https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2025-2026/W_JSM_HPRPAfter completing the course, students will have gained:Better knowledge of the subfield and the substantive topics the supervisor works in/on.Better knowledge of academic life and research.Better skills in conducting academic research and reporting on it.A more professional attitude for academic research and cooperation in an academic setting.The course PPE HP Research Project is not a regular course, but a research project in which student work as academic assistants for a member of the PPE core staff (i.e., the Dean, the Heads of Studies, the coordinators, and the judo’s together with their supervisors). Assistance can be given to research and valorization activities and to the substantive preparation of teaching (no involvement with actual teaching, let alone grading, is allowed). Students can, for instance, help explore a new topic, track literature or gather other sources, develop a database, do a literature review, co-organize a workshop or conference panel, coauthor a professional/non-scientific publication, etcetera. In case of doubt, supervisors and students can consult the course coordinator.A course of 6 ECTS formally demands 168 hours of work by the student. In a semester of 5 months, running from the beginning of February till the end of June, 2021, this means 21 weeks of on average 8 hours a week work (0.2 fte). Of course, this is an average. Together, the supervisor and student can decide to distribute this unequally, for instance with an eye to deadlines for other courses and the BSc-thesis. Before the start of the course:The course coordinator informs the eligible students about the course via e-mail and Canvas.The course coordinator sends them a list of research specializations and possible Research Projects of the PPE core staff members.The PPE HP students return a top-3 of preferred supervisors.Based on these preferences, the course coordinator matches students as good as possible to supervisors (preferably one student per supervisor).During the course:The student works as an assistant for the supervisor.The course coordinator actively informs with both the student and the supervisor how things go.In case of problems or questions, they contact the course coordinator.Ultimately two weeks before the end of the course:The course coordinator sends a ‘student report form’ to the student and a ‘supervisor report form’ to the supervisor. They fill this out and return it before the end of the course.Ultimately 5 working days after the end of the course:The supervisor and the other grader (usually the course coordinator) do the assessment and the registration of the result on VUnet. In case of a fail because of underperformance, they inform the student about the possibilities for compensatory work in the month of July.The Research Project will be assessed as pass/fail (assessing learning outcomes 1-4). This assessment is always done by two staff members, one of whom is the supervisor (and the other usually the course coordinator). students will be given feedback on their performance during and after the Research Project. Given the character of the Research Project, a normal resit is not possible, but in cases of manageable underperformance (for whatever reason), students can be allowed to compensate with extra work in the month of July, provided they are not graduated from PPE yet. The timing, amount, and conditions of compensatory work are determined by the two graders.Only students of the Internal Honour's Programme of PPEProcedure and Forms for assignment to PPE supervisors as well as assessment of the course are available on and completed via Canvas