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Biological and Medical Research: First yearTheme 1: Cells and TissuesSupportive courses:• Biology1• Chemistry1• Physics• BasicMathematicsskills• BasicDutchlanguageskills

Practicalassignment:During this practical assignment you will learn to safely work in a laboratory. You will learn how to use a laboratory notebook as well as how to use a microscope. During this course, you will study various organisms and tissues such as:• Therat(overviewandspecifictissues)• Planttissues• Micro-organisms(bacteriaandyeast)

Thepracticalcoursewillendwithanoralpresentationthatwillbeprepared in small groups of students.

Theme 3: Molecular biology 1Supporting courses:• Biology3• Chemistry3• Bio-analysis

Practicalassignment:Thisthemeisaboutthebuildingblocksoflife: proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and nucleic acids. During the practical course you will learn new techniques, such as isolating DNA,“cutting”DNAandvisualizingDNAandproteins(bymeansofelectrophoresis)andtheamplificationofDNA(bymeansofapolymerasechainreaction).Duringthelasttwoweeksofthecourse,you will work on your own project together with a small group of students. For this project, you will apply your skills of your newly acquired techniques.

Theme 2: Cell MetabolismSupporting courses:• Biology2• Chemistry2• Statistics1• Presentationskills

Practicalassignment:In this theme you will learn how to work safe withhumanecelllinesandmicro-organisms.Youwilllearnaboutthe habitat that bacteria thrive in. In addition, you will investigate differentspeciesofbacteriaandlearnabouttheirproperties(Gramcharacter,shape).

Asaprojectgroup,youwillgrowabacteriumunderspecificgrowthconditions,whichisdifferentforeachcouple.Youwillfollowthegrowth, the substrate consumption and the production of end products. At the end, you will report the optimal growth conditions for the bacteria.

Theme 4: GeneticsSupporting courses:• Biology4• Statistics2• Math• Bioinformatics1

Practicalassignment:Thisthemeismainlyaboutcelldivision,genes, genetic variation and inheritance. During this lab course, youwillinvestigatehowoftenacertainDNAsequence(Alurepeat)is present in your own class of students. In addition, you will also lookatthefrequencyofcertaincharacteristics(suchaseyecolour/looseorfixedearlobe).UsingtheDNAofthefruitfly(Drosophilamelanogaster)youwilltrytolinkaphenotypicpropertytothegenotype. You will investigate human chromosomes as well using variousmicroscopicanalysistechniques.Thethemeendswithanethical forum discussion.

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Biological and Medical Research: Second yearTheme 5: Microbiology

During this theme you will learn how to isolate and identify bacteria.

Supporting courses:• Biochemistry 1• Biomethods 1• Microbiology 1• ReportwritingskillsPracticalassignment:Bacteria can be found everywhere. In the soil, in fresh water as well as salt water and of course within your body. Mostbacteriafulfillusefulfunctionswhileotherbacteriaareabletoharm us. During this theme, you will learn how to isolate and identify bacteria. You will isolate bacteria from soil samples as well as from various food products. In addition, you will work on your own project withafellowstudent.Anexampleofsuchaprojectisthesearchfor new antibiotics made by soil bacteria. Although the chance of succeeding is small, we hope to identify a new type of antibiotics. At theendofthistheme,youwillwriteascientificreportaboutoneofyourexperiments(inDutch).

Theme 6: Biochemistry in yeasts and fungiDuring this theme you will perform biochemical laboratory experimentswithyeastsandfungi.

Supporting courses:• Biochemistry 2• Bioinformatics2• Statistics 3Practicalassignment:During this theme you will work with yeast andfungionbiochemicalissues.Theadvantageofworkingwithyeastandfungiisthatitisrelativelyeasytocreategeneknock-outsandtostudytheeffectoftheknock-outatthephenotypiclevel.Duringthepracticalcourse,youwillcreateaknock-outoftheinvertasegeneand study the biochemical consequences. In addition, you will study enzymesexcretedfromfungithatusefulfortheproductionofbiogas.Thegoalistofindanenzymethatisabletoconvertwoodwasteproducts into smaller molecules which in turn can be converted to biogas. In this way, we train future research technicians for a more sustainableworld.Attheendofthistheme,youwillwriteascientificreportaboutoneofyourexperiments(inDutch).

Theme 7: BiotechnologyofplantsIn this theme you will work on Biotechnology projects using plants and plant materials.

Supporting courses:• Biomethods 2• Plantphysiology• Immunology 1• PostersDesignPracticalassignment:Biotechnology of plants plays an important role for developing, improving and optimizing agricultural products. Forexample:Whatifwecoulddevelopariceplantthatisabletogrowwithlesswater?Whatifwecanmakepotatoplantsthatnolonger need to be sprayed with pesticides because they are made resistant to certain diseases?

Thesekindsofbiologicalissuesarethefocusduringthistheme.During the theory lessons, the focus will be on basic plant anatomy as well as physiology. During the practical course, various crops will be culturedandyouwillstudytheeffectsofsunlightonplantgrowth.Inaddition, you will isolate chemical entities from various herbs such as thymeandtestfortheirpossibleinhibitingeffectonmicrobialgrowth.At the end of this theme, you will present your results on a poster.

Theme 8: ImmunologyIn this theme you start with human cell culture as well as the use of a laboratory animal model.

Supporting courses:• Microbiology 2• Immunology 2• Genetics 1

Practicalassignment:You have learned to work with various laboratory model organisms. During this theme, you will work with humancellsaswellasananimalmodel.Theartoftissueculturewillbe learned and you will learn to perform research in a worm model.

Forthisexperiment,wewillworkwiththewormCaenorhabditis elegans thatisusedextensivelyinbiologicalresearchbecauseitshares many genes with humans. During this practical course, you willworkonthelungdiseaseCOPD(ChronicObstructivePulmonaryDisease).Humancellsaswellaswormswillbeexposedtoanextractofcigarettesmoke.Itisyourtasktostudytheharmfuleffectsofthesmokeextractsontheimmuneresponsesofbothcellsandworms.Attheendofthistheme,youwillwriteascientificreportaboutoneofyourexperiments(inDutch).

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Biological and Medical Research: Third yearTheme 9: Molecular biology 2In this English theme, you will acquire more advanced knowledge andskillsinthefieldofgeneticsandmolecular biology. You will make use of modern software utilities and DNA / protein databases.

Supporting courses:• MolecularBiology1• Bioinformatics3• ScientificWritinginEnglish

Projectassignment:During the practical assignment, you will get acquainted with techniques used inthefieldofrecombinantDNAtechnology.Forexample,youwilladdagenetoabacteriumthatgivesitthepropertyofemittinggreenfluorescentlight.

Theme 10: OncologyThecentraldiseaseofthisEnglishthemeiscancer.Unfortunately,thisdisease is still very common and demands a lot of victims annually.

Supporting courses:• Genetics2• Pathology1• Cellbiology1

Projectassignment:During the practical sessions you will work with differentmolecularbiologicalandcellulartechniquestostudytheprocess of tumorigenesis. In this process, cells acquire uncontrolled growthpropertiesthateventuallymayresultincancer.Therefore,experimentsarebeingconductedinwhichanattemptismadetoinhibit cancer cells in growth or even selectively kill human cancer cells.Asanexample,oneprojectlooksatspecificplantsubstancesthatexhibitselectivetoxicpropertiesforcancercells.

Artemisia annua

Malaria Biomarkers

Minors (Theme 11 and Theme 12)Inthesecondsemesterofthethirdyear(theme11and12combined),canchooseaminorofowninterest.

Medical BiologyIn this English minor you will work on for instance the mechanism of cyclosporine A during the rejection of transplant organs, research on stem cells or the role of prebiotics in the functioning of the epithelium cells.Besidesthisyouwilextractand detect artemisinin from ArtemisiaAnnua,cytotoxicityand the production of medicine based on Artemisia annua.

BiotechnologyDuring this English theme you will research into for instance the roleofglycosylation(theadditionofsugartoproteins)offoodcomponents and bodily proteins tohealth,enzymaticmodificationofstarchandproteinpurification.You will also look into biological biomarkers of human disease or other biological processes.

BioinformaticsfortheLifeSciencesThisEnglishminoraimsatthegathering and developing of digital(programming)skillsthatcan help professionals in the life sciences to handle the data and problems in modern biomedical sciences.

Food Ingredients and HealthThisminorgivesyoutheopportunity to broaden your knowledgeinthefieldsoffoodingrediënts, analytic methods of food ingrediënts and methods to proof(metabolic)effects.

ExternalminorYou can also choose a minor fromadifferentuniversityof applied science in the Netherlands or abroad.

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Biological and Medical Research: Fourth yearSemester 1 & 2: Internship and graduatingThefourthyearismadeupoutoftwosemesters.Thefirstsemesterisforyourinternship.Thesecondsemesterconsistsofangraduationresearch.Duringbothsemestersyouwilllperformalotofresearchinthelaboratoryofauniversity,researchinstituteoratacompany.UndercertaincircumstancesitisalsopossibletofollowthetransitionprogrammeMedicalPharmaceuticalSciencesorBiomedicalSciences.

InternshipDuringtheinternshipyouwillgainalotofpracticalexperience.Yourresearchwillbeguidedbyexperts,whoguideyouinperforminglaboratory techniques which are important for the department. Later on you will perform these techniques on your own. You write up the resultsoftheresearchinascientificallywritteninternshipreportandpresent your results with a poster. In our programme you have to findaninternshiponyourown,butwewillguideyouinthesearch.Wedotestifthechosenplacemeetsourcriteria.Intheendyouhavealotoffreedomtochooseaninternshipthatfitsyouandyouoftenlearntechniquesthatyoufindfunandinteresting.

GraduatingDuring your graduation period you independently perform research underthesupervisionofexperts.Duringtheinternshipyoumainlyfocus on learning techniques, but this research is mainly aimed at teaching you how to perform research on your own. You will combine theresultsofdifferenttechniquestogainnewbiologicalinsights.Theresultsofyourgraduationresearcharepresentedbyascientificallywritten report and an oral presentation.You will also get a lot of freedom to choose the place you want to performyourgraduationresearch,butwewillguideyou.Wealsotest if the chosen place meets our criteria, after which you are free to apply. In this way we make sure that the graduation research you perform really has your interest.

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