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Undergraduate on the loose - Mini-Project 1
Mini-Project 1
Topic: Compositional effects in electroceramics Duration: 6 weeks Outputs: An extended abstract
Hi!
Today I will be writing about my experience of my first ever Year 3 mini research project in the Materials Department of the University of Sheffield. Those of you who read my first blog entry will remember (or will have forgotten) that I also undertook a research placement in the summer of Year 2 on the 3D printing of titanium alloys; however, I’m going to disregard this as part of my Year 3 research process but please let me know in the comments if you would like me to write a post about it!
Before I get into the nitty-gritty, I’ll quickly explain how the research masters (MRes) course works for Year 3 students – at least for my year: the topics of projects 1, 2 and 3 are already set but you get to choose your own project (from absolutely anybody in the Department!) for project 4.
So in the first week of Semester 1, Year 3, those of us who rolled in to the meeting for the MRes were told we would be working on compositional effects in electroceramics (or more specifically, strontium-doped barium titanate) for the next 6 weeks. A brief talk was subsequently given by the two supervisors of project 1. All I can say is that within the next few days, I wandered around the Department knowing I needed to book the LCR meter, with not much of an idea what the letters ‘LCR’ stood for – incidentally the equipment measures inductance (L), capacitance (C) and resistance (R).
Image source: www.ece.nus.edu.sg
Over the next few weeks, we were rapidly (and briefly) taught how to use methods including differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy and using the LCR meter. Yes, all the acronyms confused me too. We mostly carried out the work for this project in teams, which made me feel both thankful to be swept along in the same whirlwind as my friends but also confused as to what I was even doing. To be quite honest, I felt quite confused for about 4 weeks straight. Then I read over all the notes I had mindlessly wrote down in the moment and dissected the papers we were given at the beginning. Unsurprisingly, it helped!
Image source: sherlockmeta.tumblr.com
So what did I learn from this project?
Don’t panic. It’s likely that you’ll be recommended some papers to read by your supervisor which will give you a basic grounding of the topic you’re working on.
Read the aforementioned papers. Make some notes on print-out copies or if you have Acrobat Reader, then make comments using the tool in the program for your own sanity. Making key points from the papers, underlining or highlighting will save you from doing all the hard work again.
Take notes in meetings you have as a group or with your supervisor to help yourself later – even if you don’t understand what is going on right now.
Grasp what your end goal is and work towards it. Ask your supervisor or supervising PhD questions: that’s what they are there for so don’t be worried you’re wasting their time. As you get more into a project, it’s likely what you’re working on will also benefit them with time.
Top tip: When you're reading papers and gauging if they’ll be of any use to you, read the abstract and conclusions first!
Until next time, happy researching ☆
