Biological Sciences

The movies have long exploited biology as a source of bankable plot material. This trend has been even more intensified recently as biological discoveries and biotechnology advanced. Filmmakers capitalize recent discoveries to produce movies with science-based plots to an increasingly aware public. In view of their mass appeal, such movies play a significant role in society as disseminators of scientific facts and misinformation. They thus serve as a useful starting point for exploring various aspects of the relationship between science and the public perception of science. This course discusses various biological topics drawn from movies; explores public misconceptions and naiveté about science that are perpetuated by movies, as well as the extent to which such movies borrow from, or in some cases, even predict scientific fact. This course requires weekly screenings of a feature-length movie prior the one-hour lecture in the classroom. Films and topics are organized around biological themes. Discussion of films that feature different biological transformations focus on distinguishing between science fiction and science fact, understanding the uses of the underlying principles in scientific research, and exploring real world analogies to such fictional concepts as fly-human chimeras and reconstructed dinosaurs. Movies and related discussion topics include LORENZO'S OIL (1992) and the biology of rare genetic diseases; MISSION TO MARS (2000) and origin of life and life from other planets; ICE AGE (2009) and the origin of humans; OUTBREAK (1995) and the small pox virus debate.

Behavior is the front-line interaction of organisms with their environment, allowing them to respond rapidly to changes in the environment that define the Anthropocene. Determining the mechanisms of such behavioral responses and how they evolved is fundamental for understanding how organisms adjust to their changing environment. Behavioral ecology examines these responses in the context of the natural environment, bringing the study of behavioral ecology center stage in environmental research. This course unites the classical study of animal behavior, using Niko Tinbergen’s four ‘whys’ of behavior as a framework, with theory on the role of phenotypic plasticity in changing environments. An understanding of the function and mechanisms of animal behavior is timely in coping with current social, economic, and environmental problems in our changing planet.

This is an introductory course for students who took general biology in first year and deals with major issues in modern cell biology. The main theme of the course is to understand how individual cells can maintain life and reproduce for the next generation. Emphasis is on (1) structural-functional relationships of the cellular organelles as well as molecules; (2) flow of genetic information inside cells and tissues, and (3) cell cycle control, intracellular signal transduction, and carcinogenesis. Toward this end, the course also deals with the subjects of cellular physiology; basic genetic mechanisms; differentiation; development of multicellular organisms, as well as inborn genetic diseases.

The module focuses on attention and cognitive control, memory, language, social interaction, problem solving and thinking, and decision making. This module communicates knowledge about the neurocognitive basis of emotion and how cognitive function is influenced by emotion and introduces different types of brain damage and psychoorganic syndromes. Students participate in laboratory demonstrations to train important skills for conducting empirical studies in cognitive neuroscience, including reporting the results in accordance with the international norms for publication in psychology. This course is part of PSYCHOLOGY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE (30 ECTS).

From low frequency minute vibrations to infrasonic and ultrasonic frequencies, from waterborne to air-transmitted sounds, this course introduces what sound is (i.e. fundamentals of sound, how sound travels etc.), how and why it matters to animals (i.e. mechanisms and adaptive functions of sound production and reception) in both terrestrial and marine habitats, bioacoustic instrumentation and software, industrial applications, and how environmental issues involving sounds such as terrestrial and ocean noise pollution are affecting animals and humans.