Objectives:

This course will familiarize students with various methods and tools used for conducting research and latest trends in the field of biotechnology through reading and understanding scientific literature. Introducing the students to various different types of manuscripts and the methods/steps involved in preparing a good scientific manuscripts, different online tools to find the articles related to the research topic, fetching the valuable information from articles, designing research projects, methods to collect data and interpretation of that data to come to the concluding point. This course will also help the students in learning the important skills to present their scientific knowledge in an effective way by using different techniques like posters and presentations, which are common method used in scientific community to share their knowledge. Introduction and importance of intellectual property rights will also be elaborated to improve the knowledge of students about patenting and securing their research, avoiding the unethical academic practices (Plagiarism) and its severe consequences. 

Contents

1. Introduction; unethical academic practices (plagiarism)
2. Need of research and research types
3. Extraction and review of literature
4. Identifying a research problem and formulating a hypothesis
5. Designing a study; data collection, interpretation and analysis
6. Writing a research report, project, thesis and/or research article or review
7. Preparing posters
8. Making scientific presentations
9. Intellectual property

Recommended Text

1. Bryman, A. (2001). Social research methods. (2nded.). New York, USA: Oxford University Press.
2. Awan, J.A. (2003). Scientific presentation. Faisalabad, Pakistan: Unitech Communication.

Suggested Readings

1. Kothari, C.R. (2004). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. (2nded.). New Delhi, India: New Age International Publishers.
2. Durrani, S.A. (2004). Technical Writing. Islamabad, Pakistan: Higher Education Commission.
3. Kumar, R. and Kindersley, D. (2010).  Research methodology: A step by step guide for beginners. (3rd ed.). Ventura, USA: SAGE Publications.  

Sessional: Assignment + Quiz (20 Marks)

Final exam: 50 Marks

Mids: 30 Marks