Course Assessment

Exam Board

Dr Adrian Shepherd (Chair)
Professor David Westhead (External Examiner, University of Leeds)
Dr Irilenia Nobeli
Dr Christine Slingsby

Overview

The MSc course is run on a fully modularised basis (in compliance with the Birkbeck Common Awards Scheme). Each half-module (15 credits each) will be assessed separately according to the assessment timetable below. The MSc project (60 credits) will be submitted in late August.

Assessment Timetable

 

Module	Assessment Format	Assessment Date*	Credits	%
Biocomputing I (Autumn Term weeks 1-5)	Open book exam Open book exam Coursework	scheduled for week 4 scheduled for week 5 to be set in week 5	3 6 6	20 40 40
Molecular Structure (Autumn Term weeks 1-5)	Coursework 1 hr exam paper	to be set in week 3 Afternoon Weds 9th January 2013	5 10	33.33 66.67
Data Management (Autumn Term weeks 7-11)	Open book exam Open book exam Coursework	scheduled for week 8 scheduled for week 11 to be set in week 11	5 5 5	33.3 33.3 33.3
Statistics (Autumn Term weeks 7-11)	Coursework 90 mins exam paper	set weekly Afternoon Weds 9th January 2013	6 9	40 60
Biocomputing II (Spring Term weeks 2-6)	Open book exam Open book exam Coursework	scheduled for week 3 scheduled for week 6 to be set in week 6	5 5 5	33.33 33.33 33.33
Structural Bioinformatics (Spring Term weeks 2-6)	Coursework 1 hr exam paper	to be set in week 4 Thurs 25th April 2013, 15:45-16:45	4 11	26.67 73.33
Sequence Analysis & Genomics (Spring Term weeks 7-11)	Coursework 90 mins exam paper	8 pieces set weekly Tues 30th April 2013, 14:30-16:00	6 9	40 60
Systems Biology (Spring Term weeks 7-11)	Coursework 1 hr exam paper	to be set in March 2013 Thurs 25th April 2013, 14:30-15:30	4 11	26.67 73.33
Project & Viva	Project Viva	Tuesday 27th August 23rd/24th September	51 9	85 15

* Assessment dates are provisional unless shown in bold, in which case they have been confirmed.

Late Submission

Any assessment that is handed in late will be awarded no more than 50% unless a) the student applies to have mitigating circumstances taken into account, and b) these circumstances are deemed acceptable by the relevant course committee. College policy on mitigating circumstances is explained in this document (PDF). To apply to have late submission of coursework accepted, fill out the Mitigating Circumstances Claim Form (Annex A of the policy document) and give it to the Course Administrator (Daniela Witten). For examples of what constitutes acceptable mitigating circumstances, see Annex B of the policy document.

Grades and Reassessment

To achieve an over all Pass, a student must gain at least 50% on 6 out of 8 half-modules, gain at least 40% on the remaining 2 half-modules, and gain at least 50% on the project. A student who has passed the course will be awarded a Merit if s/he gains an average of 60% or more across all assessments. A student who has passed the course will be awarded a Distinction if s/he gains an average of 70% or more across all assessments, gains 70% or more for the project/viva assessment, and gains 70% or more in at least one biological half-module and at least one computational/statistical half-module.

A student who fails a module may be allowed to retake one or more course elements. This option is at the discretion of the relevant course committee and will only be an option for a student who has gained at least 40% on that module. If this options is not deemed appropriate, if the student has gained less than 40% on the module, or if the student does not wish to take up this option, s/he will be allowed to retake the module completely the next time it is run. Only one retake is permissable, and it will incur the payment of additional fees.

For more information, please refer to the Birkbeck course regulations available here.