BIOL 499

How to Apply:
  1. Contact potential supervisors.
  2. Submit the Online Registration Form for BIOL 499.
  3. The deadline to submit the form is September 9.

Deadlines:

  • September 9- Applications Due
  • September 16- Add/DropDeadline 
  • September 30- Contracts Due
  • December 20- Midterm Progress Report
  • January 9 -Midterm Assessment Due
  • April 2-Course Withdrawal Date
  • April 7-11- BIOL 499 talks
  • April 25- Final Paper Submission

 Downloads:

The course contract acts as the syllabus for the independent project courses and it is required, as per university policy, to have a syllabus. Please submit a signed copy together with your online registration form or submit a copy on Canvas before September 30. 

(Note, The Following is a sample and should be edited by the supervisor for dates, course titles, and mark breakdowns as they see fit).

Contract Sample / Contract Outline 1

 

Guidelines:

BIOL 499 is a two-term, non-repeatable, *6 course that allows students to conduct research with a willing supervisor from the Department of Biological Sciences. Supervisors from outside the Department of Biological Science will NOT be accepted as the main project supervisor in any instance for BIOL 499 but may act as co-supervisors for the project. Students may work in the co-supervisor's lab. 

To register for BIOL 499, students must complete and submit the online registration form by September 9. The form must be completed otherwise it will not be accepted. The title length is a maximum of 50 characters (spaces included).

Successful completion of BIOL 499 requires a midterm progress report, a midterm assessment to be completed by the main supervisor, an oral presentation, and a final written report.

 For the evaluation of research performed and skills gained during summer employment, our current model emphasizes the quality of the research rather than when it was done. The basic guidelines are as follows:

  1. Work done and skills gained during the summer may be used for a project course, but
  2. Significant work, beyond writing up, must be carried out during the term in which the student is officially enrolled in BIOL 499. Work completed outside the term in which a student is enrolled in BIOL 499 should be identified in the written report.

Grade breaks for BIOL 499 guidelines are as follows unless otherwise stated by the supervisor via course contract:

40% Lab Performance

40% Written Paper

20% Oral Presentation

The course contract

It acts as the syllabus for the independent project courses and it is required, as per university policy, to have a syllabus.

The midterm progress report

It will be handed to your supervisor on December 20 and uploaded on the Canvas site. The midterm progress report is to update your supervisor on what you have done so far in BIOL 499, though individual supervisors may request more for your progress report.

The midterm assessment

It is a written document from the project supervisor that provides their student with formal commentary on their performance in the lab and is accompanied by a letter grade. Midterm assessments are to be given to the students by their supervisors, and the supervisors should email a copy to biougrad@ualberta.ca. The due date is January 9.

The oral presentation

The students will perform the presentation to a group consisting of their peer group, their supervisors, and other guests. The oral presentation will be evaluated and marked by the student's supervisors and will be 15 minutes long with a 5-minute question and answer period to immediately follow.

The final written report

It will be in a similar format as a peer-reviewed journal article. Such papers include the background introducing the study, results, supporting figures/tables/images, discussion, and references. The full report ranges from 15-20 pages. The student is responsible for discussing details of the report with their supervisor, such as formatting, style, and length (of the report and the various sections), and is responsible for following their supervisor's directions regarding the report in the same way that authors follow a journal's editorial board's directions. Final reports are to be sent to both supervisors and also uploaded to the Canvas site. The due date is April 25, unless the student's supervisors have decided on an earlier deadline.

Depending on the supervisor, some of the weight of the report may be applied to other written exercises, such as a research proposal. The deadlines and assessments for these additional activities will be set by individual supervisors.