Basic Cell Biology

This program aims to provide students with a strong foundation in fundamental cell biology and a solid base for further studies in the life sciences, clinical biology, biotechnology, and medicine. Specific objectives include creating stable human resources in life sciences by providing experience, skills, and competencies through effective learning. The program aims to establish a sustainable, multidisciplinary professional network of teaching scientists with shared interests in life sciences and medicine. It seeks to develop personal contacts between project members to facilitate joint dissemination and exploitation of teaching and learning results and applications for other collaborative projects. Lastly, the program aims to improve students' English skills, favouring their integration and future development within the scientific community and the CIVIS alliance.

Main topics addressed

The virtual mobility module covers the program’s theoretical part from November to January and combines face-to-face with asynchronous online sessions. The syllabus is divided into three knowledge blocks:

1- Prokaryotic versus Eukaryotic Cells: Cytoplasm, Membranes, Cytoskeleton,

2- Energy conversion: Mitochondria, Chloroplast

3- Organelles and the Secretory Pathway: Endoplasmic Reticulum, Golgi Apparatus, Endocytosis, Vesicle Traffic

4- Nucleus Organization and Cell Cycle: Chromosomes, Mitosis, Meiosis, Cell Cycle, Mechanisms of Cellular Death

Learning outcomes

Students will acquire knowledge of Cell Biology by establishing an interactive framework. The main learning objective is to comprehensively understand the structure and function of the cell and its organelles and familiarize with different basic techniques used in Cell Biology. At the end of this course, the students should be able to:

- Know and understand cell morphology, ultrastructure, function, cell cycle, and proliferation.

- Understand some of the technologies currently used in research in cellular biology.

- Work collaboratively, share responsibility/tasks, work in multidisciplinary teams.

- Clearly and effectively communicate scientific results.- Generate new scientific ideas, promote creativity and initiative.

- Read and solve problems.

- Self-evaluate and recognize the need for continuous personal improvement.

- Feel the need for continuous improvement and continuous learning, independently updating own knowledge.

- Search, analyse, interpret, evaluate information.