General guidance applicable to all types of CREST project.
Notes relating to the HiSPARC Cosmic Ray Project and other Astrophysics projects.
| The forth state of matter is the dominant form of visible material in the universe. (We don't known anything about dark matter, of which there is about five times as much as in visible material.) The way plasma behaves is fundamental to understanding the way many astrophysical objects work. | |
| Generation of Cosmic Rays | Although this brief was aimed at students doing the HiSPARC experiments, the generation of high energy particles in astrophysical situations is important to all branches of modern astrophysics (for example, in understanding why supernova remnants emit radio waves). |
| What Is The Time | Astronomy started long, long ago as a way of time keeping. It is still an important part of astronomy in order to make observations and relate them to astronomical coordinate systems. There are more types of time that you probably imagine! |
| Statistics or How Not To Fool Yourself | Analysis of almost any type of scientific data involves using statistics, because it is all too easy to see what you want to see in the data. The only way to avoid misinterpretation is the use of statistics. |
| Relativity for Cosmic Rays | This was a brief aimed to explaining why cosmic ray generated mesons reach the ground when their decay half lives are very short. However, some knowledge of relativity is important for all of modern astrophysics. |
| Faster-Than-Light Travel is Paradoxical | An explanation of why instantaneous jumps of position can lead to time-paradoxes, according to Einstein's well established Theory of Relativity. |
| How to Run a CREST Project |
A digest of practical experience. This is mainly aimed at teachers and CREST mentors. It is not the only way to run CREST projects, but it happens to be a way that has worked for me and a couple of teachers with whom I regularly cooperate. We have tried to learn from our experience, because not every `good idea' went as well as we hoped it would. Keep in mind, however, that you need to be flexible because different groups of students work in different ways. We usually like to do projects that require team work, because this gives a good flavour of the way scientists and engineers work in the real World. However, there are some strong students who like to work on their own, or in pairs, wanting more challenging projects, or things they have dreamt up themselves. We try to accommodate them. |
| How to Do a Project |
General advice on organising a team for a small project. It is based on 40 years of running small R&D projects in industry and it works. I usually find in the wrap-up meetings at the end of the project that student teams wish they had paid more attention to this advice. You have been warned. See also:
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| How to Write a Project Report | How to go about structuring a CREST project report. I usually find that I have to keep reminding students that this guidance exists and really will help them. It is based on a working lifetime of writing scientific reports and the same principles generally apply whether you are doing it for a CREST award, a university assignment, a PhD or an Industrial R&D report. It is an important life skill that is worth acquiring early. |
| How to do a Presentation | Many projects require the team to prepare a presentation explaining what they have achieved. Here is some generals advice on how to produce a presentation that will engage with an audience. |
| How to Solve Engineering Problems | Some general approaches to problem solving. Ways you can stimulate your brain into being a bit more creative. |
CREST Awards are organised by the British Association for the Advancement of Science in order encourage young people to get involved in "stretching extra-curricular research projects". There are three levels of award, Bronze, Silver and Gold, each level requiring increasing amount of work and sophistication, and covering the age range from 11 to 19.