Biological Sciences

This course examines the control of normal body function. The specialized organ systems to be studied include the nervous, cardiovascular, muscular, respiratory, kidney and digestive systems. 

This course examines Australia's deadliest animals, providing an appreciation of these animals and the skills to investigate organisms perceived as risks to humans. By investigating snakes, spiders, crocodiles, sharks, octopuses, jellyfish, insects, and ticks, students will assess and evaluate the evidence addressing key questions: Just how dangerous are Australian animals? How much of their deadly reputation is myth? Why, and how, do people get killed by these extraordinary animals? How well do we estimate the risks they pose? How does understanding of the science of how these animals operate help us manage the dangers they pose? 

Laboratory skills are essential for students who want to pursue a Life Science oriented master study. In this course, get acquainted with the basic laboratory skills in biochemistry. Training involves safety and Good Laboratory Practice, as well as some essential biochemical techniques like DNA isolation, enzyme kinetics, absorption spectrophotometry, and protein gel electrophoresis. Determine the presence of sugars and identify the types of sugars in unknown samples, solving a sugar-riddle. Work in teams of two and prepare your own protocol for each practical.  This course is designed to be taken in combination with SCI2035 Biochemistry. Students who wish to take this course should concurrently enroll in SCI2035 Biochemistry or have taken SCI2035 Biochemistry prior to enrolling in SKI2086. 

This course presents and deepens key ecological, spatial, and socio-historical concepts to support the understanding of Brazilian reality through the observation and analysis of Brazilian biomes (Amazon, Caatinga, Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, Pampa, and Pantanal). Other objectives include: a) presenting and discussing fundamental concepts for the study of Brazilian biomes and related themes, such as: domain, ecosystem, space, phytophysiognomy, formation, boundary, landscape, region, etc.; b) analyzing and debating what has been done in each of the Brazilian biomes over time, especially in recent decades; c) presenting and critically discussing different aspects of each of the Brazilian biomes, for example: occupation and transformation of landscapes, types of vegetation, data on biological diversity, main species of flora and fauna, conservation units, etc.

In this course, students examine and integrate general biological and ecological concepts of marine mammals (with special emphasis on pinnipeds and cetaceans). Students characterize the different orders of marine mammals worldwide and identify the species present in Chile, identify and characterize adaptations of marine mammals to the aquatic environment, behavioral strategies, as well as the main research methodologies used in Chile. In the area of ​​conservation, the students examine the main current threats to marine mammals in Chile, measures of mitigation, institutions, and regulations related to management and administration, and become familiar with the application of methodological tools in the field of conservation of these species.

The course introduces basic elements of marine botany that allow students to recognize the diversity of algae. Combining lectures, laboratories and field trips, students are exposed to concepts and vocabulary specific to the complexity of this highly diverse group of organisms.

In Fundamental Cognitive Neuroscience, learn about these processes as well as other complex phenomena such as consciousness, brain structure, and how we change as we age. The course provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject of cognitive neuroscience and is aimed at both students and professionals in, for example, healthcare, or education. The course covers perception, attention, how memory works, emotions, higher cognitive function, communication and our view of others.  All based on what we know about the brain today.

Behavior is a unique trait in animals that allows them to respond rapidly to a changing environment. Most of the exciting, fast-moving phenomena associated with living organisms – fighting, flying, flocking, swimming, sensing, mating, communicating, spreading disease, and more – fall under the umbrella of behavior. As well as being important to understand in natural contexts, all of these traits and processes also have correlates or analogues in human behavior and society, adding further motivation to understanding them deeply and on a fundamental level. Ultimately, taking this perspective, the study of behavior is the study of rapid responses and interacting agents in all forms. This course introduces to the fundamental mechanisms and theories underlying behavioral processes and taught how to think like a behavioral scientist. The course discusses what behavior is and how it works across all possible scales, conveying the groundwork in the underlying structure of nervous systems and building through physiology, learning, communication, collective behavior, and social systems, up to responses to environmental stress. Drawing these lessons together, it discusses the role that behavioral science plays in understanding and managing animal populations and species in a rapidly changing world.

The course contains description of those planets and those among their moons in the solar system that can be envisioned to have physical and/or chemical preconditions to develop life. The development of the earliest lifeforms on Earth, and extreme environments for present-day life on the bottom of the oceans, around hot springs, deep underground, in permafrost, or in radioactive environments. Design of space probes, as well as experiments to study biologically relevant environments on other planets. Analysis of extraterrestrial material in the laboratory, and risks for spreading organisms between different planets. Current and planned instruments and methods to find and to study planets around other stars. Development over geological ages of different planets together with their host star and the development of their atmospheres and climates. The search for intelligent life in the Universe, and possible philosophic and other consequences of a possible discovery thereof. The prerequisites required for admission to the course are at least 60 credits of approved courses within the faculties of either science, technology and/or medicine.