1. Bachelor’s degree (180 credits) or equivalent with a major in chemistry, biochemistry, biomedical technology, biomedical methods and technology, biomedical laboratory science, or in other areas of natural, medical, engineering sciences or technology of relevance to the programme with a minimum of 15 credits in chemistry and/or biochemistry.

2. The equivalent of English B, or English 6, in Swedish secondary school.

3. Passing 45 credits of the courses in the Master’s program semesters 1 and 2 or equivalent (transferable credits).

The course is given in the third semester of the Master’s Program in Biomedical Surface Science and is part of the requirements for the Master's degree.

The aim of the course is for the student to develop their knowledge and understanding of research design and methodology, the qualitative and quantitative research methods as well as consideration of ethical guidelines.

The course provides a deeper view in research methodology, experimental design and quantitative analysis of research results. Different data collection and analysis methods are also presented. The emphasis is on critical reading, commenting, and interpreting published results in the area of biomedical surface science and related fields. Ethical guidelines, problems and regulations relevant to research are discussed.

Upon completion of the course the student should be able to

1. describe qualitative methods and different science traditions,
2. identify and critically evaluate research methodologies used in research articles and reports in the area of biomedical surface science,
3. explain ethical rules, concepts and significance of ethics, and
4. assess different designs and data collection methods.

To reach learning outcomes 1-3, lectures, seminars and group discussions are used as learning activities in order to stimulate the student’s active participation and reflection. Learning outcome 4 is reached through seminars where the students critically reflect on different methods. For all learning outcomes, the student´s ability to critically reflect is achieved through group-based seminars where practical exercises and theories are connected.

Learning outcomes 1-3 are examined through group discussions and a written individual assignment. To examine learning outcome 4, participation in the lectures are mandatory. Detailed assessment criteria are available in the study instructions.

Right to Re-Take
Student who fail the exam are given the opportunity for two re-takes with the same course content and with the same requirements. The student also has the right to take the examination in the same course in the subsequent courses according to the same rule. Examination and re-takes are carried out at the times specified in the schedule.

Beauchamp T, Childress J, (2009) Principles of biomedical ethics, 6th edition, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 454.

Creswell JW, (2013) Research design - qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods approaches, 4th edition, Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, Inc., pp 251.

Malmö University provides students who participate in, or who have completed a course, with the opportunity to express their opinions and describe their experiences of the course by completing a course evaluation administered by the University. The University will compile and summarise the results of course evaluations. The University will also inform participants of the results and any decisions relating to measures taken in response to the course evaluations. The results will be made available to the students (HF 1:14).

If a course is no longer offered, or has undergone significant changes, the students must be offered two opportunities for re-examination based on the syllabus that applied at the time of registration, for a period of one year after the changes have been implemented.

If a student has a Learning support decision, the examiner has the right to provide the student with an adapted test, or to allow the student to take the exam in a different format.

The syllabus is a translation of a Swedish source text.