Course Syllabus
 |
| Semester & Location: |
Fall 2023 - DIS Stockholm |
| Type & Credits: |
Elective Course - 6 credits |
| Major Disciplines: |
Neuroscience, Psychology |
| Research Mentor: |
Janina Seubert (current students please use the Canvas Inbox) |
| Research Supervisor: |
Tina Mangieri tma@disstockholm.se |
| Academic Support: |
6-Credit Research Assistantship
The 6-Credit Research Assistantship (6RA) is an experiential learning opportunity promoting the development of research skills in an international, professional, research setting. As a Research Assistant, you perform research under the supervision of a Research Mentor (a lead scientist in the external research group). The mentor is able to offer both academic and professional advice. In addition to acquiring research experience, the goal is to develop a student/mentor relationship that benefits both the DIS student and Copenhagen-based research institutions.
Research Project Description
This project will experimentally manipulate odor-taste associations to investigate how the human brain acquires preferences for specific flavors, and how the successful retrieval of these preferences might be affected by the context in which exposure takes place. It is ideally suited for a student who has already taken introductory courses in experimental psychology and/or cognitive neuroscience, and would like to apply this knowledge to collect, analyze, and interpret their own data.
Specifically, you will learn to design a study and acquire and analyze psychophysical data that involve perceptual stimulation via nose and/or mouth. You will learn how to prepare food stimulus material in a controlled manner, and to present them to your subjects using our state-of-the-art smell and taste perception laboratory equipment. You will also have the opportunity to experience collection of MRI-data.
Learning Objectives
- Obtain hands-on research experience in a lab-based setting
- Plan, conduct, and critically evaluate experimental data
- Perform self-directed and self-motivated experimental research
- Actively participate in scientific discussions with a critical approach to the research
- Write a research paper and present experimental data in a professional way
- Learn ethical standards and academic integrity in a research process
- Experience the authenticity of research, including the unpredictabilities, the unexpected challenges, and unknowns that are a common part of conducting research
Research Assistantship Hours
Students will spend 180 hours directly engaged in research. You will arrange a schedule with your mentor which will allow you to complete an average of 20 hours of combined lab and theoretical work. Note: there may be peak times in the research process where all Research Assistant students are expected to spend a few more hours, and then possibly a few less another week – to reflect the individual research project and research process. Also, the total research hours may vary according to the research opportunity and expectation of your research mentor.
Lab Location
TBA
Research Mentor
Dr. Janina Seubert
PhD, clinical neuroscience (RWTH Aachen University in Germany) and MSc, Neuro-cognitive Psychology (LMU Munich). Dr. Seubert is a cognitive neuroscientist with a background in functional neuroimaging of perception and emotion in healthy populations and patients with psychiatric illness in the Psychology Division at Karolinska Institute (KI). Before joining KI in 2014, she worked at the Monell Chemical Senses Center and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA, where she began to study cortical integration of smell and taste during food perception. In her current role in the Clinical Neuroscience Department at KI, Janina leads a research team within the Perceptual Neuroscience Lab that conducts experimental work on food perception. In addition, she collaborates with the Aging Research Center where she investigates the role of olfactory decline on health in the elderly using longitudinal population data, and the Center for Eating Disorder Innovation where she studies the processing of olfactory reward in anorexia nervosa and binge eating disorder. With DIS Since 2021.
Responsibilities and Expectations of the Research Mentor
Your research project will be part of a larger, ongoing research project at the research institution. Your mentor and/or co-mentors will guide you on methodology and techniques, advise as to ethical considerations, provide feedback throughout the research process, and help you find resources to conduct your research on-site. The RAship encourages a gradual transition toward independence as you gain more confidence in the lab, transforming your work into a more self-directed and self-motivated project under the mentor’s guidance and supervision. It is important, that the project reflect your work, as a 6RA student, not only your mentor’s contribution.
It is not expected that you pursue a project where you are able to obtain definitive publishable results. The project chosen and agreed upon between you and your mentor should be focused and designed to produce results within the DIS semester calendar. While it is not necessary for the results to be significant (in that the results find a solution to the problem or hypothesis proposed), arguably any results to the proposed question are significant to the next phase of a research project.
Responsibilities and Expectations of the Research Assistant
Specific expectations of you as a student is agreed upon with your mentor at the beginning of the semester. However, in general it requires that you:
- Spend an average of 20 hours per week carrying out the research project. You will need to arrange a schedule with your mentor which will allow you to complete the required hours performing a combination of theoretical and hands-on research at the external research institution.
- Arrange project check-in meetings with your research mentor and/or co-mentor(s) at mutually agreed upon times during the semester. Clear and continuous communication with your research mentor throughout the term is a necessary part of the research project and it is expected that you initiate these meetings.
- Submit assignments on time including a literature review, a outline of the research project, a journal club presentation, a final research paper and a recorded "talk-over" powerpoint or poster presentation (or another type of video format) as agreed on with your mentor.
As part of your theoretical focus, you are expected to read and write relevant scientific literature in relation to your research project and use your newly-gained knowledge to critically evaluate the research component, ask relevant questions, and actively participate in research discussions within the field. During the practical work, you are expected to actively engage by planning and performing your own experiments or data collection and carefully monitoring the conducted experiments and analyzing the collected data. You are expected/encouraged to critically evaluate possible issues if results do not go as expected and come up with ideas to modify or reflect on potential mistakes.
Overall, it is important to be enthusiastic about the project. Carrying out a research project is neither a straightforward nor predictable process as you are creating new (and at times unexpected) knowledge. This is part of what makes research exciting but also challenging!
Evaluation and Grading
During the research course, you are expected to fulfill various assignments. To be eligible for a passing grade in 6RA, all of the assignments must be completed. It will be your mentor that assess your work and assign your final grade.
Assignments and their weights are shown in the following table:
|
Participation - Lab-based work and theoretical hours including workshops held at DIS |
30% |
|
|
Literature Summary Review |
5% |
|
|
Outline of the Research Project: |
Written Project |
5% |
|
Oral Presentation of the Project |
5% |
|
|
Oral Presentation at Journal Club |
10% |
|
|
Research Paper: |
Written Project |
35% |
|
Recorded Oral Presentation |
10% |
|
|
Total |
100% |
|
The literature summary review is an opportunity to seek out existing peer-reviewed articles and, in that way, enhance your scientific knowledge within the research area and kickstart your research project. In addition, it is essential that you have knowledge of previously produced research by the research institution with which you are working.
An outline of the research project will provide you with an overall research plan and help structure your research during the term. By creating an outline, you will be able to better comprehend the objective of your efforts. Your mentor will also be able to use the outline to assess areas in which your current knowledge and understanding may be lacking.
The research paper is the final product of your research assistantship. In the paper, you will explain your work throughout the term, including the methodologies you have used, the overall process, the project’s significance, and the contribution to the field of research in which you have engaged. Please note: this research paper is not produced with the intent of publishing, but if you put in the hours and effort it may end up being a publication.
For the oral presentation, you will present the research you have carried out throughout the semester in a recorded format, agreed upon with your mentor and approved by DIS. The presentation should have a logical and clear structure and provide relevant information on the background, methods, conclusions, and future perspectives of the presented work. The original data reported in the paper should be presented and discussed in a clear way.
Participation is a central part of laboratory-based research and the international study experience. To receive full credit, you are required to be present at all the scheduled research sessions in and outside of the lab and actively participate and engage in the experimental work (both practical and theoretical).
Of the final participation grade (30%), 20% is based on:
- Attendance and the level of preparation, planning, and conduction of the experimental research work at the research place as well as your level of self-directed and self-motivated research work
- Your overall contribution to research discussions with the research group in general, at journal clubs, and at project presentations
The remaining 10% is based on attendance, preparation, and active participation in the research orientation at the start of the term, required research workshops, and research symposium at the end-of-semester showcase.
At the "End-of-semester" showcase you will present the research you have carried out throughout the semester in a format agreed on with your mentor and approved by DIS
Workshops
There will be several DIS workshops planned for research students during the semester. The content of the workshops is subject to change and may include overviews/introductions of skills your mentor will expect you to execute, as well as discussions on the goals of research and the ways in which research questions are culturally and historically-contingent. Workshop examples include, but are not limited to:
- Literature Search and Citation Skills
- Research Ethics
- Interpreting and Analyzing Data and the Significance of Results
- Communicating Research Findings (including poster production)
- Structure of Abstracts and Research Paper
There will be homework for the workshops. ALL SESSIONS ARE MANDATORY.
*see time and location details in "course summary" below.
Journal Clubs
Journal clubs are research presentations followed by discussions organized by the research place. They are occasions for detailed discussions within a specific research area and for development of excellent presentation skills which is required of researchers today; They also serve as an exercise of reading and doing critical thinking of research papers as well as interbedding experimental data.
The research paper that you choose to present during a Journal Club, should be related to your research area. If you are more than one DIS students in the same lab, the other student(s) should also read the paper and prepare questions for the journal club discussion.
The presentation should have a logical and clear structure and provide relevant information on the background, methods, conclusions, and future perspectives of the presented work. The original data reported in the paper should be presented and discussed in a clear way.
Data
Note that many US colleges/universities require their students who are participating in research at home or abroad to acquire Institutional Review Board approval. Examples include:
- Research involving human subjects
- If the results of any research conducted during your semester with DIS involving human subjects are to be made public or published in the US
You are responsible for confirming whether home IRB-approval is required and, if so, for seeking the approval of your home schools IRB. In addition, all research conducted in Europe must adhere to GDPR regulations.
Before Arrival to Stockholm
Once accepted as a Research Assistant, you will be connected with your mentor(s) via email. Please note some mentors may give you 10 – 15 hours of research literature to read before your term start.
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
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