The modules CH451, CH452 and CH462 all relate to the 4th year of study of MChem students. This is
the year in which they undertake an industrial placement.
The modules are identical in terms of their delivery, learning outcomes, aims and objectives. The
difference in the module number differentiates the placements as being:
CH 451 – in industry
CH 452 – within the Department
CH 462 – within the Chemistry Clinic
Module Descriptor
The experience gained through a placement will benefit you as a student in six main ways:
(a) by increasing your scientific knowledge and understanding,
(b) by developing your intellectual skills in, for example, analysing problems, proposing solutions to
them, organizing work, and writing scientific reports,
(c) by improving manual skills associated with scientific and technological operations,
(d) by developing your personality and your understanding of individuals and groups in work
situations.
(e) by providing background information and experience which may help career choice,
(f) by providing future career opportunities.
These benefits, which are of both short-term and long-term importance, are most readily gained by
those students who have intellectual curiosity, the will to work hard and the wish to learn from
every situation and person encountered. Students who have, or strive to develop, these traits of
character will receive appreciation, help and encouragement from their supervisors.
Assessment Structure
The literature review
You will be required, with the aid of your supervisors, first to select a topic of interest, usually
connected with your placement work, then to read the published literature on this topic and write a
review of the area. The published literature will consist mainly of original papers in scientific
journals, together with other review articles and relevant textbooks, and possibly also technical
manuals, e.g., from instrument manufacturers, and any other relevant publications. It is not
expected that the review will contain any confidential material, being simply a summary and critique
of what is already published and therefore in the public domain. Although there are no hard-and-
fast rules, a typical review will have 20–30 pages and contain no fewer than about 15 references to
the literature.
Your industrial supervisor may read a draft of your review, on one occasion only, and give you advice
on how to improve it. The literature review will be marked by your academic supervisor, with advice
from your industrial supervisor. Currently the literature review carries a maximum of 50 marks. As
an aid to your understanding how the review wil be assessed and to give you some idea of what
aspects are important, the marking scheme can be found at the end of this guide in Appendix 1.
The literature review may be submitted to your academic supervisor at any time throughout your
placement year, but not later than two months before their second visit. Individual academic
supervisors may relax this deadline a little. It is a good idea to complete the review as early as
possible so as to allow yourself plenty of time to concentrate on your final report.
The final report
You will also write a final report on your placement work. This will contain (i) an introduction, setting
out your objectives and the background to your work, (ii) full experimental details, (iii) a discussion
and evaluation of the results obtained, and (iv) a set of conclusions and perhaps also some
suggestions for future work. According to the programme that you fol owed, the final report may be
either a single long report or simply a collection of shorter reports that you compiled throughout the
year. It need not cover all the work that you carried out during your placement, though neither
should it be confined to a very small portion of the work. In many cases, the final report will remain
confidential to your employer and will not be allowed off-site. Again there are no fixed rules, but a
typical final report wil be no shorter than about 30 pages and probably no longer than 100 pages
(30–60 pages is typical).
Your final report, which like the literature review also carries a maximum of 50 marks, will be
assessed primarily by your industrial supervisor. It must be completed and assessed by your
industrial supervisor in good time for the second visit of your academic supervisor. Your academic
supervisor will also read the report as fully as possible – usually during the second visit – and will
then agree the final mark to be awarded with your industrial supervisor. As with the literature
review, the marking scheme for the final report can be found at the end of this guide in Appendix 1.
The skil s matrix
The skil s matrix is the third element of the assessment of your placement. In this, you will be
awarded marks for ten different performance indicators, such as ‘Practical ability’, ‘Need for
supervision’, ‘General chemistry knowledge’ and ‘Attitude, conduct and timekeeping.’
The skills matrix carries a maximum of 100 marks, and will be completed by your industrial
supervisor. Your academic supervisor will make sure that the skills matrix has been properly
assessed according to the stated criteria. The skills matrix form, which gives all the performance
indicators that will be assessed, together with indications of what level of performance is required
for each range of marks.