ABSTRACT
Research projects are a component of final level undergraduate study in many universities. Their value as a means of studying a specialized subject in depth is well recognized but there is little agreement as to how they should be incorporated into the curriculum and the academic reasons for doing so. The wider implications of project work as a learning tool are seldom discussed and the reasons why students might find them valuable are unclear. Anecdotal evidence indicates that individual universities and departments set their own agendas; details of time, format, resources, expectations and individual responsibility are seldom compared. Exposure to research rarely features in discussions of graduateness and there are no recognized standards for this aspect of Higher Education among institutions.
