Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten

IMPORTANT: As soon as you complete the first part of the course, subscribe to the TUWEL page!!!

Goal

The goal of this seminar is to learn how to write and present a scientific work. A member of the teaching staff will guide and help students in acquiring the scientific material and writing the report. The students will also learn how to present their work in a talk in front of their peers.

Tasks for the students

Teaching staff will evaluate and grade students based on the following points:

• Attendance of the lectures "Forschung und wie sie funktioniert" by Professor Eduard Gröller, the lecture "Wie halte ich einen Vortrag" by Professor Hannes Kaufmann, and the lecture "Wie schreibt man eine wissenschaftliche Arbeit" by Professor Michael Wimmer. You can ask for a waiver in case you have already attended (one of) these talks.
• A written report in the form of a scientific paper in English.
• An oral presentation in English followed by a short discussion.
• Active discussion participation is expected after the presentation of other students. 

Important Dates

• 25.10.2024: Make sure you are enrolled on the TUWEL page of the course.
• 25.10.2024: Initial meeting at 13:00 (s.t.) on Zoom. In this meeting, the topics and the introduction to the second part of the course will be presented.
• 25.10-28.10.2024: Select a topic and a supervisor on TUWEL.
• 28.10-31.10.2024: Contact the respective supervisor of your topic and discuss the direction of the seminar work. The supervisor will provide you with two initial seminal papers on the selected topic. 
• 29.10.2024 at 13.00 (s.t.) - 15.00: Attend the lecture "Science and how it works", by Prof. Eduard Gröller at Seminarraum FAV 05 (Seminarraum 186).
• 4.11-17.11.2024: Write a comparative summary of the two papers provided by the supervisor. Grade: 15%
• 11.11.2024 at 14.00 (s.t.) - 16.00: Attend the lecture "How to write a scientific publication", by Prof. Michael Wimmer at Seminarraum FAV 05 (Seminarraum 186).
• 18.11-24.11.2024: Conduct an additional literature search on the topic and determine a list of 3-5 papers that will be used to enhance your comparative summary.
• 19.11.2024 at 13.00 (s.t.) - 15.00: Attend the lecture "How to do a presentation", by Prof. Hannes Kaufmann at Seminarraum FAV 05 (Seminarraum 186).
• 24.11-20.12.2024: Integrate the additional papers found in the literature search into your comparative summary and structure the draft of your seminar paper (approx. 1500-1800 words). Grade: 25%
• 09.12.2024 at 14.00 (s.t.): Present a 5-minute summary of your draft seminar paper. Get initial feedback on your content and presentation style. Although this part is not graded, it is obligatory.
• 13.01-26.01.2024: Based on the feedback that you received from your supervisor on your draft finalize your seminar paper (approx. 2000-2500 words). Grade: 25%
• 28.01.2024 and 30.01.2024: Give your final talk (15 minutes) on your seminar report at Seminarraum FAV 05 (Seminarraum 186). The presence of all students is mandatory for one of the two slots (will be determined in advance). Grade: 25%

Grading Criteria

The seminar is split into two parts. The first (central) part accounts for 17% of the grade. The second part will account for 83% of the grade.

The second part (83% of the grade) consists of:

• The quality of the comparative summary: 15%
• The draft of the seminar paper: 25%
• The final seminar paper: 25%
• The quality of the final talk: 25%
• Attendance during the lectures: 10%
• Active discussion participation: 5% (bonus points)

Plagiarism

All the literature that is reviewed during the seminar has to be placed in the reference section of the report. For further information about referencing, see this guide and our guidelines. We are all expected to abide by professional scientific ethics and make sure that the work is not plagiarized in any sense. You should also follow the TU Wien recommendations on using AI in research and teaching.