Advanced Lab course for Physics

Schedule The advanced lab course takes place regularly during the term Monday through Thursday 14:00 to 18:00, out-of-term as arranged with the tutors (FP out-of-term). FP1 experiments are located in Neuenheimer Feld, INF 501; FP2 experiments are located at the hosting institutes. In agreement with the tutor, differing times may be arranged in special cases (this will, however, usually be more difficult for the FP1 experiments where several groups are tutored in parallel). If a holiday occurs in the week another weekday is taken instead, e.g. Mon, Wed to Fri if Tuesday is a holiday.

Enrollment You start the advanced lab course after completion of the Beginner's labs AP1 and AP2. You have to be enrolled with the University of Heidelberg and not on leave while doing the course. You may enroll after the completion of AP's. After consulting the FP administration earlier enrollment is possible. A web form for the enrollment can be found on the FP home page. With the enrollment you are NOT required to finish the FP within a certain period. The enrollment also doesn't mean that you have to book FP experiments immediately. Start of the FP and introduction are anounced in the course of study.

At the beginning of each term the radiation protection instructions are given. Participation of all students in the lab course is required by law, you will have to attest your presence by signature. Without these instructions you cannot be assigned to experiments where this is relevant and scheduling task is stalled.

When registering for the FP with the study goal 'physics teacher' it is assumed that you are enrolled in the study program 'Master of Education, Profillinie Gymnasium Teilstudiengang Physik' or 'Bachelor of Science, Vertiefungsfach Lehramt Gymnasium'. Please contact the FP management if you would like to register with the study goal 'Lehramt Staatsexamen'

Duration of the Advanced Lab Course The advanced lab course takes usually 2 terms.It is appreciated, however, if you notify the FP administration if you interupt or discontinue the course.

Criteria for Completion of the FP

1. Bachelor's programme
   • 8 accepted ('testierte') experiments,
   • 1 Seminar talk about a task from FP1 or FP2, given in one of the seminar courses accompanying the lab course,
   • both a 'short' and a 'long' 'special write-up',
   • you have to attend one of the FP seminar courses at least 8 times. Your FP seminar talk counts as one attendence
2. Teacher's programme

   Teacher's programe (Master of Education, Profillinie Gymnasium Teilstudiengang Physik und Bachelor of Science, Vertiefungsfach Lehramt Gymnasium): 4 accepted ('testierte') experiments (i.e. no FP seminar talk and no special write-up)

Recognition of eternal projects

Appropriate work (lab courses or prejects) done at other universities or research institutes may be credited for the lab course.

FP partner The tasks of the lab course are conducted by 2 students together (preferred partners can be requested at enrollment). The partner team formed should usually last through the complete course, exceptions in consultation with the FP supervisor. You can choose a partner yourself. To allow selection of (or separation from) a partner, the check field 'partner selection ok' needs to be active for both you and the partner you want to choose. The 'Partner wanted Ads' are available for contacting parters, otherwise the FP administration may find a partner for you.

Booking of FP experiments

1. Students in the FP book tasks themselves via their status web page. Students can also book tasks by contacting tutors directly (e.g., via email).
2. On the overview available from your status web page, booked and open tasks are shown. For the ongoing semester a schedule of one open (i.e. bookable) task per week is created by the FP administration, out-of-term dates for FP tasks can be offered by the tutors.
3. The tutor can still cancel your booking. You can cancel booked tasks, too. You should have a good reason for canceling, especially shortly before the assigned date.
4. In order to book a FP task you need to have an FP partner. Tasks with partners others than your normal partner can be booked by the FP administration or the tutors.
5. The maximum number af advance bookings is set by the FP administration, at the moment it is 4). Bookings can be done up to 26 weeks in advance.
6. Only tasks which satisfy the following conditions appear as bookable tasks on your status page: In FP1, only one experiment may be performed for each subject area. In FP2, the maximum number of experiments per subjct area is two.
7. FP2 tasks can in general be booked independent of the number of booked and completed FP1 experiments. However, for the following FP2 experiments a certain FP1 experiment needs to be done as a prerequisite:
   

   experiment	prerequisite
   F20	F85/86/87

8. Out-of-term, tasks can be booked directly if they are offered or may be arranged freely with the FP tutors. Information about available tasks are provided on the personal status page. Further information on out-of-term tasks is available on the 'FP out-of-term' web page.

Number of FP1 and FP2 Tasks As a rule, the schedule consists of 4 FP1 tasks and 4 FP2 tasks. A combination 3+5 FP1/2 or 5+3 FP1/2 can also be chosen. In special cases, exceptions from these rules can be granted by the FP administration.

Instruction Manuals The instruction manuals for booked experiments can be printed free of charge in the FP building (INF 501). o do so you can log onto a computer in room 008 in INF 501 using your Uni-ID and select the desired manuals. Note that some experiments have instruction manuals in German, some in English and some both. Some tutors don't speak German, only English (marked in the tutor email list).

Preparation for the experiments The skills needed for performing the experiments comprise in-debth knowledge of the physics of the experiment, knowledge of the principal set-up, the measured quantities and the measurement program

You have to be able to explain the experimental procedure before your begin. The tutors will test your knowledge in an oral discussion and make sure you know enough to reasonable perform the task. If your knowledge is gravely insufficient, you may be barred from starting the experiment. If the instruction manual asks for it, permission to switch on the apparatus has to be obtained from the tutor.

For most experiments, a knowledge check list exists which allow you to test your knowledge.

Performing the measurements The log you record during the measurements into a logbook has to be well organized and readable; it has to comprise

• sketches of the setups used,
• a record of all settings of the measurement devices, times etc.,
• labeled series' of measurement data,
• plots of the data whenever possible,
• a preliminary analysis

The intention is that the measurements have to be comprehensible and that measurement errors are recognized early.

The logbook has to be a respectable notebook with minimum 80 pages that will hold many experiments. Loose-leaf folders are not acceptable.

Evaluation The evaluation is continued in the logbook that contains the measurements log. Each partner has his own logbook; during the experiment, however, not both logbooks need to be kept in parallel and simultaneously. The contents of one logbook, including parts of the evaluation may be transferred into the logbook of the partner by pasting in copies (no loose-leaf collections!).

The evaluation must be self contained and clear such that measurements, analysis and error calculations, together with the instruction manual, are comprehensive and traceable. It must therefore be well structured and readable and contain the following items:

• the measurement log,
• the evaluation of the measurement and the error calculation for the requested results
• a summary and critical discussion of the results, including as essential points:
  • what was the investigated physics problem,
  • what was the principal measurement method,
  • results and errors,
  • comparison with theory,
  • discussion of the error sources, and what could be done to reduce the errors?

The completed evaluations are finally signed off(German 'testiert') in the logbook by the tutor after a final colloqium in which the tutor checks the knowledge of the students and veryfies completeness and correctness of the measurement data and results. The item 'critical discussion' (see above) may be worked out by both partner together, but both have to be able to represent it.
Normally, especially in FP1, the final discussion and 'testat' happen on the last day of the experiment, otherwise there is a deadline of 3 weeks after completing the experiment

The logbook stays with the student an should normally not be given off to the tutor for signing off ('testieren').

The 'testat' with grades (see below) and possible comments are entered by the tutors into the FP database. You can see the status of your tasks, grades and comments on your personal status page (see below).

In case of serious shortcomings of your evaluation that cannot be fixed on the spot, the revised evaluation has to be presented with 14 days. Evaluations that are not acceptable after two revisions will not be accepted any more.

Special write-ups During the course special special write-ups have to be produced for two experiments. The experiments with special write-ups are selected by the students via the personal status webpage (there is no automatic assignment). FP1 as well as FP2 experiments can be selected, however, in general FP2 experiments are more suitable.
Special write-ups have to be produced in the style of a publication, using a word processing system (preferably LaTeX). Figures and tables have to be edited on the computer in publication-ready format. The first 'long' special write-up should respect a limit of 10 to 20 pages. The second one is a 'short' format with a 6-page limit (12pt, A4 page size). It is meant as an exercise for a presentation that focusses on the essential, as is quite common in the work of a physicist who has to meet the page limits of letter journals or conference reports. The essential ingredients are:

• titel, authors, abstract
• introduction: physics subject, physics problem
• the set-up
• the measured data in suitable format (for graphics watch readability, labeling, e.g., not smaller than 1.5 mm),
• evaluation and error calculation
• discussion of the results and summary,
• a reasonable list of references.

The special write-ups may be written in German or English (recommended), the abstract should be in English regardless. The short special write-up has to be done in addition to the normal evaluation in the logbook (for which the normal 3-week deadline applies) since the content is usually too concise to allow the verification of the evaluation. The long format may replace the normal evaluation in the logbook. The deadline for the special write-ups is 3 weeks in addition to the deadline for the logbook testat, i.e., it has to submitted within 6 weeks after the experiment. FP partners do not have to hand in separate versions of a special write-up, i.e., one version per FP pair is sufficient. The completed write-ups are submitted as a pdf file by email in parallel to the tutor and the FP supervisor [fp@physi.uni-heidelberg.de]. The rules for revision of standard evaluations apply to special write-ups analogously.

If you encounter problems during work on the evaluation or a special write-up it is advisable to clarify them before the final colloqium or submission. A list of phone numbers and emails of the tutors and lecturers of the FP is on the FP web pages.

Deadlines

• Final colloqium and testat have to take place within 3 weeks after performing the experiment. Special write-ups have to be submitted within 6 weeks after the experiment. The deadlines is not valid out-of-term. Exceptions are granted in justified case by the FP supervision.
• The rules above are also valid if you change university or take leave for an exchange term elsewhere. Clarify possible problem beforehand with the FP supervisor.
• The additional period for revision of evaluations or write-ups rejected by the tutor is 14 days.
• A maximum of 2 revisions is acceptable.
• If the deadlines are not met without an accepted excuse the complete task may be canceled; all credit for it is forfeited.

Personal Status Webpage You can check the status of your tasks, your schedule, and select experiments for special write-ups. You receive your personal password with the email confirmation of enrollment.

Seminar accompanying the lab course The two partners of a team give a presentation about an experiment they have performed and evaluated. The presentation should be about 45 min, leaving time for discussion. The content of the talk, the sharing among the partners and the style of the presentation are to be discussed with the tutor of the experiment; the lecturer may give instructions, too. You are strongly advised to do a rehearsal presentation with the tutor.

FP seminar talks can be booked via the FP status webpage. In special cases (e.g., a talk not with the default FP partner or a talk on an experiment not done in the Heidelberg advanced lab course) a talk can be booked by an email to the FP adminstration (before the term and also within). Seminar dates can also be arranged directly with the lecturer of the seminar. An overview of open and booked seminar dates is available on the FP webpage.

The FP students are free to decide which FP seminar they would like to attend in a given week. It is also possible to attend two (or more) seminars in one week. Regular attendance is expected and recorded by an attendance list. On days with FP seminars starting at 14:00 o'clock, the experiments can therefore only be started at about 15 o'clock. For the successful completion of the Advances Lab course at least 8 seminars have to be attended (4 for 'Staatsexamenskandidaten'). The number of FP seminar visits can be distributed over more than one semester.