ECTS credits: 10
Course parameters:
Language: English
Level of course: PhD course
Time of year: Spring 2023
No. of contact hours/hours in total incl. preparation, assignment(s) or the like: 75/250
Capacity limits: 40
Objectives of the course:
The Cross Institutional Molecular Biophysics course is interdisciplinary and cross-institutional and will be given by a series of lecturers who are experts within each their subfield of biophysics. The coherence of the course is assured by emphasizing the molecular basis of modern biophysics. The course will take place at different institutions in order to expose the students to different research groups, their researchers and experimental research facilities. The course will thus give the student a unique opportunity of orienting him or herself within an active and diverse field of interdisciplinary science.
The course is relevant for biophysically oriented PhD students within physics, chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, nano-bioscience, pharmaceutical sciences, agricultural science or biology. The emphasis of the course is a molecular description of biophysical systems and phenomena and it covers experimental methods, theoretical concepts, as well as molecular modeling.
Learning outcomes and competences:
Molecular classes: Proteins, lipids, membranes, DNA, enzymes, receptors, protein ligands.
Molecular phenomana: transport, permeability, photoactivity, electrostatics, scattering theory, thermodynamics, forces in biological systems, protein folding, liquid crystals.
Techniques: light-, neutron- and X-ray scattering, magnetic resonance, calorimetry, microfluidics, confocal and super resolution fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy, molecular modeling and simulation, mechanical spectroscopy, optical tweezers, micromechanics, atomic-force microscopy, single-molecule techniques, ellipsometry/neutron reflectometry, and electrophysiology.
Compulsory programme:
Credit for the course requires the student's presence at a minimum of 7 out of the 9 lectures. The student presentations on 24 April as well as the student talks and evaluation on 5 June are mandatory.
Course contents:
The course starts 6 March 2023 and runs every Mondays for 11 weeks at different institutes and by different lecturers. Each day of the course covers around six hours. In general, the morning session will consist of a set of lectures and the afternoon session will predominantly involve either the student's active participation in experiments, theoretical exercises, or inspection of the local experimental facilities.
Prerequisites:
None
Lecturers:
Dorthe Posselt (RUC), Peter Westh (DTU), Alex Buell (DTU), Himanshu Khandelia (SDU), Adam C. Simonsen (SDU), Beate Klösgen (SDU), Jonathan Brewer (SDU), Francesca Serra (SDU), Vinay Mishra (SDU), Chen Shen (DESY), Poul Martin Bendix (KU), Namiko Mitarai (KU), Thomas Heimburg (KU), Nikos Hatzakis (KU), Vito Fodera (KU), Magnus Kjærgaard (AU), Frans Mulder (AU), Thomas Vosegaard (AU). Niels Chr. Nielsen (AU) and Daniel Otzen (AU).
Type of course/teaching methods:
Lectures/seminars, exercises, and tour of facilities
Literature:
Will be announced every week during the course.
Course homepage:
Course assessment:
On 24 April all participants will give a ten minutes presentations (just a few slides) introducing their respective PhD project to each other. The presentations should focus on the challenges within the project, conceptual as well methodological, and not on the results obtained. Further, the presentations should include what the participants expect to gain from the course in relation to their project and challenges within the project. The presentations are followed by discussion, input and ideas from the other participants.
For the evaluation the participants will be divided into groups for the final presentations where the students give a presentation on a hypothetical project that combines the competences that each student has. The seminars serve to provide an overview as well as an evaluation of the course.
In order to get credits for the course, every student must be present at all the other students' talks.
Provider:
iNANO, Aarhus University in collaboration with other Danish Universities.
Time:
Spring 2023
Place:
Danish Universities
Registration:
Deadline for registration is 1 March 2023.
For registration: https://events.au.dk/cimb23
If you have any questions, please contact PhD administrator Ida Johanne Haugaard Sørensen, e-mail: ihs@inano.au.dk
