Bachelor of Science (Honours)
Why do Honours with Us?
The Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, together with the National Vision Research Institute, provides you with more options for study at Honours level than is typically available within a single Department. You could find yourself working in one of ten laboratories on areas as varied as optics, anatomy, physiology, molecular biology, neurophysiology, pathology and psychophysics. While the emphasis is on vision and the eye, the skills you learn will be transferable. During your Honours year you will develop an in-depth knowledge in an area related to your project, but you will also develop broader knowledge derived from exposure to work in these other diverse areas.
Honours in vision science has distinct benefits for you:
- You will develop discipline specific and generic skills suitable for both postgraduate programs and employment in the diverse and changing workplaces of the twenty-first century.
- The size of our Department and the Honours cohort means you will have a stronger shared experience, engagement and sense of community.
- Our combination of research and coursework components will help you to develop into a well-rounded graduate.
Course Structure & Assessment
The courses are made up of two components: a research project component and an advanced coursework component.
Advanced Coursework Component
Students are required to undertake the compulsory Advanced Research Methods seminar plus one other elective, and to participate in the Department's Journal Club and Vision Science Seminar Series.
Advanced Research Methods
These tutorial/discussion sessions are held in second semester only and are run in conjunction with the Department's Journal Club meetings. These sessions will provide a forum for expanding upon and discussing the research methods presented during the previous Journal Club meetings.
Other Coursework Options
Alternatively, students may choose to undertake a literature-based assignment not exceeding 4,000 words. The assignment topic, which is to be decided upon in consultation with the student's supervisor and the Honours Coordinator, is to be drawn from a different area to the research project.
Students may select an elective subject, normally chosen from the Department's coursework listings at 300-level or above. This option is particularly suitable for students who have not previously studied vision science or optics. Research Project Component Under the supervision of an academic staff member, students conduct research and prepare a report in the form of a thesis not exceeding 15,000 words.
How do I find a Supervisor & Project?
Think about what subjects you found interesting in second and third year. What areas of research relate to these subjects? Ask the subject coordinators/Honours coordinator to help you identify which research areas/laboratories might be related.
Use the "Research Areas" (PDF) information booklet and look at the range of possible projects listed below to identify researchers and research projects you are interested in. Projects are not limited to those listed below. Talk with the researchers working in these areas. Find out what's involved, make your own suggestions, and come up with your own ideas for projects.
Talk with current Honours and postgraduate students about their projects and experiences. Talk with the Honours Coordinator if you have questions about the overall course structure. Talk, talk, talk!
Possible Projects
A/Prof Algis Vingrys (Visual Functions Laboratory)
- The temporal integration of mammalian retinal neurones: An impulse is a stimulus that produces maximal neural activation but invokes little adaptive or other change in the neural network. Shorter durations fail to produce an optimal response and longer durations invoke other processes, such as adaptation, to modify the response. We will determine the maximal duration for a retinal impulse by considering the Electroretinogram in rats.
- Aqueous outflow determined by pulsed infusion in mice: The pulsed perfusion method has been pioneered in our laboratory in rats as a means for analysing aqueous outflow but it has never been applied to mice. The method considers the change in intraocular pressure following challenge by a 1 microL infusion of fluid into the anterior chamber. We will develop this method in mice and confirm the affect on aqueous outflow by monitoring IOP after a pulsed infusion challenge in mice pretreated with postaglandins known to modify aqueous outflow.
Dr Larry Abel (Eye Movements Laboratory)
- "Eye movements to emotional faces--do arts students differ from those in the hard sciences and engineering?"
The work of Baron-Cohen and others has suggested that some of the stereotypical differences between, say, artists and mathematicians, may have biological bases. They argue that the more technical fields attract individuals who share some traits with individuals with autism spectrum disorders. If so, then we might expect to see differences in how people from these two sides of the divide look at and process human faces expressing different emotions. Using our video eye tracker we can examine how people look at such faces and whether this correlates with scores on Baron-Cohen's "autism spectrum questionnaire". - "Can you see it? Can you hear it?"
Reflexive and predictive saccades to visual, auditory and visual + auditory targets. Because of intersensory cells in both cortex and midbrain, nonvisual stimuli can be used to redirect gaze. However, whether this works the same way for both suddenly appearing targets which elicit reflexive responses and predictable target sequences which can build up an "internal model" in the brain of such motion, which in turn guides responses, is unknown. Eye movements to the 3 types of stimuli would be examined in healthy, young subjects.
Dr Andrew Metha (Vision and Biophotonics Laboratory)
- Some people, especially contact lens wearers and post corneal refractive laser surgery patients, have normal Visual Acuity (VA) but still complain of poor spatial vision. These complaints range from acute awareness of 'ghosts images', 'haloes' and 'flare' to intangible disquiet that something is 'not quite right'. An opportunity exists for a motivated honours student who is interested in theoretical and mathematical modeling approaches to explore the optical and perceptual bases of these effects. The Vision and Biophotonics Laboratory can also offer specific hardware to perform psychophysical experiments to verify (or falsify!) any theoretical predictions put forward.
- The optical properties of the eye are said not to be perfect, but a full characterization of the eye's imperfections (aberrations) has not in general been made. Importantly, neither has the impact of these imperfections on actual visual performance been described - it could be that some aberrations can promote rather than detract from visual performance. Two aberrations in particular require intense study, and both theoretical (computer modeling) and psychophysical projects exist to determine: i) the extent to which spherical aberration can be considered an effective means of apodization to ameliorate the spurious high spatial frequencies injected into the retinal image upon defocus, and ii) the extent to which the chromatic aberrations (longitudinal and lateral) can inform the retina about relative sign of retinal defocus (relative myopia or hyperopia).
Prof Paul Martin (National Vision Research Institute)
- Functional pathways for colour vision in primates.
- Neurotransmitter receptors in the primate retina.
- Retinal circuitry for circadian rhythm entrainment.
Dr Michael Pianta (Retinal Structure and Function Laboratory)
- The dynamics of visual after-effects (and plasticity of the visual system).
- Image processing techniques for the enhancement of high-resolution retinal images.
- Cone photoreceptor adaptation.
How do I Apply?
If you are interested in any projects, fill out the 2009:
- Application for Admission (sections 1-4, Applicant's section) : PDF : 66KB
For each project you are interested in, have the project supervisor fill out section 5.1 - 5.4 of the 2009 Application for Admission. Make extra copies if necessary.
- Fill out the "project preferences" (PDF : 66KB) form giving us your contact details, project preferences and third year course summary.
- Drop off the forms to the Department office (1st Floor, Victorian College of Optometry Building) before mid-November. Late applications will be considered.
- Wait for your offer from the Faculty of Science in the early/mid-December.
- Complete acceptance form and follow enrolment instructions for 2009.
Scholarship Support
Honours Coordinator
Dr Larry Abel
T: +61 3 8344 7013
E: label@ unimelb.edu.au
Further Information
Further information is available on the Honours information brochure (PDF : 109KB) or please contact -
Department of Optometry & Vision Sciences
The University of Melbourne
Cnr Keppel & Cardigan Sts
Carlton, VIC 3053, AUSTRALIA
T: + 61 3 8344 7012
F: + 61 3 9349 7498
E: optom-info@ unimelb.edu.au