Unit information: Industrial Placement in 2023/24

Unit name	Industrial Placement
Unit code	MATH30025
Credit points	120
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24)
Unit director	Professor. Andrieu
Open unit status	Not open
Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units)	None
Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units)	None
Units you may not take alongside this one	None
School/department	School of Mathematics
Faculty	Faculty of Science

Unit Information

The Industrial placement unit aims to provide students with their first real world professional engagement in a structured and supervised environment to build upon the Data Science skills acquired in the first two years of their degree:

The aims of the unit are to:

1. Provide students with an opportunity to further their knowledge, skills and experience derived from working in a professional environment
2. Allow students to identify and apply appropriate knowledge and skills within a professional setting
3. Provide students with insight into the economical and ethical issues surrounding the use of data in a professional setting
4. Provide students with an opportunity to extend their knowledge and experience of the practice of Data Science through independent study and develop domain specific knowledge.

Your learning on this unit

On completion of the placement, students should have a(n):

1. Ability to identify, apply and expand their knowledge and skills required to tackle Data Science problems arising in a professional environment
2. Knowledge and understanding of the way in which Data Science is used and can play a rôle in an industrial, commercial or governmental context
3. Ability to work effectively as part of a professional and diverse team and to take independent initiative
4. Ability to manage their time and plan their workload in order to achieve their and their organisation’s goals
5. Ability to present complex issues to others through written reports and oral presentations
6. Knowledge and understanding of the pressures of working within financial, time, legal and ethical constraints
7. Ability to recognise and apply the practical, transferable and time management skills gained during the placement to their studies and their future careers
8. Ability to consider and evaluate their own work in a reflexive manner
9. Ability to manage their own learning and professional development.

How you will learn

N/A

How you will be assessed

The following assessment schedule will be used to ensure progress and encourage students to explore every opportunity offered to them to expand their knowledge.

1. (10% of assessment) Initial assessment in November/December: this will consist of a 15-minute presentation delivered to the academic and industrial supervisor, outlining

a) Their understanding of their role in the company

b) The aims of the project and how they intend to reach those goals,

c) Professional development plans if applicable.

This is followed by a discussion with the academic and industrial supervisors and the writing up of a project definition and workplan by the student (maximum two pages) approved by the academic and industrial supervisors.

2. Final assessment (June)

a) The student writes an extended final project report (70% of assessment) on their achievements during their placement, of a maximum length of 25000 words.

b) The report will be assessed by the academic and industrial supervisors (50%/50% respectively). Beyond technical correctness, criteria will include

i. assessment of the choices made, ability to take initiatives, achievements in terms of understanding,

ii. the ability of the student to evaluate their work and results in a reflexive manner, explain the project to non-specialists.

c) The report is followed by a 20-minute oral presentation delivered to the academic supervisor (20% of assessment).

3. The industrial supervisor writes two short reports, one in week 13 and the second by mid-June.

Resources

If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.

If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. MATH30025).

How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks, independent learning and assessment activity.

See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.

Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit. The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.