University College London

Through laboratory work, the course introduces students to the chemistry and physical properties of minerals; morphological elements of crystallography; the optical properties of minerals, introduced in conjunction with use of the petrographic microscope; the physical, chemical, and optical properties of the major rock-forming mineral groups; and the intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks and clastic and chemical sedimentary rocks.

This is a largely practical course, which develops experimental skills. A selection of practicals and follow-up sessions designed for students taking Pharmacology PHAR0004 provide reinforcement of the material in that course. Students learn to conduct simple experiments on in vitro preparations and present their findings in a written account, use animals in medical research from the standpoint of animal welfare and ethics; set-up tissue preparations and use transducers and computers to measure tension or length changes in smooth muscle preparations; understand the experimental conditions required to maintain tissues in vitro and of the requirements to achieve stimulation of nerves using pulse generators; perform dilutions of stock drug solutions and calculate appropriate volumes to add to organ baths to achieve the desired final concentrations; follow experimental protocols accurately to generate reproducible results; and quantify results and present them clearly in graphical form.

This course explores how different kinds of outposts became key sites for directing and negotiating the different forms of US empire, from the early days of colonization to the recent past. Each week students explore a different kind of outpost, often focusing on one particular beachhead of American power. Likewise, they analyze the outsized influence of Americans abroad and assess how the creation and maintenance of different kinds of outposts helped form the structure and sinews of the US empire. This course combines different strands of transnational history, particularly the histories of empire, capitalism, and ecology. 

The course explores how this complex organization of hundreds of cells emerges during embryo development. The course focuses on the precise organization of tissues that arises during embryo development by the coordinated control of the differentiation, migration, proliferation, and death of cells. It provides a solid grounding for future specialized study of nervous system development, function, and repair.

The course provides students with a thorough understanding of core concepts and methods of microeconomics, as a foundation for subsequent study of microeconomics, and as one of the key elements in the professional training of an economist.

This course covers the main dementia subtypes and language change associated with each. In lab sessions, students work with language samples to understand the linguistic profiles of dementia first-hand.

This course provides a synthetic study of the history, politics, and political economy of modern Ukraine. Students study history up to independence in 1991, the formation of post-Soviet Ukraine in the 1990s and 2000s, and the attempts to reform it via the Orange Revolution and Maidan Revolution/Revolution of Dignity in 2013-14. Students look at the reasons for the election of a comedian Volodymyr Zelensky as President in 2019. Particular attention is paid to the theme of national identity, and to the complex historical interrelationship between Ukraine and Russia. Students also explore Russia’s motives for invasion in 2014 and 2022 and Ukraine’s will to resist.

This course covers basic evolutionary biology as applied in biological anthropology, covering evolutionary theory, socio-biology, and primate behavior. The course combines weekly lectures with tutorials, where students discuss key readings linked to issues presented in the lectures, gain scientific comprehension skills, and learn how to communicate scientific findings in biological anthropology to the public. Major topics covered include a summary of the history of the theory of evolution, genetics and heredity, sexual selection, nature and nurture, and human biological diversity; and an outline of the taxonomy, anatomy, ecology and behavior of primates, as well as primate conservation.

Students examine how we form opinions about the world, cases of conflict, diplomacy, and the role of non-state actors and major global institutions in creating/sustaining the world around us today. In particular, students assess the different assumptions within particular approaches to IR, their methods and understanding of who and what matters in global politics; how approaches conceptualizes international institutions, and the relationship between agency and international structure. Students investigate issues like whether there is equal sovereignty in the world today, what do we mean by "North-South relations" and the links between theory and practice. Key concepts include anarchy, sovereignty, power, hegemony and empire, the state, and the international system.

This course provides an understanding of the principles underpinning finite element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Lectures include basics of finite element method and current problems, challenges, insights, developments, etc., relevant to various types of applications of CFD in industry and research: Aerodynamics, F1 racing, gas turbines, internal combustion engines, weather forecasting, heat transfer, fundamental turbulence modelling, etc.