This module will provide Master’s year (level7) Neuroscience students a course based around UoS expertise in Neuroscience. This will be a research led education in which core concepts and techniques developed at levels 4-6 are iterated to an advanced level through 8 workpackages. These work packages will be led by individual (or groups of) academics around a generic structure encompassing pre-contact preparatory work, face to face contact in workshops, post contact assessment exercise followed by a final feedback session. Within each work package the students will be provided with detailed information about an area of research and the techniques involved. Where possible the students will be given the opportunity to directly observe experimentation and undertake exercise designed to train them in appropriate analysis/modelling and data presentation. These assessments will build and use aspects of the workshop and post contact set-tasks to develop skills required to extract and critically think about data and verbally and textually discuss with advanced precision. Wider concepts as presented in publication formats including primary papers, reviews, and wider policy documents will be used as an important route to develop advanced understanding. There will be an assessment for each work package (75% of module mark) and these associated in-course assessments will be supplemented by a final exam (25% of module mark) designed to test wider comprehension of advanced neuroscience. This will take the form of a 3 hour exam in which the students will be asked to generate a short summary capsule based on their comprehension of a research paper provided at the exam session. This capsule should report on the works Background, Results, Conclusion and Significance, and include a summarising diagram. The course will develop the student’s ability to understand neuroscience methodologies and synthesize material at an advanced level, consistent with a student studying at level 7.
The module introduces more advanced operational research (OR) techniques that can be used to solve a wide range of problems in business and management including scheduling, networks, inventory control and queueing theory. It is split into two parts covering stochastic OR and deterministic OR respectively. The Stochastic OR Techniques part introduces the concepts and applications of queuing theory and inventory control. Queueing theory can be applied to a wide range of stochastic systems, allowing estimation of statistics of interest such as resource utilisation, delays and the expected time spent within the system. Inventory control helps solve problems in inventory management where demand can be stochastic. In the deterministic OR section, the module introduces dynamic programming, machine scheduling, project networks, and heuristics. Dynamic programming is introduced as a technique for tackling problems in which decisions can be made sequentially. For machine scheduling, the main focus is on introducing the main problem types and developing solution procedures for selected models. For project networks, the representation of projects as networks and methods for analysing such networks is covered. Following a discussion of the reasons for using heuristic methods for complex problems, a discussion of the properties of good heuristics is given. Some of the design principles for heuristics are explained, and local search heuristics are discussed.
Fundamentals of Bio-organic Chemistry Nucleic Acids Chemistry • Chemical structure and properties of nucleosides, nucleotides, nucleic acids. • Structure and properties of DNA – A, B, and Z-DNA structures, Watson-Crick base pairing. • The biological and biochemical mechanisms of DNA replication and transcription. • Synthesis of nucleosides as drugs and for oligonucleotide synthesis, involving protecting group chemistry. • Automated solid-phase DNA synthesis using phosphoramidite chemistry with emphasis on the reaction mechanisms of each step. Carbohydrate Chemistry An Introduction to Carbohydrates, their classification, structure and representation, Mutarotation, anomeric effect, conformational equilibria, death-taxes-protecting groups, Glycosyl donors/acceptors, polysaccharides and nucleosides. Enzymology and Protein Chemistry • The structure of amino acids and the primary, secondary and tertiary structure of peptides and proteins. • Mechanism of the serine proteases – the Asp-His-Ser catalytic triad and stabilisation of the tetrahedral oxyanion intermediate by hydrogen bonding. • Molecular basis for the selectivity of the serine proteases – trypsin as compared to chymotrypsin. • Mechanism of the methyltransferases • Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics. • The chemical reactions of glycolysis. • .The chemistry of amino acid biosynthesis. Natural Product Biosynthesis • Thioesters of co-enzyme A as acyl group carriers in biosynthesis. • Chemical structure of terpenes (including monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes and polymers) and their derivation from isoprene units. • The biosynthetic pathway to isoprenoids - Claisen-like, Aldol and decarboxylation mechanisms and the subsequent formation of isoprene equivalents illustrated by dimethyl allyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP). • Terpene biosynthesis: The reaction steps fall into three classes: i) initiation: formation of the carbocation ii) propagation: rearrangement/reaction of the carbocation iii) termination: quenching of the carbocation. Formation of a wide variety of monoterpenes by quenching of the α-terpinyl cation. • Biosynthesis of sequiterpenes, diterpenes and triterpenes. • Fatty acid biosynthesis. Six key steps: i) thioester formation ii) C-C bond formation iii) ketone reduction iv) dehydration v) enoyl reduction vi) thioesterase. • Polyketide and aliphatic polyketide biosynthesis. Aromatic Polyketide biosynthesis. • Biosynthesis of 6-methylsalicylic acid, tetracylins. Modular polyketide synthases, erythromycin biosynthesis, engineering novel polyketide antibiotics.
Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) occur frequently in many areas of mathematics. This module extends earlier work on PDEs by presenting a variety of more advanced solution techniques together with some of the underlying theory.
This advanced pathophysiology and therapeutic interventions module delves into the complex mechanisms of disease and their corresponding therapeutic strategies. This module integrates detailed pathophysiological processes with the principles and application of therapeutic interventions, underpinned by current research. Emphasis is placed on understanding the anatomical, physiological, molecular, cellular, and system-wide changes that underlie common disease processes, and how these guide diagnosis and treatment.
This is a core module for MSci Pharmacology and Drug Discovery (Level 7) students, built around the School of Biological Sciences (SoBS) expertise in Pharmacology and Drug Discovery, and in the key processes framing the design and development of small molecule drugs, biopharmaceuticals and biologics. This module is 100% research-based, leveraging on core concepts and techniques developed at levels 4-6, iterated here to an advanced level through 8 work packages (5 unique to Advanced Pharmacology + 3 shared with BIOL6084 Advanced Neuroscience) reflecting the breadth and diversity of the research areas integral to the drug discovery process. These work packages will be led by academics around topics inherent to their current research interest within a subject-specific framework encompassing 1) preparatory work (independent study), 2) in-person workshops (2 hrs), 3) in-person assessment (2 hrs) or take-home, followed by a 4) feedback session (2 hrs). The structure of each package can range between a maximum of 6 contact hours (in-person seminars/workshops) down to 4 contact hours for a total of 10 hrs of work inclusive of independent study x8 packages. Assessment of each package is stand-alone for a total of 8 points of assessment for a double-semester 30 CATS module, which will be averaged to a total module mark.
This module aims to provide the understanding of solar cell operation, relevant optical structures, photovoltaic systems and advanced concepts for high efficiency and low cost. Charge carrier statistics and transport are discussed in detail with application to solar cells. Photochemical solar energy conversion is illustrated on the example of dye-sensitised solar cells. A discussion of photovoltaic systems includes module operation under realistic conditions and a stand-alone system sizing based on energy balance. The module includes fundamentals of electrochemistry and characteristics of reversible and irreversible systems (ferricyanide/ferrocyanide) rotating disc electrode, reaction rate and mass transport, mechanism of the hydrogen evolution reaction, exchange current densities, characterisation of fuel cell electrodes; alkaline cero gap cells, water electrolysers for hydrogen production, metal-air batteries, alloys as Li-Ion battery anodes, alloy catalysts for oxygen reduction, phase stability in aqueous alloy systems and super capacitors.
The course deals with the nature of surfaces, both real and ideal, the energetics of adsorption at surfaces and adsorption isotherms, and the charge distribution at the liquid/solid interface. The kinetics of reactions at interfaces, including the role of mass transport and applied potential on the overall kinetics are discussed. The role of microscopic structure of the interface in determining the rates of heterogeneous catalysts is discussed along with spectroscopic and scanning probe techniques for the characterisation of gas/solid and liquid/solid interfaces on the molecular scale. Examples of applications to fuel cells, energy storage and conversion and heterogeneous catalysis are discussed in detail.
The subject provides an overview of the key elements of policy analysis. Key theoretical models are used to equip students with an analytical framework for conducting detailed policy analyses. The approaches covered include the rational model and evidenced based policy-making; incrementalism; network analysis, governance, and interpretive policy analysis. The subject covers key facets of policy making such as implementation and evaluation, and the main tools of analysis, stressing the importance of narratives to effective policy analysis.
This module represents an advanced practical course designed to build on the practical skills developed through lab modules undertaken in years 1 and 2 of the Chemistry degree programmes. The course will extend this vital skill by enabling students to undertake a series of advanced/open ended experiments. Each experiment is designed to demonstrate different research areas and allow students to develop the skills necessary to conduct an independent investigation.
This module will develop communication and practical skills that build on those developed through lab modules undertaken in years 1 and 2 of the Chemistry degree programmes. The course will extend this vital skill by enabling students to undertake a series of advanced/open ended experiments. Each experiment is designed to demonstrate different research areas and allow students to develop the skills necessary to conduct an independent investigation. As part of the module students will also produce a detailed literature review under the guidance of an academic supervisor.
The advanced practice module builds on the therapeutic foundations of the first two years of the programme, and extends this to include advanced therapeutic skills but also a breadth of other clinical psychology competencies. The module covers leadership, organisational and systemic influence, intervening with teams, and considering the role of clinical psychologists in the promotion of public health and prevention of ill health; core responsibilities of clinical psychologists beyond individual therapy.
