The course comprises approximately 80 full-time study hours in the form of seminars that are held once a month. The seminars focus on methods currently used within the research field of medical biotechnology.
The course assumes the form of seminars where the students summarize, present, prepare and work with assignments and actively discuss one method at each seminar. For most methods, a scientist with extensive experience of the method will be invited as lecturer, and the students will have the opportunity to ask questions.
An important aspect of the course is that the students should be introduced to, and acquire knowledge of, a selected set of different methods commonly used within biotechnology research, and what type of scientific questions that they can address. The set of selected methods can vary depending on the interest of the participating students.
One relevant method will be discussed per month. A schedule with topics and responsible presenters/invited experts will be made available at the start of the course.
Before each seminar: Two weeks before each seminar one participant (the presenter) will send out a short summary (1-2 A4) of the method together with relevant literature (e.g. descriptions found on internet, a review and/or an article where the method is used). All participants should read this material thoroughly before the seminar and prepare questions for the invited expert.
The seminar: Each individual seminar will be three hours long. At the seminar the presenter will lead a short discussion about the material sent out and each student should briefly complement with their experience of the method (if any) (~30 min).
The presenter shall also prepare an exercise (questions) and discussion points for the other students to work with in pairs during the seminar (~60 + 30 min).
For most methods, a scientist with extensive experience of the method (the expert) will be invited as lecturer, and the students will have the opportunity to ask questions (~60 min).