3 ECTS credits
90 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1024085ANR for all students in the 1st and 2nd semester at a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.

Semester
1st and 2nd semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
No
Taught in
Dutch
Faculty
Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences
Department
Physics
Educational team
Steven Lowette (course titular)
Simon De Kockere
Activities and contact hours
13 contact hours Lecture
13 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
13 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

Seminar on Current Science and Society will consist of 3 parts: remediation (1), mathematical skills (2) and current sciences and society (3). For students who have to take remediation, remediation and mathematical skills will be compulsory. For other students, it will be mathematical skills and current and society sciences. The remaining part is optional.

Part 1: "Remediation module"

Part 2: "Mathematical skills for Physicists”

Part 3: "Present day Physics, Astronomy and Society". This course is like no other in the 1BA program Physics and Astronomy.  The goal of this course is to get to get acqainted with the problems in present day Physics and Astronomy and the jobmarket in these fields. For example we'll be meeting Physisists working both in and outside the university.

The following compulsary activities are foreseen for the students in the academic year 2023-2024 (to be confirmed according to availability):

  • Attendance of the Solvay Public Lecture in the Flagey complex, planned on a sunday in October;
  • Attendence to talks given by researchers at the VUB
  • Visit of the Belgian Nuclear Research Center in Mol (SCK) and the Remote Sensing departement of the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO).
  • A visit of the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, the Royal Meterological  Institute of Belgium (KMI) and the Royal Observatory of Belgium.
  • A visit in an Academic Hospital where physicists at at work to assist medical doctors both  for diagnosis and therapies.

  • On a monthly basis, students will also be  asked to consult a popularizing scientific magazine in a foreign language (English or French ) such as Scientific American or  La Recherche and to choose one paper ( (Title, author, referentce) that they found particularly interesting.  At the end of May, the titular will make a choice out of this list of at lesat six papers.  The selected paper  will be presented and discussed  by the student in front of all his/her colleagues .

    There is no traditional exam for this part of the course. The evalution is based on the quality of  the paper presentation and the portfolio of  activity reports.

Additional info

NA

Learning Outcomes

General competences

Part 1: the students master the content of the remediation module.

Part 2: the students have insight into and can solve exercises offered in the WPO sessions of the basic mathematical skills.

Part 3: the students can present a topic and write a report with proper attention to scientific reporting and source research and citing.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Other Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Other Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • Examen andere with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

For the first part of this course, the entire online trajectory must be successfully completed before the start of the examination period. If this is not met, access to the exam will be refused in the first session.

For the second part of this course (mathematical skills) an exam is taken after the end of the exercise series.

There is no traditional exam for the third part of this course. The students build up a portfolio of completed assignments such as reports of visits and presentations of the papers in the presence of fellow students who are also evaluated for their contribution to the discussions.

Evaluation criteria third part:

   - Attendance at the seminars, participation in the visit.

   - Reports of seminars and visits.

   - Summary and presentation of a popular physics article.

 

There is no second session possible for this course.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Physics and Astronomy: Default track (only offered in Dutch)