Advanced Topics in Biological Sciences

Module title	Advanced Topics in Biological Sciences
Module code	BIOM528
Academic year	2020/1
Credits	15
Module staff

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks	11	11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	40

Description - summary of the module content

Module description

This module provides you with small-group teaching across a selection of research topics in biosciences, reflecting the research interests of the staff involved. The syllabus consists of a series of short courses, each taught as a self-contained set of eight lectures (or the workshop/tutorial equivalent). You should choose three of these courses, enabling you to tailor the module to your specific interests and your intended future career.

In order to take this module you must ensure that you have taken any prerequisite modules specific to each short course, these being listed within the Syllabus Plan below.

Module aims - intentions of the module

Our aim in providing this module is to give you the flexibility to tailor your studies to your particular interests and career goals. In three self-contained courses of eight hours each, you will work with research-level material, combining your study and communication skills with your core knowledge to understand complex systems and solve challenging problems.

The skills you gain from lectures and other teaching formats will develop or enhance your employability. Transferable skills to other sectors include:

problem solving (linking theory to practice, responding to novel and unfamiliar problems, data handling),
time management (managing time effectively individually and within a group), and
self and peer review (taking responsibility for own learning, using feedback from multiple sources).

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. Critically evaluate and analyse the module content within the context of wider reading and also material from earlier years, to develop an overarching view of the interconnectedness of the subject and its interdisciplinary nature
2. Recognise and exploit any connections between taught materials and project material
3. Engage in targeted research and reading for personal development and future educational requirements, in addition to reading material primarily for assessment purposes

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

4. With reference to primary literature, evaluate how research developments in your chosen topics drive the subject forward and, where appropriate, the social, technological and commercial impacts this has
5. Analyse in detail essential facts and theory in advanced areas of biological sciences
6. Analyse and evaluate independently a range of research-informed literature in biosciences and synthesise research-informed examples from the literature into written work
7. With limited guidance, deploy established techniques of analysis and enquiry used in your chosen topics at the research level

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

8. Communicate effectively arguments, evidence and conclusions using written means in a manner appropriate to the intended audience
9. Devise and sustain, with little guidance, a logical and reasoned argument with sound, convincing conclusions
10. Analyse and evaluate appropriate data with very limited guidance

Syllabus plan

Each of the following topics is a self-contained short course lasting eight hours, with its own specific syllabus available in separate documentation on the associated ELE page for this module. You should select three short courses from this list. There will be a minimum student number required for a given short course to run. Module co-requisites and pre-requisites are listed.

MSci Biological Sciences, MSci Biochemistry, and MSci Natural Sciences students not taking NSCM006, may choose topics from all those listed below (section A and/or section B). MSci Natural Sciences students who are also taking the NSCM006 module may only select topics from section A.

Section A (open to all students)

Quantitative methodologies for antibiotics

Pre-requisite:

A Level Maths (B or above)

Anti-virulence factors for treating bacterial disease

Pre-requisites:

BIO3079 Molecular Basis of Infection

The control of bacterial virulence

Pre-requisites:

BIO2078 Medical and General Microbiology or
BIO2094 Molecular Microbiology

Virulence factors in human fungal pathogens

Pre-requisite:

BIO3079 Molecular Basis of Infection

Evolution in our changing world

Pre-requisite:

BIO2093 Modern Theories of Evolution

Using molecules to understand the diversification of life

Prerequisites:

BIO2093 Modern Theories of Evolution or
BIO2092 Genomics and Introductory Bioinformatics

Genomics of plant pathogens

Pre-requisites:

BIO2092 Genomics and Introductory Bioinformatics
and preferably BIO3092 Bioinformatics

Control of gene expression and RNA processing in higher eukaryotes

Pre-requisites:

BIO2088 Advanced Cell Biology or
BIO2089 Molecular Biology of the Gene

Use of Zebrafish as a model system in developmental biology

Pre-requisites:

BIO2088 Advanced Cell Biology
BIO3091 Animal Developmental Biology

Drosophila as a model for cell division and cancer

Pre-requisite:

BIO2088 Advanced Cell Biology

Current challenges and future perspectives in the microbiology of cystic fibrosis lung disease

Pre-requisites:

BIO2078 Medical and General Microbiology or
BIO2094 Molecular Microbiology
and preferably BIO3079 Molecular Basis of Infection

Advanced topics in plant biology

Prerequisites:

BIO1338 Plants
BIO2099 Molecular Plant Science
BIO2089 Molecular Biology of the Gene

Advanced applications of physiology

Pre-requisites:

BIO2082 Animal Ecophysiology

Synthetic biology

Pre-requisites:

BIO2078 Medical and General Microbiology
BIO2089 Molecular Biology of the Gene
BIO2092 Genomics and Introductory Bioinformatics
BIO2094 Molecular Microbiology

Creating a better anthropocene for marine life

Pre-requisites:

BIO2074 Marine Biology
BIO3083 Current Issues in Marine Biology

Section B (open to all students except those also enrolled on NSCM006):

Crystallography

Pre-requisites:

BIO1340 Fundamentals of Inorganic Chemistry
and preferably BIO1346 Biophysical Chemistry

Analytical biotechnology

Pre-requisites:

BIO1332 Biochemistry
BIO1346 Biophysical Chemistry

Electron transfer in biological systems

Pre-requisites:

BIO1332 Biochemistry
and preferably BIO2091 Bioinorganic Chemistry

Microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip technologies

Pre-requisite:

BIO1346 Biophysical Chemistry

Learning and teaching

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
24	126	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching	24	Lectures and workshops or tutorials
Guided Independent Study	126	Independent study

Assessment

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Non-assessed problem and summary materials provided for self-checking purposes	Ongoing	All	Oral

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
0	100	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Examination	100	2 hours	All	Written

Re-assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Examination	Examination	All	August Ref/Def

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to sit a further examination. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will count for 100% of the final mark and will be capped at 50%.

Resources

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

An indicative reading list will be specified at the start of each short course.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

ELE page: https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=7884

Key words search

Research-led, variable syllabus, biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, developmental biology, plant biology, evolutionary biology, microbiology, bacteriology, fungal biology, environmental biology

Credit value	15
Module ECTS	7.5
Module pre-requisites	Pre-requisite modules are specific to each short course and are listed within the Syllabus Plan above
Module co-requisites	Co-requisite modules are specific to each short course and are listed within the Syllabus Plan above
NQF level (module)	7
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	10/12/2018
Last revision date	24/02/2020