No 6574
Thursday 23 January 2020
Vol cl No 16
pp. 293–304
(Statutes and Ordinances, p. 420)
The General Board, on the recommendation of the Management Committee for the Natural Sciences Tripos, has approved the amendment of the regulations for the subject of Genetics within the Natural Sciences Tripos in order to replace one written paper of three hours with one written paper of two hours. The regulation shall also be amended to show that the essay and thesis elements of the assessment are no longer required to be written on the same subject, and to specify the date by which the essay should be submitted.
By amending Regulation 30 so as to read:
Genetics. Each candidate shall offer:
(a)four written papers of three hours each;
(b)one written paper of two hours;
(c)an essay of not more than 3,500 words;
(d)a thesis of not more than 3,500 words, excluding tables, figures, and references.
The subject of the essay and the thesis shall be either proposed by the candidate and approved by the Examiners, or chosen by the candidate from a list of approved subjects announced by the Examiners. Each candidate shall either obtain the approval of the Examiners for the subject proposed or notify the Examiners of the subject chosen from the list not later than the end of Full Michaelmas Term. The essay shall be submitted to the Examiners not later than the second day of Full Lent Term, and shall contain a critical review of an area of genetics. The thesis shall be submitted to the Examiners not later than the tenth day after the last day of Full Lent Term.
In assigning marks for the examination the Examiners shall take account of the submitted essay and thesis.
(Statutes and Ordinances, p. 424)
The General Board, on the recommendation of the Management Committee for the Natural Sciences Tripos, has approved the amendment of the regulations for the subject of Earth Sciences within the Natural Sciences Tripos to show that the duration of examinations for the six written papers will be two hours (extended from the current 1.5 hours). This change is designed to give the students more time to offer full scientific written answers as required for Part III, in response to the number of questions in the examination papers (one hour per question). The regulations have further been amended in order to update the submission date for the research project report from the first to the last day of Full Lent Term. This change is required in order to allow two terms rather than one for the Part III research project.
By amending Regulation 36 so as to read:
Earth Sciences. Each candidate shall offer:
(a)six written papers, each of two hours’ duration and shall offer any assessed practical work associated with each of those papers;
(b)a written paper of three hours’ duration, consisting of two sections, A and B. Topics may relate to a field trip or to general aspects of Earth Sciences;
(c)a report of a research project of not more than 7,500 words, excluding footnotes;
(d)records of classwork and fieldwork.
At the discretion of the Examiners a candidate may be called for a viva voce examination on the candidate’s project work and on general aspects of the Earth Sciences.
The examination requirements and any practical work associated with each paper shall be announced by the Head of the Department of Earth Sciences not later than the beginning of the Michaelmas Term. The Examiners shall be provided by the Head of the Department of Earth Sciences with assessments of any assessed practicals; in assigning marks for the examination the Examiners shall take account of the assessments.
The report of a research project shall be on a subject which may be either proposed by the candidate and approved by the Head of the Department of Earth Sciences or chosen by the candidate from a list of approved subjects announced by the Head of the Department by the beginning of the Lent Term in the year next preceding the examination. Each candidate shall either obtain the approval of the Head of the Department for the subject proposed or notify the Head of the Department of the subject chosen from the list not later than the division of the Lent Term next preceding the examination. The report shall be submitted to the Examiners not later than the last day of Full Lent Term.
The records of classwork and fieldwork shall be submitted to the Examiners through the Head of the Department of Earth Sciences not later than the last day of the written examinations and shall bear the signatures of the teachers under whose direction the work was performed. The types of classwork and fieldwork shall be announced by the Head of the Department not later than the beginning of the Michaelmas Term.
(Statutes and Ordinances, p. 538)
The General Board, on the recommendation of the Degree Committee for the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, has given permission for the amendment of the regulations for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Health, Medicine and Society in order to change the word limit for the dissertation from 10,000–15,000 words to 12,000 words. The new limit of 12,000 words is considered by the Degree Committee to represent a journal length article which is an appropriate aim for their students.
By amending Regulation 1(b) so as to read as follows:
(b)a dissertation of not more than 12,000 words including footnotes but excluding tables, appendices and bibliography, on a subject approved by the Degree Committee.