First part: group work. The teams consisting of three to five students will carry out joint work on a given topic. The list of topics will include a comprehensive selection of ideas and challenges from different areas of physics and astronomy. Some may be of interdisciplinary nature and include aspects of mathematics, biology, chemistry or nanotechnology, for example. In general, the topics will not be `cut and dried', where the material is readily available in textbooks or has been covered in depth during lectures, but should require students to synthesise the research and/or technical literature into coherent conclusions. Scientific judgement must then be used to select the key material and an overview must be developed to discuss material from specialised research papers in a broader context. While the topics’ titles highlight the main concept, creativity and going beyond their abstracts are encouraged.

The main goal of the joint work is to provide an opportunity to develop independence and initiative as well as to learn how, within a team, group members can support and share work to achieve a common goal. To this end, the groups are responsible to carry out their work independently, namely without seeking scientific or technical supervision, help or guidance from academic or research staff.

Second part: individual dissertation. All the students will be allocated a topic (guided by their expressed preference) of their own, individual dissertation. The individual topic will have to be researched and the report written, demonstrating clear comprehension as well as critical judgement of the findings. As with team work, the focus of this individual dissertation is on gaining confidence in exploring independently a particular idea or concept and in developing analytical and critical problem solving skills.  It is also an exercise in time management and getting the right balance between the time devoted to researching the literature and relevant resources, and writing up the report. The individual topics are intended to be linked with the subject pursued during team work.

Learning & teaching methods

Assessment methods

Each group has to prepare a short, one page summary/extended abstract of their topic and its main findings. Typical, expected length is 450-600 words and can include pictures and diagrams. Submission of summaries will be done via Blackboard where electronic files should be uploaded. This abstract should be comprehensible to other third year physics students with no specialist knowledge of the field, “with” degree students may assume familiarity with their subsidiary subject to third year level.

Research done by the groups will be presented through talks organised in conference like sessions. The detailed timetable and the order of the talks will be announced on Blackboard, indicating the time and the venue. Each presentation will have 20 minutes allocated with additional 5 minutes for questions. Presentations should be well balanced and planned to match the required time slot. This aspect will be assessed as part of the presentation mark.

Each extended abstract and presentation will be assessed by two members of staff, typically involving the course coordinator and one of the deputies.

As all team members will receive the same mark, it is important that each student provides equally valuable and significant input to the joint work. It is up to a team to facilitate that. All members of each group will need to provide a statement confirming that group presentations and summary reports are their own contribution carried out as a part of a team effort. In an instance of plagiarism, all students in the group concerned will receive the same penalty.

Peer assessment forms will also be used to evaluate the work of each group and its members. This assessment will be done anonymously and its results analysed. If it emerges that some students contributed in an inadequate manner, up to 20% of their mark could be deducted. However, issues of that kind should not emerge at the assessment stage. As part of developing management and team working skills, students should aim to resolve such cases within each group and if necessary, use progress review meetings and office hours. 

It is important to note that, similarly as in case of talks for PHYS2022 module, most of the marks are credited for the physics content and the demonstration of problem solving rather than the use of media, advanced graphics or special effects, both in presentations and in written reports. Blank mark sheets, with the split of marks per category will be provided on Blackboard.

The individual topic will have to be researched and the report written, demonstrating clear comprehension as well as critical judgement of the findings. The length of the report should be approximately 10-12 pages (up to 2500 - 3000 words) and should be written as a technical/scientific report.

Reports in PDF format will need to be uploaded through Blackboard. The dissertations will be marked by two members of academic staff.

Referral

Students must get at least 40% mark to pass this course. The students who fail to meet this target will have the following referral arrangements.

By first Monday (9 am) of the Supplementary Exam period the students will need to submit:

1) their individual dissertation and

2) Power Point (or a similar format) file containing presentation of the main results of their individual report.

If the individual dissertation was submitted already in Week 12 and marked, improved and amended version has to be submitted. There will be no oral presentation of the results.  Any marks given for the team work will be carried forward and will contribute to the final, referral mark.

Division of marks: Resubmitted report 50%, PPT presentation file 30%, Team work (carried forward from the semester work: abstract and presentation): 20%

Referral Method: By set coursework assignment(s)

• Introductory meeting/lecture providing the details and the requirements of this module
• Projects are intended to cover a broad area, for example, from practical work in the photonics or materials area to computational and theoretical work underpinning industrial problems related to physics and/or astronomy

Learning & teaching methods

Assessment methods

Referral Method: By examination

This unit entirely consists of a research-level project. The project titles and brief abstracts are made available to students around May in their third year. Students submit their preferences after studying these and after consulting with local Southampton course co-ordinator. A final allocation is made by 15 July. Students are advised to have a preliminary discussion with their SAO hosts before the summer vacation to discuss any background reading or other preparation that could be carried out during the vacation.

Learning & teaching methods

Assessment methods

Referral Method: By re-write of the project report and re-viva (the original progress report mark will be carried forward)

Module One – Design in Astrophysics

The focus of this part of the course will be a design study for an astronomical spacecraft. It will last one week with the final presentations on the last day. The students will make use of lectures, tutorials and library facilities to assemble a review of the state of knowledge for such a proposed instrumentation challenge. They will work in parallel in 5-6 competing teams made up of half British and half Spanish students. The aim will be to produce a well thought-out presentation after a week of intensive work. The major aspects to be covered will be:

•  A summary of the scientific objectives;

•  An indication of the overall approach to the task and the reasons for the selection of the particular design;

•  A detailed discussion of the various features in the design solution that was adopted;

•  The presentation of experiment simulations, models etc.

Module Two – Observational Astronomy

This second module of the course will provide just the Southampton students with a unique opportunity to make a number of quantitative observations at the Teide Observatory, Izana (altitude 2400 m). They will use the 50 cm Mons telescope which is equipped with a CCD camera, and a smaller portable telescope (LX200), also using a CCD camera. In recent years we have also been given access to the research-class IAC-80 0.8 m telescope which employs a large, liquid nitrogen cooled CCD camera. It is expected that the students will typically spend at least 8 hours per night for 5 nights working on this part of the course.

Module Three -- Analysing Data and Reporting Results

The third part of this course takes place after the return from Tenerife. Here, students are required to choose and carry out a scientific project for which observations were obtained during Module Two. After completing their analysis and interpretation of the observations,  they have to write a report in the form of a scientific paper on their work and prepare a poster on the same project. Both the report and the poster are assessed, the latter during a poster session in which students present their poster to members of the astronomy group.

Learning & teaching methods

Assessment methods

Students must obtain a pass mark in each of the three modules. Module three (only) may be referred.

The field trip component takes place over two consecutive weeks within the Easter break, at the premises of the University of La Laguna, Tenerife and at the Observatorio del Teide, Tenerife.While the field trip is heavily subsidised by the faculty, a student contribution to the costs is required; in academic year 2016-17, this is £450 per student. Flight costs, all local travel costs in Spain, and all hotel accomodation costs during the week in La Laguna, all costs of staying at the residencia at the observatory, as well as all food costs during week 2 at the observatory are included. The only unavoidable additional costs students will incur in Spain are food costs during the day in the first week. Any student who genuinely cannot afford to pay the student contribution for some reason should contact the course co-ordinator to discuss this privately. Due to space limitations at the observatory, only 12 students can take part in this module. Offers to participate are made only to the 12 academically strongest students registered on the MPhys with Astronomy programme, based on performance in Year 1. Academic performance will be judged by the credit-weighted Year 1 average, using only marks obtained at the first attempt (i.e. no referral marks).

Only students registered on the MPhys with Astronomy programme by the end of the summer term of their first year will be considered for invitation onto this module.

Referral Method: See notes below

•  Length and Energy scales, Microscopic vs. Macroscopic vs Molecular machines

•  Visualising at the Nanoscale, Microscopy with waves (optical, electron), Microscopy by   scanning (tunnelling, force)

•  Intro to wave equation, Confining electrons, Quantum Devices, Harnessing Wave/Particle Duality

•  Brownian motion, light scattering

•  Nanoparticles & Nanostructures, Nano-magnetism

•  Nano & Society

Learning & teaching methods

Assessment methods

Referral Method: By examination

The course begins with a two week introduction to AC circuits, followed by nine weeks of experiments. The class is divided into 3 groups (X, Y, and Z) each of which is further divided into 3 sub-groups. Each sub-group cycles through the following sequence of 3 different types of experiment, or segments.

• Linked experiments, in which a particular subject is explored via an extended set of experiments;
• Stand-alone experiments, in which specific topics related to the first year syllabus are explored experimentally. Each stand-alone experiment is expected to be completed within a single 4-hour session;
• Mini-projects, which give students an opportunity to develop their creativity by tackling a novel problem with little prior instruction.

Learning & teaching methods

Assessment methods

No more than 4 laboratory sessions may normally be omitted for a mark to be returned for the course.

Late Submissions: Unless explicitly approved by the Faculty Special Considerations Board late submissions are not permitted for this module.

Referral Method: There is no referral opportunity for this syllabus in same academic year

Understand qualitatively the nature of bonding in solids. In particular, covalent, metallic, ionic, van der Waals and hydrogen bonding. Understand the scattering of x-rays, neutrons and electrons from a solid. Understand the concept of the crystal lattice, reciprocal lattice and Brillouin zones. Understand the formation of electronic bands in solids from atomic orbital’s and to be able to apply simple tight binding theory to understand the band structure of simple semiconductors and metals. And as part of this, to understand Bloch's theory and how the tight-binding and nearly free electron models of electronic bands inter-relate. Developed an understanding of the basic forms of magnetic properties in materials, i.e. diamagnetism, paramagnetism, ferromagnetism and anti-ferromagnetism, and be able to apply simple models to measurements of magnetic properties. Also to have a basic understanding of the formation of domains and the effect of pinning of domain walls in ferromagnets. Understand the nature of doping in semiconductors and how this can be used to create simple semiconductor devices.

Learning & teaching methods

Assessment methods

Referral Method: See notes below

By examination, the final mark will be calculated both with and without the coursework assessment mark carried forward, and the higher result taken.

•  Revision of the basics laws of thermodynamics

•  Brief summary of combinatorics and probabilities

•  Discussion of basic concepts, notions and postulates of statistical mechanics e.g. microstates vs macrostates, notion of ensemble and postulate of equal a priori probability and ergodicity

•  Microcanonical ensemble (isolated system). From where a microscopic definition of entropy and temperature emerges.

•  Canonical ensemble (system in a heat reservoir). Uncover the free energy F as the natural thermodynamic potential.

Discuss the equivalence of microcanonical and canonical ensemble in the thermodynamic limit.

•  Applications: paramagnetism, heat capacity of solids (phonons);

•  Grand canonical ensemble (systems with a variable numbers of particles);  Discussion of the chemical potential;

•  Discussion of indistinguishable particles in quantum mechanics and introduce the two types of particles: bosons and fermions

Applications:  Fermi gases;  zero point pressure, zero point energy, discuss the free fermion electron model

                               Bose gases:  Black body radiation, Bose-Einstein condensation

Learning & teaching methods

Assessment methods

Weekly course work will be set and assessed in the normal way, but only the best ‘n-2’ attempts will contribute to the final coursework mark. Here n is the number of course work items issued during that Semester. As an example, if you are set 10 sets of course work across a Semester, the best 8 of those will be counted.

In an instance where a student may miss submitting one or two sets of course work, those sets will not be counted. Students will, however, still be required to submit Self Certification forms on time for all excused absences, as you may ultimately end up missing 3+ sets of course work through illness, for example. The submitted Self Certification forms may be considered as evidence for potential Special Considerations requests.

In the event that a third (or higher) set of course work is missed, students will be required to go through the Special Considerations procedures in order to request mitigation for that set. Please note that documentary evidence will normally be required before these can be considered."

Referral Method: See notes below

By examination, the final mark will be calculated both with and without the coursework assessment mark carried forward, and the higher result taken.

•  European space missions within the ESA framework

•  Historical high-energy astronomy

•  X-ray and gamma-ray telescope design

•  Constraints on operations of space telescopes

Learning & teaching methods

Assessment methods

Students must obtain a pass mark in each module. Modeule one (only) may be referred.

If a student fails to satisfy the examiners in this module, including because of special considerations, no referral or deferral opportunity can be offered in the current academic year. Students will normally be required to select an alternative optional module and this may mean the student is unable to progress normally at the end of the year. Elective referrals are not possible for this module.

The one-week field trip component takes place within the Easter break, at the premises of the University of La Laguna, Tenerife.

While the field trip is heavily subsidised by the faculty, a student contribution to the costs is required.

Flight costs, all local travel costs in Spain, and all hotel accomodation costs are included. The only unavoidable costs students will incur in Spain are food costs during the day. Any student who genuinely cannot afford to pay the student contribution for some reason should contact the course co-ordinator to discuss this privately. For students taking this module in AY 2016/17, the cost will be £275.

Referral Method: See notes below

The synoptic paper may draw on any first, second and third year core course material.

Learning & teaching methods

Assessment methods

Referral Method: See notes below

By examination, the final mark will be calculated both with and without the coursework assessment mark carried forward, and the higher result taken.