Application deadline

PhD students from other institutions: Apply for admission through SøknadsWeb. Application code 9304 before 1 December 2016. Remember to state which course you apply for.

Contact Ingjerd Gauslaa Nilsen (Ingjerd.nilsen@uit.no) at the BFE-faculty if you have troubles or questions regarding registration to the course.

Type of course

Admission requirements

Maximum number of participants: 20.

The applicants must document that they are registered this semester at their home university or at a minimum, document that they have finished the master degree. External students must remember to upload certified documentation of education, and if relevant, documentation of their status as a PhD student/student to SøknadsWeb. Confirmation of student status should be from your home student administration. Confirmation from your supervisor or copy of award letter is not considered as valid documentation.

Early bird registration 1. October - December 1!
Contact Klara Stensvåg (klara.stensvag@uit.no) for Early bird information.

Course content

• Marine bioresources available for drug discovery and bioprospecting
• The Marine Biodiscovery Pipeline
• Overview of different methods used in drug discovery, spending from bioassay guided purifications, genetic approaches and virtual approaches
• Different techniques and approaches;  how to purify components, solve structures and measure activity for instance in high throughput screening, peptidomics
• Challenges and casestudies of lead development
• Legal aspects
• Topics given at the conference and pre-conference workshop
• Practical sessions with demonstrations

Objectives of the course

Knowledge
The students should be able to

• Describe different bioprospecting methods that is focused on in the course and particularly well the bioassay guided purification pipeline.
• Master the basic knowledge of the possibilities of marine bioprospecting and have overview of challenges and ways to overcome them.

Skills
The students should be able to

• Understand experimental methods used in bioprospecting
• Understand information of novel natural products, structures, bioactivity and ways to evaluate the potential use
• Apply multidisciplinary aspects to understand the complexity of developing novel products from natural sources

General competence
The students should be able to

• demonstrate analytical thinking by critically evaluate a scientific article and proposing possible research questions, and designing suitable research strategies for answering the questions.

Language of instruction and examination

Teaching methods

• The Bioprosp_2017 conference will be held 8. - 10. March 2017.
• The course will be held in Week 9-10, from March 2.-10. 2017.
• Some of the lectures will be held online in March.
• Lecturers will be Professor Klara Stensvåg, Professor Marcel Jaspars, University of Aberdeen, UK, Associate professor Bengt Erik Haug, University of Bergen, Professor Jeanette Hammer Andersen, Marbio, Uit and Associate professor Tor Haug, UiT.

There will be a mixture of lectures and hands on practical activities at different bioprospecting facilities, workshops and the Bioprosp_2017 conference.

Assessment

A presentation on a set subject linked to bioprospecting relevant for the course. The title must be approved and prepared before the course.

Evaluation; pass or fail

Re-sit: A re-sit exam will be arranged next semester.

Recommended reading/syllabus