Welcome to SP3172
Written Report
The SP3172 report should outline in detail all the choices made during the research process and why, as well as the outcomes of each phase of the research process. It should not be merely factual or explanatory; it should also be interpretive and persuasive in nature. It should be the goal of the writer to use acceptable academic reasoning and argumentation to persuade the audience that your choice of experiments, results and conclusions are relevant to, and appropriate within, the context of the main theme you have chosen. Furthermore, the research process must be described in sufficient detail to allow other researchers to replicate your study, test the findings, or assess whether the conclusion derived is scientifically acceptable. The written report should be accessible to a broad audience of a scientist who may not be from the same field of research.
This component takes up 30% of the overall grade for SP3172.
The format of the written report should follow a typical scientific journal article as list below.
Title: A specific statement that conveys the topic and conclusion of the paper.
Abstract: A complete summary of the article designed for experts and non-experts.
Introduction: The beginning of a paper that transitions from a general background to a specific research question or goal.
Materials and Methods: A brief but detailed description of the tools and methods you used to perform experiments and analyze results.
Results: A presentation of all your experiments and data, represented both as text and in tables, charts, diagrams, and photographs.
Discussion: An opportunity to discuss your interpretation of your results and explore your findings within the context of the larger scientific record.
References: Your citations. There is no specific style required, students can use either APA or Harvard style of referencing. Once you have determined the method to follow, use it consistently in your report.
Supplemental Material/appendix: Additional figures, videos, and elaboration on methods and computational analysis. You may put extra material as an appendix, but do note that essential data for understanding your report should be in the main section, not the annexe. Examiners are not obliged to read your appendix for grading.
A more detailed written report guide for SP3172 is provided and grading is provided according to the report guide.
Length: The primary content of your report must be between 3500- 5000 words limit. The word count does not include the figure legends, Tables, content pages, acknowledgement, appendix or bibliography sections.
Font: The required font type is either Computer Modern (for LaTeX) or Times New Roman/ CMU Serif (for Microsoft / Open Office documents). Please use font size 12 and double spacing.
Margin: Please use 2.5 cm margin for all boundaries – top, bottom, left and right.
Figures and Tables: Captions for figures and schematics should be below the object; while table captions should be above the table. All figures and tables should be labelled and numbered properly. Instructions to constructing scientific figures and writing figure legends are here. Important: Any figures not generated by you must be included with the owner’s permission in your report. Pictures from the webpage must be cited accordingly.
Cover Page: The title in the cover page should be boldface and font size 14, while author names should be font size 12. Remember that proper affiliation and the title of your staff mentors should be addressed accordingly.
A Table of Contents for your report is required.
The finalized written report will have to be submitted to LumiNUS no later than 12 noon, 1st November 2021 (Monday, Week 12). Early submissions are welcomed. The written report will be assessed on a group basis. Any submission beyond the deadline will be subjected to a penalty as illustrated below.
First 30 mins | 1% of the report component per minute |
Subsequent 1 hr | 5% of the report component per hour |
After 4pm | 0 marks for report |
Students are required to submit only soft copies of their written report.
- Soft copy: Each group must also submit soft copies of your report via LumiNUS both in PDF format and in an editable format (such as Word or LaTeX, including any figures, BibTeX files, etc. required to compile the report). The file should be titled as “groupnumberprojecttitle”, e.g. “3Fluorescence Spectroscopy of FBP3a”. The deadline of your soft copies of your reports follows the deadline mentioned.
- Each report will be graded by four assessors who will also grade your oral Viva. The assessors’ panel for your written report includes the principal investigator of your host lab, an SPS staff, two external SPS mentors (graduate/senior).