Research Training

6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4013507FNR for all students in the 1st and 2nd semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.

Semester

1st and 2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

Registration for "Research Training" is allowed if one acquired 45 ECTS within the Master of Science in Applied Sciences and Engineering: Computer Science or if one is enrolled in the Master Computer Science, Multimedia Profile NPU-VUB.

Taught in

English, Dutch

Faculty

Faculty of Science and Bio-engineering Sciences

Department

Computer Science

Educational team

Ann Nowe
Promotor . (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

150 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

The content of the activities during the research training is completely determined by the research group in which the student is active. In a typical case, the student is asked to autonomously work out a specific part of an experiment or development project that is already in progress. The student is followed up very closely and remediated on a weekly basis.

Additional info

Study material: This is a course for which no structured material is available, as it is completely based on daily contact between the student and the advising researchers and promoter at the laboratory.

The students are expected to have a thorough knowledge of ICT so as to be able to participate at a high level in experiments. They are also expected to have the necessary formal basis to be able to read the literature and follow discussions in the research group. The student must know diverse research techniques (cf. the course Methods for Scientific Research) and be able to apply them in practice, e.g. techniques from statistics, formulating and supporting arguments, etc.

At the end of every academic year an information session is organized during which the diverse active research groups propose subjects and organise a visit to the laboratories.

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

Competences
The goal of the research training is to initiate the student in scientific research and in research in the field of computer science in particular. This part of the curriculum usually takes place within an active research group of the department of computer science, although other active research groups in or outside of the VUB can be considered, including groups in commercial companies that conduct research. The research training provides a flying start for the master thesis in computer science.
The competence that should result is in the fact that the student learns how scientific research functions in practice and how he or she can take part in it. The evaluation should among others show whether the student:
- has an idea about how the scientific literature in his or her specific domain is produced, and which are the most important sources;
- can process this literature autonomously;
- has an idea about which are the key problems that are treated in the research group, and is able to place them in the larger context of international scientific research;
- can function in a team;
- can execute supporting scientific or technological functions;
- can show that he or she understands standard scientific methods and is able to apply them.

This implies the following competences:

- Knowledge and insight:
Obtaining knowledge in a specific research domain of computer science and insight into scientific practice.

- Application of knowledge and insight:
Applying knowledge and insight that were obtained during earlier study in the context of the research activities of a research group.

- Judgement:
Learning to quickly make choices that will advance the scientific research, as well in choosing hypotheses, as during experimentation, as during technical implementation.

- Communication:
Being able to report about the work done, in writing as well as orally, in a reasoned, coherent and convincing manner.

- Learning abilities:
Being able to function in a team to do fundamental and/or applied research.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
SELF Internship determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the SELF Internship category, the following assignments need to be completed:

research training with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Note: The assesment of the research training is done by the head of the research group, assisted by the researchers involved in the training. At the end of the research training the student writes a short report. The student present the results of his work to a jury of professors and assistents that will assesses the work globally.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The research training is evaluated by the head of the research group, assisted by those researchers who were more closely involved with the training. Normally there is a weekly meeting during which the student describes his activities and gets feedback about his work. At the end of the research training the student usually writes a short report, and his code is inspected, or his experimental research results are evaluated. The student also presents the results of his work to a jury that makes a global assessment of the research training.

During the evaluation, the following elements are important:

- Technical-scientific content. Has the student sufficiently understood which problem statements are treated in the group? Is the student able to form a point of view regarding these problem statements and translate a hypothesis into concrete research activities? Does the student understand the logic behind the experiments in the research group?

- Involvement in the group. Has the student involved himself sufficiently in the activities of the research group? Was he present on a regular base? Did he or she contribute to the discussions? Did he or she have a constructive attitude and independently identify where his or her contribution could be useful? Is the code that he or she has developed usable by others?

- Reporting. Could the student effectively communicate his progress or signal difficulties? Have the end results of the project been communicated in the correct manner?

The final marks for the research training are arrived at based on a double input:

1. On the one hand, every promoter gives an assessment of the activities during the research training.
2. At the end of the semester, every student presents the work done by him in front of a jury of assistants and professors from the department, which is intended to reach a calibrated evaluation. The presentation should be 5 minutes (or 10 minutes if only the research training is presented and not the thesis).

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context