After completion of the Bachelor Research Project you will be able to conduct innovative scientific research. This includes the first conception of a research subject, doing the research and reporting the conclusions in a scientifically fully sound way in written and oral form. The Bachelor Research Project also strengthens the development of behaviour-oriented soft skills, including independent thinking, the ability to find creative and original solutions and thereby enhance your auto-didactic abilities.

The assessment of the Bachelor Research project is based on three criteria which is described in detail in a rubric.

Research: Scientific knowledge, research skills, interaction & independence, level and quality of research, and student motivation

Written thesis: Introduction and problem definition, description of methods, results & discussion and scientific writing

Oral presentation: Contextualisation and delivery at appropriate academic level, clarity, style and structure, and handling questions.

Please find below an overview of the number of EC attributed to the various components of the Bachelor Research Project for the different study programmes.

Physics: the Bachelor Research Project has a total credit of 20 EC. The project is concluded with a Thesis (3 EC) and a Presentation (1 EC), which are credited separately. 

Physics & Astronomy: the Bachelor Research Project has a total credit of 20 EC. The research project is concluded with a Thesis (3 EC) and a Presentation (1 EC), which are credited separately. 

Physics & Mathematics: the Bachelor Research Project has a total credit of 24 EC. This includes a Bachelor's Thesis and a Presentation.

Registration forms:
You can find the registration forms in Brightspace on the Bachelor Research Project page 

Assessment forms: 

Bachelor Research assessment form I

Bachelor Research assessment form II
Rubric - assessing the BSc Research Project (including thesis and presentation)
Digital signature - how to create a digital signature 

Thesis publication form 

Before you start with your Bachelor Research Project, you need approval by the Physics study advisor. Students following a double bachelor's programme with Astronomy need approval from both study advisors.

Requirements for approval:

• Succesful completion of both the first and second year of the bachelor's programme
• Up to date Study Plan

Procedure for approval:

• Please visit the Bachelor Research Project page in Brightspace 

In the period December - January, you will choose the topic for your Bachelor Research Project.
You will be actively involved in an ongoing research program where you will investigate experimentally and quantitatively a related partial research question. Your contribution will involve running experiments, collecting, analyzing and interpreting data and presenting your results in a research thesis and a technical presentation and may involve co-defining the research question and determining the appropriate method. Appropriate projects in theoretical physics are possible for students pursuing a double Physics and Math degree. (for details go the e-prospectus and search for Bachelor Research Project Physics/Mathematics)

In December a Bachelor Research Project Fair will be organised. At this  fair research groups open to students will present their work and themselves with poster presentations. You can talk to the groups and get inspired by their research and the projects they offer.

After the BRP Fair, the Bachelor Research Project coordinator will provide a list of all available projects on Brightspace. Consult the Bachelor Research Project course description in the e-Prospectus for details about the BRP coordinator and how to enroll in Brightspace.

Students following the double Physics and Astronomy bachelor's programmes may choose a project from either Physics or Astronomy.
For details see the e-prospectus webpage for the double programme Physics and Astronomy 
 

Supervisor

All Physics Bachelor Research Projects are carried out under supervision of a member of the scientific staff of LION. Each project on the list of available projects is connected to a supervisor.

Students following the double bachelor's programme and doing a Physics project need to have a second supervisor from Astronomy or Mathematics  who is ultimately responsible for approving the project (or a modified version thereof). Students doing an Astronomy project need to have a second supervisor from Physics (the student is responsible for finding this second supervisor from the Physics department).

Second reader

It's up to the student to arrange a second reader. You might ask your first supervisor for suggestions.
You might likewise come up with persons yourself. Keep in mind that it will be easier for a person to agree, if the topic of your research broadly fits into the interests of the second reader. From the BSc Fair you should have picked up an idea where the different group-leaders are interested in; or you look on the institute websites. Be aware that your second reader must be a staff member (hence cannot be a postdoc). For students following a double program, the supervisor must come from the one institute depending on the subject and the second from the other institute. 

You can only proceed to this step after (conditional) approval form the study advisor. 

After deciding on the topic of your choice, you have to register your project  using the Bachelor Research Project Registration Form. Please note that you are required to follow and complete all sections on the form in sequential order. For a detailed step-by-step plan please visit the Bachelor Research Project page in Brightspace 

For students following the double Physics and Astronomy bachelor's programmes, the project must also be approved by the Astronomy Bachelor Research Project coordinator. Students with a primary supervisor from Astronomy should also have their project approved by the Physics Bachelor Research Project coordinator.

For practical matters and formal recording of your participation in the Bachelor Research Project, enrollment in MyStudyMap is essential. 

1. Enrol for the Bachelor Research Project in MyStudyMap. Please note that the research, thesis and presentation are separate study activities. 
2. Once you are enrolled infor the BRP, you get direct acccess to the Bachelor Research Project page in Brightspace. 

The Bachelor Research Project formally starts with a kick off meeting, in which the BRP coordinator will take you through all practical details of the Bachelor Research Project. 

The Bachelor Research Project Kick Off meeting is directly followed by the Research Skills and Scientifc Integrity course which includes a week of training in research skills, including for example project management, CV writing, science communication and a library workshop. 

In February, you will get started with your Bachelor Research Project. Over the first weeks, start background reading on the research topic of your interest. Make an appointment with your supervisor(s) and schedule weekly meetings with them. Make sure you have a place to work, a functional computer account, etc. Also, plan the first steps of your research project.

By mid-February, you should be spending most of your time on your Bachelor Research Project. To structure your time, develop regular working habits. Do not perform your project in free or filler time. Consider it as a job!

1.The Physics Bachelor Research Project is concluded with a thesis. Do not put off writing your thesis until the last few weeks. Start writing parts of the work as you go along. Please ask for feedback from a colleague on your writing.

2.Thesis writing: LaTeX templates  

Your BSc thesis should have a front page with all administrative details as explained in the documentation below. The easiest and preferred way to comply with these requirements is to use the LaTeX template lion-msc. The template provides commands to so that it also works for our double bachelor students (Physics+Math, Physics+Astronomy).

Below are local versions of the PDF document that describes how the LaTeX template works and a ZIP file that contains all files necessary to use the LaTeX template. These files should either be installed in the same directory as your thesis file or in the local LaTeX directory.

The package is also available through the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN) and may be automatically installed in the future by some LaTeX distributions. Click here.       

3.While drafting your thesis you can consult tips for good academic writing.

4. Plagiarism; the writings and ideas of others form an important part of academic work. The work of others, however, must be clearly identifiable and distinguished from your original writings and ideas. Failure to properly acknowledge the work of others is plagiarism, whether or not you intended to represent the work as your own. All Physics bachelor's theses will be checked for plagiarism.Make sure you carefully read the University's regulations on plagiarism. 

To monitor the progress of the project a meeting is scheduled 8 weeks after the start of the project.
The student and supervisor will have a meeting to touch base and evaluate the three criteria of the project. These are the criteria mentioned in the rubric. Please use the first part of the Bachelor Research Project Assessment Form I- to document the progress. 

Finishing your Bachelor Research Project

Presentation

The Bachelor project is completed with a presentation and a thesis. The presentation is a mandatory part of your graduation. The presentation includes your project work and is presented to your supervisor(s) and fellow bachelor students and guests you have invited. 
Please send the following details in advance to the Education Office

• uMail 
• date, time, location (to be booked by the secretariat of the research group or if needed by eduassist)
• title of the presentation
• name of the research group 
• name (titles) of the supervisor(s)

Your presentation will be announced on the Education webpage of Physics.

Your thesis will be examined on plagiarism by your supervisor and you need to store your thesis in the Leiden University Student Repository.
NB: The thesis upload is a prerequisite for obtaining your BSc diploma.

How to upload your thesis and some additional notes:

• Handleiding invoer scriptie (NL)
• Manual thesis upload (EN)

• Log into the Upload Student Thesis using your ULCN account 
• The 'graduation date' (afstudeerdatum) is the date that is mentioned on the grading and permission form (het beoordelings-en toestemmingsformulier) 
• All theses from Physics, Physics & Mathematics are uploaded in the repository and are made public. Theses from double students Physics & Astronomy are uploaded in the repository but are not made public (under embargo)
• The permission for making a thesis public/non-public is confirmed by signing the permission form which is attached to the grading form. Please have a look under 'Bachelor Forms'

Upon completing your research project, your supervisor has to complete the Bachelor Research Project Assessment Form I and Bachelor Research Project Assessment Form II. Check de rubric when assesssing the BRP: Rubric

When completed, the supervisor sends a digital copy to the Education Office. Make sure to keep a copy of the form for your own administration.

The student sends the Thesis publication form to the Education Office (eduassist@physics.leidenuniv.nl) 

Your Bachelor Research Project will be assessed by the supervisor(s) of your project, based on the assessment criteria mentioned in the General information section above.