Biological Sciences

This course considers the burden of cancer in Ireland and globally. It discusses the basic biological nature of cancer, recognizing the role of biological and technical research advances in the management of cancer. The course examines the problems faced by clinicians, scientists, and patients during prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship of cancer. The course looks at the global cancer landscape, the linkage of cancer care to cancer research, and how cancer care will change in the foreseeable future.

The extensive independent study field research paper produced by the student is both the centerpiece of the intern's professional engagement and the culmination of the academic achievements of the semester. During the preparatory session, IFE teaches the methodological guidelines and principles to which students are expected to adhere in the development of their written research. Students work individually with a research advisor from their field. The first task is to identify a topic, following guidelines established by IFE for research topic choice. The subject must be tied in a useful and complementary way to the student-intern's responsibilities, as well as to the core concerns of the host organization. The research question should be designed to draw as much as possible on resources available to the intern via the internship (data, documents, interviews, observations, seminars and the like). Students begin to focus on this project after the first 2-3 weeks on the internship. Each internship agreement signed with an organization makes explicit mention of this program requirement, and this is the culminating element of their semester. Once the topic is identified, students meet individually, as regularly as they wish, with their IFE research advisor to generate a research question from the topic, develop an outline, identify sources and research methods, and discuss drafts submitted by the student. The research advisor also helps students prepare for the oral defense of their work which takes place a month before the end of the program and the due date of the paper. The purpose of this exercise is to help students evaluate their progress and diagnose the weak points in their outline and arguments. Rather than an extraneous burden added to the intern's other duties, the field research project grows out of the internship through a useful and rewarding synergy of internship and research. The Field Study and Internship model results in well-trained student-interns fully engaged in mission-driven internships in their field, while exploring a critical problem guided by an experienced research advisor.

This course examines various aspects of plant biology and how this is related to a future challenge faced by humanity. Students learn how plants capture the resources they require from the environment, how their productivity is affected by their environment and how they are adapted to tolerate extreme conditions. Students find out how this knowledge is being used to address major societal and environmental challenges such as sustaining our food supply, providing renewable energy, and protecting the environment. This course provides knowledge about plant research to understand more about climate change and food security.

The course starts with an introduction to scientific theory, basic mathematics, and programming. Thereafter, applied mathematical methods in biology, with examples from different subject areas such as biochemistry, ecology and physiology, are addressed. The course also contains analytical methods for biological systems. Through this course students are able to: describe the usage, interpretation and limitations of models solve mathematical tasks in basic algebra and analysis; do basic programming in R; describe the use of genetic algorithms and artificial neural networks in modelling; design a model of a biological system, given a specific task or question; fit a model to data; use mathematical and numerical methods to analyze simple dynamic, statistic or probabilistic models, such as stability analysis, optimization or risk analysis.

This course on neurobiological and cognitive aspects of addictions provides a study of the brain reinforcement system, drug classification, addiction, basic cognitive processes, and neuropsychology. It covers different drug groups together with their neurobiological and cognitive characteristics; the role of the nervous system in the addictive process; and the manner in which cognitive processes are affected by the addictive process.

This course examines membrane functions, subcellular organelles, lipid structures, and membrane proteins. It also covers methods of measuring mobility in membranes, cell signaling, membranes and cancer, endocytosis and exocytosis, and protein import. Students study building membranes, mitochondria and chloroplasts, oxidative phosphorylation, the chemiosmotic hypothesis, membrane transport, and ion channels.

This course provides a broad overview of the options that bio-medically trained experts have to work in multidisciplinary research teams. The lecturers have a diverse background (medicine, biomedical sciences, psychology, pathology, biology, and bioelectronics) to ensure students gain insights from all relevant points of view. The main topics of this course are the causes, consequences, and (experimental) treatment options for children born pre-term or for children born with pathology, which are known as “early life events.” This course particularly emphasizes the multidisciplinary character of diagnostics and pre-clinical research. Through lectures, active seminars, and practicals, students gain insights in the biomedical and clinical topics relevant to improve fertility, intra-uterine growth, and neonatal care. Students tour the neonatal intensive care unit of the Wilhelmina Children's Hospital and the rehabilitation center ‘De Hoogstraat'. Students work in small groups as a research team and jointly gain knowledge on how translational experiments work. A substantial part of this course is the practical, for which the students operate in teams to set up a neuronal cell culture, induce the differentiation of these cells, and evaluate the viability and specificity of the cells using immunofluorescent stainings and microscopy. Students generate a novel research protocol, a lab journal, a written report (journal paper style), and a presentation of their findings.