6 ECTS credits
150 u studietijd

Aanbieding 1 met studiegidsnummer 4016113ENR voor alle studenten in het 1e semester met een verdiepend master niveau.

Semester
1e semester
Inschrijving onder examencontract
Niet mogelijk
Beoordelingsvoet
Beoordeling (0 tot 20)
2e zittijd mogelijk
Ja
Onderwijstaal
Engels
Faculteit
Faculteit Wetenschappen en Bio-ingenieurswetensch.
Verantwoordelijke vakgroep
Biologie
Onderwijsteam
Decaan WE (titularis)
Onderdelen en contacturen
0 contacturen Exam
26 contacturen Practical exercises
91 contacturen Self study
Inhoud

The course ‘Guided self-study’ (GSS) within the MSc Biology program may have two objectives:

  1. Common objective (option 1): In-depth literature study on a contemporary research topic of choice.
    This option is for students who would like to immerse themselves into a specialized and contemporary research topic, either in a specific biological field or multidisciplinary, combining multiple fields. Such topic should be chosen in agreement with a professor involved in the VUB/ULB’s MSc Biology program who is willing to act as a supervisor of your GSS and should be approved by the coordinator of the program (graduation option) you are enrolled in, or by the chairman of the Master’s educational board (Kim.Roelants@vub.be).
     
  2. Exceptional objective (option 2, ONLY when advised by the coordinator of your graduation option or chairman of the Biology Master educational board): remedying a shortcoming in previous curriculum or prerequisite knowledge.
    If there is a shortcoming in your previous curriculum or in your knowledge of a particular domain in biology that is likely to be problematic for successfully completing your Master program, the program coordinator may advise you to use the GSS to remedy this shortcoming. This option requires the explicit approval of the program coordinator, who may discuss this with the chairman of the Biology Master education al board, and/or with the Faculty’s educational path counsellor. Based on their advice, the GSS can take one of the following two forms:
    i)     A study of a series of     textbook chapters that covers the relevant biological domain. Besides requiring the explicit approval of your program coordinator, a lecturer will be assigned to guide you through your GSS.
    ii)     A course of 6 ECTs that covers the relevant biological domain. Besides requiring the explicit approval of     your program coordinator, the lecturer of that course should agree as well. The evaluation scores obtained for that course will be transferred to the program coordinator and represent the score for the guided self-study.

! Note that as a student choosing GSS as an elective, it is your responsibility to contact the coordinator and relevant supervisor (option 1) or lecturer (option 2).

Regardless of the option, GSS topics are chosen in October (in agreement with supervisor and program coordinator). Before November 1st, your topic title and name of your supervisor should be sent by email to:

  • Your program coordinator;
  • The chairman of the Educational Board of the VUB’s Biology Master program (Kim Roelants; Kim.Roelants@vub.be);
  • The secretariat of the Biology department (Bert Vervloessem; secrdbio@vub.be);
  • Your GSS supervisor (in Cc)

No changes to topic and/or supervisor will be allowed after this date.

Your GSS involves the preparation of a written report (10–20 pages). Conducting your GSS involves regular communication with your supervisor to discuss the content and progress of this report. Guidelines on how to write your GSS report can be found on the 'Guided self study' course page via the CANVAS platform (https://canvas.vub.be/; Guidelines_GSS_2019_2020.pdf).

An electronic version of your report (MS Word or converted pdf) should be submitted by e-mail to your supervisor AND the chairman of the Biology Master program (Kim.Roelants@vub.be). In addition, one hard copy should be submitted to the Department’s secretariat (Bert Vervloessem, building F, 7th floor, office 7F426).

The deadline of submission is the first Monday of the relevant exam session, before 4 pm (January in case of first session, August in case of second session). Consult the exam calendar on the VUB website (https://www.vub.ac.be/en/academic-calendar) to see when the relevant exam session officially starts. This is a strict deadline. Exceptions will only be made in case of legitimate medical or family emergency reasons.

Studiemateriaal
Digitaal cursusmateriaal (Aanbevolen) : Guided Self-Study guidelines, Book chapters and recent reviews will be provided
Bijkomende info

Guidelines to choose a subject for your guided self study as well as writing the report are provided on the course page 'Guided Self study' accessible through the Canvas learning platform (https://canvas.vub.be/).

Leerresultaten

Algemene competenties

After completing the GSS, the student has gained in-depth knowledge of a specific biological topic;

- has an overview of its research history and literature;

- knows the current state-of the-art in relevant techniques and methods;

- is familiar with current problems and controversies;

- is capable to make a critical assessment on the topic’s current state of affairs, including a future perspective.

Beoordelingsinformatie

De beoordeling bestaat uit volgende opdrachtcategorieën:
ZELF Paper bepaalt 100% van het eindcijfer

Binnen de categorie ZELF Paper dient men volgende opdrachten af te werken:

  • Begeleide Zelfstudie paper met een wegingsfactor 1 en aldus 100% van het totale eindcijfer.

    Toelichting: The student will also give a written report (min 15 - max 20-pages) of his/her literature study. This report must be given the first day of the exam session.
    The examination will take place during the normal exam session in presence of the coordinator.

Aanvullende info mbt evaluatie

Your supervisor will give a score based on your work and the final version of your GSS report. Your work will be evaluated based on your motivation, initiative, resourcefulness, punctuality and attitude during the preparation of your report. The final version of your GSS report will be evaluated based on the completeness and depth of your literature study, the way you synthesized the existing literature, the way you integrated this literature in a critical discussion and future perspective, your writing style and the overall format of your report.

Toegestane onvoldoende
Kijk in het aanvullend OER van je faculteit na of een toegestane onvoldoende mogelijk is voor dit opleidingsonderdeel.

Academische context

Deze aanbieding maakt deel uit van de volgende studieplannen:
Master of Biology: Molecular and Cellular Life sciences (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)
Master of Biology: Human Ecology (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)
Master of Biology: Ecology and Biodiversity (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)
Master of Biology: AR Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems, start at Paris (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)
Master of Biology: AR Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Tropical Biodiversity and Ecosystems, start at Cayenne (enkel aangeboden in het Engels)