Biological Sciences

This course will explore the molecular basis of life, providing students with a strong foundation in cell biology. Key concepts will include the structure and function of major cell types, biological chemistry and metabolism, and cell division and development. We’ll explore these concepts using a variety of examples from across the tree of life, including plants, animals and microbes.

This course aims to cultivate and improve students’ scientific research abilities, and therefore its teaching contents are divided into three modules: Part I: Scientific Research Methods; Part II: Academic Paper Writing Skills; and Part III: Essentials of Academic Paper Publication. Through the course, students will experience the entire process from raising a scientific question to obtaining research results, writing, and publishing academic papers, thus receiving comprehensive training.

The course provides students with a broad understanding of the biology of microbial infections, focusing on bacterial and fungal human infections. Students study the mechanisms of microbial pathogenicity, starting with pathogen transmission and entry into the host, progressing through adhesion and invasion, to cell and tissue damage and host responses to injury. The diseases studied include tuberculosis, cholera, listeriosis, salmonellosis, gonorrhoea, pseudomembranous colitis, and key fungal infections. 

This course examines the nearshore coastal zone. It focuses on the development of hands-on practical skills and field experiences that will include student-driven exercises and projects. This will include a multi-day field trip to Moreton Bay Research Station, where students will engage in field data collection training from experts in water quality assessment, coastal processes, seagrass monitoring and coral reef surveys. 

This course gives students an understanding of the nature and causes of cancer from a genetic, cellular, and molecular perspective. Students gain a thorough grounding in cancer cell biology, and they also develop employability skills such as working in a team, presentation skills, and interpretation of experimental datasets.

Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms to maintain life. Students focus on the metabolic pathways in the cells of mammals, with some reference to microbes and plants. Students learn about diseases caused by defects in metabolism, such as diabetes, which emphasizes the importance of metabolic control.

This course examines scales of organization from molecules to cells and organisms. It begins the journey of life with the synthesis of biomolecules, follows on through the expression and regulation of genes, to the complex communication between molecules, and then to cells and how cells are integrated to form a complex organism. It covers how single cells divide and differentiate to create simple and complex multicellular organisms which experience disease and death. Concepts of cellular energy, communication, and enzymes, all of which combine to drive life processes, will be explored.

This three-week intensive course introduces the fundamentals of cancer biology, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and survivorship. It is taught through expert-led lectures, interactive workshops, lab sessions and site visits. Core topics include molecular mechanisms of cancer, diagnosis (pathology and radiology), radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and nanomedicine. Students take part in a structured problem-based learning (PBL) project. Working in groups, they investigate real-world cancer prevention challenges, propose solutions and assess their potential impact.

This course extends the discussion of molecules and cells presented earlier to the biology of a wide range of organisms and to the processes and mechanisms that affect their functions and activities. The course covers evolution, starting with key evolutionary concepts and the "Tree of Life".  In lectures and work groups, the differences and similarities between organisms and their genes and proteins and how these can be studied from an evolutionary perspective are covered.  The importance and diversity of microorganisms and the biological processes in which they function, e.g., nutrient cycling is explored. This section includes a hands-on microbiology laboratory session. The course then focuses on the higher eukaryotes, especially plants and animals. Here, the multicellularity, growth, development, and physiology of these organisms is discussed. In individual assignments, students explore the parallels and differences among important biological processes, such as development, chemical signals that direct growth and physiology, reproduction, immunity, electrical signaling, and neural regulation. Throughout the course, students work on a group project describing research on a biological process in a selected model organism, culminating in a plenary poster session during the course's final week.