When I was first approached to write this book I remembered the students I had seen, vainly trying to come to grips with the simple mechanics of producing a project report. Usually the chemistry itself had presented few problems, although sometimes it was clear that they had made an unfortunate choice of project. In other cases their endeavours could be 3 likened to pouring lOOcm beakers of water into the desert sands since they neither had any idea of the direction their project should take nor were they capable of steering it in that direction. Equally pitiful, as the deadline approached,...

This book is for undergraduate and diploma chemistry students who are about to begin their project work. Student projects are now an essential part of most undergraduate and diploma chemistry courses in the UK, and are an important component of the later years of chemistry degree courses in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The book covers all aspects of project work, from choosing a suitable topic and supervisor to communicating research results effectively. There is advice on the best way to use libraries and on how to gather relevant references. Students are taught how to work...