I'm going to have to be quite vague here and realise that I need to read some theses and speak to my supervisor to get an accurate answer.................... but I'd appreciate comments on whether this is the right general idea?? I have the sinking feeling that it's just not enough.

I am going to form a hypothesis by applying some well established scientific laws to an area that is just really getting going in the last 10 years or so, combining these laws with literature values and some guestimations.This will form the basis of my conceptual model which I will then test and refine in the lab and finally produce a computer-based description of the processes involved.

Hmm sorry guys, I realise how vague this is -I guess the supervisor is my best bet - I'll get to talk to him this week about it hopefully ....