Capstone

Spring 2023

Senior Graduation

Capstone Projects -MBG4999

Senior Graduation - Spring 2023

About

As an outcome of a Molecular Biology and Genetics education, a student should be able to solve and communicate a complex scientific problem in an interdisciplinary environment making creative use of fundamental molecular biology and genetics principles, knowledge, and skills that they acquired during their undergraduate program. The capstone project acts as preliminary practice for real-world experiences with focus on good scientific principles, value to society, and innovation.

Project Leaders

  Please see below for the list of advisors who can supervise Capstone Projects in Spring 2023

Cemalettin Bekpen, Ph.D
Assistant Professor 
Eilf Eren, Ph.D
Assistant Professor 
Merve Seven, Ph.D
Assistant Professor 
Dilek Cevik, Ph.D
Assistant Professor
Prof. Sezai Turkel, Ph.D
Professor
Course credits

Credits 3:000/ECTS: 12:000

Objectives
  1. Learn how to conduct scientific research with an independent project involving literature review and data analysis.
  2. Develop skills to critically evaluate published research through journal paper discussion.
  3. Present findings of independent research project to an audience of peers.
  4. Write a properly formatted and referenced scientific paper describing the research.
Responsibilities of the student
  1. Develop an original project and have it approved by the advisor prior to beginning research.
  2. Attend weekly group meetings or journal discussions and come prepared to participate.
  3. Provide weekly written/ oral updates to the advisor on progress of the independent project.
  4. Attend scheduled meetings with the advisor to consult on project.
  5. It is essential that the student keep up with work each week and not fall behind.
Responsibilities of the advisor
  1. Provide options for projects that are possible to conduct under their supervision.
  2. Facilitate weekly group meetings and bi-monthly (every two weeks) meetings with advisees in each research group.
  3. Acknowledge receipt of weekly updates and provide brief feedback on progress.
  4. The advisor is not responsible for designing the project, finding literature related to the project or telling the student exactly how to conduct the research.
  5. The advisor is not responsible for attending to problems in the project as they arise, but will assist when available and during update meetings.
Dates & Deadlines
  • Project Proposal
    Proposal submission deadline (14:00-April 2, 2024), Project proposal presentaton (April 3, 2024) at BCONF
  • Oral Capstone Project Presentations
    May 22 and 23, 2024 at BFSAY (Fazıl Say)
  • Report Deadline:  
    May 15, 2024 at Midnight
Academic honesty policy
  1. All students are expected to hand in their own written work. Plagiarism and cheating are not tolerated. Any work discovered to have been the result of either will receive no credit, and any second offence will result in failure of the course.
  2. Plagiarism can be defined as “when a writer deliberately uses someone else’s language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source.” – (see wpacouncil.org for more information).
  3. Report submission will be through itsLearning system and Turnitin. Similarities above 25% will not be evaluated.

    Evaluation:
    Presentation                    40%
    Final Report                    60%
Designing a Project
  1. Literature review on a specific topic in genetics or bioinformatics discussing previous research, current questions and how these gaps in knowledge can be addressed using molecular techniques and analyses.
  2. Meta-analysis of multiple publications/data sets evaluating an important and current topic of research.
  3. A project proposal will be presented to the jury. Prepare a 5 minute presentation (one page ppt) on your project by giving background information on the subject, your hypothesis/research question(s) and the importance/significance of the project. This presentation will be followed by 5 minute questions. Students whose proposal is not accepted will not be allowed to continue their Capstone project. If you fail to continue to your Capstone Project, you should take the capstone project next semester from different advisor and prepare new topic of your interest
  4. Presentation must be 10-15 minutes (maximum) and there will be 5-10 minutes questions and answers section. Presentations exceeding 15 minutes will be stopped. If you fail capston project presentation (due to style or content), you should take the capstone project from same advisor next semester and present the same project again. Presentation will be evaluated by all faculty members.
How to Apply

Interested students should email the group leaders for availability of the projects for each semester.