Requirements for Research Independent Study

Chemistry Independent Study

Getting Started in Independent Study. 
1)   You and your research director need to agree on a clear statement of the research problem that you will pursue.  In order for your research director to define the scope of your problem, you need to make clear to him/her the number of semesters that you plan to devote to research independent study.

2)   You and your research director need to agree on a schedule of times that you will work on your project. Plan on devoting 10-15 hours per week on your research, split between laboratory research and library research. Consider this schedule to be part of your obligatory weekly schedule (it is replacing TBA on your official ACES schedule). You may, of course, request occasional variations in the schedule from your research director, but such requests should be made seldom, in advance, and the time should be made up.

3)   Your research director needs to assign a space where you will do your research.  Your research director will need to arrange for your card/key access to the space.  Although you will have access after hours, you should NOT plan on carrying out any laboratory operations unless someone else is present in the lab.

4)   You should undertake the formal safety training recommended by your research director.  You should also familiarize yourself with the safety features of your research lab. Learn the locations of fire extinguishers, first aid kit, eye wash fountain, emergency shower, nearest fire alarm pull station, the nearest exit in case it becomes necessary to exit the building in an emergency evacuation, and the external meeting location for the research group following an evacuation.

5)   You should apply for some local funding made available by the university to augment any funding that your research director may already have obtained for your project. The procedure and the application form for obtaining a university grant are available at http://www.aas.duke.edu/trinityresearch/urs/ .  Since this funding pool is limited (about 50 grants of $350 per semester) and awards are made on a weekly basis beginning the first Monday after the end of Drop/Add in a semester, you should apply as soon as possible.  This application requires a research proposal including a budget of equipment and supplies that will be purchased.  You will probably need significant help from your research director in preparing this proposal since your knowledge of the project is understandably limited at this time.

6)   Independent study involves two kinds of research: laboratory research and library research. You will need to keep records of both types of research in notebooks. You should obtain two different kinds of notebooks: one for keeping records of laboratory research and one for library research.

  • For lab research you will keep chronological records in a bound notebook that has permanently numbered pages.  Unless your research director specifies some other method of record keeping, consider using the method described at http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Depts/Chemistry/Courses/General/labnotebook.html
  • For keeping records of library research, consider using a two- or three-inch 3-ring binder in which you can keep records of important articles you find. A record will consist of a xerographic copy of the article along with a summary of bibliographic information (see http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/project_bibliography.shtml).

    • 7)   Although you will be participating in "independent" study, you will not start out being very independent.  There is a steep learning curve in research so expect to be almost totally dependent on other members of the research group for guidance as you begin your research. A typical academic research group consists of a faculty member, post-doctoral student(s), doctoral candidate(s), and other undergraduate(s) pursuing independent study.  All members of the group will be willing to help you.  As you gain experience, however, you are expected to become more and more independent in your own research and more helpful to others in the group.

    Annotated Links to Specific Aspects of Research.

    Scientific Methods.
    Laboratory research and library research have been integrated in various ways that are collectively known as "the" scientific method. To explore the history and philosophy of the scientific method, see pages 1-5 of:   http://www.geosociety.org/educate/NatureScience.pdf.

    Library Research
    An excellent summary of most aspects of on-line searching of the chemical literature has been provided by Gary Wiggins in a wiki-format at http://cheminfo.informatics.indiana.edu/cicc/cis/index.php/Main_Page.


    Overview of major databases for chemistry information and brief intro to how to use the database. Some of the instructions are specific to the University of Bristol. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/is/library/subjects/chemistry/finding/skillszone.html#chemists (Links to downloads are given under item 3.)


    http://www.lib.uwaterloo.ca/usered/grad/researchskills/flow_of_info.html
    Provides a summary diagram that describes the flow of chemical information and the types of chemical literature.


    http://catalog.library.duke.edu/F?func=find-a-0 Link to the Duke card catalog. If you need to access databases from off-campus, you will need to set up some kind of access as described at the following link http://library.duke.edu/research/remote/index.html


    http://www.library.ubc.ca/scieng/coden.html Abbreviations of journal titles.


    http://www.cas.org/products/cd/cassi/cassichart.html
    Description of a publication available in Perkins/Bostoc Library (QD1.C446) or Biology Library (Ref 016.5405 C517) for translating abbreviations of journal titles into full titles or obtaining English translations of foreign journal titles. CASSI also lists which US libraries have the printed copies of the journal.

    http://library.duke.edu/services/forms/ Contains wide range of request forms including InterLibrary Loan, which allows you to request materials from State or UNC libraries that are not available from Duke Libraries.


    http://helios.hampshire.edu/~apmNS/design/RESOURCES/HOW_READ.html. Suggestions for how to read and understand scientific papers.


    http://www.lib.duke.edu/chem/retrieval/note.htm#%237 Some sources for review publications.


    Safety
    http://www.ilpi.com/msds/faq/parta.html#whatis 
    Explanation of Material Safety Data Sheets and sources for obtaining them. When you purchase chemicals, the manufacturer will include MSDS sheets. These should be saved in the back of your library research notebook and organized in some logical manner to facilitate retrieval of information.


    http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309052297
    An excellent general source for safety in handling chemicals (edited by a Duke chemist) is a publication by the National Academy of Science,  "Prudent Practices in the Laboratory: Handling and Disposal of Chemicals (1995)".


    http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=1197#toc 
    An excellent general source for safety in handling biological materials is another publication of the National Academy of Science, "Biosafety in the Laboratory: Prudent Practices for Handling and Disposal of Infectious Materials".


     http://www.chem.duke.edu/safety/
     "Laboratory Safety Manual for Duke Chemistry". (Note this manual is currently undergoing revision to update procedures for operation in the new French Family Science Center.) 


    Ethics in Science
    http://www.pitt.edu/~provost/ethresearch.html#_Toc153961817 An excellent summary of the broad range of ethical considerations in research, written for the     University of Pittsburgh, but applicable anywhere.          
               
    http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/obas/ An excellent source for ethical conduct in doing research is a publication of the     National Academy of Science,  "On Being A Scientist: Responsible Conduct In Research".

    Statistics
    A nice overview of statistics may be found at http://www.biology.ed.ac.uk/research/groups/jdeacon/statistics/tress1.html#THE%20REALLY%20EASY%20STATISTICS%20SITE


    Q-test as described at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_test . Examples are given at http://chemlab.truman.edu/DataAnalysis/Statistics_Files/StatisticsFundamentals.htm in the section "Using Statistics to Identify Hidden Gross Error". 


    http://www.biology.ed.ac.uk/research/groups/jdeacon/statistics/tress11.html#Correlation%20coefficient Describes how to determine if there is a  relationship between independent and dependent variables by carrying out correlation calculations. If there is a relation, carry out linear regression calculations for determining the mathematical equation that relates the variables.


    http://www.graphpad.com/articles/interpret/corl_n_linear_reg/correlation.htm
    Describes interpreting correlation, correlation coefficient, r,  r2, and probability (p).


    http://phoenix.phys.clemson.edu/tutorials/excel/graph.html and http://archives.math.utk.edu/visual.calculus/0/curve_fit.5/ Present information on curve fitting for non-linear regressions.


    A common error in drawing conclusions is to mistake establishing correlation with establishing cause-and-effect. See http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/causeeff.php

    A second common error is concluding that your experiment has proven your hypothesis to be true. "Scientists gather evidence (as opposed to ÒproofÓ) to support or falsify hypotheses. Hypotheses and theories may be well supported by evidence but never proven." (http://www.geosociety.org/educate/NatureScience.pdf, page 7.)


     Misconduct in Science
    "Beyond honest errors and errors caused through negligence are [sic] a third category of errors: those that involve deception. Making up data or results (fabrication), changing or misreporting data or results (falsification), and using the ideas or words of another person without giving appropriate credit (plagiarism)- all strike at the heart of the values on which science is based."  (http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/obas/contents/misconduct.html)
    Plagiarism and how to avoid it are described in a tutorial at https://plagiarism.duke.edu/. 

    Written Communications.

    http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/research.htm#ResearchProposal Description of a research proposal.
    http://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentoring/project_abstract.shtml for assistance in writing the abstract.)

    Sources of assistance in writing the research thesis are given at http://cheminfo.informatics.indiana.edu/cicc/cis/index.php/Science_Writing_Aids


    http://www.unr.edu/bench/chap08.htm Provides a description of the peer-review process.

    http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/members/securedDocuments/v25n2p046-048.pdf . This is an extensive checklist prepared for peer reviewers by the Council of Science Editors (CSE) for use in peer-reviewing a scientific manuscript.


    Oral Communication.
    A second requirement of independent study in the chemistry department is the preparation and presentation of a poster describing your research.  Instructions for preparing and presenting a poster are given at http://www.chem.duke.edu/undergraduates/advising/oralrep.php


    Additional suggestions for posters (or display boards) are available at  http://www.sou.edu/aaaspd/PosterPrep.html

    Frequently a member of the group will be asked to present an informal oral progress report to the group. See http://www.columbia.edu/itc/seas/E3810-lab/oreport.html for general suggestions concerning the content of such a report and http://www.cug.org/5-publications/PresentatioPubsGuides/pages/slide_prep.html for suggestions for preparing presentation slides for your report.  Another useful resource is "The Craft of Scientific Writing."