The aim of these courses is to provide you with
an opportunity
to learn in more depth about a topic in physics or a physics-related
field
that particularly interests you, and at the same time gain experience
in doing
literature research, preparing a scientific presentation, and writing
a scientific article.
My role as instructor will be to help you choose an appropriate topic,
help answer questions that come up as you research this topic,
and provide feedback on the drafts of your paper and your presentation.
My intention is to provide detailed feedback
on not only the scientific content of your paper, but also its style
and use of language. I will give you comments on your initial draft and
then reread the revised version (the latter being
what the grade will be based on).
The paper should be submitted as a PDF file. It should be "scientific"
in style, probably
with
an abstract, introduction, the body, and then a conclusion
and references. But what matters to me more than the precise style is
the clarity and accuracy of the presentation.
Presentations should be created on the
computer (e.g. in powerpoint or whatever other software you want).
They will be 25 minutes long, with 10 minutes for
discussion. I strongly advise you to practice your talk
beforehand.
The final papers, as well as presentations,
will be posted on the class web page as they are completed,
although each student needs to agree with the posting of his or her
material beforehand.
You should work individually.
The paper for an individual
should contain at least 10 "normal" pages of text (excluding figures
and
references). Please make sure
to write all the text yourselves. Of course,
links to web pages or other information are good as appropriate.
The topic you choose to pursue this quarter
must not be related to topics that you have explored in previous
seminar courses.
Unifying Gravity with the Electroweak-Strong
Interactions : where are we ?
Schedule
Week 1 : Jan 11 : Introduction to class, discussion of
course structure.
Week 2 : Jan 18 : Finalize topic selection and presentation
date.
Available dates for
presentations are 3/3 and 10/3.
Week 3 - 7 : Jan 25-Feb 28 : Research and
presentation development
Students do research into topics,
corresponding with instructor
by email as needed, and begin draft of paper and presentation.
There will be no class meetings during this period ... .
First draft of paper must be
received by me at
least two weeks before
the presentation to allow time for feedback. Thus the students giving
the first talks (on 4/3 will have to get the draft to me prior to 19/2
Week 9 : March 6 : Presentations begin.
I anticipate 2 talks per session.
Weeks 10 : March 13: Presentations
continue.
Students prepare final
version of paper
after feedback on draft
and on presentation.
Finals Week : March 19 : Presentations
continue -- during final exam time 4.30 pm WEDNESDAY
Your course grade will be based on
attendance
and participation
in class sessions (approximately 20%),
your paper (approximately 40-50%) and your presentation (approximately
40-30%).
A grade of 0.0 will given to
anyone not completing both their
paper and presentation.
