Physics induction for new students 2012

Schedule of key departmental events during induction week (Monday 1 to Friday 5 October 2012)

*Each student should attend just one of the three Physics induction sessions (see below for details of which session to attend), in addition to whatever induction sessions are being held in their other departments.

• Physics, Theoretical Physics and Physics and Astronomy students

  • All Physics, Theoretical Physics and Physics and Astronomy students should attend the Welcome Talk on Monday 1 October at 14:00 in room Ph8 (Physics Department).  It will be immediately followed by a talk by the Level 1 Course Director in which essential advice and information about the Level 1 Physics modules and about the induction activities organised by the Physics Department will be provided. This will then be followed by departmental registration for the Physics modules with a member of staff. On your arrival in the Department for these talks, you will receive a course booklet containing important information about the Level 1 Physics modules.
  • Besides Physics modules, you also need to take two or three modules organised by the Mathematics Department. If you want to take Single Maths A/B (the most popular choice) then these modules will be approved automatically and there is no need for you to visit the Mathematics Department.  Departmental registration for all other Mathematics modules takes place in the morning of Tuesday 2 October, in the Mathematics Department.  If you wish to take an optional module from a department other than Physics or Mathematics then you will also need to go to the organising department and complete registration on the same morning, Tuesday 2 October.
  • If you have second thoughts on your choice of modules, need to revise your plans or have queries about your programme of study, please see our Teaching Administrator, Mr Adrian Skelton (for change of registration) or the Level 1 Course Director, Dr Robert Potvliege (for academic matters) on the morning of Tuesday 2 October. Dr Potvliege will also be available throughout the Induction Week and beyond for discussing any matter related to your degree. Please ask for directions at the Physics Department reception desk.

• Natural Sciences students taking Physics modules

  • All Natural Sciences students taking Physics modules in Year 1 should attend a Welcome Talk on Monday 1 October at 15:00 in room Ph30 (Physics Department). It will be immediately followed by a talk by the Physics Natural Sciences Adviser in which essential advice and information about the first year Physics modules and about the induction activities organised by the Physics Department will be provided.  On your arrival in the Department for these talks, you will receive a course booklet containing important information about the Level 1 Physics modules. Course booklets will also be available at registration the following day.
  • Departmental registration for the Physics modules for students on a degree programme other than F300, F301, F344 and FF3N takes place in the morning of Tuesday 2 October, in the Physics Department. For Natural Sciences students, registration will be in room Ph30 with our Natural Sciences Adviser, Dr Chris Maxwell. For any other student, registration will be in room Ph13 with our Teaching Administrator, Mr Adrian Skelton.  Please ask for directions at the Physics Department reception desk.

General induction programme 2012/13 for all students taking Physics modules

All new students taking the module Foundations of Physics 1 as part of a Physics or a Natural Sciences degree programme should attend a Physics induction session later in the week. (Any other student taking Physics modules is welcome to attend one of these sessions if space allows.)  We run this event three times, to make it possible for everyone to attend: on Thursday 4 October at 10:00 in room Ph8, on Friday 5 October at 10:00 in room Ph30, and again on Friday 5 October at 14:00 in room Ph8. This session will begin with a talk to introduce to key details of the organisation of the Department, to our Academic Advisers system, and to the Physics research going on at Durham. The Astronomical Society, Physics Society and other student societies closely associated with the Department will then tell you about their plans for the academic year. This will be followed by tours of the Department and tours of the campus in small groups led by some of our current students. The tours will end with light refreshments in the Bransden Room, providing an opportunity for you to meet other students (both new and not new) and members of staff.

Which Physics induction session to attend

• If the last digit of your student number (000...) is 1, 2 or 3: please attend the Thursday morning session.
• If the last digit of your student number is 4, 5 or 6: please attend the Friday morning session.
• If the last digit of your student number is 7, 8, 9 or 0: please attend the Friday afternoon session.

Important: We have limited space on the Friday morning, so please attend the Friday morning session only if this is your session or can attend neither the Thursday morning session nor the Friday afternoon session. In other words, please attend the Thursday morning session if you cannot make the Friday afternoon session, and attend the Friday afternoon session if you cannot make the Thursday morning session. If you cannot make the Friday morning session, please attend either on Thursday morning or on Friday afternoon.

On Friday 5 October, the Mathematics Department will also hold an induction session for the modules Single Mathematics A/B.  This is scheduled to take place in the Scarborough Lecture Theatre (Room CG93, in the Chemistry Building), from 09:00 to 10:00. Natural Sciences students taking Calculus and Probability 1 and Linear Algebra 1 are invited to attend induction sessions either from 10:00 to 13:00 or from 14:00 to 17:00 (but Physics students taking these latter modules do not need to attend). Other departments will also run induction sessions on the morning of Thursday 4 October and in the morning and/or the afternoon of Friday 5 October, which you may wish to attend, depending on your choice of optional module.  The Physics induction session is repeated three times, so it will be possible to attend the Physics event without missing activities offered by other departments.

Also during induction week, copies of the set text books will be available for purchase from the Department, at a discounted price, and you will need to have your photograph taken by the departmental photographer for your departmental record.  Detailed information about text books and photographs will be provided on your arrival in the Department.

All students taking our core module PHYS1122 Foundations of Physics 1 will have both a Physics Tutor and an Academic Adviser in the Department. Allocation to tutorial groups and to Academic Advisers is expected to the published on Monday 8 October or shortly thereafter, both online and through a notice posted on the Level 1 notice board. You will be invited by email to an initial individual meeting by your Academic Adviser shortly after the groups have been allocated.

Physics induction does not stop at the end of the Induction Week. Each Level 1 Physics module will start with an introductory lecture outlining the organisation of the module and providing essential information on matters such as academic integrity, doing and submitting the homework (weekly problems) and developing the required study skills. Later in the first term, among other things, you will also be invited to attend a presentation by the Careers, Employability and Enterprise Centre, to attend a learning skills workshop and to work through an online tutorial about avoiding plagiarism.

Please note that the main form of communication in the University is email, using your personal Durham University email address (@ durham.ac.uk). The Department will use email to send you information, including information of crucial importance and sometimes information not provided in any other way. Make a habit of frequently checking your Durham email from your first day in Durham!