Admission requirements
The course is open to students that are enrolled in the minor Molecular Biotechnology.
Students should have a background in Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Genetics. Students should be familiar with molecular techniques, such as PCR, cloning, protein biochemistry and “omics” techniques.
Description
Lectures by IBL staff and guest speakers introduce the importance of microorganism in contributing to our daily life and how microbial biotechnology can help our society to deal with for example the food supply for growing world population. Many lecturers will highlight the importance of microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) for biotechnology and the possibilities that microorganisms offer to reach UN defined sustainability goals.
Course objectives
After completion of the course, students are able to:
1. Explain the benefits and consequences of cellular heterogeneity in bacteria and indicate what the disadvantages of heterogeneity are in industrial settings.
2. Apply their knowledge on transcriptional regulation of metabolic or enzyme networks in relation to protein production in cell factories.
3. Reproduce the major bottlenecks in relation to recombinant protein production in cell factories and are familiar with research removing these bottlenecks.
4. Name the latest molecular genetic tools for genetic modification of micro-organisms and can apply this knowledge to improve industrial processes.
5. Discriminate between different protein translocation mechanisms in bacteria and reminder the molecular mechanism.
6. Appoint functions of secondary metabolites, the way they are organized in genomes and can reproduce approaches to activate silent gene clusters.
7. Reproduce major problems related to plastic degradation and can describe the different enzymes involved in plastic degradation and how to discover them.
8. Explain the advantage of using pseudomonas for the production of certain products.
9. Learn to collaborate in small groups by preparing a presentation about a small Biotechnology company and translate this knowledge into a coherent presentation for fellow students.
10. Describe the possibilities related to a potential future career in Biotechnology and to collect information via the guest speakers from the industry.
Timetable
A detailed schedule will be provided on Brightspace before the start of the course.
In MyTimetable, you can find all course and programme schedules, allowing you to create your personal timetable. Activities for which you have enrolled via MyStudyMap will automatically appear in your timetable.
Additionally, you can easily link MyTimetable to a calendar app on your phone, and schedule changes will be automatically updated in your calendar. You can also choose to receive email notifications about schedule changes. You can enable notifications in Settings after logging in.
Questions? Watch the video, read the instructions, or contact the ISSC helpdesk.
Note: Joint Degree students from Leiden/Delft need to combine information from both the Leiden and Delft MyTimetables to see a complete schedule. This video explains how to do it.
Mode of instruction
Lectures, case studies, assignments.
Assessment method
The final grade consists of the following partial grades:
Presentation 10%
Exam 90%
Students can make an appointment with the coordinator to inspect their exam. Teachers will be available to discuss the questions and answers during appointment.
Minimum grade:
Courses require a minimum, unrounded 5.5 grade to complete.
If a course has 2 or more written partial exams, the minimum grade only applies to the weighted average of the exams.
For partial grades from components other than exams (e.g. practicals, seminars, writing assignments), the bottom grade does apply to the individual components.
Please refer to the Student Charter for an overview of regulations.
Reading list
Course material will be provided by the teachers, at least in part via Brightspace
Registration
As a student, you are responsible for enrolling on time through MyStudyMap.
In this short video, you can see step-by-step how to enrol for courses in MyStudyMap.
Extensive information about the operation of MyStudyMap can be found here.
There are two enrolment periods per year:
Enrolment for the fall opens in July
Enrolment for the spring opens in December
See this page for more information about deadlines and enrolling for courses and exams.
Note:
It is mandatory to enrol for all activities of a course that you are going to follow.
Your enrolment is only complete when you submit your course planning in the ‘Ready for enrolment’ tab by clicking ‘Send’.
Not being enrolled for an exam/resit means that you are not allowed to participate in the exam/resit.
Exchange and Study Abroad students, please see the Prospective students website for information on how to apply.
Contact
Coordinator: Prof.dr. A.J.F. Ram
Email: a.f.j.ram@biology.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
Brightspace will be used for communication and exchange of documents.
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.