Topics

• Biology

  Lecture:

  • Cellular anatomy, basic biology, biomolecules
  • Energy, metabolism, enzymes, photosynthesis
  • Heredity, chromosomes, DNA
  • Transcription, translation, genes, viruses
  • Cellular communication, action potentials, synapses, nervous system

  Lab:

  • Aseptic technique, germs in water samples, bacterial growth
  • Light and temperature dependency of photosynthesis,  starch detection in plant leaves, microscopy, enzyme kinetics
  • DNA extraction, polymerase chain reaction, gel electrophoresis
  • Gene expression in E.coli at the example of the lac operon
  • Recording of action potentials from the ventral nerve cord of the earth worm

• Chemistry

  Lecture:

  • Work, heat, heat capacity, perfect gas, first law of thermodynamics, state functions, internal energy, enthalpy
  • Entropy, second law and Carnot, Statistic thermodynamics, Third law
  • Free energy, free enthalpy, chemical potential, real gases, phase diagram
  • Clausius-Clapeyron, Equilibrium, Kinetic theory of gases
  • Simple reaction kinetics, more reaction kinetics, Arrhenius

  Lab:

  • Adiabatic exponent
  • Clausius-Clapeyron Equation
  • Critical data of a real gas
  • Specific heat of solids – Mixing calorimetry
  • Temperature measurements using different methods

   

• Mathematics

  • Differential & Integral Calculus: derivatives of univariate functions, partial derivatives of multivariate functions, local and constrained extrema, fundamental theorem of calculus, calculation rules, integration by parts, integration by substitution
  • Ordinary differential equations of first and second order, variation of parameters, separation of variables
  • Basic descriptive statistics, linear regression, Gaussian distribution
  • Complex numbers: definition, complex plane, exponential functions, polar coordinates
  • Basic linear algebra: vectors, products, matrices, systems of linear equations and Gaussian elimination (not for Biology M.Sc. students)
  • Convergence of sequences and series (not for Biology M.Sc. students)

   

  Test your knowledge! : OMB (Online Mathematics Bridging Course - available in English only for registered users). This is a basic refreshing course in mathematics, and students are expected to already have this knowledge when they join the PMC. 
  
  

• Physics

  Lab:

  • Mechanical Oscillations: Pendulum and Rolling Ball
  • Viscosity of Fluids
  • Electric Current and Direct-Current Circuits
  • Geometrical Optics and Image Formation
  • Dispersion of Light by a Prism / Spectroscopy