Admission requirements
This course is mandatory for and restricted to students who do the Minor ‘Modern Drug Discovery’ (MDD). The same admission criteria apply to this course as for the entire Minor MDD.
Description
In this part of the MDD Minor, the students get familiar with the research that is ongoing in the field of Medicinal Chemistry. Students will choose to work on research projects in synthetic chemistry, computational methods or molecular biology/pharmacology, the aim being to gain more insight into the medicinal chemistry cycle. Students take part in research under the supervision of a PhD student or Postdoctoral researcher, gaining expertise in one specialisation of medicinal chemistry research. Synthesis projects focus on the design and synthesis of new ligands, entailing organic synthesis, purification and characterization by 1H NMR and mass spectrometry. Computational projects focus on bio- and chem-informatics of receptors, or structure based modelling of ligand-receptor pairs, and biological projects offer the possibility to perform cell-culture, isolation of cell membranes and binding assays of new ligands. Students present the results they obtained in a final presentation and in an article-style report.
Course objectives
During this course students will learn how to use the “key concepts” of either chem-, bio- or computational-based medicinal chemistry to contribute to current research themes.
After this course students will have:
acquired practical research experience
collaborated between chemistry, biology and informatics
presented the obtained data through an oral presentation and a written report.
Schedule
Teaching method
Lectures, (group)presentation, practical work.
Assesment method
1. Presentation
Individual pitch
Group presentation
2. Report
3. Practical work
Dedication, motivation, enthusiasm
Accuracy, tidiness
Lab journal
Final grade = Presentation 25%, Report 25%, Practical 50%
Resit, review & feedback
Feedback (on all 3 aspects of the grading) will be provided through individual grading forms. A resit for the practical work and presentation will take place in the following year (when the course normally runs).
A retake for the report can be requested within 2 weeks of receiving the grade. The retake can only be requested when the original grade was graded below 6.0 and the resulting grade is capped at a maximum of 7.0.
Reading list
Suggested, not mandatory: G.L. Patrick. An Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry (6th edition). Publisher: Oxford. ISBN: 9780198749691.
Registration
Contact
Dhr. Dr. D. van der Es
Remarks
Software
Starting from the 2024/2025 academic year, the Faculty of Science will use the software distribution platform Academic Software. Through this platform, you can access the software needed for specific courses in your studies. For some software, your laptop must meet certain system requirements, which will be specified with the software. It is important to install the software before the start of the course. More information about the laptop requirements can be found on the student website.