Study Programmes 2015-2016
APRI0006-1  
Personal experimental project
Duration :
60h Proj.
Number of credits :
Master in physical engineering (120 ECTS)4
Master in physical engineering (120 ECTS)5
Lecturer :
Tristan Gilet
Language(s) of instruction :
English language
Organisation and examination :
All year long, with partial in January
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite :
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Course contents :
This course gives the student a first practical experience in applied experimental research. The student joins a research group and becomes closely involved in its activities. The student is given a small, self-consistent experimental project, which he/she is responsible for carrying out to completion. He/she has to draw a research proposal, carry it out, and present his/her results verbally during a poster session.
Learning outcomes of the course :
At the end of this project, the student will know how to carry out a small research project, given the scientific, technical, and practical constraints. He/she will be able to design and/or improve his/her own experiment. He/she will be able to identify which are the most relevant quantities to be measured and how to extract and analyze relevant results from his/her data. He/she will be able to present his results in a scientific way.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills :
No prerequisite. A short complementary bibliography may be associated with the project.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
The total amount of work involved in the project is equivalent to about 15 full days of work. The project consists in four steps:
  • Preparation. The specific goals are identified and a small targeted bibliography is constituted. Then, a plan is made about the most relevant quantities to be measured and the experimental means to be used. Finally, preliminary measurements are carried if needed.
  • Experiments. A set of experimental data is collected. This phase may involve an improvement of the setup or a reassessement of the experimental plan, as needed.
  • Analysis. The data set is processed and results are interpreted.
  • Communication. A poster is prepared, then presented verbally (in English).
The bibliography is meant to be short. The student should learn about the specific points that are directly relevant to his/her experiment. Bibliography should ideally be limited to a maximum of three short research articles or technical notes.
A half-day workshop will be organised in the Fall, in which scientific presentation and writing skills will be developed.
Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning) :
Face-to-face
Recommended or required readings :
A short bibliography, to be determined with the project advisor.
Assessment methods and criteria :
The student will be asked to submit two assessments :


  • a short research proposal. This report will describe the goals of the experiment, the quantities to be measured, and the expectations about the final results. The proposal will be written in English and is limited to one page of text (+ figures). It will be submitted directly to the project advisor.
  • a poster. This document will contain an introduction, a short description of the experimental setup, a discussion of the most relevant results and the main findings, a conclusion, and a bibliography. A PDF file in A0 format is recommended. The poster must be written in English and submitted to the advisor, the course coordinator, and the president of the Cycle Jury. The poster will be presented in English. It will be followed by a session of questions & answers.
In June, the proposal and the poster represent 30% and 70% of the final grade respectively. In the case of a second session (September), the grade of the proposal is kept, but it is now worth 15% of the final grade. The grade of the poster is not conserved, and it is now worth 85%. 
Work placement(s) :
Organizational remarks :
Research topics are proposed by a series of potential hosting labs at the latest early September. The project advisor will be a full-time academic member of the University of Liège, a FNRS permanent member associated with the University of Liège, or a scientific senior member of CSL teaching a regular course at the University of Liège. The advisor must be already involved in the Master in Engineering Physics. The student must choose a subject and get in contact with the corresponding advisor by the end of the third week of the first quadrimester. The research is carried between October and May (the exact schedule being arranged between the student and the hosting lab). The research proposal is due after the preparation step. The pdf version of the poster is due by the first Monday of June. Poster sessions will be scheduled in June.
The research proposals are coordinated by Prof. Tristan Gilet. The final exam is presided by the President of the Cycle Jury.
Contacts :
Course coordinator:
Tristan Gilet Assistant Professor Microfluidics Lab - GRASP Office: B52 - 0/423 Email: Tristan.Gilet@ulg.ac.be