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School of Biosciences

MSc Courses

Handbook 2014/15

This booklet contains material originally written/compiled by Jon Binner, Mark Curry, Mark Dale, Rob

Clarke, Jeff Atherton, Francis Gilbert, Martin Luck, Heather Jackson, Amanda Sedgwick, Lisa Meddes,

Brian Power, Julie Eccles and Helen Wells.

This booklet can be made available in alternative formats.

© Faculty Student Handbook, University of Nottingham 1996

© Study Skills, Mark Dale 1995

© School of Biosciences 2014

Students and staff of the University of Nottingham are allowed to make copies of these pages for

personal use without prior permission.

Contents

Page

Introduction to the School of Biosciences 3 General Information about the School of Biosciences 3

Your MSc Course

Staffing 3 Course Structure 3

Student Representatives 4

Modules 4 Assessment and reassessment 4

Degree award 5 Borderline Profiling System 6

Modules Available to Masters Students 7 Extenuating Circumstances 7 Complaints Procedure 8

Personal Academic Development 9 Academic Misconduct: Cheating, Plagiarism &Paraphrasing 10

Useful Information

Dates for you Diary 16

Facilities (Student Services, Library, Shop, Bus etc) 18 Counselling 21

Personal Information 21 Laboratory Practices within the School of Biosciences 22

Computing Facilities and Guidelines 22

Safety Guidelines 25

Emergency First Aid and Fire Procedures 26

Appendices 1. Assessment criteria 29

2. Staff in the School of Biosciences 35 3. Research division staff 36

4. Other Useful contacts 37 5. Further help in the University 38 6. New starter health and safety induction questionnaire 39

7. Academic and Disability Support 44 8. Weapons 47

9. Information for students on Purchasing, Expenses and Travel 48

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Introduction to the School of Biosciences

Welcome to the School of Biosciences. We hope your time in the School will be enjoyable. To help you settle in, both socially and academically, various events are arranged during the first

few weeks of term which we hope you will attend. We have aimed to make this handbook a reasonably complete reference document where

you can find useful information and advice as and when you need it. We welcome your comments on it (please email Kathy.wilson@nottingham.ac.uk).

General information about the School of Biosciences

The School of Biosciences is based in the Faculty of Science and is situated at the Sutton Bonington Campus. The Sutton Bonington Campus (SB) is situated about 11 miles south of

Nottingham and is home to the School of Biosciences and the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science. Within the School of Biosciences are the Divisions of Agricultural and

Environmental Sciences, Animal Sciences, Food Sciences, Nutritional Sciences and Plant and Crop Sciences which are home to approx. 800 undergraduate and 350 research and taught postgraduate students.

The School has a reputation for high quality research and teaching. Nottingham’s status in

the 2008 RAE confirmed it as a world-class institution. The School of Biosciences is ranked in top position in the UK in our subject areas (joint submission with the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science in ‘Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science’). (Research Assessment

Exercise (RAE) is the UK’s definitive guide to research quality and excellence, ranking all universities on research strength and rating the academic disciplines they submit on the basis

of their international standing.) Sutton Bonington Campus has its own facilities for most sports and social activities, and these

are available to all students in the School. A free shuttle bus service operates between campuses. The Enquiry Office in the Main Building SB, has details of when this service runs

(see also http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/estates).

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Your MSc course

The MSc, PG Diploma and Certificate Courses and postgraduate taught modules offered by the School of Biosciences are reviewed regularly by the MSc Course Directors and Managers

and other senior members of the School. Your MSc Course Director will be a member of academic staff and s/he will give you help

and support in academic matters. In addition, the Course Director will be assisted by an MSc Course Manager and Secretary in the Division. Your Course Manager or tutor will provide

you with details of your individual performance (see Personal and Academic Development) and it is essential that you discuss your progress, in confidence, with her/him at regular intervals. Your Course Manager/tutor can also support you in personal matters, or can direct

you to professional support within the University if required. Tutors will be identified at your Induction Meeting (see Week One Programme) and on the School Intranet.

Course structure The University operates a modular system, taught over two semesters and the Summer

Period. Full details are available in the Catalogue of Modules, available on the University website - http://nottingham.ac.uk/module-catalogue. Course details are also covered at the Induction Meeting for your particular degree course.

In case you are not familiar with this system, a credit indicates a quantity of assessed

learning. They contribute to a cumulative indication of the modules a student has completed. Modules are based on a number of credits, and for MSc courses in the School of Biosciences the modules are based on multiples of 10 or 20 credits.

Each module has a Convener who is responsible for its organisation. At the start of the

module, the Convener will issue to each student a document describing its aims, content, objectives, transferable skills, methods of assessment, dates for submission and return of coursework and penalties for late submission. Marks are a numerical indication of the quality

of the assessed work completed by a student in each module. Marks awarded are subject to the approval of the PG Taught Courses (Exam Board) Committee and are ratified by External

Examiners. The Convener will also conduct a feedback exercise at the end of the module to gauge student opinion.

The Course Directors are directly responsible to the Head of School for ensuring that all levels of the teaching management structure operate efficiently. They should be notified of any

significant problems. Heads of Division are ultimately responsible for the services provided by their staff. A full list of Course Directors, Course Managers and academic staff in each Division is provided in Appendix 2.

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Student representatives Each MSc course should also have a student representative who attends meetings of the

Learning Community Forum. MSc course representatives should volunteer or be elected during Week One and one of these electives will usually be asked to attend the non-reserved

business of the PG Taught Courses Committee. Training for course representatives is available and further information regarding this can be seen at http://www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/

Modules

All taught full-time MSc courses within the School of Biosciences are modular. To qualify for the award of the degree, students are required to accumulate 180 credits. The degrees

comprise 120 credits in Part I, with a qualifying barrier for progression to the 60-credit Part II component. Part I of the courses are mainly provided as taught modules, and delivered in the

Autumn and Spring semesters. Part II of the courses comprise of a 60-credit research project or dissertation, taken over the Summer vacation period. The International MSc in Biosciences is based on 60 credits of taught modules and 120 credits for the research project.

All students take 20 credits of generic training modules, with the remaining 40 credits dependent on their research area.

To progress to Part II of the degree course, students must achieve a credit-weighted overall average Part I mark which is equal to or greater than 50%.

Assessment and reassessment Please see the Supplementary Regulations (including the Progression Regulations) governing

your specific MSc course. These can be found at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/current/regulations/

Assessment of your course may be by written coursework; written, oral or practical examination; industrial placement or project. The proportions of these and the nature of the

coursework vary from module to module. Please note that handing in coursework late will incur a penalty of 5% per working day. Hand-in dates for specific courses will differ. During your MSc course there are two formal examination periods; January (Semester I) and

May/June (Semester II). If your progress is unsatisfactory, you will be given the opportunity to re-sit any failed modules during a re-sit period in August/September or the following

January. Marks achieved for the Autumn and Spring Semester modules (Part I) determine progression to Part II of your course (Summer Period).

In addition, if you have failed a coursework component of a module which is assessed by both coursework and examination, you may elect to re-submit remedial coursework,

following discussion with the Course Manager and/or module convener. However, coursework that has been passed may not be re-submitted. If you wish to take up the option

of remedial coursework, you must make contact with the appropriate module convener (or his/her representative), following approval of the Course Director. Any remedial coursework must be submitted before the start of the August/September examinations. However,

individual module conveners have the right to set earlier deadlines at the time of setting the coursework. If you have failed a module which is assessed entirely by coursework you will be

required to re-submit those pieces of work with a mark of less than 50%.

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Degree award For the award of an MSc, the pass mark for each module is 50%. Candidates for an MSc who

fail to reach the required standard of 50% in any module, except the project module, will be deemed to have passed if no more than 40 credits are in the mark range 40-49%, and the

credit-weighted overall average mark is 50% or above. The 60-credit project module cannot be compensated. Candidates for a Diploma who fail to reach the required standard of 40% in any module will be deemed to have passed if the credit-weighted average mark is 50% or

above over 120 credits, and there are no more than 40 credits in the mark range 30-39%, with no module marks below 30%.

For award of an MSc, students must achieve an average of 50%, with no marks lower than 40% and no more than 40 credits in compensatable range (40-49%). An MSc with distinction

will be awarded to those candidates who obtain an average mark of 70% or more over Parts I and II. Candidates who achieve a credit-weighted overall average mark of 68% may be

considered for the degree of Master of Science with Distinction (see borderline profiling system). An MSc with merit will be awarded to those candidates who obtain a average mark

of 60% or more over Parts I and II. Only marks obtained at first sitting will be used to determine the classification of merit and distinction.

Candidates for the Masters degree who fail to reach the required standard for the award of the Masters degree may be awarded a Postgraduate Diploma, provided that they have

satisfied the Examiners with a credit-weighted overall average mark of at least 50% in 120 credits of which at least 80 credits are at level 4 or D, with no module marks below 30% and no more than 40 credits in the mark range 30-39%.

Postgraduate Diploma students achieving a credit-weighted overall average mark of 70% or more will be awarded the Diploma with distinction. Postgraduate Diploma students achieving

a credit-weighted overall average mark of 60% or more will be awarded the Diploma with Merit. Only marks obtained at first sitting will be used to determine the classification of merit

and distinction. Please note that the following regulation was revised for courses offered jointly with the

Business School:

The overall degree mark needed in order to be considered for Distinction level is to be reduced from 69% to 68% across all Taught Masters programmes operated in the School

of Biosciences. This will align us with Business School practice. (see also borderline profiling system).

The regulation considered, but which will NOT be adopted, except for MSc in Crop Biotechnology and Entrepreneurship and Applied Biopharmaceutical Biotechnology and

Entrepreneurship is explained below.

The regulation relates to compensation of module marks of ≤ 39% (hard fails at Masters

level). The Business School regulations allow students to compensate hard fail marks for a specified number of modules. The regulation states: ‘For the completion of the taught stage of the Postgraduate Masters degree, a module mark between 30 and 39% for up to

15 credits can be compensated if the student has passed modules worth at least 80 credits and has a weighted average of at least 50%.’ The School of Biosciences Taught

Courses Committee were of the opinion that this regulation represented a threat to the perceived quality of our qualifications. In particular that the ability to pass a course overall, with hard fails in certain modules, might mean conferring qualifications on

graduates who nevertheless had poor skills in key areas which might influence their future professional ability. We took the decision only to utilise this regulation for courses

that are jointly operated with the Business School, and where the degree marks are ratified and conferred by the Business School Examinations Board. Currently this applies

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only to the MSc in Crop Biotechnology and Entrepreneurship and Applied

Biopharmaceutical Biotechnology and Entrepreneurship.

Borderline profiling system The School of Biosciences operates a borderline profiling system for determining degree outcomes. A student is considered to be borderline if their credit-weighted average mark,

rounded to the nearest integer is 68/69, 59 or 49. When a candidate’s rounded mark is in one of the above borderline zones they will be awarded the higher degree classification if the

candidate has half or more credits in favour of the higher degree classification (i.e. 90 credits for MSc, 60 credits for PGDip or 30 credits for PGCert). Candidates who fail to meet this threshold will be awarded the lower degree classification.

Please see Appendix 1 – Assessment Criteria – for a full description of assessment criteria.

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Modules available to masters students For a complete listing of available modules please visit the following site:

http://modulecatalogue.nottingham.ac.uk/Nottingham/

Extenuating Circumstances

If you become ill and have to miss more than a couple of days, or a coursework deadline, or if your performance in an exam is likely to be affected, please contact your Course Manager

or tutor and complete an Extenuating Circumstances Form. Extenuating Circumstances Forms can also be obtained at: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/academicservices/qualitymanual/assessmentandawards/exten

uating-circumstances-policy-and-procedures.aspx

If you require an extension to a deadline for handing in a piece of coursework, you should contact the member of staff responsible for the coursework (and/or the module convener) who will sign and retain the completed Extenuating Circumstances Form. If an extension

period is agreed, the member of staff will state this on the form.

Claims for extenuating circumstances on medical grounds must be accompanied by a medical certificate or letter from an appropriate medical practitioner. Your Course Manager will retain a copy of the form and lodge the original, together with the medical

certificate or letter, with the School Student Support and Experience Officer (Becky Cameron – School Office).

Exams should only be missed for serious reasons and this situation should be avoided if at all possible. Again, discuss the situation with your Course Manager as soon as possible. Please

remember that any application for extenuating circumstances after a scheduled examination or deadline for coursework is unlikely to be granted.

It is VERY IMPORTANT that students submit claims for extenuating circumstances promptly. The latest acceptable date is normally 7 days after the scheduled completion date

after the last component of assessment for a module, or as soon as possible where medical grounds are involved. The only circumstance where a late claim may be accepted

is when the student can provide an acceptable explanation of why s/he was unable to make a claim earlier.

In addition to the form, students may supply their own letters of explanation. You are encouraged to provide as much information as you believe will benefit your case.

Tutors will bring claims for extenuating circumstances to the attention of Examiners and Faculty Boards. If the information is of a confidential nature, the details will not be discussed

at these meetings.

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Complaints procedure The procedure regarding a complaint concerning your course is that in the first instance you should contact the lecturer concerned. If the matter cannot be resolved, the next points of

contact would be:

i) Module Convener ii) Course Manager or Course Director iii) Head of Division

iv) Head of School

Students are encouraged to involve their Course Managers at any stage, whether the matter of concern is of an academic or personal nature (see Personal Academic Development [PAD] Scheme). Students also have the right via their course representative to bring matters of

concern before the Postgraduate Learning Community Forum. Details regarding complaints procedures can be found at

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/academicservices/qualitymanual/complaintsandappeals/academicappealpolicyandprocedure.aspx

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Personal academic development (PAD Scheme)

The Personal Academic Development Scheme provides you and your tutor/course manager with a working document for you to develop and add to as you progress through your MSc degree course in the School of Biosciences. It provides a record (electronically by e-PARS or

paper-based) of our academic and personal support for you as well as a convenient framework for you, with your tutor/Course Manager, to record information relating to your

performance, development and progression through the academic year on your Master's course. The PAD scheme serves several purposes in addition to being a record of your academic performance. It is a basis for references that your tutor/Course Manager may be

required to write. It will also encourage you to periodically reflect upon your progress and key skills acquisitions. This, in turn, will help you build up an effective Curriculum Vitae.

Operation of the PAD Scheme will, in part, reflect the structure/content of your chosen Master's degree course but embodies two kinds of meeting/feedback sessions with your

tutor/Course Manager. There are four scheduled personal tutorials over the course of the academic year: Introductory Meeting (concomitant with the Postgraduate Week One

Programme), End of Autumn and Spring Semesters (exam and module performance feedback and review of the preceding Semester activities) and one meeting during the Summer Period to discuss and document any issues in the run-up to the completion of your

degree course. You are also likely to receive on an on-going basis module-related feedback from staff/conveners and progress evaluations for your Research Project from your

supervisor. This information can, as appropriate, be incorporated in your PAD Scheme documentation. There may be occasions when you need to see your tutor/course manager to discuss academic or personal issues, perhaps in confidence. In most cases a short

record of such as meeting should be included, as a requested personal tutorial and, with your prior agreement, particularly for matters of a confidential nature.

Fuller details of the PAD Scheme as related to your MSc degree course and chosen course of study will be given to you at the beginning of your course.

The School of Biosciences operates a system of "Office Hours" for meetings with MSc

students. The purpose of this system is to focus staff/student contact, not to reduce it. All academic staff will make available a minimum of two hours per week, during which time students can book appointments to discuss course/module/personal tutor matters. These

times do not have to be the same each week but do need to be clearly designated for each week. Appointments will be bookable either by email, or by signing an appointment list

available on each office door. A standard appointment will be 5 minutes, with students having the option to book double or triple appointments, giving 10 or 15 minutes of contact time. Some staff may wish to continue to operate an "open door" policy for brief drop-in

enquiries, alongside the formal office hours system at their own discretion.

For some courses the PAD scheme is administered through the e-Pars system. For further information on whether this scheme would be useful to you, please contact your MSc Course Manager.

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Academic misconduct: cheating, plagiarism and paraphrasing

This section is also covered in the Study Skills book. It draws upon information available at the following University Web sources together with guidance from staff in the School of

Biosciences.

USEFUL ADVICE FOR STUDENTS

Further advice on how to avoid plagiarism will be provided during the year 1 tutorial

module, where you will also be shown how to check your work for plagiarism, using Turnitin

One good method to avoid plagiarism is to make notes from material you have read and construct your essay / report, in your own words, from these notes. It is tempting (and

easy) to copy and paste, but this is unacceptable and constitutes an academic misconduct. It is also poor practice to construct a draft by copying and pasting material

from multiple sources, with the intention of then paraphrasing the resulting document. Apart from the fact that the end-product may be disjointed, the paraphrasing is often incomplete and the work submitted may contain elements of plagiarised material. It is,

however, acceptable to include relevant figures and tables from published work, as long as you acknowledge their source by citing the primary reference for them. To make a

specific point, there may be occasions when you may want to quote an author verbatim; this is acceptable if you put the quotation in inverted commas and give the source.

USEFUL WEBSITES

Academic integrity and plagiarism http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/teaching/assessmentfeedback/integrity/index.aspx

Quality Manual http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/academicservices/qualitymanual/assessmentandawards/ac

ademic-misconduct.aspx Studying Effectively

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/studyingeffectively/home.aspx

DEFINITION OF ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT

University regulations on Academic Misconduct can be seen at:

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/academicservices/qualitymanual/assessmentandawards/academic-misconduct.aspx

Any activity or behaviour by a student which may give that student, or another student, an unpermitted academic advantage in a summative assessment is considered to be an act of

academic misconduct and unacceptable in a scholarly community. Such action(s) will be considered under the University’s Regulations on Academic Misconduct and this may lead to

a penalty being imposed.

EXAMPLES The following is a non-exhaustive list of examples of academic misconduct which will be considered under the Regulations:

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Plagiarism: representing another person’s work or ideas as one’s own, for example by failing to follow convention in acknowledging sources, use of quotation marks etc. This

includes the unauthorised use of one student’s work by another student and the commissioning, purchase and submission of a piece of work, in part or whole, as the

student’s own.

Note: A proof-reader may be used to ensure that the meaning of the author is not

misrepresented due to the quality and standard of English used, unless a School/Department policy specifically prohibits this. Where permitted, a proof-reader may identify spelling and

basic grammar errors. Inaccuracies in academic content should not be corrected nor should the structure of the piece of work be changed; doing so may result in a charge of plagiarism.

Collusion: cooperation in order to gain an unpermitted advantage. This may occur where students have consciously collaborated on a piece of work, in part or whole, and passed it off

as their own, individual efforts or where one student has authorised another to use their work, in part or whole, and to submit it as their own.

Note: legitimate input from University tutors or approved readers or scribes is not considered to be collusion.

Cheating in examinations (including in-class tests). Including, for example, when an

examination candidate: copies from the examination script of another candidate;

obtains any other assistance from another candidate (or any other person unless an approved reader or scribe);

has with them any unauthorised book (including mathematical tables), manuscript or loose papers of any kind, unauthorised electronic devices (including mobile telephones) or any source of unauthorised information [link to University’s

Examination Guidance]; allows himself/herself to be impersonated or when any person impersonates

another examination candidate.

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Fabrication or misrepresentation: the presentation of false data, results, references, evidence or other material or misrepresentation of the same. Including, for example:

claiming to have carried out experiments, observations, interviews or other forms

of research which a student has not, in fact, carried out; claiming to have obtained results or other evidence which have not, in fact, been

obtained;

in the case of professional qualifications, falsely claiming to have completed hours in practice or to have achieved required competencies when this is not the case;

presenting false references. Failure to disclose previous experience or qualifications when this a pre-requisite

of module enrolment (for example, enrolment on inter-faculty language modules).

Failure to obtain ethical approval: where work is undertaken without obtaining ethical approval when there is a clear and unambiguous requirement to do so.

A note on ‘Recycling’: The multiple submission by a student of their own material is not, in itself, considered as academic misconduct. Submission of material that has been submitted

on a previous occasion for a different summative assessment is, however, unlikely to be academically appropriate. The merit of such material will therefore be a matter of academic

judgement and it may attract fewer (or no) marks than would have been the case if it had not been assessed previously.

Penalties at School level range from 0 for the affected material to 0 for the module. There is also a new penalty of a monetary fine where an academic penalty is not appropriate (ie

where a student has helped another to gain an unpermitted advantage). If the HoS is satisfied that the misconduct came about because of a genuine lack of knowledge or understanding, a record of ‘Poor Academic Practice’ is also possible.

Students with previous instances of misconduct on their records and research students

beyond the 1st year of study will automatically be referred to a panel hearing. Students may also self-refer to a hearing if they do not agree with the outcome of a School investigation or the penalty awarded (as currently).

Note:

Plagiarism is regarded as a serious academic offence by the University and will be punished accordingly. Plagiarism can be easily identified by entering suspect passages into search engines. Specialist search engines (e.g. Turnitit) are

available to check all submitted work against previously published sources, including coursework submitted by students in the current or previous years. The

School of Biosciences uses Turnitin to assist academic staff detect plagiarism; students may be required to submit all coursework in electronic form to facilitate automatic on-line detection of plagiarism. All BSc Research Projects must be

submitted electronically to be checked by Turnitin along with the necessary hard copies (see Guidelines for BSc Research Projects).

If a student is required to attend an Academic Misconduct interview within the School for any suspected academic misconduct his/her tutor will be informed of this, together with the Head

of School (or nominee), module convenor (or nominee) and the School Manager for Academic Administration (or nominee.

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GUIDANCE TO HELP YOU AVOID COMMITTING PLAGIARISM

1. You are allowed to use information from other people's work provided you acknowledge the source. This can apply to a statement, Table or Figure. The best way of doing this for

Tables and Figures is to add: "After Smith (1988)" or "Modified from Smith (1988)", and include the reference in your reference list.

2. If you are discussing something somebody else has said, you can say, for example: Smith (1987) claimed that coral reefs in the Pacific were damaged by high temperatures in 1975.

Or: It has been claimed that high temperatures in 1975 damaged coral reefs in the Pacific (Smith, 1975).

3. If you wish to quote from previous work you should put it in quotation marks, e.g. Smith (1980) described the outcome of unprecedented high temperatures on coral reefs as: "A

disaster for the marine communities in the coastal regions of the Indo-Pacific", and then stated that: "The phenomenon appears to be due to unprecedented high temperatures".

For information on paraphrasing see 8 and 9 below.

4. Authors should be cited in text either as: Smith (1975), Smith and Allen (1978), Allen (1987, 1989), or as (Smith, 1975; Smith and Allen, 1978; Allen 1987, 1989). Note that these

are in chronological, not alphabetic order. When more than two authors are quoted, this should be in the form Allen et al. (1993) in the text, but the full reference should be given in your reference list.

5. In your "References" or "Literature cited" section, the following style (authors, date, title,

journal, volume number, page numbers) should be used and references should be listed alphabetically. Provided you are consistent, you may also use any other accepted style - see journals in the library.

Smith, A. J. and Allen, N. B. (1986). Temperatures and coral reefs. Journal

of the Marine Biological Association 86: 101-123. Smith, A. J., Jones, K. L. and Allen, N. B. (1988). Death of corals due to high temperatures.

Thermal Biology 27: 19-34.

6. For books, the following style (author, title underlined or in italics, publisher, place of publication) applies:

Allen, N. B. (1992). Coral Reef Biology. Blackwells, London.

7. For chapters in edited volumes, the following style (author, date, title of chapter, title of book underlined or in italics, editors, page numbers, publisher, place of publication) applies:

Smith, A. J. (1987). Temperature and bleaching in corals. In: Coral Reef Biology (N. B. Allen and C. K. Hodges, eds.), pp. 65-90. Clumber Press, New York.

8. Paraphrasing, i.e. verabatim or almost verbatim restatement of a passage is a form of plagiarism frequently used in essays and dissertations. The following is paraphrased from C.

H. Gordon, P. Simmons and G. Wynn (date unknown). Plagiarism - What It Is And How To Avoid It. University of British Columbia.

Students often ask "How much do I have to change a sentence to be sure I'm not plagiarising?" If you have to ask, you are probably about to commit plagiarism! There is no

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set number of words that you need to change or add to make a passage your own – the originality must come from the development and expression of your own ideas.

Original work demands original thought. You should try and separate your ideas from those

of others. If you use another author‘s conclusions then acknowledge them. If you come to the same conclusions as another author you should still acknowledge them. Once a piece of work is complete, look at each part and ask yourself if the ideas expressed are entirely your

own, and whether the general language or choice of words is your own. If the answer to either is "no" the work should be credited to the original author

9. Examples.

9.1 Original

From Smith (1992): The author has found that corals respond to high temperatures by expelling their zooxanthellae. This causes them to go white, a phenomenon known as "bleaching." Such

corals soon become covered in algae, which makes it difficult for new coral planulae to settle and start a new colony (Davies, 1980). The phenomenon of bleaching is similar to the effect

of a crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) attack where the polyps are digested by enzymes secreted onto the colony surface (Brown, 1990). As Jones (1972) found, A. planci

poses a severe threat to corals in the Indo-Pacific. The recent occurrence of high numbers of these starfish on reefs has been correlated to run-off from land which contains high levels of plant nutrients (Jones, 1986). The subsequent increase in the number of algae apparently

enhances the survival of the filter-feeding larvae of the starfish.

To include this text verbatim in your own work, without placing the entire paragraph in quotation marks and acknowledging Smith (1992) (see 3 above) would constitute plagiarism.

9.2 Paraphrased version

Paraphrased from Smith (1992): Smith (1992) has found that corals respond to high temperatures by expelling their

zooxanthellae. This phenomenon, known as "bleaching", causes them to go white. Such corals quickly become covered in algae and this makes it difficult for new coral planulae to

settle and begin developing a new colony (Davies, 1980). Bleaching is similar to the effect of a crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) attack. Brown (1990) notes that this is where the polyps are digested by enzymes secreted onto the colony surface. Jones (1972) found

that A. planci may be a severe threat to corals in the Indo-Pacific. Recently high numbers of these starfish on reefs has been correlated to run-off from land with high levels of plant

nutrients (Jones, 1986). The increase in the number of algae apparently enhances the survival of the filter-feeding larvae of the starfish.

To include this text in your own work, even with the initial acknowledgment Smith (1992) would constitute plagiarism since it reads as if only the first sentence is

taken from Smith, and the rest of the references (Davies, Brown and Jones) have been sourced and read by you and that the development and expression of the text is your own original work.

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9.3 Unacknowledged version (i.e. submitting this as if it were your own thoughts or work)

The presence of high numbers of crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) on reefs has

been connected to run-off from land containing high levels of plant nutrients. This causes an increase in the number of algae which results in better survival of the filter-feeding larvae of the starfish. The starfish kills corals by secreting digestive enzymes onto their surfaces. A.

planci poses a severe threat to corals in the Indo-Pacific and their effect is similar to that caused by "bleaching", a phenomenon caused by high temperatures which results in

zooxanthellae being expelled. Subsequently the dead corals become covered in algae which makes it difficult for a new colony to start.

To include this text verbatim in your own work, would constitute plagiarism since there is no acknowledgment of Smith (1992).

9.4 Acceptable version (based on information from Smith, reading the cited references yourself and drawing upon other work)

Smith (1992) quoted Jones (1972, 1986) in suggesting that the crown-of-thorns starfish

poses a threat to corals in the Indo-Pacific, and that their recent upsurge may be due to an increase in plant food levels caused by an input of nutrients from land. Brown (1990) found

that these multi-armed starfish killed corals by everting their stomachs onto the coral colony surface and secreting an enzyme to digest the tissues externally. The resulting "bleaching" effect is similar to that which occurs when corals are exposed to high temperatures and the

zooxanthellae are expelled (Smith, 1992). Davies (1980) found that the settlement of algae on the colony surface made it difficult for new coral larvae to settle and, although fish often

grazed the algae continually, he found they could not keep these under control. Recent studies have shown that plagues of crown-of-thorns starfish may be a natural phenomenon, as the fossilised remains of previous outbreaks have been found in rocks millions of years old

(Cromer, 1994).

To present your work like this would not constitute plagiarism. Note that all the references and authors used in this document with the exception of Gordon

et al. are fictitious.

PLEASE CONSULT YOUR TUTOR IF YOU ARE STILL IN DOUBT ABOUT PLAGIARISM

15

Useful information

Dates for your diary

Term dates

Autumn Term Monday 22 September 2014 – Friday 12 December 2014

Spring Term Monday 12 January 2015 – Friday 27 March 2015

Summer Term

Monday 27 April 2015 – Friday 19 June 2015 Semester dates

Autumn Semester

Monday 22 September 2014 – Saturday 24 January 2015 Spring Semester

Monday 26 January 2015 – Friday 19 June 2015

Exam dates Autumn semester

Monday 12 January 2015 to Saturday 24 January 2015 – including Saturday 17 January 2015

Spring semester Monday 18 May 2015 to Friday 05 June 2015 – including Saturday 23 May and 30 May

2015

Late summer resits 17 August 2015 to Wednesday 26 August 2015 – excluding Saturday 22 August 2015

16

Public and bank holidays

Buildings will be closed on the following dates in the session 2011/12, except for any special

arrangements for research work which may be made by Heads of Divisions or any arrangements which may be made by the Conference Office or in the Sports Centre.

The symbols against the dates have the following meanings: PH = Public and Bank Holidays; UH = University Holiday; C = Closure of Buildings

Christmas 2014 Thursday 25 December 2014PH

Friday 26 December 2014PH Saturday 27 December 2014C

Sunday 28 December 2014C Monday 29 December 2014UH Tuesday 30 December 2014UH

Wednesday 31 December 2014UH Thursday 1 January 2015PH

Friday 2 January 2015UH

Easter 2015

Friday 3 April 2015PH Saturday 4 April 2015C

Sunday 5 April 2015C Monday 6 April 2015PH

Tuesday 7 April 2015UH

Early Spring 2015

Monday 4 May 2015PH

Late Spring 2015 Monday 25 May 2015PH

Late Summer 2015 Saturday 29 August 2015C

Sunday 30 August 2015C Monday 31 August 2015PH

17

Facilities

Student services centre Student Services provide a range of support, information and specialist services to

enhance your student experience. We form part of a comprehensive network of services at the University, designed to ensure that you have all the support and help you need while you are here.

Please see http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/ssc for further information

Library The James Cameron-Gifford Library on Sutton Bonington Campus, George Green Library and

Hallward Library at University Park provide information on all subject areas covered by the School. They are part of The University of Nottingham Library and the on-line catalogue

enables you to search for material held at Sutton Bonington and all libraries at University Park and Jubilee Campuses. Material from other campuses can easily be obtained for you.

See further information at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/library/index.aspx

Guild office The Students’ Union at Sutton Bonington is known as the Student Guild. The Office of the

Guild is currently located located opposite the James Cameron Gifford library, the office will move to the new Amenities Building January 2014.

Prayer rooms The Upper Room, situated in the Main Building, can be used as a multi-faith prayer room and is accessible during working hours, after which time this is card assessable (via student

identity cards). The Muslim Prayer Room is located north of North Laboratory (No. 3 on the SB Campus Map). For access information please see the notice board outside the Student

Services Centre in the Main Building. The new Amenities Building will include faith spaces, this opens January 2014.

Details of chaplaincy and faith support can be found at: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/chaplaincy/index.aspx/

Sports centre The campus has a £2.4m Sports Centre comprising a four court badminton sport’s hall, two squash courts, a practice room for martial arts, table tennis and exercise classes as well as a

fitness suite and new climbing wall. Outside are synthetic and grass pitches for soccer, rugby, hockey and tennis courts. The Student Guild runs several clubs including rugby union,

soccer, netball, mixed hockey, basketball, rowing, karate, running and cricket. You can join on-line (see below), at the Sutton Bonington Fresher’s fayre or at the Research Support

Office with passport-sized photo. For information on fees, please go to http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/sport/

18

Rushcliffe restaurant, mulberry tree café & campus shop Term-time Catering Services

During term-time (from Monday 22 September) The Rushcliffe Restaurant opens on weekdays (Monday – Friday) at these times:-

Evening Meal: 17.30 – 19.00

If you have any special dietary requirements, please contact the catering team before you arrive. They will then provide you with a Dietary Request Form which will need to be returned

to Sodexo Tel: +44 (0) 115 951 6176 (Internal 16176) Email: BoningtonFunctions@sodexo.com or speak to a member of the catering management

team.

Bistro (in the SB Bar)

Open for lunch 12.00- 13.45. The bistro will be serving a selection of hot and cold food to

tempt you at lunch times (Term time) Mulberry Tree Café

Monday – Friday 8.00am – 20.00, Saturday & Sunday 12.00 noon – 20.00

A wide selection of fresh home baked pastries are always available in the Mulberry tree along with our triple certified coffee. We also offer a comprehensive food offer, with

sandwiches, wraps, subs, salads fruit pots, sushi, as well as cold drinks and chilled frappe coffee drinks..

Keep up to date with all the daily menus, food offers and promotions from the catering team through our facebook and twitter pages

Facebook: Big Mouth SuttonB Twitter @BigMouthSuttonB

19

Postgraduate association The Postgraduate Association at Sutton Bonington has as its aims and objectives:

• to facilitate communication between postgraduates • to ensure representation of all postgraduates on relevant boards and committees and

provide channels for dissemination of resulting information

• to establish opportunities for postgraduates to participate in sports at all levels

The Association can be contacted through divisional representatives or the Chair of the Student Guild.

The graduate centre at Sutton Bonington The role of the Centre is to encourage networking between postgraduate students across a wide range of different disciplines. The Centre provides a programme of events including

regular presentations from future employees and seminars on CV writing and interview techniques as well as organising social events. You can contact Centre Manager on extension

68584 for further information. The Graduate Centre is located near the Accommodation Offices with complimentary tea, coffee, biscuits & daily newspapers.

See further information http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/graduateschool/graduatecentres/suttonbonington/index.aspx

International society

The International Society at Sutton Bonington is part of the Student Guild and the International Students’ Bureau of the University. International members of the School or British citizens with overseas origins are automatically considered as ordinary members.

However, any student can apply for membership.

Shuttle bus service between University Park, Sutton Bonington and Jubilee campuses

Details of the free bus service are available from the Enquiry Office, Main Building and are posted on notice boards and also on the web at

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/estates

20

University counsellors at Sutton Bonington There are trained members of staff available to talk to any student about any problems which

they don’t feel they can talk to their tutor about. Appointments can be made with a University counsellor through the Student Services Centre or by emailing counselling.service@nottingham.ac.uk

University counselling service at University Park The University provides a confidential, free counselling service with a staff of trained

counsellors. They are available to talk over any problem with a student. You should make an appointment by checking http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/counselling/ for further information.

Personal information and emergency contacts The University keeps a central record of all postgraduate students. We must have your home

and local addresses and telephone numbers in case we need to contact you or your family in an emergency. These details should be completed at registration or at the student portal.

Equal opportunities The University operates an equal opportunities policy. To fulfil this policy, it is important to ensure that no student or member of staff is subjected to any form of harassment, be it

sexual, racial or in less well-defined ways such as bullying.

To fulfil its commitment the University has set up a network of harassment advisors who have received training to help you deal with situations which could arise. You are welcome to consult an advisor at any time. Please contact the Human Resources Department on

extension 67388 or see the University website at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/staff-handbook/section-3/harassment-policy.php if you feel that you have a problem. You

are welcome to talk to an adviser at any time, based either at Sutton Bonington or at University Park.

21

Laboratory practices within the School of Biosciences These informal notes are intended as guidelines only for new postgraduate students and set

out some of the policies and research practices that exist within the School. Please read these carefully and use them for reference.

Equipment - Divisions have limited budgets and all research workers are asked to treat research equipment with the utmost respect. Equipment must only be used after proper

instruction and training in its use has been given. Laboratory coats are provided within the laboratories where they are required to be worn. In some areas major items of equipment have a booking system and use a book where

individuals record when the equipment was used and the period of time that was spent on it. This allows us to maintain records for safety purposes as well as service contracts. All

students and research workers should leave equipment in a working and clean condition. If equipment runs out of a resource (e.g. printer paper) it is your responsibility to get it

replaced via the technical staff. Failure to do so could render the user liable to restricted access to equipment. The School has small workshops for the repair and servicing of

equipment. Please report to your nominated technician any faulty piece of equipment. Under no circumstances should you attempt to repair faulty equipment, nor should you modify equipment or remove parts of it to service other apparatus. If equipment or

glassware is broken, please report this to the technical staff so a replacement can be purchased.

Radiochemicals - Anyone wishing to use radiochemicals must attend the course in October

organised by the University Radiation Officer. If you do not attend this course, you might have to wait one year. Further details are given in the Week One Programme and can also be viewed at: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/safety/training/training.aspx.

Animal-related work - There are strict regulations governing work with animals. Course

Managers will advise students about training courses necessary before animal work may be carried out.

Research collaboration - As a general rule, the University is extremely happy for students and researchers from one Division to use equipment within another Division, but please make

sure you proceed through the official channels, normally via your Course Manager. We have close and friendly relationships with a number of different Divisions/Schools but these can be prejudiced by students who do not use the correct methods of contact. A researcher from

Division damaging essential equipment in another Division might negate years of good will and close inter-relationships.

Visitors - Casual visitors must not be allowed into laboratory areas and, unless strictly necessary, children should not be brought into the buildings. If you are expecting official

visitors please inform your Course Manager or MSc Course Secretary.

Ordering - Both SB and UP have stores from which items can be obtained. Each Course and Research Division has a different policy for ordering and your Course Manager should be consulted about the procedures.

22

Photocopying and printing facilities A considerable amount of money is spent on photocopying and students should try to

minimise the amount of photocopying done. Taught postgraduate students are automatically entitled to £6.00 printing credits; additional credits (£10.00) will also be given to you by the School of Biosciences. Please take note of copyright regulations especially as they pertain to

copying from books and ask your Course Manager for local rules on photocopying.

Photocopying of material through the University libraries and inter-library loan material should first be checked with your Course Manager.

Visual aids and photography

At SB, Mr Mike Beard (extension 16568) can be contacted for photography, video and visual aids equipment. High quality colour slides can be produced from computer graphics. A4 full

colour scanning manipulation and printing to hard copy or slide is also available. A charge is made for materials. There is also a full colour laser printer/photocopier producing A3 and A4

copies, for which a charge is made per copy.

23

Computing facilities and guidelines All postgraduate students in the School are encouraged to make effective use of computers in

their work. Such use includes communication by electronic mail, accessing academic information services within and outside the University, the collection, storage and analysis of research data, and the preparation of text and graphics for reports, presentations and theses.

In general, the computing facilities available to a postgraduate student are either centrally

provided or belong to a particular Division. The centrally provided computing facilities are interlinked by a network spanning the whole university which in turn is linked to the Joint Academic NETwork (JANET) linking academic institutions in the UK. Most Divisional

computers are also linked to the university network.

Every person using any computer connected to the university network must be registered with the Cripps Computing Centre. Registration details will be given to you in advance of arriving at the University. Details of help getting connected can be found at

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/is/help/student-it-support.aspx

Installation of computer software - The law relating to installation of software onto PCs is very clear:

It is a criminal offence to install unregistered software on a computer

Students must abide by the University’s code of practice for users of the University computing facilities see:

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/is/documents/about/codeofpracticeforuniversitycomputingfacilities.pdf

Help and advice can be sought from the IS department, see below:

Web: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/it-services/index.aspx Tel: 0115 95 16677 Email: itservicedesk@nottingham.ac.uk

24

Safety guidelines In addition to the information in this Handbook you should read the Safety Handbook,

available on the School intranet pages. Students must seek advice and instruction regarding safety rules and procedures operating within their own particular research division. The Research Division Safety Representatives will issue all new staff/students/visitors with a

questionnaire which should be completed and signed before work in laboratories commences. A copy of the safety questionnaire can be found at the end of this Handbook (Appendix 6).

An important issue for consideration is that of ensuring the safety of yourself and others. Safety matters in the School are dealt with by the School Safety Committee which includes

undergraduate and postgraduate representatives. There are named Divisional Safety Officers who will offer guidance on any safety issue about which you may be uncertain.

You are strongly advised to pay particular attention to the safety hazard information on practical handouts and verbal instructions issued by members of staff. Any practical tasks which you are asked to complete will have undergone a COSHH risk assessment within the

Division.

You must read all information carefully as your safety, and that of others, depends upon your knowledge of safety guidelines.

Safety courses Please refer to the Week One programme for dates of safety training sessions organised by the University Safety Office for new postgraduates or visit

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/safety/training/training.aspx

Security and late Working

All staff and students should be aware of their site and Divisional rules concerning security and late working. Students should also be aware of the various fire exits and fire regulations

that exist in the School and familiarize themselves with the location of fire extinguishers and first aid equipment.

The front and rear doors of buildings are normally open during the working day. You will need to sign the late-working ledger at any of the doors if you work in any building outside

these hours.

See full details at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~sazintra//safety/index.htm

Safety policy

Consult your local Safety Officer regarding any queries on safety procedures.

All students and research workers should note that it is the legal responsibility of every person to investigate fully all risks and hazards which may occur during their research in the School.

Before any chemical can be purchased or used a full COSHH assessment must be carried out

and a detailed written experimental protocol approved by your module tutor or Course Leader. The member of academic staff concerned may need to refer any potential purchase or experimental protocol to the safety committee. All of the chemicals currently in each

Division have been assessed and the records are kept within a database to which you will

25

have access. Ask your Divisional Safety Officer for information on how to access the database.

Working Areas - Please note that no eating or drinking is permitted in the buildings except

in designated areas, eg tea/coffee rooms. Smoking is only permitted in designated areas and strictly forbidden in some buildings.

Good Laboratory Practice and Safety in Laboratories - It is essential that each postgraduate student takes responsibility for keeping the research laboratories clean and

tidy. Not only do untidy laboratories lead to potential hazards in case of fire and accident, but it does not create a good impression when the School has visitors.

Emergency first aid and fire procedure

Emergency first aid

Please read information available here http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/safety/emergency-info/emergency-info.aspx

All members of the School must ensure they know the positions of the nearest fire alarm call point, internal and external telephones, fire extinguishers and exit routes.

Emergency Procedures

In the event of a major fire, the following procedure should be followed: Activate the nearest fire alarm and telephone 8888 to alert the emergency services. Only attack

the fire if it is safe to do so. After activation or on hearing the evacuate alarm: 1) Leave the building immediately by the nearest exit, closing all doors and windows.

Do not use the lifts. 2) Go to the fire assembly point.

3) Do not re-enter the building until told to do so by the responsible authority.

If you are the first person past a fire token please follow these procedures:

1) Collect the area Fire Token. 2) Check that all rooms in the area indicated by the token are clear. 3) Leave the building in a quiet and orderly fashion following the arrows to the

nearest fire exit.

4) Hand the tokens and report clearance of the area to the fire coordinator

(wearing a yellow jacket) at the fire assembly point.

The Estates Office tests the fire alarm system each week. A fire drill to test the School's

procedures will be held at least annually. Refer to Local Area Safety Handbooks for local arrangements for fire evacuation.

First aid

Details of emergency first are given in the University Safety Handbook http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/safety/safetyhandbooksect4.htm

26

Accidents – Minor

Many members of staff are trained in first aid, a few also have received additional training in the use of a defibrillator (AED), details can be found on the School Health & Safety pages and in the foyer of most buildings. First aid boxes are located in all teaching

and research areas for the treatment of minor injuries. The exhaustion of any item should be reported to the member of staff in charge of the area, to the Local Area Safety Officer or to a member of the safety committee.

Accidents - Major In the event of a major accident, dial 8888 and ask for the Ambulance Service - summon interim first aid.

When the Fire Brigade or Ambulance Service has been alerted, state clearly where help is

required – building, room number/laboratory number - also give your name.

Accident and Incident Reporting

All incidents (injuries, occupationally acquired illness, dangerous

occurrences and near misses) should be reported using the on-line reporting

system available at:

uiwwwliv01.nottingham.ac.uk/ARI/

Anyone with access to the University network is able to report incidents on line.

Systems have been put in place for School Safety Officers and Line Managers to be

automatically notified (by email) of incidents for investigation in their areas. The Safety

Office will also be able to view all incidents that are submitted.

For those who are not able to access the University network, the paper forms are still

be available to complete. The details will then need to be entered onto the electronic

system by the local Local Area Safety Officer or School Safety Co-ordinator.

All major incidents & accidents within the School must be reported to the following people as soon as possible & preferably on the day of occurrence:

Director of Administration – Dr Sarah Johnon (16000) Head of School – Professor Neil Crout

School Safety Co-ordinator – Sue Woodward (16308) University Safety Office

This is particularly important if a casualty has been taken for further

medical treatment at hospital or their GP

Further information is available on the School intranet health & safety page.

27

Appendices

28

Appendix 1

CLASS

% QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA - GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR ESSAYS & REPORTS

Distinction A1 A2 A3 A4

100 90 80 73

a. Excellent report structure with professional presentation of figures, tables, diagrams, references etc.; evidence of originality/novelty in presentation. b. Deep understanding of subject; all arguments carefully developed and clearly expounded. c. Considerable and effective use of literature information, beyond that supplied as taught material. d. Clear evidence of critical thinking, originality and novelty.

Merit B1 B2 B3

68 65 62

a. Well organised report; appropriate choice of illustrative figures, tables, diagrams etc.; clearly presented throughout. b. Sound grasp of subject material; generally logical arguments. c. Reasonable evidence of wider study beyond lecture material.

d. Some evidence of independent thinking and originality.

Pass C1 C2 C3

58 55 52

a. Generally clear report conforming with accepted format but with some errors in style and/or omissions in presentation of illustrative figures. b. Reasonable understanding of subject material, but some flaws in the logic of arguments and factual errors. c. Only limited evidence of wider study and use of literature information. d. Very little evidence of independent thinking or originality.

Soft fail D1 D2 D3

48 45 42

a. Little attention given to report structure; limited use of illustrative figures, tables etc.; serious flaws in presentation. b. Limited understanding of subject; considerable factual errors demonstrated. c. Virtually no inclusion of literature information beyond lecture material. d. Virtually no evidence of independent thinking or originality.

Fail E

35

a. Very poorly structured; disorganised; missing sections; minimal presentation of supporting data, figures etc. b. Minimal understanding of subject; serious factual errors; general lack of any logical arguments. c. Virtually no inclusion of literature information. d. No evidence of independent thinking or originality.

Fail F1

25

Very poor coverage of material with little information that is relevant. Virtually no evidence of understanding the question; minimal attempt to provide a structured answer.

Fail F2

10

A few lines of relevant material

Fail

F3

0

No relevant material

1. Only broad classes (A,B,C,D and E) have qualitative criteria attached; the division into (e.g.) C1, C2, C3 etc. is at the discretion of the examiner.

2. The qualitative criteria include consideration of: a. The quality of the report/essay etc. - the use of sections; diagrams; figures etc.; citation of references; general neatness etc.

b. Student’s knowledge of subject; depth and quality of answer. c. Evidence of reading / study beyond regurgitation of standard taught material. d. Independent or critical thinking / originality etc.

29

CLASS

% QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA - GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR EXAMINATIONS

Distinction A1 A2 A3 A4

100 90 80 73

a. Deep understanding of subject; carefully balanced arguments clearly presented; all material highly relevant to the question. b. Considerable and effective use of literature information, beyond that supplied as taught material. c. Clear evidence of critical thinking, originality and novelty d. Excellent structure and good use of illustrative diagrams etc.; evidence of originality/novelty in presentation.

Merit B1 B2 B3

68 65 62

a. Sound grasp of subject material; presentation of logical arguments relevant to the question. b. Reasonable evidence of wider study beyond lecture material. c. Some evidence of independent thinking and originality. d. Well organised answer; appropriate use of illustrative diagrams; clear presentation.

Pass C1 C2 C3

58 55 52

a. Reasonable understanding of subject material, but some flaws in the logic of arguments and factual errors; possibly some irrelevant material. b. Only limited evidence of wider study and use of literature information. c. Little evidence of independent thinking or originality. d. Fairly clear presentation; generally conforming with accepted format but with some flaws in style; little use of illustrative diagrams.

Soft fail D1 D2 D3

48 45 42

a. Limited understanding of subject; numerous flaws in the logic of arguments; considerable factual errors and/or irrelevant material. b. Virtually no inclusion of literature information beyond lecture material. c. Virtually no evidence of independent thinking or originality. d. Little attention given to structure; very limited use of illustrative diagrams; serious flaws in presentation.

Fail E

35

a. Minimal understanding of subject; serious factual errors; general lack of any logical arguments; considerable amount of irrelevant material. b. Virtually no inclusion of literature information. c. No evidence of independent thinking or originality. d. Very poorly structured answer; disorganised and untidy; missing sections; virtually no use of illustrative diagrams.

Fail F1

25

Insubstantial answer; very poor coverage of material with little information that is relevant. Virtually no evidence of understanding the question and minimal attempt at structure

Fail F2

10

A few lines of relevant material

Fail F3

0

No relevant material

1. Only broad classes (A, B, C, D and E) have qualitative criteria attached; the division into (e.g.) C1, C2, C3 etc. is at the discretion of the examiner.

2. The qualitative criteria include consideration of: a. Student’s knowledge of subject; depth, relevance and quality of answer. b. Evidence of reading / study beyond regurgitation of standard taught material. c. Independent or critical thinking / originality etc. d. The quality of presentation - structure of answer, the use of sections; diagrams etc., general neatness etc.

30

CLASS

% QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA - GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR POSTERS

Distinction A1 A2 A3 A4

100 90 80 73

a. Excellent use of headings, text appropriate size, figures and diagrams clear and well-labelled, very easy to follow progression of poster theme. b. Visually very attractive and creative. c. Factually very accurate and informative with clear evidence of extensive knowledge of published literature. d. All relevant aspects of own data presented, where inclusion is appropriate.

Merit B1 B2 B3

68 65 62

a. Good use of headings, text of appropriate size, some loss of figure clarity or slight errors in labelling, easy to follow progression of poster theme. b. Visually quite attractive and creative. c. Factually accurate and informative with some evidence of knowledge of published literature. d. Most relevant aspects of own data presented, where inclusion is appropriate

Pass C1 C2 C3

58 55 52

a. Adequate use of headings, text a little too small, figures not clear and inadequately labelled, more difficult to follow progression of poster theme. b. Visually unstimulating. c. Some factual inaccuracies with only limited evidence of knowledge of published literature. d. Several aspects of own data omitted, where inclusion is appropriate.

Soft fail D1 D2 D3

48 45 42

a. Very poor use of headings, text too small or hand-written, figures unclear and unlabelled, no obvious progression of poster theme. b. Visually unattractive and dull. c. Many factual inaccuracies with very limited evidence of knowledge of published literature. d. Most of own data omitted, where inclusion is appropriate.

Fail E

35

a. No headings used and poster somewhat disorganised. b. Visually unattractive and dull. c. Inaccurate with virtually no evidence of knowledge of published literature. d. None of own data included.

Fail F1

25

a. No headings used and poster very disorganised and difficult to understand. b. Visually very unattractive and dull. c. Inaccurate with no evidence of knowledge of published literature. d. None of own data included.

Fail F2

10

A few lines of relevant material presented

Fail F3

0

No poster presented

1. Only broad classes (A, B, C, D and E) have qualitative criteria attached; the division into (e.g.) C1, C2, C3 etc. is at the discretion of the examiner. 2. The qualitative criteria include consideration of:

a. Structure and organisation of the poster. b. Visual impact and attractiveness. c. Accuracy and completeness of the content. d. Where appropriate, inclusion of students' own experimental data.

31

CLASS

% QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA - GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Distinction A1 A2 A3 A4

100 90 80 73

a. Clearly audible, well-paced presentation delivered without obviously reading from notes in the time allocated. Addressed to the audience. b. Very well-planned with a clear logical structure focused on the topic being presented. Excellent introduction and summary. c. Excellent use of visual aids which are easy to read and understand. Main points of slides clearly explained. d. Content of presentation very well-researched with relevant data where appropriate. Response to questions asked indicates thorough understanding.

Merit B1 B2 B3

68 65 62

a. Clearly audible, well-paced presentation delivered with some reading from notes in the time allocated. Mainly addressed to the audience. b. Quite well-planned with logical structure focused on topic being presented. Good introduction and summary. c. Good use of visual aids which are quite clear to read and understand. Good attempt to explain main points of slides. d. Content of presentation quite well-researched with relevant data where appropriate. Response to questions asked indicates good understanding.

Pass C1 C2 C3

58 55 52

a. Audible presentation which may be too fast or too slow. Tendency to read from notes and to address floor or ceiling. May be outside time allocated b. Some flaws in structure and not always focused on the topic being presented. Weak introduction and summary. c. Adequate use of visual aids which are not always easy to read and understand. Little attempt to explain main points of slides. d. Some omissions in literature research and little relevant data presented. Response to questions asked indicates incomplete understanding.

Soft fail D1 D2 D3

48 45 42

a. Difficult to hear. Too fast or too slow. Read from notes and little attempt to address the audience. Outside allocated time. b. Poorly-structured, rambling presentation which strays from topic being presented. Very weak introduction or summary. c. Poor visual aids which are difficult to read and understand. Poor explanation of main points of slides. d. Little evidence of literature research and no data presented. Response to questions indicates poor understanding.

Fail E

35

a. Mumbled, halting presentation. Much too fast or too slow. No attempt to address audience and well outside allocated time. b. No discernible structure to presentation with some relevant material. No introduction or summary. c. Very poor visual aids. No explanation of main points of slides. d. Poor literature research and no data presented. Response to questions shows serious weakness in understanding.

Fail F1

25

a. Extremely difficult to hear presentation and well outside allocated time. b. No discernible structure and very little relevant material. No introduction or summary. c. No visual aids used. d. Little evidence of research. Response to questions shows minimal understanding.

Fail F2

10

Very minimal attempt to give a presentation.

Fail F3

0

Failed to give a presentation.

1. Only broad classes (A, B, C, D and E) have qualitative criteria attached; the division into (e.g.) C1, C2, C3 etc. is at the discretion of the examiner. 2. The qualitative criteria include consideration of: a. Presentation of talk; audibility, speed, use of notes, addressed to audience, time keeping. b. Organisation of talk; logical coherent progression with introduction and summary. c. Use of visual aids; clarity and explanation of salient points.

d. Research and response to questioning; evidence of extensive reading, presentation of own data (where relevant), evidence of wider understanding.

32

CLASS

% QUALITATIVE ASSESSMENT CRITERIA - RESEARCH PROJECT EXPERIMENTAL WORK

Distinction A1 A2 A3 A4

100 90 80 73

a. Extremely independent and able to work with minimal direct supervision. Shows a great deal of initiative and perseverance when things go wrong. b. Very well organised; able to plan time in laboratory/field with minimal assistance. c. Technically extremely competent; learns new methods quickly with minimal training. d. Excellent critical ability and able to appreciate limitations of techniques used.

Merit B1 B2 B3

68 65 62

a. Able to work independently with little direct supervision. Shows some initiative and perseverance. b. Well organised; able to plan time in laboratory/field with little assistance. c. Technically competent; learns new methods quite quickly when given training.

d. Some critical ability and appreciation of limitations of techniques used.

Pass C1 C2 C3

58 55 52

a. Needs quite close supervision and shows little initiative. Tendency to give up too quickly when things go wrong. b. Quite well organised but needs considerable help to plan experiments and time spent in laboratory/field. c. Technically quite competent, but liable to make mistakes is not supervised closely. Slow at learning new techniques.

d. Limited critical ability and little appreciation of limitations of techniques used.

Soft fail D1 D2 D3

48 45 42

a. Little or no ability to work independently. Shows very little initiative. Liable to give up when things go wrong.

b. Poorly organised; unable to plan time in laboratory/field without direct instruction. c. Technically incompetent. Liable to make mistakes even when supervised closely. Very slow at learning new techniques. d. Virtually no critical ability or appreciation of limitations of techniques used.

Fail E

35

a. No ability to work independently. Minimal effort put into work. b. Poorly organised and liable to miss planned work sessions. c. Technically very incompetent. Often makes mistakes, even when closely supervised. Extremely slow at learning new techniques. d. No critical ability or appreciation of limitations of techniques used.

Fail F1

25

a. Rarely does any experimental work. b. Very likely to miss planned work sessions. c. Often makes errors when carrying our simple procedures. d. No critical ability or appreciation of limitations of techniques used.

Fail F2

10

Very minimal laboratory/field work attempted.

Fail F3

0

No laboratory/field work attempted

1. Only broad classes (A, B, C, D and E) have qualitative criteria attached; the division into (e.g.) C1, C2, C3 etc. is at the discretion of the examiner. 2. The qualitative criteria include consideration of:

a. Independence and initiative. Perseverance when work does not go according to plan. b. Organisational ability; can the student plan their use if time effectively and efficiently? c. Technical ability; can the student carry out work competently and learn new techniques quickly d. Critical ability and appreciation of the limitations of the work

33

33

School of Biosciences Qualitative Marking Schemes

Supplementary Guidelines

Marking at Different Levels Within Degree Programmes

The School’s qualitative marking schemes provide general guidance for assessment of various types of work. However, in applying these schemes to individual assessments, account must be taken of the level at which students are working. The criteria outlined below provide general guidance, and not all criteria will be applicable

to all forms of assessment.

Academic Levels

Level 1 Certificate level, generally qualifying year students

Level 2 Diploma level, generally taken by year 2 students

Level 3 Degree level, generally taken by year 3 students

Level 4 Masters level, generally taken by post-graduate or year 4 undergraduate students

Major considerations

Mark Class A

Level 1: Draws on available evidence to make sound conclusions supported from a range of

sources.

Level 2: There is evidence of further reading and careful analysis offering alternative views.

Level 3: There is critical analysis offering alternative views. There is clear expression of own

views, which are supported by appropriate literature. Draws on available evidence to

make persuasive conclusions.

Level 4: Detailed, orderly and critical work with clearly specified focus/foci exhibiting rigorous

analysis, synthesis and evaluation. There must be evidence that the student has

developed their own arguments.

Mark Class B

Level 1: Content is accurate and relevant with appropriate use of supporting material.

Level 2: There is sound analysis with good expression and argument with evidence of

independent thinking supported by appropriate material.

Level 3: There is sound critical analysis. Alternative views are expressed using supporting

evidence from a variety of sources.

Level 4: Evidence of originality and significant critical analysis. There is evidence of integration

of material from a variety of sources.

Mark Class C

Level 1: Content is largely accurate and relevant with some evidence of understanding.

Level 2: There is adequate analysis with limited evidence of wider study.

Level 3: There is reasonable understanding, with some attempt at analysis and limited use of

supporting material.

Level 4: There is reasonable understanding and analysis supported by a range of relevant

evidence.

Mark Class D

Level 1: Some relevant content but with evidence of only very limited understanding.

Level 2: Some relevant content with limited understanding but little evidence of wider study.

Level 3: Basic understanding with limited evidence of wider study.

Level 4: Basic understanding with limited evidence of understanding and some attempt at

analysis.

Mark Classes E/F

All levels: Work does not demonstrate above criteria and reference should be made the

qualitative criteria in deciding final mark.

Modules offered at levels A - C are considered intermediate between Levels 1 - 2, 2 - 3 and 3 - 4

respectively. 34

Appendix 2 -

Staff in the School of Biosciences

Head of School: Professor Neil Crout

Director of Administration: Dr Sarah Johnson

Postgraduate Tutor: Ms Becky Cameron

Chair of PG Taught Courses Committee: Dr Grantley Lycett

MSc/PGDip Manager Director Admin contact

Applied Biomolecular

Technology

Prof Steve

Harding

16148 FSD

Prof Steve Harding

16148 FSD

Ms Carolyn Newton

16143 FSD

Animal Nutrition Prof Kevin Sinclair

16053 AS

Prof Kevin Sinclair

16053 AS

Mrs Kathy Lawson

16061 AS

Applied

Biopharmaceutical

Biotechnology and

Entrepreneurship

Prof Steve

Harding

16148 FSD

Dr. Jianhua Jia

16171 FSD

Ms Carolyn Newton

16143 FSD

Brewing Science Dr David Cook

16245 FSD

Dr David Cook

16245 FSD

To be confirmed

Brewing Science &

Practice

Dr David Cook Dr David Cook To be confirmed

Crop Biotechnology

and Entrepreneurship

Dr Grantley Lycett

16340 PCSD

Dr Grantley Lycett

16340 PCSD

Ms Diane Jones

16343 PCSD

Crop Improvement Dr Rumiana Ray

16049 PCSD

Dr Erik Murchie

16082 PCSD

Ms Diane Jones

16343 PCSD

Food Production

Management

Dr Jian Jia

16188 FSD

Dr Tim Foster

16145 FSD

Ms Carolyn Newton

16143 FSD

International MSc in

Biosciences

Dr Erik Murchie

16082 PCSD

Dr Erik Murchie

16082 PCSD

Ms Diane Jones

16343 PCSD

Nutritional Sciences Dr Lisa

Coneyworth

16127 NS

Prof Simon Langley-Evans

16133 NS

Linda Brailsford

16123 NS

Plant Genetic

Manipulation

Prof Zoe Wilson

13235 PCSD

Dr Tim Robbins

16329 PCSD

Ms Diane Jones

13056 PCSD

Sustainable Bioenergy

and Industrial

Biotechnology

Dr Chenyu Du

16160 FS

Dr Chenyu Du

16160 FS

Mr Henry Bowler

16637 FS

PG Cert Sensory

Science

Dr Joanne Hort

16222 FSD

Dr Joanne Hort

16144 FSD

Ms Carolyn Newton

16143 FSD

FSD: Food Sciences; PCSD: Plant and Crop Sciences; AESD: Agricultural and Environmental Sciences;

AS Animal Science

Manager – Normal running of course

Director - Policy and course management in absence of manager

Administration contact – Secretary for MSc course

35

Appendix 3

Research division staff The School is divided into five divisions as follows:

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Head: Professor G Shaw

Management Dr S J Ramsden, Dr P Wilson

Dr ICW Hardy

Environmental Science Prof N Crout, Dr E H Bailey, Dr B Lomax, Dr S Mooney, Prof G

Shaw, Dr S Sjögersten, Dr H M West, Dr S Young, Dr D Smith, Prof

C Hodgman, Dr C Lu

Animal Sciences

Head: Professor J Wiseman

Dr R Alberio, Dr J Harris, Dr S Kelly, Dr M R Luck, Dr G E Mann, Dr K

Millar, Dr C Stevenson, Dr R Stoger, Dr D. Sweetman, Dr A Waterfall

Animal Production Prof P C Garnsworthy, Prof K D Sinclair

Food Sciences

Head: Professor T Foster

Prof I Connerton, Prof C Dodd, Prof S E Harding, Prof S E Hill, Prof C

Boulton, Dr D Cook, Dr C Du, Dr I Fisk, Dr D Gray, Dr P J Hill, Dr J

Hobman, Prof J Hort, Dr K Mellits, Dr C Powell, Dr C E D Rees, Dr F

Ruedisueli, Dr D Scott, Dr A Swali, Dr B Wolf

Emeritus Prof W Waites

Emeritus Prof J Mitchell Emeritus Prof J M V Blanshard

Nutritional Sciences

Head: Professor A Salter

Dr J M Brameld, Dr M Alcocer, Dr M Elmes, Dr F McCullough, Dr S

McMullen, Dr T Parr, Prof G A Tucker, Dr J Swift, Dr S Welham, Dr P

Jethwa, Ms Amanda Avery, Ms Arlene Barton, Ms Kirsten Whitehead,

Prof S Langley-Evans, Ms N Gilbert, Dr L Coneyworth, Dr A Murton, Dr

D Mellor

Plant and Crop Sciences

Head: Professor GB Seymour

Prof M J Bennett, Prof C R Black, Prof M R Broadley, Prof M J Dickinson,

Dr R G Fray, Dr Z Gonzalez, Dr N Graham, Prof I P King, Dr J King, Dr

G W Lycett, Prof S May, Dr K Pyke, Dr T Robbins, Prof J Roberts, Dr S

Rossall, Dr R Swarup, Prof Z Wilson

Crop Science Dr J Foulkes, Prof M J Holdsworth, Dr S Mayes, Dr R Ray, Dr D L

Sparkes, Dr EH Murchie

36

Appendix 4

Other useful contacts

Accommodation Bonington Halls

Accommodation at Sutton Bonington Campus is operated by CLV UK. Detailed

information about the residential facilities and services can be found online at www.clvuk.com or at

www.nottingham.ac.uk/accommodation/accommodation.aspx

The Accommodation Office (in Stanford House, opposite the Vet School building) will be open between 9.00 and 17.00 on both Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 September. The contact details are below (normal office opening hours are 08.00 to 17.00 Monday-

Friday):

Tel: +44 (0) 1509 673750 Fax: +44 (0) 1509 674014 E-Mail:boningtonhalls@clvuk.com

37

Appendix 5

Further help in the university

Academic support office (student services)

The Office offers confidential advice and one-to-one or small-group tuition on academic and

study skills problems. The Unit gives specialist help in dyslexia. Appointments are available on most days at University Park. A local service at SB is offered, subject to demand, on

Wednesday afternoons. Extension 15991/2. Please see http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/student-support/ for further information.

Centre for english language education (cele)

Additional English support classes are available at the SB campus, subject to demand. Please contact extension 14405 for further information or view information at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/cele/index.aspx

Careers and employability service The Careers and Employability Service can help you plan for your future. You can discuss your career prospects with one of the assigned careers advisors, who specialise in

the Biological Sciences. Please see http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/careers/ for further information. You can book a one-to-one appointment to discuss your career ideas or

questions at Sutton Bonington Campus or at University Park. A careers adviser is based in the Student Services Centre, Sutton Bonington Campus, two days each week. At University Park the Science Faculty Careers Team are based in B08 Pope Building.

To find out about the workshops and events, check your university email to find your

weekly Biosciences Careers bulletin. You can also follow @UoNCareers and @UoNBioscicareers on twitter.

Teaching and Information Services Computer Resource Areas

The ISCRA lab has members of the Cripps Computing Centre staff who can help with computing enquiries. They can also advise on free short courses and workshops offering

training in the use of computers, certain software packages and programming languages.

Study skills books

Of more than a 100 books available which offer advice on how to study, recommended are:

School of Biosciences: Study Skills Booklet (available in each student pack) Kirkman, J (1992) Good Style: Writing for Science and Technology Luck, M.R (1999) Your Student Research Project

Monteith, J. Scientific Writing, available from the School Office Palmer, R (1993) Write in style: A Guide to Good English

Pechenik, J. & Lamb, B. (1995) How to Write About Biology Turk, C & Kirkman, J (1989) Effective Style: Improving Scientific, Technical and Business

Communication

38

Appendix 6

School of Biosciences

New Starter Health and Safety Induction Questionnaire

Name................................................................................................................................

Division................................................... Date.................................................................

This questionnaire is designed to ensure that you have understood all the basic safety rules and

procedures of the School of Biosciences and the Division in which you work. You should be able to

complete all sections. On completion, arrange to discuss your responses with your Division Safety

officer.

Information and procedures associated with issues such as radiation, hazardous substances, etc

which may be specific to your Division will be provided to you by the Division. You have a

responsibility to ensure you are fully informed before starting work.

A. Fire

A1. What action should you take if you discover a fire?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A2. What action should you take on hearing the fire alarm?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A3. Describe the sound of the fire alarm?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A4. Where is your nearest means of raising the fire alarm?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

39

A5. Where & what type are the nearest fire extinguishers to your normal place of work?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A6. What type of extinguisher would you use for (a) electrical fire, (b) chemical fire, (c) paper

fire?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A7. What is your fire escape route?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A8. Where is your assembly point?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A9. Why should fire doors be kept closed?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Accidents / First Aid

B1. Where is your nearest first aid box?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B2. Who are the designated first aiders for your area and how would you contact them?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

40

B3. What is the procedure for reporting accidents in your area?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B4. What is the internal emergency telephone number for the campus where you are working?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B5. What information would you give if you needed to telephone the above number?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Safety Responsibility / Procedures

C1. Who is your Division safety officer and how would you contact them?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

C2. Have you read and understood the University Safety Handbook, School of Biosciences safety

policy and your Division safety procedures? Explain your responsibilities.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

C3. Where would you find out more information about health and safety issues?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

C4. Does the School of Biosciences have a Safety Committee? If so, how often does it meet?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

41

D. Your work and safety

D1. The table below gives 20 hazards, which are common in the university environment. Tick

those which you might encounter in your line of work?

Biological Manual handling Lifting Equipment Noise

Chemical Tripping hazards Electrical Animals

Haz. Substances Slipping hazards Waste Disposal Work at height

Radiation Machinery Sharps Lasers

Flammables Hand tools Clinical waste VDU

D2. State any other hazards specific to your work?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D3. Describe any health surveillance which your Division requires you to undergo? State the

frequency and where the surveillance is carried out?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D4. What type of personal protective equipment are you required to use for your work at the

university?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D5. Describe the procedure for reporting of hazards or faults which you discover at work?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

42

E. Miscellaneous

E1. Give reasons for maintaining good housekeeping and a clear and unobstructed workplace?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E2. Where is smoking permitted in your area of work?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E3. What checks should you make before using any work equipment?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E4. If you bring in electrical equipment from outside, what action should you take before using it

at work?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E5. Have you been designated a "user" of display screen equipment? If YES, has your

workstation been assessed? What training will you be given?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E6. Will your work involve much lifting and carrying? If YES, what is the date for your

handling and lifting training course?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

E7. What action should you take if you are required to work outside normal working hours and in

outlying locations?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------

Signatures

New Student ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Division Safety Officer -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Date ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

43

Appendix 7

Academic and disability support Services for students who have a disability, dyslexia and/or a long-

term medical condition

At the University of Nottingham we are strongly committed to equality of opportunity for all our students. We welcome disabled and dyslexic students and aim to ensure

that, as far as possible, appropriate support is offered to meet your needs.

Full information on the range of support and services available for students is available at www.nottingham.ac.uk/studentservices

Disclosure and confidentiality

We will respect the confidential nature of information you provide and act in

accordance with data protection regulations. Confidential information will only be shared within the University on a need-to-know basis. If you have a disability, dyslexia or other Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs), we

would strongly encourage you to make early contact with us, before submitting your application.

Knowing about your requirements in advance can help us to prepare and arrange support in time for the start of your course.

We would therefore encourage you to disclose your disability or SpLDs to us as soon as possible. Failure to do so may affect our ability to make some of the adjustments that

you require. For more information about confidentiality and disclosure, please see:

www.nottingham.ac.uk/studentservices/supportforyourstudies/disabilitysupport/studentdisclosureandconfidentialitypolicy.aspx

Eligibility

If you are disabled or have a long term medical condition, you will need to provide evidence from a medical professional (such as a GP, consultant or specialist nurse) in order to access our services and support. For more information about our medical

evidence policy, please see: www.nottingham.ac.uk/studentservices/supportforyourstudies/disabilitysupport/medica

levidencepolicy.aspx If you are dyslexic, you will need to provide a report, in English, from an

educational psychologist or a specialist teacher, dated after your 16th birthday. If you have dyspraxia or AD(H)D, or other Specific Learning Difficulties you will need to

have a letter or report from a suitable, qualified professional; for example an educational or occupational psychologist or medical practitioner

44

What we can offer you…

Academic Support (AS) and Disability Support (DS)

Academic Support (comprising Dyslexia Support and Study Support) and the Disability Support Team are located in the Student Services Centre (SSC), in Portland Building on

University Park, and by appointment on our Jubilee and Sutton Bonington campuses, as well as other teaching sites.

We can assist with queries regarding:

Support in making the transition to University Liaison with your School or department about any impact your condition may have

on the study elements of your course

recommendations to academic staff for reasonable adjustments in teaching

recommendations and referral for adjustments to examinations and assessment

access to alternative formats such as Braille and large print

residential accommodation – adapted study bedrooms

accessible transport around and between campuses

applying for Disabled Students’ Allowances

Academic Support also provides support for students who wish to develop their strategies for academic writing and time management.

If you would like to contact us please phone the Student Services Centre on

(0115) 9513710 or email disability-support@nottingham.ac.uk

or dyslexia-support@nottingham.ac.uk

The University of Nottingham ACCESS Centre (UNAC), in the Student Services Centre, provides assessments for students who have applied for Disabled Students' Allowances.

Disability Liaison Officers (DLO)

The School appoints Disability Liaison Officers, who provide a point of reference, advice

and guidance for members of staff and students in the School about student disability issues and support. The DLOs are part of a network that meets regularly to share

information and good practice. DLOs liaise with both the Academic Support and the Disability Support Teams, as necessary, in relation to individual students and general

policies and procedures. If you have any requirements or concerns talk in the first instance to your DLO - or

contact your personal tutor.

School Disability Liaison Officer (DLO) The DLO for the School of Biosciences is Ms Rebecca Cameron (Tel: 01159 951 16003) Fax 0115 951 6032, email: Rebecca.cameron@nottingham.ac.uk. Located in room A6,

Main Building at Sutton Bonington Campus.

45

Referral to Academic Support

Academic Support (AS)

Student Services Centre

B Floor, Portland Building

University Park

Nottingham NG7 2RD

Tel:13710 email: ssc@nottingham.ac.uk

Fax:14376 www.nottingham.ac.uk/as

Student Name: ____________________________________________________________

Term time address:

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

ID No: ____________________ email: ___________________________

Tel: ______________________________mob: _____________________________

Course: _______________________________________________ UG/PG _____

Additional information:

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

The following issues were raised: Tick

Accommodation

Alternative formats such as Braille, large print

Dyslexia

Examinations and assessment

Mental Health Issues

Library use

Mobility around campus

Study Support

Other:

Staff member ___________________________________ Date_________

______________________ _______________________________________

Position School

Ref/10.08

46

Appendix 8

Weapons

1 No weapon may be kept on University property other than in a secure store provided for that

purpose. Target rifles and licensed shotguns will be kept in the University armouries by

arrangement with the Chief Security Officer and all other weapons to be used in Student

Union clubs and societies will be stored under arrangements made by the Sports Clubs whose

activities involve the use of those weapons. Arrangements for these stores must be approved

by the Chief Security Officer.

2 No weapon may be used on University Property other than at a place approved for that

purpose.

3 Breach of Regulation 1 or 2 is an offence under the Code of Discipline for Students.

4 “Weapon” includes any item made, adapted or intended to cause injury or damage, or any

other item made to resemble such a weapon together with all firearms and guns (including

ball-bearing guns, stun guns and paint-ball guns) whether powered by air, gas, liquid, or a

spring device and the ammunition for such firearms and guns. It includes also all swords,

axes, machetes, and knives (other than kitchen knives, pocket knives and knives used in

connection with religious observances) and also any longbow, crossbow or harpoon gun.

Items will be deemed to be a weapon whether or not they are fully assembled so as to be

complete.

47

Appendix 9 Information for students on Purchasing, Expenses and Travel

If you want to purchase goods or services whilst you are studying at the University of Nottingham (which is not personal expenditure) then you should always ensure that

you have purchased using one of the University’s contracted suppliers and preferred purchasing methods.

See attached link to University Procurement: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/procurement/

If you are unsure at any time please do not hesitate to discuss your requirements

with your divisional Administrators or Anna Toon in Research Support Services, (Room A4, Main Building). We will be pleased to assist you in obtaining the goods or services that you require.

If you purchase goods or services without using one of the University’s

preferred methods then it is unlikely that you will be reimbursed or the supplier paid by the University.

Follow the steps below on how to purchase correctly while studying with us:

1. In the first instance obtain approval from your Academic Supervisor

for your goods/travel requirements.

2. Go and see your divisional Administrators or contact Anna Toon, Sally

Taylor or Mary Kennedy in Research Support Services for advice on how to

purchase the goods.

3. The purchase should be made via an approved supplier on one of the

approved purchasing systems.

4. If you want to travel as part of your studies/personal development it must

firstly be agreed with your Academic Supervisor. You will then need to

book this through your divisional Administrators.

5. If you incur expenditure which has been agreed, ensure that you retain

the VAT receipt and fill in the Exp3A form from the following link:

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/finance/forms/index.aspx

6. Take the completed form with the receipt attached to your Academic

supervisor for authorisation. They will then forward this to the Research

Support Services who will arrange reimbursement for you.

48

Your Divisional Contacts are shown below:

Agricultural & Environmental Sciences Administrators – Emma Hooley (Gateway)

And Sarah Gamba (South Laboratory)

Animal Sciences Administrators – Sheila Northover and Kathy Lawson

Food Sciences Administrators – Dawn Beatson (Food Sciences building)

And Linda Vickerstaff (Bioenergy & Brewing Sciences)

Nutritional Sciences Administrators –Linda Brailsford, Marie Coombes, Lisa Pattison

Plant & Crop Sciences Administrators: Sonoko Mitsui-Angwin, Diane Jones and Jennifer Dewick (all

based in the Plant Sciences Building)

If your divisional staff are still unsure then please see Sally Taylor, Mary Kennedy or Bob Kear in the Finance Office, C16, Main Building for further advice and support.

Research Support Services

Sally Taylor extn: 16305 Mary Kennedy extn: 16212 Bob Kear extn: 16330

Seema Srinivasan extn: 16131

49