Casimir Course on “Biology for Physicists”
May 4 – June 22, 2011

Course content: The aim of the course is to introduce the participants to the basics of cell and molecular biology. Key subjects that will be reviewed include the genetic information, basic molecular biology tools, protein structure and function, lipids and cell membranes, signaling pathways, cancer and the immune system. More advanced topics specific to the individual needs or interests will be addressed as well during discussions.
Book: Alberts B., et al., Essential cell biology, 3rd ed., Garland Science, 2009.

Lecturers: Aviva Joseph, Bertus Beaumont, and Christophe Danelon (TU Delft).

Dates and venues: The course consists of 10 sessions on Monday and Wednesday afternoons from 15h to 17h30, starting on May 4, at the TU Delft. Please, see the separate schedule for detailed information.

Audience: The course is mainly intended for the Ph.D. students and postdocs associated to the Casimir Research School. Motivated master students are welcome as well.

Organization: We intend to teach this course in a way that will facilitate active learning. Every participant will have to read book chapters assigned the week before. Each session, the instructors will give an overview of the topics of the day. Then, one or two groups of two students will review the
information in the form of informal interactive presentations. In order to profit from the subjects presented and to contribute to the class dynamics, we expect everyone to do the reading beforehand.
More details on the organization, the choice of the covered topics and the outline of the presentations will be given during the introductory course. 5 ECTS credits will be awarded only to those participants who attend the course regularly and actively.

Registration: If you intend to participate, please register by sending an email to Christophe Danelon (c.j.a.danelon@tudelft.nl) before April 27, 2011.