This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

Assignments

Class Preparation

Each Wednesday before class (by 7:00 pm) a total of two questions (one from each paper) will be submitted via e-mail to the instructor. These questions can be regarding the subject of the paper, additional background information, the field in general, a proposed follow-up experiment to the work done, or simply a question about a technique used in the paper.

Written Assignment

Based on the material covered in class, write a 1-2 page project proposal. This proposal should outline one or two experiments to address a frontier problem in the field, including key control experiments. This assignment will be due at the beginning of Ses #8.

Oral Presentation

Each student has to prepare and present a Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation based on his/her proposal. The presentation should take 10-12 min. It should contain a few introductory slides followed by the experimental outline and rationale of the experiment(s) proposed. Presentations will be analyzed and discussed in the class.