To enable students to undertake independent research and complete an extended piece of writing.

To assess how well a student can research his or her chosen topic by locating relevant material.

To allow the student to demonstrate their ability to synthesise relevant material, to analyse it in a critical fashion and then to utilise it to construct their own original piece of research.

To permit a student to demonstrate their ability to express themselves in a clear, concise and logical fashion.

(LO1) Demonstrate principles and techniques of advanced legal research;

(LO2) Show an understanding of the relevant social, economic, political, historical, philosophical, ethical, scientific and cultural contexts within which any chosen specialist area(s) of law operate(s);

(LO3) Be able to identify, locate and retrieve source legal materials in any chosen specialist area(s) of law, both in paper and electronic form;

(LO4) Be able to analyse, evaluate and interpret the principal source materials of any chosen specialist area(s) of law, including national statutes, national, European and international law reports, treaties, directives and other relevant materials as appropriate;

(LO5) Be able to apply legal knowledge to a practical situation and draw reasoned conclusions supported by legal authority;

(LO6) Be able to synthesise information from primary legal sources to achieve detailed knowledge and understanding of the law;

(LO7) Demonstrate advanced legal skills (e.g. critical analysis) necessary to reach a superior understanding of all chosen specialist areas of law, even if not previously studied at undergraduate level;

(LO8) Be able to understand and employ English, European and international legal terminology, both orally and in writing, to explain and convey technical legal information at an advanced level;

(LO9) Demonstrate capacity to work independently in planning, researching and completing an advanced research dissertation on a topic of their choice;

(LO10) Show ability to select and consider a topic for research;

(LO11) Be able to construct a coherent essay plan, in consultation with a Supervisor;

(LO12) Demonstrate capacity to conduct advanced research in the topic, using whatever methodologies are appropriate;

(LO13) Show ability to act upon a Supervisor's suggestions;

(LO14) Demonstrate capacity to write a coherent, well-structured, sustained analytical and critical Dissertation.

(S1) Critical thinking and problem solving - Critical analysis

(S2) Critical thinking and problem solving - Problem identification

(S3) Time and project management - Project planning

(S4) Time and project management - Project management

(S5) Personal attributes and qualities - Willingness to take responsibility

(S6) Improving own learning/performance - Personal action planning

(S7) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Presentation skills - written

(S8) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Academic writing (inc. referencing skills)

(S9) Critical thinking and problem solving - Synthesis

(S10) Communication (oral, written and visual) - Influencing skills – argumentation

Legal Research Training
- Library/computer lab-based research skills workshop. The library training offers students advanced legal research skills. It will assist students in finding a range of primary and secondary legal materials including legislation, case law, reports and journal articles.
- A seminar on legal research, case analysis, statute/treaty interpretation, and article review where students will learn how to analyse legal materials.

- A seminar on avoiding plagiarism / academic integrity including citation skills/OSCOLA where students will learn how to cite legal materials and understanding the university’s academic integrity regulations.

Dissertation workshop
- The dissertation workshop addresses a range of administrative aspects related to the writing of the dissertation, as well as supervision arrangements. This session will provide an overview of what writing a dissertation involves as well as detailing the procedural aspects of writin g a dissertation.

Thesis
- In the summer term, students will be supervised by a dissertation supervisor to write a thesis of 12,000 words.

The synchronous sessions will be delivered face-to-face on campus (but could be delivered online, depending on the circumstances e.g. a University policy requiring a return to online teaching)

The dissertation supervision meetings will be held either face-to-face on online via Zoom/Teams. As this module involves the students completing a 12,000 word thesis, the vast majority of learning will be by independent study.