PENG9530 Advanced Topics in Building Services Engineering Course description

The course offers in-depth study of solutions within the fields of building services engineering and integrated energy design of buildings, focusing on solutions that improve the sustainability and climate-adaptiveness of the built environment

The course will be offered once a year, provided 3 or more students sign up for the course. If less than 3 students sign up for a course, the course will be cancelled for that year.

Knowledge

The candidate has in-depth knowledge of:

• language as a tool in encounters between professional practitioners and their clients, with and without interpreters
• communication challenges in situations with language barriers
• relevant theories on dialogical and monological understandings of language, and on oral and written communication in encounters with language barriers
• the relationship between language and power in situations with language barriers

Skills

The candidate:

• can critically analyze their own material in terms of language, communication and interpreting
• can identify and analyze how language barriers and interpreting affect communication and professional behavior

General competence

The candidate:

• can use theories on language and communication to elucidate their own research material
• can select and apply appropriate methods for analyzing language barriers and communication challenges

Students who complete the course are expected to have the following learning outcomes, defined in terms of knowledge, skills and general competence:

Knowledge:

On successful completion of the course, the student:

• has a good understanding of the latest developments in the field.
• has a deep understanding of the fundamental scientific theories, standards and methods that are applied in the field.
• can evaluate the appropriateness and application of various scientific methods and approaches to research and development in the field.
• can contribute to the development of new knowledge, theories, methods, standards, interpretations and documentation in the field.

Skills:

On successful completion of the course, the student can:

• deal with complex technical questions and challenge established knowledge and practices within the field.
• formulate questions, and plan and carry out research development work at an international level in the field.

General competence:

On successful completion of the course, the student can:

• manage complex interdisciplinary tasks and projects
• pursue their research ethically and with professional integrity.
• participate in debates in international fora.
• communicate research and development though recognised national and international channels

Where appropriate, individual students will be introduced to specific parts of the course by attendance at selected lectures in master courses in the autumn:

• Seminars/lectures where students present specific parts of the subject matter.
• In addition, appropriate exercises (calculation or written) will be given, connected to the student's PhD project subject area

The following required coursework must be approved before the student can take the exam:

• All planned seminars must be completed.
• The given exercises must be passed

Individual oral examination.

The exam cannot be appealed.

Closed book examination. No handwritten notes are permitted. A basic electronic calculator may be used.

Pass or fail.

Approved by the Doctoral Committee 28.03.2019. Minor changes approved 27.04.2020.

This PhD course is open for PhD candidates who are working on research projects in which linguistic diversity, language barriers and professional practice are topics of relevance.

The course will be offered in English.

The course will focus on research topics such as linguistic diversity and communication in institutional settings within education, health and the remainder of the public sector. The PhD candidates will become acquainted with a variety of empirical and theoretical approaches to linguistic diversity, interpreting and professional practice. Relevant topics include the importance of power, roles, rights, and duties. Students will especially be encouraged to reflect critically upon challenges related to language barriers and communication in their own research projects.