Research practice in engineering

The unit aims to be an introduction to the practice of research. It is founded on perspectives from the Philosophy of Science (PoS), which addresses questions of what science is and what it means to be a scientist. The unit firstly introduces the structure of scientific arguments and aims to demonstrate how a knowledge of this structure can enable critical thinking and scientific communication. The unit also shows how modern science is a complex social process addressing issues such as research funding, planning and budgeting research projects, research metrics, technology development and commercialisation, intellectual property and patents, and current socio-political views of science and scientists.