Admission requirements
Bachelor degree. Admission to the Master BMS.
Description
Period: 5 September 2022 - 16 September 2022 and 11 April 2023 - 21 April 2023
During this course you will learn to write a research proposal in the research field of your tutor. You will work together in a small group of students. To write a research proposal you must be able to formulate a hypothesis and research questions, which are central to any proposal. Furthermore, you must be able to write a research design. Therefore, you will start reading selected papers and, with guidance of your tutor, will formulate a research question and a hypothesis. Your group will then focus on writing the introduction of the proposal, followed by the scientific background and research design, including experiments and data analysis. Expected outcomes and (societal) significance of the results have to be indicated.
You will also critically evaluate proposals by other groups. A list of evaluation criteria is posted on Brightspace, not only to guide you in writing your own proposal, but also to help you evaluate the proposals of other groups. You will prepare a presentation of the proposal to present during a final joint meeting. Every student must participate in the presentation of the proposal.
Course objectives
The student:
is able to write a research proposal conform scientific standards encompassing: introduction, hypothesis, planning, research design, finances, societal impact and clinical relevance;
is able to write a research design which fits the hypothesis and the biomedical subject/content of the proposal;
is able to think in multidisciplinary terms and to make connections between his/her own research and (international) research results;
shows communication skills by writing and presenting coherently and convincingly;
is able to react constructively to questions/feedback and connecting this feedback to his/her own position regarding his/her own research and in doing so showing an open, self-critical, yet firm and self-confident attitude;
is able to evaluate other research proposals in a critical yet constructive way;
is able to show professional conduct: being critical yet constructive and eager to improve oneself and in doing so contributing to the learning process of other students;
has developed understanding in (some) career possibilities as biomedical researcher.
Timetable
Between semesters, we will transfer from using the scheduling app to using MyTimeTable: all educational activities before 6 February 2023 can be viewed on our LUMC scheduling website or in the scheduling app. View MyTimeTable for your schedule from 6 February onwards.
The course lasts 2 weeks and is full time.
The course will start with an introductory lecture organized by the tutor(s).
The students will work in groups of 2-3 students and those groups will be tutored separately in the course of the 2 weeks.
At the end of the course students will present their proposal in a final joint meeting.
Several Guest lectures will be provided in the course of the two weeks. In the September version of the course the (compulsory) start program of the master is incorporated in the schedule.
Mode of instruction
Lectures and tutorials.
Assessment method
The presentations of the research proposals and the process of judging the research proposals are assessed by the tutor.
Students will receive a grade between 1-10.
Proposal 70%
Participation 20%
Final presentation 10%
No grade without participation and presentation.
Reading list
Website for background information: The Foundation Center’s Proposal Writing Short Course
Registration
Registration for FOS courses, H2W, Scientific Conduct, Course on Lab Animal Sciences and CRiP takes place in lottery rounds in the beginning of July. After the lottery rounds: if you want to register for a course you are kindly asked to contact the student administration at masterbms-courses@lumc.nl.