Research Methods for Safety (REMS) - COM00201M

Department: Computer Science
Credit value: 20 credits
Credit level: M
Academic year of delivery: 2025-26
- See module specification for other years: 2024-25

Module summary

This module provides students with the opportunity to learn how to be effective researchers in the field of safety-critical systems engineering and to ensure that the outcomes of that research are valid and impactful both from an academic perspective, and through its effect on practice. Students will be expected to work effectively in groups to investigate state of the art and formulate research questions. Students will demonstrate how responsible research methods can be applied to addressing these questions.

Module will run

Occurrence	Teaching period
A	Semester 1 2025-26

Module aims

This module aims to provide students with the ability to accurately identify from existing literature a meaningful or important gap in knowledge, and therefore what constitutes new knowledge in the domain of System Safety Engineering, and to understand how to address that gap through the use of appropriate research methods.

Module learning outcomes

Conduct a literature search and critique papers in terms of validity and rigour
Evaluate the validity and reliability of methods used in extant research
Plan applied research while balancing epistemic rigour with realistic costs and constraints
Describe and apply principles of responsible research and innovation to a research project.
Prepare and deliver a substantial oral presentation on their work aimed at safety engineers or other industry stakeholders
Work effectively in groups and reflect on the experience and challenges of doing so.
Explain how a given research idea could be helped through an impact pipeline

Indicative assessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	50
Groupwork	50

Special assessment rules

None

Indicative reassessment

Task	% of module mark
Essay/coursework	50
Groupwork	50

Module feedback

Feedback is provided verbally throughout the module via practical sessions/seminars, and after the summative assessment as per University guidelines.