UCL DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY PROGRAMME TUTOR

28 August 2013 Dear Student, I hope you had a good summer, and are looking forward to the new academic year, which begins on Monday, 23 September. I am sending this note to you even if your status is still uncertain, because of referrals, etc. By the way, because of Dr Furniss retirement, I will now be looking after all undergraduate students in the Department. I have attached a schedule for reporting to the Department. I do not plan to hold a series of individual interviews in the first week of term, so the meetings in the Massey Theatre will be your prime sources of information. Subsequent individual discussions with me will remain possible for those who desire them. Also, I will insist (sorry) that you drop by my office (E8) at some point in the first two weeks for an informal hello so I get to see who you are and tick you off my list this is VERY important, so please dont wait until May to see me. The College enrolment procedure is again carried out remotely, so there will be no need for you to do this in person. All students are required to enroll within two weeks of the start of their programme. However, please also update your personal information on the PORTICO information system at www.ucl.ac.uk/portico. It is your responsibility to make sure we have up-to-date contact details. As always, check your e-mails (UCL address) regularly! This is our main method of communication. Your degree programmes are clearly specified on the Departmental website. Most courses begin on Monday, 30 rd October. Fourth-year MSci courses taught by other Colleges and given at UCL may start the week of 23 September. Students should consult their online timetables and, for fourth-year Intercollegiate courses, the on-line MSci Handbook as well. Depending on your degree programme and year, you may have an opportunity to choose some course options for this coming session. You should be looking at this already. I suggest you take a look at the usual places where you will find relevant information. More will be provided when you report, and I can offer individual advice as necessary. The College is continuing to employ PORTICO for module registration. Apart from new Y2 students, most of you will remember this process from last year, but I shall remind you about the procedure when you report. Relevant information is included in the Student Handbook, available on the Departmental Student Intranet web pages. Whatever your situation, it is essential to CHECK that you are entered for the correct modules. Similarly, all students who qualify for a May resit will be automatically registered. Those students partially repeating a year may need to tell the Faculty and see me in person to facilitate their module registrations. The deadline for making your th module selections is Friday, 4 October. Alterations in option choices may be made through me until early January 2014 but please do them early! . If you need your module choices amended by me, you must have made them! If you do need amendments, please send me an email, including your student number, and a list of modules to delete, modules to add. Your personal tutor, with whom you should meet a few times per term, is the same as was assigned to you last year (check the Tutors Moodle page if you have forgotten, or see me). Your personal tutor is your personal tutor throughout your undergraduate career in Physics. Although able to answer academic questions, your personal tutor will have a more pastoral role and should be seen as someone who can help you with the non-academic aspects of your studies as well (and guide you through your Personal and Professional Development). You will be sent a schedule for seeing your tutor: please stick to it! Again this year, all first- and second-year lecture courses will have a problem-solving tutorial associated with them. The frequency of these tutorials will depend on the course. If enrolled in any of these courses, the time and location
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UCL Department of Physics and Astronomy University College London Gower Street London WC1E 6BT Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 7038 Fax: +44 (0)20 7679 7145 s.zochowski@ucl.ac.uk www.phys.ucl.ac.uk

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of the corresponding problem-solving tutorials will appear on your personal timetable during the first week of term. If not, please see me. And see me if you wish to change slots. For Y4 students: As you should know already, regulations require at least 3 of the 4 cu be passed at fourth-year (Masters) level. With 1.5 of these course units being taken up by your Project, you need to take a minimum of three courses at Masters level. As a buffer, it would be wise to take more. These courses should be designated by an M, e.g., PHASM426 for Advanced Quantum Theory. Once you have registered, you should be able to look at your personal timetable at www.ucl.ac.uk/timetable/. At any time, you can also look at the schedules of individual modules. Lab and PST groups will be assigned early in the term no whimsical changes please! If you have any questions about your timetable, or have module clashes, please contact me in the first instance. And please be patient! The week commencing 4 Nov is Reading Week for ALL years. Laboratories and tutorials may continue as normal, but lectures and problem classes will not be given, although in special cases they may be (such as, for fourth-year MSci courses taught by other Colleges and given at UCL). The principal purpose of Reading Week is to give students a chance catch up, study notes, review returned problems sheets, read textbooks, and contact th lecturers during open hours. It is not a week off! There is also one in term 2, the week starting 17 Feb 2014. Again, the Pass mark for all courses, in years 1, 2 and 3, is 40%. Fourth-year modules, PHASM courses, have a pass mark of 50%. The pass mark is attached to the course. Most 2 -, 3 - and 4 -year courses carry a coursework element of 10%. All students are strongly advised to do coursework/ICAs. Throwing this away by not doing it, or, as well, not attempting the Communication Skills courses (if you failed PHAS1901/2901, you can resit it in the following year worth a shot!), will make it harder to get a good overall average and you may miss a degree class because of that. This happened last session when people missed the borderline between degree classifications by a small percentage by not doing these tasks. You have been warned! Also, the rules for late coursework can be found in the Student Handbook, 2013-14. Second-year ICAs: ICAs are generally scheduled for Reading Week and the last week of term. If you miss one for good reason, you should fill out a Missed ICA form and give it to me; otherwise you lose the marks! Also, if you have a disability, you should be assessed by the College and any concessions should be relayed to me so grades on ICAs can be adjusted. In either of these counts, do not go through the lecturer! Also, the College is taking attendance much more seriously, and may bar you from examinations if you show a poor attendance record. So, please sign/swipe in whenever asked, and make sure we have the up-to-date record of your student card (see Claire in E2 if unsure). See me if you are ever away with good reason. There is still a Physics & Astronomy: Programme Tutors Page which is continuously being modified, and will be updated for the new session soon. On this page you will be able to find all important documents/forms and up-todate information as well as timely announcements like the notice board in the main corridor. You will also have the opportunity to enter Discussion Forums where you can vent your frustrations or celebrate your successes. These will only be seen by the Programme Tutor, so feel free to use them as you wish, within reason. Check it once in a while. If you would like a locker in the Department (4 floor), please see Claire in E2 in the first two weeks of term (before th Monday 7 October, when they will be allocated). I look forward to seeing you please do drop by. I am available to help guide you through your degree! I will not have strict office hours, but feel free to come see me at any reasonable time. And if somehow we cant cross paths, please get in touch by email (s.zochowski@ucl.ac.uk) or phone (020 7679 7038 or 37038, internal; leave a message if need be). Out of term, you will definitely need to telephone or email me for an appointment. Finally, there is probably something you are wondering about that I have failed to mention in these short notes. If so, please get in touch and Ill try to set you straight. Also, these notes are not gospel, details may change: keep your eyes and ears open! Good luck with your studies this coming year, and have fun! See you soon! Take care
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Dr Stan W Zochowski -- Programme Tutor

PS We need about 20 people to help us with showing our new first-year students around the Department and College on the first day of term, Monday 23rd September, noonish. If you would like to help, please send me an email as soon as possible (s.zochowski@ucl.ac.uk). Ill get back with more details.

UCL DEPARTMENT of PHYSICS & ASTRONOMY

MSci and BSc Departmental Reporting Instructions Astrophysics, Physics and Theoretical Physics Students Session 2013/14

FIRST YEAR STUDENTS Monday 23 September at 10:00 am in the Massey Lecture Theatre (please also refer to the Induction Week schedule)
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SECOND YEAR STUDENTS Monday 23 September at 2:30 pm in the Massey Lecture Theatre
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THIRD YEAR STUDENTS Tuesday 24 September at 11:00 am in the Massey Lecture Theatre (please also refer to the online timetable for module-specific induction sessions)
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FOURTH YEAR STUDENTS Tuesday 24 September at 2:30 pm in the Massey Lecture Theatre (please also refer to the online timetable for module-specific induction sessions)
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NB: COLLEGE ENROLMENT For new students, enrolment information is available at www.ucl.ac.uk/new-students/ A linked page from that website has information about how to get your College ID card, pay your fees, etc. Returning students will enrol with the College through the Portico system.