GFC ACADEMY SCIENCE GUIDE

Index
1. Introduction to the Science Officer's Guide
2. Role of Science Officer
3. Utilities
4. Away Missions
5. Alien Life forms
6. SIM Protocol Revisited
7. Conclusion

1. Introduction to the Science Officers Guide
Welcome to the Science Training Guide! Remember that your imagination is the key. The science department is one of the most versatile places on the sim. You can work in labs when there are slow times and do any number of studies. As always, your main job as a player is to work on the current plot/story line. If the current plot is not involving you directly, you should have a lab project to work on or charts to study. Your imagination is the only thing that will hold how much fun you can have in this department.

2. Role of Science Officer
The role of the science officer (CSO or Asst Sci) is to aid in the detection, research, and investigation of celestial objects, spatial anomalies, wormholes, space dwelling creature encounters, specialized particle detections, mapping (either planet body or spatial), locating life forms/life signs, temporal encounters, planetary studies and other operations deemed necessary to the situation.

The Science officers have a wide range of available work spaces on the ship/station. There are several labs aboard most ships that are designed for experimentation by the science department. The CSCI can routinely be on the bridge, scanning for new planets, anomalies, etc.

The science department may be called upon to study anomalies that the sim encounters, new planets, scan for cloaked ships(using such methods as Tachyon sweeps or Verteron pulses), map areas of space or work in conjunction with medical. All science officers may double as medical staff, although they are not doctors and should not act as such. When science does not have a specific purpose they should work with Stellar Cartography to map the surrounding area, adding detail to previous mappings when necessary.

Work in the lab and have ongoing experiments. There are several ways to do this and several areas of study you can use. Scientists may be studying such ideas as how to stop the starvation of a planet that cannot sustain large animals. Trying to genetically manipulate a new breed of cattle that is small and eats less but produces more meat, or a grain that grows in bad soil. These are only two small examples of what you can do to keep busy and active in your sim.

Linguistics specialist would fall under the science department. Although not all scientists are linguistic specialists, all linguistic specialists are scientists. Archaeology is another skill that a science officer may possess. Both of these can be skills that a CO may use during plots or that a player may use to keep themselves busy when the plot does not revolve around them or their department.

3. Utilities
Utilities such as the science labs, sensor arrays, navigational deflector(s), external probes and the ODN network are available to the science officer's usage. The science department usually has its own sensors so they may scan any interesting area of space while the ship goes about its normal business. On away team missions they are able to use tricorders the same way medical can. All medical tricorders can be configured to be used in science and all science tricorders may be configured to use in medical. Tricorders are of course so versatile that they can be configured, by a trained person, for use in nearly every department.

4. Away Missions
There are several times when science will be called upon to participate in an away team mission. The nature of away team missions on unpopulated or new planets is to perform planetary surveys and studies of physical or geological structures, including, but not limited to, alien interaction, cave exploration, and the like. On a mission, the science officer will have a tricorder, standard phaser, multiphasic adapter and mini-portable emitter. Based upon the situation you may choose to bring other equipment. During an away team, the science officer can always use the ship as a helpful device. Such things as using the ship's deflector to emit certain particles at a planet to clearing up scans to relaying data to the transporter itself are good ways to interact with the ship.

5. Alien Life forms
Encounters with other life forms allow the science officer to make a detailed investigation and collect data about the creatures using appropriate devices. Subsequent encounters also allow the science officer to update the known information about the creatures. Life forms range from beings (human, non-humanoid, etc.) to micro-particles(bacteria, micro-organisms, etc.). Sometimes, it may be useful to coordinate with the CMO during studies of alien life-forms. If dealing with sentient beings you may wish to enlist the counselor (if your sim has one) and/or medical in your study of them.

6. SIM Protocol Revisited
The following are the most important Sim Guidelines and are here as a refresher.

1. Once the CO or XO says, "Attention on Deck !" everyone goes to ::AA:: and stays QUIET and listens to announcements or Mission Briefing.
2. Only Commanding Officers use the ACTION: -text-, no other officer is allowed to do this unless given permission by the CO.
3. OOC during the Sim must be marked by using (( )) , ( ) , << >> , or < > .
4. Some GFC Sims use locations symbols, when not being on the bridge, so that everyone knows where a crewman is. Make sure you are familiar with the symbols if they are used in your sim.
5. Crew members are not allowed to harass crew mates :)
6. A superior officer (in uniform) must always be addressed with "Sir" or Ma'am" or by their rank.
7. Respect is the Golden word during Sims. Treat people they way you want to be treated.
8. Have fun!

7. Conclusion
There are several things that you can do that make it more interesting to play a science officer. Do not forget that you are not trapped in your lab or on the bridge. Interact with the other science officers and suggest having meals together or working on a project together. If there are no other science officers available and you are not part of the main plot, feel free to find other members of the crew that are not involved in the main plot or busy and suggest (Via IM) that your characters interact in some way.

Get involved and you will find you enjoy your SIM much more than if you just sit back and wait for something to happen to you.

Also, post to the boards as often as possible. There are several areas where you can interact with other members of the GFC and it is a good way to feel more connected. Take the Test.