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EEEN40710

Academic Year 2026/2027

Engineering Research Skills & Pedagogy (EEEN40710)

Subject:
Electronic & Electrical Eng
College:
Engineering & Architecture
School:
Electrical & Electronic Eng
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Paul Cuffe
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Distinction/Pass/Fail (GPA Neutral)

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module is to serve as an induction for graduate research students in their first year within the UCD School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering.

The purpose of the module to equip students to thrive in their new role as researchers within the School. The module content will cover research skills, navigating academic life, and will introduce and instruct students in their role as Postgraduate Demonstrators.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

The learning outcomes are:

Articulate a full understanding of the practicalities and logistics of navigating a structured PhD programme within UCD;

Demonstrate a firm understanding of how to effectively deliver in the Postgraduate Demonstrator role, and an ability to anticipate as well as to react to students' problems in lab settings;

Demonstrate an awareness of University, College and School policies and procedures that impact on their role as a Postgraduate Demonstrator and as a PhD student;

Understand how to use tools such as Brightspace for grading purposes;

Show a full awareness of research integrity and ethics, and be able to articulate the relevance of this for this own programme of research;

Show familiarity with export control restrictions;

Demonstrate a proper awareness of the consequences for academic misconduct;

Demonstrate familiarity with the University's policies on the use of generative AI tools;

Exhibit productive research skills;

Understand the workflow and lifecycle for writing up research as an academic paper;

Understand academic culture and norms.

Indicative Module Content:

The outline module content can be clustered into five main topics, with indicative sub-topics as outlined below:

1/ Navigating the practicalities of the UCD Structured PhD programme. This includes: the role of the Research Studies Panel; differences between stage 1 and stage 2; expectations for the transfer assessment; recommended schedule of Research Studies Panel meetings; writing a Research and Professional Development plan; identifying relevant credit-bearing modules within UCD; process for Recognition of Prior Learning; general understanding of the institutional structure of UCD; understanding institutional supports available; dispute resolution procedures; PhD examination process; UCD Academic Regulations; bound versus traditional thesis; familiarity with previous successful PhD theses from the School; maternity leaves / leaves of absence etc;


2/ Mastering the role of Postgraduate Demonstrator within the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. This includes: the practicalities of laboratory demonstrating, including the adminstrative procedures for payment and progression; preparation for relevant laboratory work and laboratory safety; introduction to relevant theoretical works in the teaching and learning literature (both generic and discipline-specific); how to assess/critique their teaching based on feedback gained from their peers and/or their students; grading and rubrics; using Brightspace effectively


3/ Understanding research integrity and ethics. This includes: appreciating the scientific importance of open and accessible data; using repositories; full awareness of forbidden behaviours: plagiarism, data manipulation, authorship fraud, salami slicing; predatory publishers; the replication crisis; false colloboration cabals / citation rings / journal capture; concerns about for-profit publishers generally; confidentially and ethics in peer review; appropriate use of generative AI tools in academic research


4/ Maturing into a productive and effective engineering researcher. This includes: intentionallity in choosing software tools and workflows; mastering LaTeX and Overleaf; "recipes" for structuring manuscripts; fundamental of data visualisation e.g deliberate dimensioning of figures to e.g 8.89cm; implementing quality-control checklists, taking a systematic approach to proof-reading, LaTeX tips and tricks (book-tabs tables etc.); limitations of Word and Excel; software requirements for smooth colloboration; the need for repeatability and use of scripting (separation of production and analysis of data); how to critically and intelligently explore the extant literature; BibTex and citation managers, Grammarly etc.; signposting classic books and resources on academic writing; phrasebanks; systematically saving e.g MATLAB and Python workspace variables; producing response-to-reviewers documents; workflows for revising manuscripts; LaTeX diffing tools

5/ Understanding academic culture and norms. This includes: how conferences and journals work; navigating prestige; Scopus, impacts factor and the limitations of bibliometrics; predatory and dubious publishers; books, invited chapters etc; how to network effectively at conferences; how funding works; how to present well; how to make a good research poster; the pros and cons of pre-print servers; navigating academic LinkedIn; competitions, awards etc; how post-docs work; the backroom mechanics of peer review; how editorships work; the random, unfair and frustrating nature of peer review; building a good academic CV; invited talks; Research Management Systems; recommended reviewers; Procurement processes within UCD, and in general; Intellectual property management and its relation to entrepreneurship (student rights; ownership; public disclosure; assignment; licencing; start-ups; patent process, requirements, and funding)

UNESCO highlights a set of key competencies that support individuals in their development and support society in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UCD has adapted these competencies and is combining them with others to form a general framework of learning competencies. This module will help you develop the competencies below to the levels specified. 
Learning Competency Additional Information Level

Collaboration

 The ability to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy); to understand, relate to and be sensitive to others (empathic leadership); to deal with conflicts in a group; and to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solving. Competent

Critical Thinking

 The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; to reflect on one’s own values, perceptions and actions. Competent

Self-awareness

 The ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society; to continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions; and to deal with one’s feelings and desires. Competent

Normative

 The ability to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions; and to negotiate values, principles, goals, and targets, in a context of conflicts of interest and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and contradictions. Proficient

Digital Literacy and Judgement

 The ability to access, evaluate, create and communicate information in digital environments; to engage critically, ethically and responsibly with digital technologies and digital information; to understand their opportunities, limitations, risks and impact on individual’s digital identities; and to exercise informed judgement in digital participation and decision-making. Competent

AI Literacy & Agency

 The ability to understand, critically evaluate and responsibly engage with artificial intelligence; to recognise how AI systems are shaped by human values; to assess their ethical, social and environmental implications; and to exercise human judgement, agency and accountability in AI-related contexts. Competent

Wellbeing

 Wellbeing is having the resources and skills to meet life's challenges, including attributes such as personal development skills, resilience, stress management, strengths, lifestyle skills, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, alcohol/substance use, academic skills, time management, goal setting, interpersonal skills, group work, communication. Advanced Beginner

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


Goal Name Description Coverage

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 4

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 1

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all 3

Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation 3

Reduce inequality within and among countries 1
 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

12
Autonomous Student Learning

94
Tutorial

18
Online Learning

6
Total

130

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The main approach to teaching will be interactive F2F workshop sessions. This will facilitate peer learning and will help to instil a sense of collegiality and group identity amongst each incoming cohort of graduate research students.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade Component repeat (in-module) Offered
Participation in Learning Activities: Submission of a checklist, indicating which of the linked readings and resources on Brightspace the student has engaged with. Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12 Pass/Fail Grade Scale No
10
 No
Group Work Assignment: In pairs, students observe each other's work as Postgraduate Demonstrators and provide observations, feedback and reflections to each other. Week 11 Graded No
15
 No
Individual Project: Creation of a polished slide deck or poster, succinctly exploring some aspect of academic life. Week 14 Graded No
20
 No
Individual Project: Exercise to demonstrate a fluent workflow in technical computing for research purposes, including creation of graphics for integration within LaTeX documents. Week 12 Graded No
25
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: Students must physically attend the timetabled workshop sessions, and pro-actively engage in the various in-class discussions and exercises. Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 8, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12 Pass/Fail Grade Scale No
5
 No
Quizzes/Short Exercises: Demonstration of compliance with four mandatory trainings:

- School safety induction
- Research integrity training
- Institutional export control training
- Dignity & respect training
 Week 10 Pass/Fail Grade Scale Yes
20
 Yes
Report(s): Evidence of engagement with RSP panel, and pro-active analysis of suitable credit-bearing modules Week 7 Pass/Fail Grade Scale No
5
 Yes

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Peer review activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Small Group Offering 1 Week(s) - 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Tues 09:00 - 10:50
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