypothesis testing or new research questions.

A few examples that are NOT appropriate projects:

• A descriptive audit report.
• A case report.
• A thematic or systematic review which does not include meta-analysis.
• A replica of a previous Iproject that uses the same data set

MD Research Project (ILP) Entry Requirements

Students have completed year 3 clinical coursework requirements are eligible to apply.

BSc (Med) Hons Entry Requirements

Students with a Phase 1 average course mark of ≥ 65 (see WAM calculation below) and have completed 12 UoC general education before Term 1 in year 4, are eligible to apply.

Mark Calculation

The Phase 1 average course mark is calculated from the following courses:

• MFAC1521 Beginnings, Growth and Development A
• MFAC1522 Beginnings, Growth and Development B
• MFAC1523 Health Maintenance A
• MFAC1524 Health Maintenance B
• MFAC1525 Ageing and Endings A
• MFAC1526 Ageing and Endings B
• MFAC1527 Society & Health

In addition, students are required to pass the following courses (including passing subsequent supplementary exams, but if a student fails a course then they will be ineligible):

• MFAC1501 Foundations
• MFAC1511 Phase 1 Portfolio
• MFAC1512 End of Phase Examination
• MFAC1513 Clinical and Communication Skills Examination
• MFAC2514 Integrated Clinical Studies 1
• MFAC2515 Integrated Clinical Studies 2
• MFAC2516 Integrated Clinical Studies 3
• MFAC2511 Phase 2 Portfolio
• MFAC2512 Integrated Clinical Examination

General Education

General Education information is available here .

How to negotiate a project

Students are encouraged to negotiate a research project with prospective supervisors. Some projects will also be designed by supervisors and listed in eMed for students to view. In both cases, the year 4 medicine research project form must be completed by the supervisor in eMed.

• List of supervisors
• List of research topics

Past Projects

2019 Cohort

• 2020 Cohort
• 2021 Cohort

Year 4 Medicine Research Project Form

• This form is available in eMed from March to Monday 17 June 2024 .  
• Application Form [word] (To avoid unexpected loss of data entry, it is recommended to complete this form in a word version and then paste your responses into an eMed application form)

Criteria for Primary Supervisor and Co-Supervisor

• The supervisor and co-supervisor must be UNSW academic staff members or have a conferred academic title holder (conjoint or adjunct) with UNSW.  There are no exceptions to this rule.
• The primary supervisor and co-supervisor must have a Masters degree by research or PhD or medical degree (unless specifically exempted by the Committee)
• The supervisor and co-supervisor should have academic/medical qualifications relevant to the project
• If a supervisor does not meet our criteria, an Faculty Supervisor can act as a conjoint supervisor with approval of the Committee.

Additional Criteria for Primary Supervisor

• The primary supervisor must have had at least 1 publication in a peer reviewed journal in the previous 3 years.
• The primary supervisor must have supervised (to completion) at least one research student (MD Research/ILP, Honours, Masters or PhD) previously.

Supervisor Registration

UNSW Medicine and Health academic staff members and affilated conferred title holders (conjoint or adjunct) who are interested in taking up year 4 research students can indicate their offers by updating their staff profile ( see instructions here ). For more information on this, please contact  Ms Khanh Vo | [email protected]

UNSW ILP - Three Minutes Thesis (3MT)

ILP students will have three minutes to present a compelling oration on their thesis topic and its significance, in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specilaist audience. Each presentation will be assessed by a panel with the mark contributing to the overall ILP grade and also as a competition (with a $500 gift voucher prize).

3MT Winner 2019

Ms Roshana Kanagaratnam (under supervision by Dr Steven Leach)

A role for intelectin-1 and lactoferrin in health and inflammatory intestinal disease in children

Presented by Dr Linda Ferrington

Our ILP and Honours students succeed in their research projects through publications and presentations. Below is a list of achievements.

2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012  | 2013

2013 Achievements

Student: Bui, David Supervisor:  Prof William Walsh Title:  The Effect of Sterilisation Protocol on Meniscal Allograft Oral Presentation: New South Wales Australian Orthopaedic Association Annnual Scientific Meeting, 2013 Authors:  Bui D, Lovric V, Oliver R, Bertello N, Broe D, Walsh W

Student: Iyer, Dushyant Supervisor:  Dr Scott D’Amours Title: INTRA-ABDOMINAL HYPERTENSION AND ABDOMINAL COMPARTMENT SYNDROME: Pathophysiological and non-operative management Article:  Minerva Anestesiologica, 2013 Authors:  Rastogi P, Iyer D, Aneman A, D'amours S

Student: Iyer, Dushyant Supervisor:  Dr Scott D’Amours Title: The Natural History of intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome Oral Presentation: Australian Medical Student Association Convention, Gold Coast, 2013, Authors:  Iyer D, Rastogi P, D’Amours S, Aneman A

Student: Iyer, Dushyant Supervisor:  Dr Scott D’Amours Title: Cardiothoracic surgery and intra-abdominal hypertension: An undervalued association? Oral Presentation: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Annual Scientific Congress and the Australian and New Zealand College of Anesthetists (ANZCA) Annual Scientific Meeting, Singapore, 2014 Authors:  Iyer D, Rastogi P, Aneman A, D’Amours S

Student: Iyer, Dushyant Supervisor:  Dr Scott D’Amours Title: Early Experiences with the Resuscitation with Angiography, Percutaneous Techniques and Operative Repair (R.A.P.T.O.R) Hybrid Suite Oral Presentation: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Annual Scientific Congress and the Australian and New Zealand College of Anesthetists (ANZCA) Annual Scientific Meeting, Singapore, 2014 Authors:  Iyer D, Rastogi P, Aneman A, D’Amours S

Student: Iyer, Dushyant Supervisor:  Dr Scott D’Amours Title: A predictive tool for the development of intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome in critically ill patients Poster: International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine, Brussels, Belgium, 2014 Authors:  Iyer D, Rastogi P, Aneman A, D’Amours S

Student: Lawrence, Renae Supervisor:  Dr Claire Wakefield Title: Comparing the models of care utilised by Australia and New Zealand childhood cancer long term follow-up clinics Oral Presentation: Australian New Zealand Children’s Haematology and Oncology Group (ANZCHOG), Annual Scientific Meeting, Melbourne, 2013 Authors:  McLoone JK, Wakefield CE, Lawrence R, Cohn RJ

Student: Lawrence, Renae Supervisor:  Dr Claire Wakefield Title: Transition practices in paediatric hospitals: providing cancer survivorship care from childhood to adulthood Oral Presentation: National Youth Cancer Services Network Meeting, Melbourne, 2013, Authors:  McLoone JK, Wakefield CE, Lawrence R, Cohn RJ

Student: Lee, Jia Li Supervisor:  A/Prof William Sewell Title: Flow cytometry of T cells and the role of V-beta assessment Oral Presentation: Australasian Flow Cytometry Group Annual Meeting, Wellington, NZ, 2013, Authors:  Sewell WA, Lee LJ, Smith SABC, Brown DA

Student: Mason, Emma Supervisor:  Dr Lynne Wray Title: Sexually acquired reactive arthritis at Sydney Sexual Health Centre 1992-2012 Oral Presentation: Australasian Sexual Health Conference, Darwin, 2013, Authors:  Mason E, Wray L, Foster R, Donovan B

Student: Newton, Sally Supervisor:  Dr Renée Morris Title: The Differential effects of Rubrospinal Tract and Red Nucleus Lesions on Skilled Reaching Poster:  Annual Neuroscience Society, Melbourne, 2013, Authors:  Newton SS, Kearsley AP and Morris R

Student: Pillay, Megan Supervisor:  Dr Mark Harris Title:  Quality of care measures in multimorbidity Article: Australian Family Physician, 2014, 43(3):132-6 Authors:  Pillay M, Dennis S, Harris MF

Student: Pillay, Megan Supervisor:  Dr Mark Harris Title: Multimorbidity: negotiating priorities and making progress Article:  Australian Family Physician, 2013, 42(12):850-4 Authors:  Harris MF, Dennis S, Pillay M

Student: Pillay, Megan Supervisor:  Dr Mark Harris Title:  Multi-morbidity and low health literacy in general practice: double trouble Oral Presentation: Health Literacy Network: Crossing Disciplines, Bridging Gaps, 2013 Authors:  Pillay M, Dennis S, Harris MF

Student: Ryan, Amitée Supervisor:  A/Prof Rebecca Dignan Title: The PAINLESS trial (Painbuster Length of Stay) - Redefining Pain Management After Cardaic Surgery: A Randomised Pilot Trial Oral Presentation: Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting, 2013 Authors: Dignan R, Ryan A, Mann K, Patterson E, Gebski V, Keech A, O’Regan W, Hong S, Aty W, French B, Wolfenden H, Vallely M, Bannon P, Rajendran S, Turner L

Student: Tan, Kevin Supervisor:  A/Prof Jia Lin Yang Title: Uncovering a key to the process of metastasis in human cancers: a review of critical regulators of anoikis Article:  Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, 2013, 139(11):1795-805 Authors:  Tan K, Goldstein D, Crowe P, Yang JL

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The 4000-level Research Project courses (listed below) are mandatory in Year 4 of the discipline-specific Honours Specialization modules and available only to students in those modules.  Under the mentorship of a faculty member, students work on Research Projects that usually include:

• literature review
• experimental design
• collection, analysis and interpretation of results
• communication of the scientific process and findings through oral and written presentations
• research seminars

See Admission and Progression to Year 4 BMSc for information about applying to Year 4 of the various Honours Specialization modules (maximum capacity, minimum Weighted Average needed for admission in the past, etc.).

Information on the department's webpages (accessible via links under each course) usually includes the (i) course description, (ii) process for selecting a supervisor, and (iii) sample projects that have been undertaken in the past.  

All of the Year 4 research project courses are worth 1.5 credits and are designated as essay courses (E).  They satisfy 1.5 of the 2.0 essay courses required for the essay requirement for graduation.

Anatomy and Cell Biology 4480E

• Anatomy and Cell Biology 4480E is required in the Honours Specialization in Medical Cell Biology
• either Anatomy and Cell Biology 4480E or Biochemistry 4483E is required in the Honours Specialization in Biochemistry and Cell Biology

Biochemistry 4483E

• Biochemistry 4483E is required in the Honours Specialization modules in Biochemistry, Computational Biochemistry
• Anatomy and Cell Biology 4480E (Honours Specialization in Biochemistry and Cell Biology)
• Chemistry 4491E (Honours Specialization in Biochemistry and Chemistry - leads to BSc degree)
• Microbiology and Immunology 4970E (Honours Specialization in Biochemistry of Infection and Immunity)
• Medical Biophysics 4970E (Honours Specialization in Medical Biophysics and Biochemistry
• Pathology 4980E (Honours Specialization in Biochemistry and Pathology of Human Disease)

Chemical Biology 4500E

• Chemical Biology 4500E is required in the Honours Specialization in Chemical Biology

Epidemiology and Biostatistics 4900E

• Epidemiology and Biostatistics 4900E is required in the Honours Specialization in Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Medical Biophysics 4970E

• Medical Biophysics (Medical Science Concentration)
• Medical Biophysics (Biological Science Concentration) - BSc degree
• Medical Biophysics (Physical Science Concentration) - BSc degree
• either Medical Biophysics 4970E or Biochemistry 4483E is required in the Honours Specialization in Medical Biophysics and Biochemistry

Medical Biophysics 4971E

• Medical Biophysics 4971E is required in the Honours Specialization in Medical Biophysics (Clinical Physics Concentration)

Medical Health Informatics 4980E

• Medical Health Informatics 4970E is required in the Honours Specialization in Medical Health Informatics

Microbiology and Immunology 4970E

• Microbiology and Immunology 4970E is required in the Honours Specialization in Microbiology and Immunology.
• Either Microbiology and Immunology 4970E or Biochemistry 4483E is required in the Honours Specialization in Biochemistry of Infection and Immunity
• Either Microbiology and Immunology 4970E or Pathology 4980E is required in the Honours Specialization in Microbiology and Immunology with Pathology

Pathology 4980E

• Pathology 4980E is required in the Honours Specialization in Pathology
• either Pathology 4980E or Biochemistry 4483E is required in the Honours Specialization in Biochemistry and Pathology of Human Disease
• either Pathology 4980E or Microbiology and Immunology 4970E is required in the Honours Specialization in Microbiology and Immunology with Pathology

Physiology and Pharmacology 4980E

• Pharmacology
• Physiology and Pharmacolo gy

The Honours Specialization in IMS does not contain a 4000-level research project -- the capstone courses are Medical Sciences 4990E and 4930F (advanced lab and selected topics courses).

Did you know???

That special permission is NOT granted for students to take a fourth-year research project course if their module(s) does not require a research project?

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Mathematics

Year 4 Project

This website provides information about the project for fourth-year MSci students on Mathematics degrees (single and combined honours). The project is a central part of the fourth-year degree: it is a compulsory module and is worth 30 credits (25% of the total for the year). The project gives you a chance to experience independent research, and as such is quite different from the other taught modules. You will be assigned a supervisor and, having agreed on a project, will work closely with that supervisor on the project through the year, until the submission deadline in March 2024.

You must submit a list of preferred supervisors online by 16th June 2023;   supervisors will be assigned soon after this. This should allow you to do some preliminary reading or ground work for your project over the summer vacation, so you are ready to start work in earnest on it in the Autumn Term. You can list three preferences for which supervisor you would like to work with.

Please look at the list of offered projects (link below), and you are strongly advised to get in contact with any prospective supervisors to discuss their projects before you submit your project preferences. You will work closely with your supervisor through the year and so it is important for you – and for them – to learn as much as possible about whether a particular project is appropriate for you, before you commit to that project.

You can navigate this webpage using the links below:

Choice of Project

• Structure of Project

Help with the Project

Project timetable, assessment of math0084 project.

See below the list of project titles offered this year. Once you have found projects that interest you, please contact the relevant members of staff to discuss the project(s) with them. Although you will see that some project descriptions contain much more information than others, it is essential in all cases that you discuss details of the projects with the project supervisor to learn more about what will be involved. It is also possible to do a project that is not listed here: please discuss this with a suitable potential supervisor.

Available Project Titles:

project_list_23_24.pdf

Once you have found some suitable projects, please complete the project form (linked here) by entering your list of possible supervisors, in order of preference. This must be done by 16th June 2023.   Please note that you will not all be able to do the project with the supervisor you want: members of staff usually supervise only one (occasionally two) projects each year. For this reason, you should include three possible supervisors in your list. Students will be assigned to supervisors in late 2022, and you will be told who your supervisor is shortly after this. You should then contact your supervisor (in person or by e-mail) to discuss preparatory work to be done over the vacation.

If you have any queries or cannot find a suitable project, please discuss this with Dr Duncan Hewitt ( [email protected] ) in the first instance.

Combined degrees

If you are doing one of the combined degrees Maths and Physics or Maths and Statistics, you may be able to do a suitable 30-credit or 45-credit project course in the other department rather than MATH0084 if you wish. Maths and Statistics students, in particular, tend to find many more suitable projects offered by the Statistics department rather than in MATH0084. In this case, you follow the guidelines, timetable, etc, of that project, and the rest of this webpage is not relevant to you. If this applies to you, please contact Dr Hewitt to discuss your options.

Structure of the Project

The project is a 30-credit course. Thus it accounts for 25% of your fourth-year courses, and can be expected to take up a considerable amount of your time (nominally about 200 - 250 hours). The project has two parts: a written project and an oral presentation.

The written project

This must be submitted by Thursday 7 th  March 2024, and it must be word-processed. It will be marked by two examiners, the first of which will be your project supervisor, and it will be assigned 70% of the total marks. The exact form of the written project will depend on the project, but it should normally be roughly 5,000 - 10,000 words and it might typically include:

a) an introduction;

b) an exposition of the general area of the project, which should be at an appropriate level, generally assuming knowledge of the first 3 years of a Maths degree;

c) any problems solved;

d) a clear list of references.

The relative weight given to each of these sections will depend on the nature of the project, and you should discuss a broad outline of your project with your supervisor. A project consisting entirely of copied-out book-work would not be acceptable. You will get advice and help on your project from your supervisor.

The oral presentation

T his will take the form of a talk to (at least) the examiners and should take place during the period March 11 to March 22, 2024. This will be assigned 30% of the marks and will be assessed principally by your supervisor and the second examiner, with input from any other examiners present. The talk will last approximately 20 minutes, with around 5 minutes for questions at the end. Details of the format of the presentation will be updated through the year depending on circumstances: for the last three years presanctions have taken place online, but they were previously done in-person.

Supervision

You should meet with your supervisor on a regular basis (once a fortnight during term is a rough guideline; some people meet more frequently than this) to discuss your progress and to get guidance on what to read, what to try to do next, etc. Remember that the project is a chance for you to explore independent research, rather than to be told what to do; nevertheless, your supervisor should be closely engaged in the project and able to provide guidance and input.

Mathematical Writing and Presentation Skills

Projects are normally expected to be typeset using the mathematical word-processing package LaTeX. Presentations are usually delivered using either the LaTeX Beamer package or other presentation software (e.g. PowerPoint, Keynote). Writing up your work and presenting it clearly are very important parts of the project. The ability to plan systematically, layout work clearly, identify keys ideas, and describe a series of steps in a logical manner will be useful skills long after the end of your degree, no matter what your future career.

To help you with this, there will be a short course (or set of videos) on mathematical writing and presentation skills in January 2024, which you should attend (details TBC).

The project is quite a large-scale task and will take up quite a lot of time. It is therefore important that you start to work on it quickly, and follow the timetable given below.

• Start (May/June 2023):  start thinking about which project you want to do, contact potential supervisors, etc. 
• By 16 th June 2023:  submit on-line your list of (up to) three preferred supervisors.
• Late June / July 2023:   when you know your supervisor, contact them in person or by e-mail to discuss the project.
• Summer vacation:   do some background reading/preliminary work as agreed with your supervisor. 
• Beginning of Autumn Term 2023:   meet supervisor and discuss your progress so far.
• Christmas period 2023-24:  typically, substantial progress should have been made on the project by now.
• January 2024 (dates and details TBC):  attend training on mathematical writing and presentation skills.
• Early Spring Term 2024:  start thinking about producing a full written draft of your project; plan presentation.
• Thursday 7th March 2024, 23:59:  deadline for submission of project. Submit via Moodle link (details tbc).
• Wednesday 11th to 22th March 2024:   project presentations should take place at some point during this period (details TBC).

The presentation

This is assessed by all examiners present using the presentation assessment form. The first examiner (the supervisor) and the second examiner decide the final mark for the presentation using this information.

Presentation assessment form

This is assessed by the first and second examiner independently and then a mark agreed. Rough criteria for the assessment are given in the guidelines for marking MATH0084 project.

• MATH0084 project assessment guidelines

The final mark

This is made up of 30% of the presentation mark and 70% of the written project mark. These marks and the projects are considered (in rough subject groups) by a subset of examiners to see if they are all in agreement on the marks assigned, and some changes may be made if necessary. Projects are also seen by an external examiner who may recommend changes to the mark.

The final mark will be made available to you at the same time as the other examination marks.

Available Project Titles

Module information.

For detailed information about courses and modules, see our Modules pages:

• Degree Structures and Options
• Module Information for Undergraduates
• Information for students from other departments
• UCL Students

For information and resources to help you during your time at UCL.

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5 NSF projects transforming how researchers understand plastic waste

The U.S. National Science Foundation champions research on how plastic impacts the planet. These five projects are changing how researchers think about plastic and what happens after it is tossed away.

Plastic is everywhere. Humans produce so much plastic that we end up throwing away about 400 million tons of plastic-related trash every year. And researchers are learning that this trash doesn't stay where it is deposited. From land to sea, plastic is found virtually everywhere on the planet.

Earth Day 2024 is highlighting the plastics problem with the theme: "Planet vs. Plastic." "Our reliance on harmful plastics is not sustainable," said Alexandra Isern, NSF assistant director for Geosciences. "We are committed to funding research that will address the plastics challenge to create a safer future for generations to come."

Here are five NSF-driven projects that look at the versatile material in both expected and unusual places and examine its impacts on the planet and the creatures who call it home. 

1. In soils

About half of the 400 million tons of plastic that people worldwide discard annually migrates beyond landfills.

Brian Giebel, an assistant research professor at the City University of New York, and Benjamin Bostick, a professor at Columbia University, are studying how these discarded plastics can affect soil health and function . The team is especially interested in plastic's potential to change how soils emit climate-warming gases like carbon dioxide and methane.

How does a piece of plastic eventually end up as a gas? First, it breaks down through chemical and physical processes in soils. When it degrades to less than 5 micrometers in size, slightly bigger than a speck of dust, it can become a tasty lunch for microorganisms, which then release carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.

The team will use a variety of laboratory techniques, like stable isotope measurements and X-ray microscopy, to track plastic's degradation, microbial uptake and eventual transformation to gas. 

2. In urban streams

From plastic wrappers to plastic bottles, plastics dominate daily life. Once used, however, plastic can often end up as litter within waterways.

Anne Jefferson, a professor at the University of Vermont, and her team are using time-lapse photography and repeat field surveys to understand how discarded plastic  moves through and sometimes stays in streams . "I kept seeing trash everywhere in the urban streams where I was doing research for other projects," Jefferson said. "Since stopping litter from entering streams seemed like a losing battle, I wanted to know more about what happens to the litter once it got into a stream and how it interacted with other elements of the stream channel."

Jefferson's findings will improve litter tracking models that follow plastic from streams to oceans. She wants to learn how much plastic is stored in flood plains or within stream and river channels rather than entering the ocean. Her findings will also help guide litter management, environmental cleanup and ecosystem restoration efforts.

3. On the ocean's surface

Just like humans, plastic is carbon-based. Aron Stubbins, a professor at Northeastern University, is using this fact to better understand whether plastic pollution has fundamentally changed the ocean's surface.

Plastic has been accumulating at the ocean's surface ever since mass production started about 70 years ago. Stubbins and his team are collecting plastic samples from the open ocean and measuring natural organic carbon and plastic-carbon concentrations to determine if the plastic carbon now makes up a significant fraction of the total surface ocean carbon. If that is the case, as the team suspects, then it's very likely that the plastic carbon levels on the ocean surface today are unprecedented.

The team collected samples from the Atlantic Ocean on a research cruise last summer. The anticipated findings will reveal whether ocean scientists need to consider the role of plastic carbon as an active component of the surface ocean carbon cycle. 

4. In the Arctic 

Bits of plastic smaller than 5 millimeters can come from larger plastic pieces that have broken apart, byproducts of plastic manufacturing or microbeads used in health and beauty products.

These microplastics litter the seas, even reaching the remote Arctic Ocean. Alexandra Jahn, an associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, is studying how sea ice moves microplastics in polar regions.

Jahn and her collaborators at the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, the University of Washington and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute are investigating why observed concentrations of microplastics in sea ice are many times higher than in the underlying ocean and how this affects where microplastics end up. The team is also investigating whether sea ice is more likely to melt when it contains dark microplastics, which increase sunlight absorption.

To help answer these questions, the team is growing sea ice embedded with microplastics in a laboratory and adding microplastics to numerical models of various complexity. 

5. In the atmosphere 

Manufacturers add certain chemicals to plastic to make it stronger, more flexible and more durable. However, when plastic waste ends up in the ocean, these often toxic additives can leach into the water and accumulate in the sea surface microlayer, where the top of the ocean meets the atmosphere. 

Nate Slade, an assistant professor at the University of California San Diego is studying how these chemicals can stick to droplets as they evaporate into the air , travel long distances across the ocean, pollute air quality, and eventually end up in a person's airways. 

Slade and his team want to know how long plastic additives can last when stuck to those droplets, known as aerosols, and how other chemicals can affect their transport. 

These and related NSF-supported projects will help scientists better understand how plastic impacts the planet and how to use that knowledge to build a resilient planet. 

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Mobile phone ownership over time, who owns cellphones and smartphones, smartphone dependency over time, who is smartphone dependent, find out more, mobile fact sheet.

Large shares of Americans are connected to the world of digital information while “on the go” via smartphones and other mobile devices. Explore the patterns and trends that have shaped the mobile revolution below.

To better understand Americans’ smartphone and broadband adoption, Pew Research Center surveyed 5,733 U.S. adults from May 19 to Sept. 5, 2023. Ipsos conducted this National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS) for the Center using address-based sampling and a multimode protocol that included both web and mail. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race and ethnicity, education and other categories.

Polls from 2000 to 2021 were conducted via phone. For more on this mode shift, please read our Q&A .

Here are the  questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and  its methodology ­­­.

The vast majority of Americans – 97% – now own a cellphone of some kind. Nine-in-ten own a smartphone, up from just 35% in Pew Research Center’s first survey of smartphone ownership conducted in 2011.

Substantial majorities of Americans across a wide range of demographic groups are cellphone owners. The same is true for smartphone ownership – though some differences do emerge, particularly by age, household income and level of formal education.

% of U.S. adults who say they own a __, by …

• RACE & ETHNICITY
• POLITICAL AFFILIATION

Today, 15% of U.S. adults are “smartphone-only” internet users – meaning they own a smartphone, but do not have home broadband service.

Source: Surveys of U.S. adults conducted 2013-2023. Data for each year is based on a pooled analysis of all surveys containing broadband and smartphone questions fielded during that year.

Reliance on smartphones for online access is especially common among Americans with lower household incomes and those with lower levels of formal education.

This fact sheet was compiled by Research Assistant  Olivia Sidoti , with help from Research Analyst  Risa Gelles-Watnick , Research Analyst  Michelle Faverio , Digital Producer  Sara Atske , Associate Information Graphics Designer Kaitlyn Radde and Temporary Researcher Eugenie Park .

Follow these links for more in-depth analysis of the impact of mobile technology on American life.

• Americans’ Social Media Use  Jan. 31, 2024
• Americans’ Use of Mobile Technology and Home Broadband  Jan. 31 2024
• Q&A: How and why we’re changing the way we study tech adoption  Jan. 31, 2024

Find more reports and blog posts related to  internet and technology .

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