• Professor John Harries, Space and Atmospheric Physics group,

Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College,

London, UK

3rd Year U/G Laboratory(3YL)

Briefing for DemonstratorsOctober 1 2008

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Aims and Objectives

• To teach UG how to undertake experimental projects, with more autonomy than earlier in their careers.

• To ensure this is done safely, in accord with H&S guidelines: we are all responsible for H&S of the students, and you must continually enforce these guidelines.

• To develop the range and quality of experiments available. 2

The 3YL Team

• Head of Lab: Prof John Harries• Deputy Head of Lab: Dr Alasdair Campbell

• Head of Projects: Dr John Tisch

• Chief Technician of the Teaching Labs: Geoff Green• Senior Technician, 3YL: Lee Parker• Administrator, 3YL: Graham Axtel

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RAs:-Colin BeltonGeorge BendoDavid ClementsRachele FermaniPaul GreenGordon KennedyElise LairdBarry MacevoyAnne-Marie MagnanStuart ManglesJames MooreRobert Nyman

Adrian RatnapalaDiana ShaulAndrew SingletonYannick SonnefraudKhadija Tahir

PGs:-Christopher ArrellSimon ChardAngela DemetriadouDominic FarrellAlex GuiteMarisa MarchThomas Wall

Academics:John HarriesAlasdair CampbellDavid ClementsNed Ekins-DaukesCostas FoudasJohn HassardJi Seon Kim (Tm 2 only)Chris PhillipsSergei Popov

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The Demonstrators

Demonstrators duties• Largely spelled out in excellent web site• Emphasise:

-Know your experiment….practice it;-Meet with the students starting your experiment at the beginning, and discuss the experiment;- At this initial meeting, we must go through the Risk Assessment with the students.-ALWAYS meet with the students at the end to give feedback….this is the principal way they will learn.

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Procedures- Lab hours: Monday 10-12

Monday 2-4 Thursday 2-5 Friday 9-12

- Students can work out of these periods, but ONLY during normal college hours, and ONLY if there is a demonstrator or technician present in the lab at the same time.

- Reports: full details on the web pages. 1st and 2nd marking. Forms and cover sheets available on web.

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Procedures- No food or drink, INCLUDING WATER, to be

brought into or consumed in 3YL. Demonstrators lead by example!

- Risk Assessments for each experiment are provided at the experiment. Demonstrators are responsible for ensuring students read and understand.

- Talk on Errors by Prof Richard Thompson, Thursday 23 October at 5pm.

- Talk on Report Writing by Dr Alasdair Campbell, Thursday 30 October at 5pm.

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Procedures: Lab Structure.

• Standard (short) experiments (3 per ½ course unit) and many (long) projects (1 per ½ course unit), covering a very broad range of physics.

• A short course and experimental work on microprocessors

• A half course unit typically = 3 short experiments, a full course unit = 3 short experiments + 1 long project. 8

Procedures: What Lab Options Must You Take ?

- BSc and BSc Year in Europe.

1 unit of lab, 2 terms (term 1 & 2) including a 1 term long project.

- BSc and BSc Year in Europe.

1 term long project organised by 3rd year lab.

- MSci and MSci Year in Europe.

½ unit of lab, 1 term in either term 1 or term 2. No project in 3rd year.

- BSc Theory Students. No lab, Theory project

- BSc Physics with Music. 1 term project.

- Occasional Students. Projects or short experiments as required by your

home institute. You may do 1 term or 2 term long

projects as required. Plenty of flexibility.9

Final comments:

- We need to allocate experiments.- Introduction meeting at 5pm on Thursday 9 October, in LT1- I would like our emphasis to be: Feedback and contact between teacher and

students, and Safety (READ the excellent and extensive links at

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/physicsuglabs/general/safety)

- Now, chance for Q&A. 10

SafetySafety In The LabSafety Information For Staff And StudentsImperial College Safety DepartmentRisk Assessment Forms

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