CH3IP1: BSc Industrial Placement

Module code: CH3IP1

Module provider: Chemistry; School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy

Credits: 120

Level: Level 3 (Honours)

When you'll be taught: Full year

Module convenor: Dr Adam Bromley, email: a.p.bromley@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Dr James Cooper, email: james.cooper@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: Maxi placement

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The BSc Industrial Placement module will provide students with experience of conducting research and practical chemistry in an industrial setting. During this module, the student will establish themselves as an active researcher at their industrial host and will begin to develop their skills as an independent researcher. This experience will develop a range of transferable skills relevant to a wide range of careers, including (but not limited to): working within a team, designing independent workflows, time management and engaging with relevant scientific literature.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. Apply fundamental concepts in chemistry and practical skills to an industrial setting and solve research problems relevant to industrial companies. 
2. Discuss their work/research with colleagues in industry and explain their research to people in related fields (e.g. their academic placement tutor) through written and verbal media. 
3. Evaluate the progress of their work/research, construct plans for future work during the placement and manage workflows across timescales of weeks and months. 

Module content

The student will conduct chemical research at a host company in industry. The student will be expected to work to company guidelines, follow health and safety protocols and conduct research in a professional manner. At the end of each semester, the academic placement tutor will conduct on on-site visit or an online meeting, where the student will provide an update on their progress, which will also be discussed with the industrial placement supervisor.  

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Students will conduct practical chemistry on-site at an industrial placement host. The student will be assigned a supervisor at the host company who will act as their line manager for the duration of the placement and will supervise their research project. An academic placement supervisor from the Department of Chemistry will also be assigned. The academic placement supervisor will meet the student and the industrial placement supervisor at the end of each semester to evaluate progress with the placement. 

Study hours

This module is a placement or study abroad module and therefore the teaching and learning activities will predominantly, or entirely, take place away from the University of Reading. Your host organisation will normally advise you of the associated hours of your placement or year abroad. If the module includes any in-person activities at the University of Reading, these will be confirmed to you before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

This module is assessed on a pass/fail basis.

Note that if the student has not engaged with their placement sufficiently to be able to satisfactorily complete the assessment, a repeat of the placement will not be possible. The student may instead be considered for eligibility for transfer to the BSc Chemistry programme (non-placement 3-year variant).

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Students will receive formative feedback from their academic placement supervisor during the site visits or online meetings that will occur during each semester. Students are encouraged to get formative feedback on their performance during the placement from their industrial placement supervisor and from colleagues at their industrial placement. 

Reassessment

Additional costs